Great News for Kindle Users! Free Library eBooks are Now Available for Your Device!

The Vineyard Haven Public Library is pleased to announce that our downloadable eBooks are now compatible with the Kindle eReader. This update allows most existing eBooks in the library’s collection to be read on all Kindle devices or by using free Kindle apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile devices.

Here is the process for checking out a library eBook for Kindle:

• Visit the CLAMS ‘Virtual Branch’ website: http://clamsnet.lib.overdrive.com/
  
• Browse and "check out" a Kindle book, using your CLAMS library card number.
• Click the ‘Get for Kindle’ button. This opens the Amazon.com website. You may be required to sign in with your Amazon.com account if you are not already logged in.
• Select a Kindle device or Kindle reading app. Click the ‘Get library book’ button and sync your device or app to download the book, or choose to send it to your device via USB.
• An active Wi-Fi connection is required for wireless delivery to a Kindle device. If your Kindle is not Wi-Fi capable or you do not have an active Wi-Fi connection, read Amazon’s instructions for transferring files via USB.

CLAMS patrons may check out up to 5 books at a time for a two-week checkout period. If a book is currently checked out to another patron, you may place a hold on the item and will receive an email notification when the eBook becomes available. For more information, visit the "My Help" section on the CLAMS digital downloads website.

Freegal: Download Music from the Vineyard Haven Public Library

The Vineyard Haven Public Library now offers free MP3 music file downloads on its website through Freegal Music. Freegal Music is an online service that provides access to over 500,000 songs from Sony Music artists, and new music is added to the collection daily.

The music files are DRM-free and do not expire, and are compatible with PCs, Macs, iPods, iPads and other MP3-compatible devices. Vineyard Haven Library cardholders are eligible for two MP3 downloads per week. A Library card number and PIN is necessary to access and download songs.

To view, browse and download music from Freegal, go to www.vhlibrary.org and scroll down the page to find the "Freegal Music Collection."

Discount Passes to the Museum of Fine Art Available Now

Discount passes for the Museum of Fine Art in Boston have been made possible again this year by generous donations from the community to the Friends Annual Appeal for the Library. Passes may be picked up at the library and used any time through November 30th, 2012. Each pass will admit up to two visitors at a reduced admission of $7.00 per person, payable at the museum. Passes do not need to be returned to the library.

The MFA has recently undergone an historic expansion, opening an expanded Art of the Americas Wing. Catalogs from several current exhibits are also available at the library, including Degas and the Nude, Ellsworth Kelly: Wood Sculpture, and Modernist Photography: 1910–1950.

The MFA is free to children ages 7-17 on weekdays after 3pm, weekends, and public school holidays.

Art in the Stacks: Bill Buckley

The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library are pleased to present an exhibit of paintings by Bill Buckley. The exhibit will be on display during regular library hours throughout the month of December. "Art in the Stacks" is an initiative of the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library, to provide individual artists an opportunity to show their work, and for library patrons to enjoy art at the library throughout the year.

Artist's Statement:

My name is Bill Buckley and I would like to share with you my enthusiasm for painting. Through the forty years I have been painting I have found countless points of inspiration allowing me to work in various mediums. As a painter I work mostly in acrylics, oils and mixed media, but I also enjoy drawing, printmaking and sculpture. I am interested in contrast in colors, the geometry of lines and circles, and visual imagery. My influences are many, and include Picasso, Monet, Gauguin, Botticelli, Magritte, Hopper and Dali to name a few. Much of my subject matter comes from inner visions and dreams and looking at the world though an abstract eye. I have recently been painting more on location and I use the Martha's Vineyard scenery as inspiration.

For more information on this artist, visit http://paintingsbybillbuckley.com

Take our Survey to Participate in the Future of the Library

The Library is planning ahead and setting our priorities and goals for the next 5 years. Your input is critical as we develop our Long Range Plan. What is important to you? What can we improve or add to make the library more valuable to you? Your responses will help in the process and help the community in years to come.

