Library News

Young children and older teens and 'tweens interested in developing a love of reading need look no farther than the Keene Public Library. The program called “Book Buddies” pairs rookie readers with trained veteran readers. Students entering first, second, or third grade are encouraged to sign up now so that they can be matched with older students entering the fifth through the twelth grade. For four weeks starting the week of July 8, these “Book Buddies” will meet regularly at the library to read, write, and talk about books.  Meeting times are either Monays from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p..m. or Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

The “Big Buddy” mentors promote an interest in books, reading, and writing as well as encourage the “Little Buddy” to practice new reading skills at home.  With the help of “Big Buddies,” young children will gain confidence in their reading and themselves while building an interest in books and a love of reading and writing. 

The library is currently recruiting both Little and Big Book Buddies.  Applications are availble in the Library's Youth Department. You can also download pdfs of both Little Buddy Application and Big Buddies Applications. On the application, you can choose whether you want to particate in the Monday or Thursday book buddy program. 

Little Buddies may be struggling with reading or they may just want a little extra help. Please provide as much information as possible so that we can match pairs according to schedule needs. Book Buddies may strike a chord with teens and 'tweens looking to do something especially meaningful this summer.  

This is the sixth year of the Book Buddy Program at the Keene Public Library. Last year, there were 23 pairs of reading buddies at the library. To get ready, the library has been beefing up its collection of beginning readers. This year, there will be plenty of materials for each pair.  Some of the popular themes for beginning readers are animals, comics, superheroes, and humorous books. 

Registration for Book Buddies has begun and will continue through Friday, June 28. Participants will be notified of their partners and meeting as soon as possible after July 1.  

For more information, please call Gail Zachariah at 603-352-0157.

The New Hampshire Humanities Council has awarded a grant to the Keene Public Library for Keene Chautauqua 2013. The annual living history festival is part of the library’s “Ground Breaking Reads Adult Summer Reading Program,” which encourages adults to read more and to discover groundbreaking authors. The 2013 Keene Chautauqua explores the groundbreaking achievements of expatriate Americans and includes community reads project, a film series, lectures, and a Young Chautauqua workshop and performance by middle and high school students. The Keene Public Library is partnering with a number of community organizations to present Keene Chautauqua, including the Historical Society of Cheshire County, the Horatio Colony House Museum.

The main event will take place on Thursday, July 25 at the Keene Public Library’s Heberton Hall, 60 Winter Street, and will feature living history portrayals of authors Henry James and Edith Wharton. 

"The Master" of the house of fiction, Henry James (1843-1916) observed and noted carefully the social life around him and delved incisively into the psyches of his characters. Born in New York City, James lived most of his life abroad, providing him with his "international theme": the encounter of Americans with the Old World of Europe and vice versa. Striving to be one of the people "on whom nothing is lost," James left an enduring legacy of great novels that include The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove as well as such immortal stories as "Daisy Miller" and "The Turn of the Screw." One of the most gifted and influential novelist in American literature, Edith Wharton (1862-1937), was born into one of old New York's most established families. Wharton overcame a background that focused on wealth and manners, to become an artist. Raising her for a suitable marriage and a life in society, Wharton's family did not provide her with a tutor or any formal education, and did not even think to supply her with paper upon which to write. Self-educated and determined, Wharton broke away from "society" to discover her intellectual and creative gifts.  Edith Wharton first met Henry James in the late 1880s, but they did not become friends until after 1900. She was at the beginning of her career.  Although Henry James had yet to write the masterpieces of his last period, he was nearing the end of his literary career. James work often explores the cultural and psychological differences between Europeans and Americans. In the early years of the twentieth century, Wharton made Paris her home where she became a prominent literary hostess. About people raised abroad like James and herself, Edith Wharton would say that they had been “produced in a European glass-house.” They were “wretched exotics,” none of them American; “We don’t think or feel as the Americans do.”  Together James and Wharton represent transatlantic travel and cultural exchange, and left a sophisticated record of the stimulations and anxieties of a generation of highly privileged, cosmopolitan American expatriates.

The Keene Chautauqua Community Reads is book discussion series featuring five books by and about James and Wharton. The first discussion will take place at the Horatio Colony House Museum, 199 Main Street, on Wednesday, June 5 at 7:00 p.m. The first book to be discussed is “Age of Innocence” by Edith Wharton. The next Wednesday, June 12 at the Horatio Colony Museum “Daisy Miller” by Henry James will be discussed.  On Wednesday, June 19 at 7:00 p.m. at the Horatio Colony House, “Age of Desire” by Jenny Fields will be discussed.  The next two discussions will take place at the Keene Public Library, 60 Winter Street. On Wednesday, July 10 at 1:00 p.m., “The Master” by Colm Toibin will be discussed and on Wednesday July 17 at 1:00 p.m., “Turn of the Screw” by Henry James will be discussed. Books are available to borrow from the Keene Public Library. 

