Online Event for Mystery Lovers!

 

On Thursday August 27th at 7 pm, mystery novelist Jeannette de Beauvoir is hosting a hilarious Improvisational Mystery Creation event via Zoom. Audience members will help supply the victim(s), the protagonist, the sidekick, the red herring, and the murderer… and will eventually put the entire story together!

Throughout the event, Jeannette uses these categories to weave in information about the genre and the craft: the difference between a cozy mystery and a procedural, the importance of sense of place, the formation of character, and the plot—which most certainly will include a twist.In less than 90 minutes you’ll have created a (semi)-coherent story to rival Agatha Christie—but having a lot more fun than Agatha ever did! 

Jeannette de Beauvoir is a bestselling novelist whose characters uncover truths and occasional dark secrets via mystery, historical, and literary fiction. Her work has been translated into 12 languages and she has been a Booksense Book-of-the-Year finalist.

Contact amcdonough@clamsnet.org for meeting access info, or register at this link:  https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYucO-gqTwrE9D4eWhUzCRu3EJbu4RR9PJj

Teens & Tweens: Participate in Battle of the Books!

This summer, Teens and Tweens can participate in the Martha's Vineyard Library Association's island-wide "Battle of the Books!" Participants read up to 6 books for their age group, and compete in a trivia contest over Zoom to win 1st, 2nd, & 3rd prize gift certificates from Bunch of Grapes.

Registration is required for these events that will take place online via Zoom. A week before the event, all registrants will receive an email with specific details on how to participate. See sign up information and books lists for for each age group below:

Tween Battle of the Books, 7 pm, Friday August 21st

Ages 8-12

Sign-up here https://tinyurl.com/yd3aa7qr

Tween Battle of the Books List:

• Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper
• Drama by Raina Telgemeier
• Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
• We are the Change by Selino Alko
• Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
• The Giver by Lois Lowry

Teen Battle of the Books, 7 pm, Friday August 28th

Ages 13-18

Sign-up here https://tinyurl.com/y7vcbm94

Teen Battle of the Books List:

• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
• There You Are by Mathea Morais
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Undefeated by Steve Sheinkin
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Register for Fall Literature Seminar on Toni Morrison with Phil Weinstein

Register Online

This year the library's annual literature seminar with Philip Weinstein will be presented as a series of virtual events on Zoom. Professor Weinstein will be discussing the works of Toni Morrison, one of the 20th Century’s most influential novelists and intellectuals, and recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Nobel Prize in Literature. The class will be reading four novels, including The Bluest Eye, Sula, The Song of Solomon, and Beloved. 

Philip Weinstein is Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor of English Emeritus at Swarthmore College. He has been offering literary seminars in cooperation with the Vineyard Haven Public Library since 2012. His publications include Henry James and the Requirements of the Imagination (1971), The Semantics of Desire: Changing Models of Identity from Dickens to Joyce (1984), Faulkner’s Subject: A Cosmos No One Owns (1992), What Else But Love? The Ordeal of Race in Faulkner and Morrison (1996), Unknowing: The Work of Modernist Fiction (2005), Becoming Faulkner(2009), and Jonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage (2015).  He is currently working on a book of essays entitled Soul-Error.

In order to allow the library to distribute class materials and communicate with students, participants should register online. Prior to the first class, registered participants will receive a welcome email with Zoom access information and a reading guide.

Dates and reading assignments:

Wednesday, September 16th, 5:30 pm
The Bluest Eye -- Request the book or Checkout the eBook
Reading guide

Wednesday, September 30th, 5:30 pm
Sula -- Request the book or Checkout the eBook

Wednesday, October 14th, 5:30 pm
Song of Solomon, part I -- Request the book or Checkout the eBook

Wednesday, October 28th, 5:30 pm
Song of Solomon, part II

Thursday, November 12th, 5:30 pm
Beloved, part I -- Request the book or Checkout the eBook

Wednesday, December 2nd, 5:30 pm
Beloved, part II

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This year, Professor Weinstein will also be presenting a series on James Joyce's Ulysses with Swarthmore's Lifelong Learning program starting in September. For more information, visit https://www.swarthmore.edu/alumni-resources-events/lifelong-learning-swarthmore

Adult Books: Bestsellers, New on the Shelf, and Coming Soon!

