stack-of-books-on-a-beach

The Anti Beach Read

Summer is finally here and now is the time of year when every book-related website publishes its own spin on the beloved “beach read.” Many readers start to look for stories that aren’t too weighty or serious but still keep their attention. The plots are usually fast-moving and the ends are often happy. These books are meant to satisfy and relax but not ruin the good vibes of your vacation. In theory, this is a wonderful idea. In practice, I’m terrible at finding good beach reads.

I’ve never been able to master the art of the beach read. They truly sound wonderful. I could cross off some titles from my GoodReads yearly challenge with books that are light and not too difficult to finish. I could actually relax on the beach with a book! I try. I really do. Every year, I scour the shelves at the library, looking for titles that will keep me afloat during the summer months, for books without tortured main characters or depressing subjects. Each year, I fail. Sometimes I end up reading the classics or occasionally a thick, highly involved young adult fantasy novel. I will give myself a little credit: at least my anti-beach reads are occasionally set in hot climates. That is sort of appropriate for summer, right?

At the start of my first summer as a librarian in Norwood five years ago, I was organizing the school summer reading books assigned to high school students and noticed Jane Eyre was an option for incoming sophomores. I was never assigned Jane Eyre during my own academic career and never really went out of my way to read anything from the Bronte sisters unless a teacher specifically directed me to. I grabbed a copy, thinking my summer reading could benefit from some good writing. Further research indicated that some scholars think Jane Eyre was the prototype for the modern young adult novel, one of my favorite genres. My interest was piqued and I decided Jane Eyre was going to be my beach read! Meaning I would read it. At the beach.

I spent the next few sunny days plowing through Jane Eyre at the beach, occasionally taking my iPhone out of its plastic bag protector and using my newly downloaded dictionary app to look up the many unknown words I encountered. This is what I mean by failing at the beach read. People who put together beach read lists do not choose titles that require a reader to use a dictionary app in order to fully appreciate the dialogue. Furthermore, Jane Eyre takes place in dark and rainy England. Wild storms and drizzly weather provide the atmospheric setting for this coming of age story, making it decidedly not very summery. But the story and characters are so absorbing and compelling that I was not deterred by the book’s length or dreary setting.

In contrast, last summer’s choice of Calypso by David Sedaris had a more appropriate setting. Like most of his writing, Sedaris includes a number of humorous essays on his family. The main thread running through Calypso is Sedaris’ impulse buy of a summer home on the North Carolina shore. He envisions wonderful family holidays where siblings and their families will gratefully gather and thank him for his prodigious generosity. They will enjoy each other’s company and everyone will get along. Sedaris’ dreams are shattered the minute he announces the purchase to his family and they argue over what bawdy name they should give the new beach house.

While Sedaris’ essays are funny in a darkly comic way, his real purpose is exploring what it means to grow older with siblings, and dealing with the death of a family member. His light tone adds a sense of irony to sad topics he covers, including the mental health issues and suicide of one of his sisters. Definitely not traditional beach read material. But Sedaris’ ability to find humor in every day, mundane things shows what a coping mechanism it truly is during life’s difficult patches. He doesn’t shy away from the hard parts of middle age and relationships but he never leaves his own character unexamined. Of course, he manages to always find a way to include himself as one of the targets of his vicious wit.

When I look over my reading history, especially my summer reading history, I’m forced to realize that I’ll never be a beach reader. I’ll read at the beach for sure. But if my book past suggests anything, it’s that I just don’t gravitate toward the light and fluffy. Not that there’s anything wrong with light and fluffy. If you love a good beach read, keep clicking through all the links for summer’s hottest book lists. But if you are like me, accept that your reading habits aren’t going to change simply because it’s summer and keep plowing through your copy of War and Peace.

Kate Tigue is the Head of Youth Services at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the June 20, 2019 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.

photo-of-chickens

Chicken Chat

photo-of-chickensA few years ago I moved into a house in the country (well, Holliston), with a bit of land, fenced in garden, and… a chicken coop. Mercifully, the previous owners did not leave chickens behind, and I convinced my husband that knowing NOTHING about raising poultry, we’d best wait a bit before starting a flock. As a librarian, I committed to doing my research before diving into a new endeavor caring for living creatures.