On Tuesday, June 16 at 6:30 p.m., the Keene Public Library will host a lecture by Hetty Startup on Artist Colonies. This UNH Speakers' Bureau talk surveys the origins of artist colonies in the mid 1800s in Europe and their proliferation to other continents, including the United States. Artist colonies exist today but the majority of this program focuses on the period 1880 to 1920 when it was these special places that helped to nurture artists and new art movements, such as Impressionism and Expressionism. Hetty Startup is a lecturer of art history and architectural history at the University of New Hampshire. Trained as an architectural historian she has worked in the museum, higher education, and nonprofit fields, and is dedicated to creating teaching environments for art history, museum, and material culture studies that are content rich.

On Tuesday, July 9, at 7:00 p.m., the library will host a performance by Dances by Isadora. At 1:00 p.m. that same day, Dances by Isadora will offer a children’s workshop at the Keene Public Library, 60 Winter Street. Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) was an American pioneer of dance and is an important figure in both the arts and history. Born in California, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. Hailed as 'powerful movers' by the New York Times, Dances by Isadora honors Duncan’s original choreography with vitality and vibrant physicality. The group received its name in 1986 when arts administrator, Alan Casso produced the company's first public performance in Boston. Since then Dances by Isadora has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards including the Massachusetts Cultural Council, MIT Council on the Arts, Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Bossak/Heilbron Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts and City Parks Foundation. Dances by Isadora has performed around the globe in ancient theaters, city sidewalks, churches, parks and schools.

Two separate Chautauqua Film Series will take place at the Keene Public Library this summer on Wednesday evenings.  In June, the series is showcases Fin de Siècle Films” and in July the series features  “The Lost Generation.’ Call the library at 352-0157 to see what is showing.  All film presentations will start at 7:00 p.m. and are free and open to the public.

All Keene Public Library programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Keene Pubic Library.  Additional funding for Chautauqua programs have been generously provided by the New Hampshire Humanities Council, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and C & S Wholesale Grocers.  For more information about the Chautauqua programs, contact the Keene Public Library at 603-352-0157.

The Keene Public Library is looking for volunteers to help us offer more programs for our summer program. “Dig Into Reading” is designed to encourage children to continue reading during vacation so that valuable reading skills won’t be lost. We hope to offer a variety of activities for children. If you are interested in helping us, please let us know by calling Gail Zachariah at 603-352-0157 or submitting a Contact Us form.

Some of the things volunteers or interns may do this summer include:

• Helping with registration and recording of books read by children;
• Helping to coordinate the Big and Little Book Buddy Literacy Program matching experienced youth readers with younger new readers;
• Scheduling and mentoring teen volunteers;
• Soliciting donations of incentive prizes from local businesses;
• Listening to children give oral book reports and talk about the books they've read;
• Assisting the librarians with storytime, movies, gaming, or other programs;
• Offering or helping with a craft program;
• Preparing questions for future book discussion programs;
• Creating a display or helping decorate the library spaces;
• Chaperoning a reading party or special event;
• Providing refreshments for a special event;
• Offering a workshop using a special skill;
• Helping the librarians tiddy up and sanitize the play areas;

Volunteers will be required to provide references and undergo a background check. Volunteers under the age of 16 will need parental permission and a work permit.  More information about volunteer requirements can be found on our Volunteer Page.

The Keene Public Library is pleased to announce the next meeting of their LEGO® Club is Monday, May 20 from 4:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.  Interested parties should register by calling 603-352-0157.

"We encourage kids and families of all ages who love to build to come to the library and play together," says Gail Zachariah, Head of Youth and Community Services. According to Zachariah, “Although everyone is welcome, this monthly LEGO Club focuses most on school age builders."  The library offers a semi-regular LEGO storytime called “Read! Build! Play!., a product of a partnership between the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and LEGO® DUPLO®.  The LEGO storytime is for children five and under. It is chock full of cutting edge ideas related to early literacy programming that combine preschool books with creative play in the form of a versatile collection of LEGO DUPLO bricks.

LEGO clubs have proliferated at libraries across the nation as studies reveal the benefits of creative play. In the 2009 book "Play = Learning," Yale researcher Dorothy Singer argues that games which make use of logical thinking increase scientific reasoning, problem solving skills and mathematical abilities. Cooperative LEGO clubs like the one at the Keene Public Library also encourage the development of social skills.

The Keene Public Library offers a full calendar of free public programs throughout the year for people of all ages. For more information about these programs, please contact Gail Zachariah at the library at 603-352-0157 or gzachariah@ci.keene.nh.us.