Pembroke Public Library Online Newsletter
April 28, 2020
 
While the library is closed, we want to stay in touch with our wonderful library community and continue to share reading suggestions and ideas about fun and educational activities for all ages to do at home. Newsletters will come out every Tuesday. You can unsubscribe at any time from the “Manage Subscriptions or Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each newsletter.
 
With Your Pembroke Public Library Card You Can...
...learn how to draw!
Do you want to learn how to draw? Are you already an experienced artist but want to learn some new illustration techniques? The online resource Creativebug has just the classes for you! For a beginner's course, check out Drawing and Illustration Basics - all you need to get started is a pencil and paper! For more advanced artists, the Drawing & Illustration category has over 100 classes using a variety of methods and materials. This resource is free to use with your Pembroke Public Library card; simply sign in with your card number and PIN (the last four digits of your phone number).
Virtual Events and Groups
Virtual Workshops: An Introduction to New England Poets
In honor of National Poetry Month, virtually join former English Department Head and current poet Roz Kubek in a Zoom workshop series that celebrates New England ingenuity with some quality poetry, thoughts, and laughter. Each workshop is a lively presentation focused on one New England poet.
  • Edna St. Vincent Millay: Thursday, April 30th at 3 p.m.
  • Robert Frost: Thursday, May 7th at 3 p.m.
Space is limited; please email Roz at rkubek@sailsinc.org to sign up for one or more of these sessions!
Pembroke Public Library Virtual Book Club
The April selection for our new virtual book club is The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (available for instant download on hoopla), historical fiction based on the true stories of the Kentucky Pack Horse librarians of the 1930s and the blue-skinned people of Kentucky. Be sure to join our Virtual Book Club Facebook group if you would like to participate! Discussion will open on April 30th, and our next book will be announced on May 4th.
Virtual Cookbook Club
Do you like to cook? Are you a seasoned chef our just getting started? Check out our newest virtual group, which provides a fun and relaxed community for anyone who enjoys or is learning about the culinary arts. Share photos and recipes, ask cooking questions, and share tips for anything you've been working on! Join the Facebook group here.
Local Interest
Paragon Park: The Musical
The Company Theatre will broadcast a free livestream of their 2019 production Paragon Park: The Musical this Friday, May 1st at 7:30 p.m. Watch live from their YouTube page!
Citizen Science Happy Hour
Every Friday at 4 p.m., staff members from the North and South Rivers Watershed Association are holding an online "Citizen Science Happy Hour" to share information about our local waters and the citizen science that is still going on there. This Friday will be "Cocktails and Crabs," focusing on horseshoe crabs' return to our shores.
Around the Internet: Escape Rooms
Mandalorian Escape Room
The Mandalorian digital escape room is set in the world of Star Wars and the hit Disney Plus show. You agree to help a bounty hunter friend find someone and end up captured by Imperial Stormtroopers and locked in a cell. How will you escape?
Escape Like an Egyptian
Escape Like an Egyptian is a digital escape room that begins at the pyramids at Giza. It is a perfect spot for a selfie. You don't have a great angle so you wander away from the group. You don't realize how far you are going, or that you just passed a sign warning you of danger ahead. Who reads signs, anyway?
Stuck in Mount Washington
Stuck in Mount Washington is a digital escape room set at the Mount Washington Observatory. An unexpected storm hits the mountain and you are stuck, with no hope of leaving for another few days. Thankfully, you know there are different items in the office that can keep you healthy and safe until help arrives.
At-Home STEAM Activities
Flashlight Constellations
https://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-and-experiments/create-flashlight-constellations
Calling all stargazers and space enthusiasts! Create your own constellations with a flashlight and pin pricks in cereal box cardboard. Visit the link for printable constellation maps and detailed instructions. Happy exploring!
Grassy Haircuts
https://www.redtedart.com/kids-crafts-grass-heads/
Spring has sprung and if you have some extra grass seed, try creating one of these cool creatures! Googly eyes, pom poms, felt smiles, pipe cleaner ears… anything goes! Once the grassy hair grows, you can even give it a haircut! Check out the site for detailed instructions and growing tips.
Reader's Corner
While the library building is closed, our digital branch is always open! Our OverDrive/Libby and hoopla collections have thousands of eBooks, audiobooks, and magazines that you can check out with your library card. All books featured in this newsletter are available as eBooks in our collection. Borrow and read items online at sails.overdrive.com or by downloading the Libby app to your device. (If you are unfamiliar with the Libby app, click here for a guide on how to get started reading with Libby on your device.)
 
