Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Survey
If you have not already done so, please consider taking our survey. It's your library, so please tell us what you think! Plus, you might win a Kindle!
Thursday, April 24, 2014
For Readers
Are you an avid reader? Never fear, we haven't forgotten about you. (In fact, we have an entire section of our website dedicated to you: our Reader Services page.)
We may offer all sorts of services at the library unrelated to reading- like carrying all the latest films on DVD, hosting Minecraft tournaments in the Costin Room, and presenting photography workshops for your iPhone, but we still love books and getting you your literature.
Here's some exciting library sources for bookworms:
We offer three monthly book clubs: two at the Main Branch and one at McAuliffe. Check our webpage for dates and times.
Most of the books will be available ahead of time at the Circulation Desk.
Available titles include:
- The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
- Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
- The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
- The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
- The Three Wisemans by Cathleen Schine
- Room by Emma Donoghue
To reserve, click here or call the Information Desk at 508-532-5570 x4351.
How do you use Wowbrary? To browse the current week's choices, click the Wowbrary banner on our homepage, or click here. We also post the list to our Facebook and Twitter.
To receive the list directly to your e-mail, click here to sign-up.
You are also welcome to browse the latest arrivals in person. We keep all our New Books on the Main Level, just to the left of the Information Desk. That way, you can browse away to your heart's content.
We also post a list of books that haven't been published yet, but that are expected to be in high-demand. Some authors that may sound familiar include Janet Evanovich, Elin Hilderbrand, Stephen King, James Patterson, and more. Why do we post this list? Because even though the books haven't been published yet, they are available in the catalog for holds! So if you are quick enough, you can be top of the list for Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel, a book we do not even own yet.
If you really loved the last book you read and want to read something similar, give our Novelist database a try. Novelist lets you browse fiction read-alikes, so if you found you liked a certain author, you can find more authors that you might enjoy. You can also browse by subjects, places, or time periods you might be interested in: for instance- "1960s Italy." The database also links to Goodreads, so you are able to quickly browse reviews and see if others recommend the book.
We may offer all sorts of services at the library unrelated to reading- like carrying all the latest films on DVD, hosting Minecraft tournaments in the Costin Room, and presenting photography workshops for your iPhone, but we still love books and getting you your literature.
Here's some exciting library sources for bookworms:
BOOK CLUBS
We offer three monthly book clubs: two at the Main Branch and one at McAuliffe. Check our webpage for dates and times.Most of the books will be available ahead of time at the Circulation Desk.
BOOK GROUP KITS
Did you know we offer Book Group Kits to go? The kits contain 8-10 copies of a popular book, plus reviews, author information, and discussion guides. Kits can be checked out for 4 weeks.Available titles include:- The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
- Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
- The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
- The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
- The Three Wisemans by Cathleen Schine
- Room by Emma Donoghue
To reserve, click here or call the Information Desk at 508-532-5570 x4351.
WOWBRARY
Our Wowbrary service shows you a list of exactly what materials we order every single week. That way, you can keep track of all the newest releases. The books are organized by subject, so you can see everything from biographies to health books.To receive the list directly to your e-mail, click here to sign-up.
You are also welcome to browse the latest arrivals in person. We keep all our New Books on the Main Level, just to the left of the Information Desk. That way, you can browse away to your heart's content.We also post a list of books that haven't been published yet, but that are expected to be in high-demand. Some authors that may sound familiar include Janet Evanovich, Elin Hilderbrand, Stephen King, James Patterson, and more. Why do we post this list? Because even though the books haven't been published yet, they are available in the catalog for holds! So if you are quick enough, you can be top of the list for Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel, a book we do not even own yet.
NOVELIST DATABASE
If you really loved the last book you read and want to read something similar, give our Novelist database a try. Novelist lets you browse fiction read-alikes, so if you found you liked a certain author, you can find more authors that you might enjoy. You can also browse by subjects, places, or time periods you might be interested in: for instance- "1960s Italy." The database also links to Goodreads, so you are able to quickly browse reviews and see if others recommend the book.LOTS OF LISTS
Need some more inspiration? Check out these lists for good ideas:- Fiction & Leisure Reading List compiled by FPL Staff
(Including Urban Fiction, Humor, Medical Mysteries, Spy Games, and more) - Minuteman Library Network Top Requests
- Awards / Booklists
- Framingham Public Library Staff Recommendations
- You Must Read This! FPL Book Club Recommendations (updated monthly)
- Magazines & Newspapers at FPL
SERVICES TO THE HOMEBOUND
Remember, even if you can't come into the library, we can bring books to you if you are a Framingham resident with a valid library card. Call 508-532-6347 for more info.Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Two weekly Drop-In Services
Do you know about the Reference Department's free Computer Help service? How about our free weekly Job & Resume Help?