At a family get-together I discovered that a distant cousin had chickens, and asked her “What do they eat?” Her answer: “Everything,” seemed glib and less than useful. Nowadays when asked the same question, I offer the exact same answer. I field many inquiries about chickens, and a handful stand out as the most common. After just three years of chicken-wrangling, I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I shall attempt to answer some here.

Q: What do they eat?

A: Everything. Well, not everything, but we do feed them: leftovers, garden weeds, grass clippings, oyster shells, desserts, cat food, and (gasp) chicken, and eggs. They don’t grasp the notion of chicken or egg-eating as cannibalism, and we only introduce leftover cooked eggs, so they don’t develop a taste for their own freshly laid eggs. On their own they enjoy insects, earthworms, and Lyme Disease carrying ticks. Dave Ingham, in Backyard Chickens: How to Keep Happy Hens, confirms, “Hens are omnivorous, meaning they eat anything.”

I didn’t know based on the “everything” response that the birds also dine on “crumble,” a supply of food that stays in their coop for everyday consumption. Chicks get one formula, youngsters consume a “starter/layer” formula to encourage egg development, and when fully grown, hens graduate to “layer” variety. Crumble contains a mix of grains, vegetable protein, animal fat, vitamins and minerals, including calcium important for strong eggshells. The familiar term “chicken scratch” refers to a blend of seeds and corn (like bird seed) we toss around the run as a snack they enjoy “scratching” for in the dirt. Our hens love apples, fight over salmon and animal fat, and have no interest in asparagus.

Q: What do you do in the winter?

A: Chickens have managed to evolve and survive all over the world for centuries, and I think they tolerate winter better than I do after a few rounds of shoveling snow. However hearty though, cold climates require provision of some heat when temperatures drop below freezing. We use a red heat lamp in their coop to provide warmth without messing up their circadian rhythms. When they feel cold, hens huddle together and cuddle keeping each other warm (and cute). Following a D.I.Y. tip from a backyard chicken web forum, we made a basic heater to prevent their water from freezing. We cut a hole in the side of a Christmas cookie tin, put in a light bulb with a cord attached, and placed their waterer on top.

Q: Do you need to have a rooster to make eggs?

A: Sorry, reader – you may feel awkward, but the time has come for us to have The Talk. No, you don’t need a rooster; single ladies make eggs too. Just like women, hens produce eggs. Human females during their fertile years generally create one per month, with or without a man. In both species, the male comes into the picture to fertilize an egg, potentially making a baby. Our Casanova rooster enjoys “fertilizing eggs” indeed, but we collect eggs every day or so, in advance of embryos developing into chicks.

Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens explains the tendency of “broodiness,” when hens feel a maternal instinct so-to-speak, and would prefer sitting on their eggs to hatch them instead of continuing to lay. Some breeds get more broody than others; ours couldn’t care less about offspring.

Q: Don’t you hate store-bought eggs now?

A: Nope. Some may feel this way, and I do prefer mine straight from the coop, but I love eggs and even indulge in Dunkin’ Donuts bacon egg and cheese breakfast wraps from time to time.

Q: Do your neighbors get mad?

A: Fortunately we have enough buffer space between yards to, hopefully, protect folks from the rooster’s pre-dawn wake up calls. Local ordinances vary, partly based on potential rivalries bound to stem from chicken coops in close proximity to neighbors’ bedrooms. Ours have never complained… although we do bring them a fresh dozen now and then.

Becoming a backyard chicken farmer turned out much easier than I expected, and requires minimal work after the initial setup. The Backyard Homestead includes beginner-level information about selecting breeds, and the life cycle of egg production. The library has titles devoted to building chicken coops, including How to Build Chicken Coops, by Daniel and Samantha Johnson, and a volume from the For Dummies series. If the whole family gets involved, check out A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens, by Michelle Caughey.

To enjoy and get creative with all of those farm-fresh eggs, I consult Michael Roux’s Eggs, All About Eggs, by Rachel Khong, and D’lish Deviled Eggs, by Kathy Casey. When the refrigerator starts getting too crowded I turn to deviled eggs, quiches, and tortilla Española to use many at once. I bring fresh eggs to parties in lieu of beer. I give them as thank-you and get-well-soon gifts. For family Easter festivities the colored egg responsibilities fall to me.