Join Vineyard Haven Library's "Standing Order" program to automatically order forthcoming books from your favorite popular authors. Just fill out our online form, and library staff will add you to the advance hold list for any future books by the authors you select. This program helps the library know how many books to order, and places our patrons higher on the waiting list since holds are placed prior to publication. Sign up for Standing Orders here: https://forms.gle/RCqwheVUm8ndimJ46

For other ways to choose titles, see what's new and popular, and learn what's coming soon:

• Visit the "New Books" page on our website to see books added to the collection this week. This page is updated weekly, and includes a description for each title and a direct link to the CLAMS catalog to place a request online. Visit:  http://www.vhlibrary.org/newbooks.shtml
  
  
• Our "Books on the Air" page makes it easy to find books you've heard discussed on NPR and talk shows. This weekly update is published every Friday. Visit:http://www.vhlibrary.org/booksizzle.shtml
  
  
• Our CLAMS library network maintains list of top requested titles, forthcoming books that have been ordered for CLAMS libraries, award winners, and more. Visit https://library.clamsnet.org/screens/newpoptitles_encore.html
  
  
• Try Novelist! Created especially for people who love books, NoveList Plus is the premier online database for reading recommendations, for readers of all ages. You will need your CLAMS library card number to login to Novelist.
  

Video of Pamela Paul Event now Streaming

Recording of Pamela Paul Event Available For those who were unable to attend, the recent virtual event with New York Times Book Review Editor Pamela Paul, co-author of "How to Raise a Reader" was recorded and the video will be available for online viewing until August 18th, 2020 -- visit https://bit.ly/301NRQb.  Pamela Paul is the editor of the New York Times Book Review and oversees books coverage at the New York Times, which she joined in 2011 as the children’s books editor. She is also the host of the weekly Book Review podcast for the Times. She is the author and editor of five books, including My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues, and How to Raise a Reader, co-authored with Maria Russo. Her work has appeared in the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the New York Times Magazine, Time, the New York Times Education Life, the Economist, Vogue, Psychology Today, and other national publications. This event was presented as a conversation facilitated by Vineyard Haven seasonal resident Maureen Sullivan, a widely-recognized leader and educator in the library profession and past president of the American Library Association. This event was sponsored by the Vineyard Haven Public Library Building Fund, Inc., a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization formed in 2018 to raise funds for improvements to the library building at 200 Main Street. Creating an open, spacious, and well-ventilated place for our community is more important than ever. The expanded and redesigned interior and exterior spaces will provide the flexibility the library requires to provide future services with greater safety and comfort. For more information including renderings of the proposed design, visit the Vineyard Haven Public Library Building Fund website.

Library Can Print Documents for CLAMS Cardholders

Library computers are not available for public use, however the library can now print documents for patrons to pick up during scheduled pickup hours. Send the document you would like to have printed to vhpl_mail@clamsnet.org as an email attachment. Please include your name, phone number, and CLAMS card number in the email. Library staff will contact you to schedule pickup when your printout is ready.

Printing charges of 25 cents per page will be added to your CLAMS account, and may be paid by check mailed to the library, or in-person when the library building reopens in the future. If you do not have a CLAMS account, you can register for a temporary card here: https://library.clamsnet.org/selfreg

"Safer at Home" Home Delivery Service

The Center for Disease Control has indicated that older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. View the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on People Who Need Extra Precautions: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-at-higher-risk.html

If you believe you are in this category, you may contact the library to designate a family member or friend to pick up materials on your behalf. Please contact us at (508) 696-4210 to update your account to allow someone to pick up your items.

If you do not have someone who can pick up materials for you, the library will be providing limited, temporary home delivery services to Tisbury residents. Contact the Library Director at (508) 696-4210 or email vhpl_delivery@clamsnet.org for more information.

For library patrons who may continue to feel safer staying home, all libraries will continue to offer you digital materials, services, programs and support.

Digital Library offerings include downloadable eBooks and eAudiobooks from Overdrive, streaming video from Kanopy and AcornTV, and online learning resources including Creativebug arts & crafts, Mango language learning, and Universal Class. Additional resources such as Hoopla are available to all Massachusetts residents from the Boston Public Library. Library staff will be happy to assist you in getting started with these services.