Staff Pick
 
This week's pick comes from Pam, who recommends This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. Pam says: "Rosie and Penn, parents of four boys, have always wanted a girl and decide to try one last time. They have yet another boy - a sweet boy, who at 5 years old tells them he wants to wear a dress and barrettes...and be a girl. This book is about parenting, about the messiness and secrets of a remarkable family. For me, this was a beautiful story of acceptance, full of heart and humor. Even some astounding fairy tales! (Fairy tales? Oh, they were SO good!) The premise didn’t grab me at first, but two paragraphs in and it was one of those 'up all night' reads! There is a lot to this beautiful story. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. (Side note: I've heard that the audio version is spectacular!)"
For Fans of World War II Fiction
 
Secrets of a Charmed Life
by Susan Meissner

An elderly Oxford woman reminisces about her childhood during World War II, during which she was evacuated from London during the Blitz and was separated from her sister.
The Auschwitz Escape
by Joel C. Rosenberg

Luc, a French pastor sent to Auschwitz for helping Jews, enlists the help of Jacob, a Jewish man sent to the camp after he tried to hijack a train bound for Auschwitz, to plan an escape from the death camp.
The Paris Architect
by Charles Belfoure

A Parisian architect is paid handsomely to devise secret hiding spaces for Jews in his Nazi-occupied country but struggles with risking his life for a cause he is ambivalent towards, until a personal failure brings home their suffering.
Book to Movie
 
Gone Baby Gone
Read the book on OverDrive/Libby, then watch the movie on hoopla! When two private detectives are hired to take a closer look into the mysterious disappearance of a little girl, they unravel a multitude of twists and turns where nothing is what it seems. Ultimately they must risk everything in the search to find her. Click here to borrow the book and here to borrow the movie.
Meet Our Online Magazines
 
Our OverDrive collection includes magazines that can be checked out at any time, with no holds or waits! Today's featured magazine is Popular Mechanics; one of our newer subscriptions, there are issues available starting from this March. The May 2020 issue features a fascinating cover story on a town where WiFi is illegal, recommendations for gadgets for a safe smart home, ideas for easy bathroom renovations, and an inspiring story about the athletes and technology of the Bionic Olympics, first held in 2016. You can explore all our online magazines here.
Mysteries for Younger Readers
 
From cozy to historical to devious, these lists have mysteries for every amateur detective. All are available from hoopla! Check out the selections available for kids and teens.
Storytime
 
KidLit TV features storytime read-alouds, art sessions with illustrators, and book-inspired crafts!
Genealogy Tip
While the library is closed, Ancestry Library Edition is available for all Pembroke card holders to access from home using this link. Sign in with your library card number and PIN (the last 4 digits of your phone number), then click on Ancestry Library Edition.
 
Most family research can be done online these days, but there are times where you can’t get all the information you're looking for from a computer screen alone. You may have to get out there and ask the right people the right questions. When the time is right and we are safe to leave our homes again, try pursuing the information you need at the town library or historical society where your ancestors were from. Most libraries have their local newspapers on microfilm or in their archives. Talk to the librarians and they will be able to set you up to browse for obituaries or marriage announcements from the town. If you need to go further into the past you may want to utilize the town’s historical society if they have one. They may have city directories or family histories that you can read through. Genealogical research can be overwhelming but you don’t have to do it alone. There are many professionals out there who are more than happy to help you. Reach out and go on a research adventure! 
Staff Stuff
As National Poetry Month comes to a close, Roz would like to share a resource that has brought her some comfort over the past few weeks. Shelter in Poems, an initiative started by the Academy of American Poets, aims to share poems that help readers "find courage, solace, and actionable energy." The academy will hold a virtual reading event this Thursday, April 30th at 7:30 p.m. with poems read by poets laureate, actors, musicians, artists, and more; learn more and sign up for free at their event page.
Laura's Spicy Mushroom Risotto with Peppers and Kalamata Olives
This is a recipe I made up on the fly for dinner. I was trying to clean out some of my pantry items, like that box of risotto I had in the back of my cupboard, or the leftover veggies I had in my fridge. A lot of the ingredients listed below are a ballpark measurement, so feel free to add more or less to your tastes.
 
Ingredients
⅔ cup of risotto
1 thinly sliced shallot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of white wine (separated in ½ cups; you’ll need it both for cooking the risotto and veggies)
2 ½ cups of broth (you may not need all of it)
½ cup of sliced white button mushrooms
1 green pepper, diced
½ of an onion, chopped in half and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
½ cup of heavy cream
A good pinch of red chili flakes (or to taste)
A handful of roughly chopped kalamata olives
Lemon juice
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
 
Serves 2
 
Make Risotto
 
Melt butter under medium heat. Add in shallots and garlic and cook until soft and fragrant. Add risotto and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add in ½ cup of wine and cook until most of the wine has cooked off. Add in ½ cup of broth or until it just covers the risotto. Let that cook until the broth is almost gone, and add in the next ½ cup and let that cook. Repeat this process until the risotto is completely cooked, about a ½ hour.
 
For the veggies:
 
While the risotto cooks, in a different pan, saute the onions in olive oil until soft and translucent. Add in peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the tomato paste and stir until the paste darkens and coats everything. Pour in remaining wine and cook for a minute. Pour in heavy cream, chili flakes, lemon juice, and half of the parsley. Cook until the sauce turns creamy and remove from heat. Stir in the olives and cooked risotto until everything is coated. Return to heat, and cook, just to heat everything through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with remaining parsley and parmesan. 
 
Stay safe, everyone! We will see you soon.
Pembroke Public Library
142 Center St.
Pembroke, Massachusetts 02359
(781) 293-6771pembrokepubliclibrary.org