Aside from the culinary benefits, my top reason to raise chickens is because they make me smile every day. I sit in front of the run and watch them like fish in an aquarium. I laugh at their stupidity and marvel at their smarts. I try my hardest not to get attached, but cry when a bird dies due to natural causes or at the hands (or talons) of a predator. Silly, pretty, fun, and entertaining, our little flock adds tremendous joy to our modest homestead, and we have no regrets about repopulating that inherited coop.

Lydia Sampson is the Technical Services Department Head at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the June 13, 2019 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.

blown-glass-pumpkin

Daphne du Maurier and the Glass Blowers

blown-glass-pumpkinAfter a recent jaunt to Sandwich, I reflected back on my first trip to “Cape Cod’s Oldest Town” where I visited the famous Glass Museum. There is a large collection of both blown and pressed glass pieces, as well as many artifacts found in the grounds long after the factory was closed. The Museum makes for an interesting few hours, especially if you are a history buff, interested in Cape history, or blown glass – both the history of it and as an art form. The museum also puts on live glass blowing demonstrations, and these alone are well worth the trip. In fact, on Friday, July 19th, the Sandwich Glass Museum will be participating in the 2019 “Free Fun Fridays.” Admission is free for everyone! Check out their website at sandwichglassmuseum.org for more information.

I had first seen glass blown at Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, in the 1980’s. That was a wonderful first introduction to glass blowing. The artist first heated the glass up to a temperature of about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, where it turned into molten (basically liquid) glass. To make the process even trickier, the glass blower had to work fairly quickly, as the glass needed to remain at a temperature of at least 1400 degrees Fahrenheit in order to remain pliable. I was soon lost in the swirl of glass colors, deft movements, and the excitement (Will he drop it? Will he burn himself?). I was truly fascinated by the entire experience. (See this glass blowing video.)

Knowing about my interest in glass blowing, my friend surprised me last October with a three hour glass blowing class at the Luke Adams Glass Blowing Studio right here in Norwood. We listened as the instructor explained all the tools and techniques, and showed us examples. We were able to jump in and design our own two items. I chose to make a glass and a pumpkin paperweight. I can tell you, the instructors make it look sooooo easy! The tools felt awkward and I was always aware of the heat. I didn’t give the glass quite enough air though, because it was squatter and much thicker than I intended. I had much better luck with the pumpkin, and that was done with a lot of support from the instructor, but it came out beautifully. The point is that I was able to experience glass blowing close up, to feel the tools in my hands and the heat on my face as I worked the glass. The three hours flew by! If I hadn’t already had an appreciation for this art form, I certainly did now.

Not long after I took this class, I was intrigued to see The Glass Blowers by one of my favorite authors, Dame Daphne Du Maurier. Like her more famous books such as Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, and her short story, The Birds, The Glass Blowers presents its own mixture of drama and tragedy as Du Maurier writes about glass blowing during the French Revolution. Even more intriguing, this is a semi-autobiographical historical fiction novel based on Du Maurier’s glass blowing predecessors of La Brulonnerie , Cherigny, La Pierre, and the Chesne-Bidault. Du Maurier uses the settings and characters of The Glass Blowers to tell the story of her own family, with all the accompanying unrest of the French Revolution and family pathos. This novel captures the spirit of glass blowing and shows the close community and family ties that grew in the midst of this specialized art form.

The story opens with Madame Sophie Duval, daughter of a glass blowing master and also the widow of one, meeting her nephew for the first time. Her brother, Robert Busson, had emigrated from France to England with his new wife, abandoning the glass house, his family, and his country due to poor financial decisions and threatened imprisonment. Robert eventually abandons England and his family and returns to his native France to die.