COMPUTER HELP
We offer Computer Help during the following times:
Monday: 12-2
Tuesday: 11-2
Wednesday: 11-2
Tuesday: 11-2
Wednesday: 11-2
Thursday: 11-2
Friday: 11-2
At computer help, you can get one-on-one assistance with the following issues:
- Runs or starts too slow
- Annoying popups and toolbars, or missing toolbar
- What is this strange error message?
- Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome?
- How do you put icons on the desktop?
- What's a good password?
- How do you lock the screen quickly?
- Why do I have so many updates?
- What antivirus to use - can I get it for free?
- How do I add a printer?
- Can I get MS Office for free? Or cheap?
- How do I run old games on a new PC?
- ...and more!
JOB-SEARCH HELP
Our drop-in Job and Resume Help Clinic is every Tuesday (except April 22) from 10:00am to 12:30pm. Meet one-on-one with expert Job-Search Coach Mary Wasmuth, who will help you with Resumes, Cover Letters, and Job-Search Strategies.
In the meantime, if you are in need of job assistance, have a look at our updated Job Hunt page (done by Mary.) Browse carefully selected websites and helpful books that cover topics such as job hunting, resumes, interviews, and social media. You'll find these books located in the job-hunting section of the Library's Job Resource Center.
Here's a list of local resources from our new page to get you started:
Local Resources
Employment and
Training Resources
Framingham: 1671 Worcester Road. 508-766-5700 Norwood: 275 Prospect Street. 781-769-4120 Individual career and job-hunting assistance. Training programs include resumes, cover letters, interviews, skills assessment, computer skills (Introduction to computers, Word, Excel, more). |
Massachusetts Department of Workforce
Development
Select the "For Workers and Unions" tab for job hunting and the "For Claimants" tab for unemployment information. |
MetroWest Career Center
7 Bishop Street, 2d floor; Framingham MA 508-620-2677 Computer resource room; job listings; workshops on computer skills, resumes, interviewing, Internet job skills, and other subjects. |
Operation
A.B.L.E.
The job-search assistance, education, and training offered by this Boston-based organization are geared to individuals 45 and older, but most of their services are open to all. |
http://www.framinghamlibrary.org/resource/jobhunt.htm
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
This Month's Staff Recommends
We've just posted this month's Staff Recommends to the website! For more Staff recommendations, click here.
Book Talk: We Recommend
Recommended by Mary Wasmuth, Job-Search Coach, Main Library
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz. 213 pagesIf your group thrives on controversy, Junot Diaz is your man. And if you see in fiction a means to move past, as Diaz puts it “the checkpoints on your social borders,” you’ll do well to jump the fences of language and attitude and venture deep into the, as Publisher’s Weekly puts it, “precarious, unappreciated, precious lives in which intimacy is a lost art, masculinity a parody, and kindness, reason, and hope struggle to survive like seedlings in a war zone.”
Many of Diaz’s compelling, perfectly made, stories focus on a recurring character, Junior, as he moves from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey and later to Boston. With him, we watch his womanizing older brother flail against the cancer that will kill him. And we watch Junior fall in love, destroy love, and mourn its loss, over and over. This funny, aching, thought-provoking collection is guaranteed to get your book group talking.
The Round House by Louise Erdrich. 321 pages
Joe Coutts is thirteen years old when his mother is brutally raped. She’s further brutalized by a justice system skewed against native women. Joe’s attempt to achieve some resolution thrusts him into the complexities and traumas of adult life, and he learns he can no longer rely on the connections that had sustained him—his easy friendships, his open and loving parents, and the unquestioning acceptance of his extended family.
Over the years, Louise Erdrich has created a unique body of work, vividly populated and richly described; hilarious and heart-wrenching; many of them set in the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. Introduce your book group to this amazing writer, and they’ll be forever grateful.
Someone by Alice McDermott. 232 pages
Someone opens with a crowded Brooklyn street viewed through the eyes of seven-year-old Marie, who, she says, is the “sole survivor, now, of that street scene.” We know from this that we’re reading about a community deeply connected in a way few today have experienced. We see that we’ll be moving back and forward through time with Marie, an extraordinarily perceptive guide. McDermott’s layered, moving novel is dense with reflection and feeling, a deceptively simple story about the life of an apparently ordinary woman. But we know better.