You may complete a brief survey with some demographic information and 20 yes or no questions, or, if you have more time, a longer version. To take the survey online, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/vhlibrary. Hard copies are also available at the library.

Tony Horwitz and Sheldon Hackney: John Brown's Raid and the Origin of the Civil War

On Wednesday, December 14th at 7pm, please join us as we host a discussion of the significance of the 1859 bloody raid on the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry by anti-slavery activist John Brown and a small group of his followers. Leading the discussion will be Pulitzer Prize winning author and Island resident Tony Horwitz and noted historian Sheldon Hackney, David Boies Professor of History, Emeritus and retired president of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Horwitz’s book Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War was published in October and currently sits on many bestseller lists. The evening’s program will not a be a lecture but a moderated discussion with the audience, so to get the most of out of the event, participants should have at least some familiarity with the history of the raid and its aftermath. (Reading Horwitz’s book would be a great way to prepare for the discussion. Several copies of Midnight Rising are at the library, and it’s available for sale at Bunch of Grapes bookstore.) Refreshments and a book signing will follow the discussion. Please join us for what is certain to be an evening of stimulating conversation.

This program kicks off six months of programs at the library related to the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and Emancipation. At the heart of the programming is a seminar series sponsored by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Let’s Talk About it Series, entitled “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War”. The “Let’s Talk About It” format was developed by the ALA and NEH to promote the use of public libraries as centers of education, communication among citizens, and exploration of the ideas of what America is all about. The “Let’s Talk About It” program will also feature Dr. Hackney as Program Scholar and discussion leader.

"Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War", has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. http://www.vhlibrary.org/civilwar.shtml#series

"Let's Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War"

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULL.

"Let's Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War" is designed as a series of five conversations exploring different facets of the Civil War experience, informed by reading the words written or uttered by powerful voices from the past and present, and complemented by related programming before and during the series. These conversations include both short introductory lectures and small discussion groups led by facilitators.

The group will meet the following Tuesday evenings at 7pm:

Session One (January 10th)"Imagining War"

Session Two (February 7th)"Choosing Sides"

Session Three (March 6th) "Making Sense of Shiloh"

Session Four (April 17th) "The Shape of War"

Session Five (May 8th) " War and Freedom"

The program is designed to probe meanings of the Civil War that are “hidden in plain sight” behind the key questions and main characters so familiar to us. Program participants may be surprised to encounter in the readings such a large cast of characters, so broad a range of perspectives, and so dense a web of circumstances. After considering the vast sweep and profound breadth of Civil War experience, participants will understand that the American Civil War was not a single thing, or a simple thing. And yet they will also see emancipation—the end of the most powerful system of slavery in the modern world—takes its place as the central story of the war.

The discussions will be led by Dr. Sheldon Hackney, PhD., David Boies Professor of History, Emeritus and retired president of the University of Pennsylvania. As part of the program, group discussions will be held once per month from January through May on the following works:

• March, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Island resident Geraldine Brooks
• Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam, by James McPherson
• America’s War: Talking about the Civil War and Emancipation on their 150th Anniversaries, an anthology of historical fiction, speeches, diaries, memoirs, biographies and short stories edited by national project scholar Edward L. Ayers.
• Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War, Essay by Edward L. Ayers, President, University of Richmond.

Each session will include an introductory talk by Dr. Hackney, sometimes followed by a guest speaker, after which smaller groups will be formed to discuss suggested open ended questions. Each discussion group will have a facilitator. At the end of each session, the entire group will reconvene to share insights.

Program participants will be given packets of information, including the three books. The library hopes this series will be on the order of a college symposium. This means that homework is important and expected. Everybody is welcome, of course, as long as they’re willing to do the homework and read the assignments before the discussion sessions.

For additional information, including a list of reading assignments, online resources, and suggestions for further reading, visit the library's "Let's Talk About It" webpage at www.vhlibrary.org/civilwar.shtml

Packets for "Let's Talk About It" may be picked up at the library on December 15th.

"Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War", has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.