Robert’s son, Jacques, was brought up to believe that his French relatives were of the wealthy upper class, and that the family home was a beautiful chateau. Sophie quickly disabused him of these ideas, remarking that the family home was “no more than a farmhouse.” The rest of the novel portrays Sophie as she gives her long-lost nephew the true story of the Busson glass blowers. Sophie tells him, “A glass-blower, remember, breathes life into a vessel, giving it shape and form and sometimes beauty; but he can, with that same breath, shatter and destroy it.” Sophie unravels the story of her family from before the French Revolution to the five decades after it. Sophie’s quote exemplifies her brother Robert’s life, and the pain he caused his family with his unfortunate decisions.

I am a big fan of historical fiction as a genre, and can appreciate how Du Maurier takes it a step beyond by adding her personal touch. Du Maurier’s descriptions of the glass factory, her in-depth knowledge of the business of glass blowing and the personalities behind them make for a very satisfying and informative read.

Carla Howard is Senior Circulation and Media & Marketing Assistant at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the June 6, 2019 issue of the Transcript & Bulletin.

clavier-photo-by-lee-leach

Bells Will Be Ringing

clavier-photo-by-lee-leach

Photo: Lee Leach

One of the many things I didn’t realize about Norwood before moving here is that we have the Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon at Town Hall. My undergraduate alma mater also has a carillon which I always enjoyed hearing, so I was excited the first time I heard bells here. I don’t remember the specifics but I suspect I was stopped at the light on Nahatan and Washington and figured the tower was at one of the churches on the Norwood Common since municipal carillons are not very common in the United States. Eventually I discovered it’s in Town Hall and try to listen for at least a few minutes whenever I hear the bells.

Our current Town Carillonneur, Lee Leach, is a frequent library user and at some point the topic of Norwood’s carillon came up in conversation. I told him how much I enjoy hearing the bells and that I am always reminded of my college days. The carillon world is fairly small; there are fewer than a dozen carillons in Massachusetts, so Leach knows the current carillonneur at my alma mater. Not only does she usually participate in the summer concert series, she also brings students to play at Norwood a few times a year. Earlier this winter I was lucky enough to go up in the tower and see/hear some Wellesley College students practicing.

I confess that although I liked hearing the bells on campus I never went up to see the carillon and knew nothing about how the instrument is played. Based on the variety of musical styles I heard, I knew they weren’t ringing the bells by pulling ropes, but beyond that I’m not sure I gave it much thought. For me, seeing the bells and learning how the instrument is played was more interesting than the view. I’ve since done quite a bit of research on the Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon, and carillons in general.

A carillon is defined as a musical instrument with at least 23 bells, and is usually in a tower or belfry – anything less than 23 is a chime. Norwood’s carillon has 50 bells as part of the instrument and a 51st bell, which is an old fire bell from Norwood. The carillon is played using a keyboard, or clavier, and pedal board. There are batons rather than keys and the player hits them with the side of his/her fist rather than the finger. Like an organ, there are many more pedals than on a piano. The bells are hung from a frame above the clavier and a series of wires with springs connect to the bell clappers. Striking a baton or pedal makes the wires move the clappers and sound is produced. The clavier can be open to the bell tower or in an enclosed space. Pipe organs are the instrument most similar to a carillon and organ pipes are the only instrument heavier than the largest carillon bells. The Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon’s largest, or Bourdon, bell is 71 inches in diameter and weighs 7,840 lbs., it sounds B-flat. Its smallest bell is 6.5 inches in diameter and weighs 11 lbs. Although there is music written for the carillon, many players rework other music for the carillon, including jazz and rock.

Tuned carillons became common during the 1600s in the Benelux countries in Europe, primarily in Belgium and the Netherlands. They were more often found in municipal buildings than in churches. In Singing Bronze: a History of Carillon Music, Luc Rombouts examines why Belgium and the Netherlands were centers of early carillon excellence. He argues that the weaving superiority of the region made it easier for them to create the wire components of the carillon. Reading that made me realize a weaving loom was exactly what the network of wires I’d seen running between the bells and keyboard reminded me of.

The skill of casting tuned bells came close to dying out, but by the turn of the twentieth-century the art had been revived. Before World War I there were fewer than half a dozen carillons in the United States. After the war, many Americans soldiers who heard them for the first time while fighting in Belgium and France felt that carillons were a fitting component of war memorials. Two English foundries: John Taylor and Co., and Gillett & Johnston cornered the American market.