Unlike many titles recommended for groups, Someone doesn’t take on contemporary issues. Instead, it examines the meaning of family, love, loss, and community and shows us, subtly and beautifully, how a life accrues value and purpose. I’d call these topics worth discussing.
There But For The by Ali Smith. 236 pages
At a suburban-London dinner party, a guest locks himself in the bathroom and refuses to come out. Extending from days to weeks, Miles’s stay turns into a media circus, and an unlikely group of people assembles to support him. The book is narrated by four characters who know Miles slightly: Anna, a woman in her forties who encountered him on a high-school trip; Mark, a gay man in his sixties who met him at the theater; May, an elderly woman suffering from dementia; and "preternaturally articulate" ten-year-old Brooke. It may well take a book group to unravel the mysteries of this intricate, funny, literate, and affecting novel. Mine had a great time doing it.
And a Few More
The long and the short:
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin, 426 pages
The Buddha in the Attic* by Julie Otsuka, 129 pages
For controversy:
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud, 253 pages;
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg, 273 pages
*reviewed in 2013's Staff Recommends
Even More Ideas
Book Browse Book Club Resources
Great Group Reads (selected by the Women’s National Book Association)
Indiebound’s Indie Next Lists (focus on book groups several times a year)
Reading Group Choices
Reading Group Guides
Book Talk: We Recommend
Recommended by Mary Wasmuth, Job-Search Coach, Main Library
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz. 213 pagesIf your group thrives on controversy, Junot Diaz is your man. And if you see in fiction a means to move past, as Diaz puts it “the checkpoints on your social borders,” you’ll do well to jump the fences of language and attitude and venture deep into the, as Publisher’s Weekly puts it, “precarious, unappreciated, precious lives in which intimacy is a lost art, masculinity a parody, and kindness, reason, and hope struggle to survive like seedlings in a war zone.”
Many of Diaz’s compelling, perfectly made, stories focus on a recurring character, Junior, as he moves from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey and later to Boston. With him, we watch his womanizing older brother flail against the cancer that will kill him. And we watch Junior fall in love, destroy love, and mourn its loss, over and over. This funny, aching, thought-provoking collection is guaranteed to get your book group talking.
The Round House by Louise Erdrich. 321 pages
Joe Coutts is thirteen years old when his mother is brutally raped. She’s further brutalized by a justice system skewed against native women. Joe’s attempt to achieve some resolution thrusts him into the complexities and traumas of adult life, and he learns he can no longer rely on the connections that had sustained him—his easy friendships, his open and loving parents, and the unquestioning acceptance of his extended family.
Over the years, Louise Erdrich has created a unique body of work, vividly populated and richly described; hilarious and heart-wrenching; many of them set in the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. Introduce your book group to this amazing writer, and they’ll be forever grateful.
Someone by Alice McDermott. 232 pagesSomeone opens with a crowded Brooklyn street viewed through the eyes of seven-year-old Marie, who, she says, is the “sole survivor, now, of that street scene.” We know from this that we’re reading about a community deeply connected in a way few today have experienced. We see that we’ll be moving back and forward through time with Marie, an extraordinarily perceptive guide. McDermott’s layered, moving novel is dense with reflection and feeling, a deceptively simple story about the life of an apparently ordinary woman. But we know better.
Unlike many titles recommended for groups, Someone doesn’t take on contemporary issues. Instead, it examines the meaning of family, love, loss, and community and shows us, subtly and beautifully, how a life accrues value and purpose. I’d call these topics worth discussing.
There But For The by Ali Smith. 236 pages
At a suburban-London dinner party, a guest locks himself in the bathroom and refuses to come out. Extending from days to weeks, Miles’s stay turns into a media circus, and an unlikely group of people assembles to support him. The book is narrated by four characters who know Miles slightly: Anna, a woman in her forties who encountered him on a high-school trip; Mark, a gay man in his sixties who met him at the theater; May, an elderly woman suffering from dementia; and "preternaturally articulate" ten-year-old Brooke. It may well take a book group to unravel the mysteries of this intricate, funny, literate, and affecting novel. Mine had a great time doing it.
And a Few More
The long and the short:
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin, 426 pages
The Buddha in the Attic* by Julie Otsuka, 129 pages
For controversy:
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud, 253 pages;
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg, 273 pages
*reviewed in 2013's Staff Recommends
Even More Ideas
Book Browse Book Club Resources
Great Group Reads (selected by the Women’s National Book Association)
Indiebound’s Indie Next Lists (focus on book groups several times a year)
Reading Group Choices
Reading Group Guides
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