The first municipal carillon in the United States was in Albany, New York’s City Hall. It was cast and installed in 1927 by John Taylor and Co. That company also cast the first carillon in Massachusetts at Our Lady of Good Voyage Church in Gloucester in 1922. The Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon is one of three carillons in Massachusetts made by the other significant English foundry, Gillett & Johnston. The Bancroft Memorial Carillon at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Cohasset, dedicated in 1925, was Gillett and Johnston’s third carillon. Norwood’s carillon, dedicated November 11, 1928, was their eighteenth, and Wellesley College’s Galen L. Stone Tower in 1931 was their 34th. More than 30 carillons in less than 10 years made for a busy place – fourteen of those were installed in the United States. England’s Child: the Carillon and the Casting of Big Bells, by Jill Johnston is part biography of Cyril F. Johnston, part corporate history of Gillett & Johnston, and part memoir. Johnston was the child of Cyril F. Johnston and an American nurse who did not learn her father’s identity until after his death.

The Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon stopped being played in the late 1970s due to a need for repairs. Once work was begun, it was discovered the entire tower was seriously damaged by water leaks, and repairing the tower and fixing the leaks took precedence. By late 1982, work on the tower itself was nearing completion and the bells could be rehung. In early 1983, the expert hired to evaluate the needed work on the bells discovered that the second and eleventh bells were missing. With all the work that had been in done the tower there was no way to know when or how the bells disappeared. John Taylor, Ltd. of England was the foundry hired to repair and remount the bells. They cast replacements for the two missing bells.

Norwood’s first carillonneur was Kamiel LeFevere, a Belgian who came to the United States to play carillons. He was the first to play at St. Stephen’s in Cohasset and became the carillonneur at Riverside Church in New York City. LeFevere traveled to Norwood to play until 1934. His inaugural performance at the dedication of Norwood’s Town Hall and Carillon was broadcast on radio station WEEI. Roger Walker was the second carillonneur, playing from 1934 until 1972. He lived in Hyde Park, MA so had a much shorter commute for his performances. Martin Gilman played after Walker. George Mahoney, Jr. overlapped with Walker and Gilman. Sally Slade Warner was the carillonneur at St. Stephen’s in Cohasset and also played in Norwood. She managed the summer concert series for many years. Our current carillonneur, Lee Leach heard the Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon being played not long after he moved to Norwood in the 1990s. He decided to learn how to play the carillon and has been playing here since 1996. Before Leach, George Mahoney, Jr. was the only Norwood resident to play the Norwood carillon. Leach and Assistant Town Manager Bernie Cooper oversee the carillon. It is a volunteer position for Leach who coordinates the summer concert series, holiday performances and other special events, in addition to playing. There is now another Norwood resident and a few other regular players who are all volunteers.

The 2019 Summer Concert Series kicks off on Monday, June 24 at 7 pm and runs weekly until August 12. If Monday nights don’t work for you, Leach often plays during the farmers’ market on Tuesday afternoons. There will also be a concert on July 4th at 3 pm. The tower is generally open for visitors during or after performances for anyone who is curious to see the instrument. The library will be hosting “Meet the Carillonneurs” on Thursday, June 27 at 6:30 pm with Lee Leach and others who play the Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon.

If you have a third grader this year, s/he may go up in the carillon on their field trip to Town Hall. For youngsters who haven’t been up to the carillon, Rosie Meets the Carillon, by Kerri Lu is a story about a little girl whose grandmother plays.

Victoria Andrilenas is a Part-time Adult Services Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Look for her article in the May 30, 2019 issue of the Norwood Transcript.

arrow-sign-saying-celebrate

Cause for Celebration?

arrow-sign-saying-celebrateI was listening to the radio a while back when the DJ mentioned National Pizza Day. “Malarkey!” I said (or something like that.) Sure enough, when I did a Google search for national days, I found National Pizza Day listed on nationaldaycalendar.com. This is not to be confused with National Pizza Party Day (May 17.) Of course a little overlap is to be expected on a site that’s now tracking 1,500 national days, and where anyone can fill out a form to register a special day for annual recognition. I was relieved to see that the site doesn’t declare national days for individuals, since that literally requires an act of Congress.

My feelings about acknowledging every day as a special day mirror my philosophy about doling out awards to everyone who participates in an event: if everyone is a winner, then no one is. If every day was ‘special’ we would burn ourselves out in a frenzy of celebration, and start looking forward to doing nothing. Plus, too many days spent overindulging and our pants would no longer fit. Don’t forget how you feel every year by January 1st! That said, I do have a soft spot for certain recently invented national days. May 4th as Star Wars Day appeals to the punster in me (“May the fourth be with you,”) while March 14th as National Pi Day, for the mathematical constant that begins 3.14, appeals to my inner geek. It also appeals to my stomach, since it’s a great excuse to eat the homonymous dessert: pie. Still, I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to holidays. Beyond our ten federal holidays such as Independence Day, and national observances like Mother’s Day, I was curious to learn more about the days we celebrated before the recent proliferation of national days. A search in the Minuteman Library Network unearthed several interesting volumes.

I learned that while it is tempting to think of nouveau holidays as a trend-driven by social media, the reality is that our penchant for partying predates widespread use of the Internet. Alice van Straalen’s The Book of Holidays Around the World (published in 1986) is a charming compendium that boasts “at least one reason to celebrate on every day of the year.” As promised, it includes international celebrations from Norway’s Constitution Day (May 17) to the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival (August 18), in which people make offerings of food, money, clothing and such to their ancestors. The layout of this book provides one occasion to celebrate per calendar day, so some of the reasons are a bit thin. Numerous entries rely on famous author birthdays. Nevertheless, there’s not a whiff of National Donut Day or the other stuff trending now.

Anyone who objects to the questioning of author birthdays as a reason to celebrate will likely adore A Reader’s Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year, by Tom Nissley. True to its title, this book offers a full page dedicated to each day of the year including author birthdays and death dates as well as other reasons to celebrate, or lament. Readers can rejoice in the publication of various works, from the first volume of Cervantes’ Don Quixote (January 16, 1605) to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (October 12, 1979.) Or they can bow their heads over the misfortunes therein such as Ernest Hemingway’s various accidents and injuries, which are detailed across nine different dates! Births, deaths and other goings-on of fictional characters are also included. As an added bonus, Nissley thoughtfully introduces each month with a page of recommended reading.

As well as offering ideas for adding your own flair to holidays, The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays and Everyday by Meg Cox encourages finding new reasons to celebrate. In keeping with the other titles, it suggests celebrating author A.A. Milne’s birthday. It is, this book notes, important to personalize reading by having a sense of the author who created the characters we love. That, and “mid-January is a good time for a party, deep in the winter doldrums.” I have to admit that reading Milne at an indoor picnic with characters from the Hundred Acre Wood while munching on snacks made with honey sounds like a fine idea.

If we needed any further proof that people like to party, Anthony Aveni’s The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Seasonal Holidays offers insight into the origins of celebrations throughout the year. From “Happy New Year! But Why Now?” to “Christmas: From Resurrection to Rudolph,” Aveni progresses through the year offering a broad array of cultural perspectives. Of the origins of Labor Day, he writes that in 1882, “Defying authority, ten thousand men left their jobs and paraded up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue…” They apparently then had a picnic and rounded out the day with fireworks. It was such a hit that they kept repeating it, until it was formally established as a holiday.

So it would appear that we’ve been drumming up excuses to celebrate for a long time. In spite of my protestations that I’m a purist, and although I balked at the gambit of National Pizza Day, even I could not resist the excuse to celebrate with a slice of Sicilian on February 9th. I guess that’s what bothers me: the fabrication of special days as excuses to indulge somehow diminishes the celebrating we do on days of real import. I love birthday cake but if I ate it every day it would be less special. Yet viewing each and every day as a cause for celebration isn’t an inherently bad idea. I just hope that we can balance out all of the hedonism with a bit of temperance (it will make those indulgences even tastier!) In the meantime, maybe we can celebrate with a little altruism. National Random Acts of Kindness Day, anyone? Technically it’s February 17th, but there’s an idea worth celebrating every day.

Kirstie David is the Literacy/Outreach Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the May 23, 2019 issue of the Norwood Transcript.

Translate »
Skip to content