The Milton Public Library continues to offer some fun and uplifting events for adults and families on December, 2020

In the month of December, the Milton Public Library continues to offer some fun and uplifting events for adults and families as we move into the holiday season.  On Wednesday, 12/2 at 7 PM, Library Director Will Adamczyk will hold a virtual meeting via Zoom of his Local History Book Group.  The title to be read in advance is Black Bostonians by James Horton (c1999).  This work creates a profile of African American Bostonians by examining lifestyles, family structure, culture, community, religion, and marriage patterns.  The title brings to light many individual people of color who lived and worked in Boston, including the North End and Beacon Hill communities.  We encourage you to participate in this lively discussion about the book with Will via Zoom.  To reserve a copy of the title, please call the Reference Dept. at (617) 898-4964 or go to our online catalog at www.miltonlibrary.org    Advance registration is open now at our website, as advance signup is required.

Then if you want to attend an “armchair concert,” there will be a streamed one-hour Facebook music program dedicated to the Great American Songbook shown on Thursday, 12/3 at 7 PM.  Talented vocalist Les Sampou will perform live on our Facebook page, accompanied by her pianist Ed Grenga, as part of a group called “The Dirty Martinis.”  This singer will not only entertain us with her beautiful voice and lots of familiar jazz tunes, but there will be some holiday songs included to inspire us all.  Ms. Sampou, who is also a talented songwriter and guitarist who hails from the South Shore, has 7 Rounder Records albums to her credit and if you have not heard her sing before, you are in for a treat!  Ace pianist Grenga brilliantly arranges classics for Les made famous by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Peggy Lee, George Gershwin and Harold Arlen, for example tunes like “Ain’t Misbehavin,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and “Silver Bells” will be included.  You do NOT need to have a Facebook account to watch this program and it is NOT via Zoom, but you can just sign up in advance at our website per usual and once registered, you will receive a URL address via Email to paste into your browser to get to the Library’s Facebook page.  On December 3rd starting at 7 PM the musicians will perform live there for you to enjoy.  For questions about this streamed concert, please Email [email protected] and we hope you will attend this virtual festive event to celebrate the holidays!

The next virtual program via Zoom will be an author talk by Professor Russ Lopez on Tuesday, 12/8 at 7 PM, about his book called The Hub of the Gay Universe: An LGBTQ History of Boston, Provincetown and Beyond (April 2019).  Mr. Lopez has written this excellent summary of LGBTQ people who have been an important presence in Massachusetts since the coming of Europeans in 1620.  They challenged gender, social, and sex norms in the 17th century, and contributed to the great effort to liberate LGBTQ people everywhere in the 20th and 21st centuries.  From the Trans Day of Remembrance to same-sex marriage, Boston has been at the forefront of the battle for LGBTQ rights.  Meanwhile Provincetown has been welcoming LGBTQ people to its beaches and nightspots since at least World War I.  Professor Lopez is a native of California and attended Stanford University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  He also has a doctorate from the Boston University School of Public Health, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Environmental Health at Boston University.  He has produced a book of this magnitude working with many others, including the History Project which holds the archives of LGBTQ people of Boston, and he did extensive research at the Boston Athenaeum, the New York Public Library, Northeastern University archives, Harvard University, and Historic New England, just to name a few.  Advance registration is required and we hope you will find Russ’ fascinating talk informative and educational.  Signup is open now and if you would like to borrow a copy of the book, call the Reference Dept. at (617) 898-4964 or place a hold online at www.miltonlibrary.org

The Virtual Library Knitting Group will meet again on Saturday, 12/12 at 10 AM via Zoom, and in this informal get together, you will find the opportunity to greet people to chat and share your projects.  You will have friends on hand to ask advice about your knitting, and all fiber artists are invited to attend.  If you would like to join, please Email [email protected] and she will make sure you get on the organizer’s list to start receiving the Zoom links.  We hope you will check out this fun program!

On Tuesday, December 15th, at 7 PM, there will be an online author talk with James Patterson about two of his most recent books, and this program will include an interview with Hank Phillippi Ryan.  James Patterson is the world’s bestselling author and most trusted storyteller.  He has created many enduring fictional characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Middle School, and I Funny.  Among his notable literary collaborations are The President is Missing, with President Bill Clinton, and the Max Einstein series, produced in partnership with the Albert Einstein Estate.  The National Book Foundation recently presented Patterson with the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, and he is also the recipient of an Edgar Award and six Emmy Awards.  Hank Phillipi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of 12 thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre; five Agathas, four Anthonys, the Daphne, and for The Other Woman, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award.  She is also on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, with 37 Emmys and dozens more journalism honors.   To sign up for this enjoyable program, go to this link:  www.crowdcast.io/e/1c92w0bh

Then on Wednesday, December 16th, at 7 PM, college teacher and historian Sally Cragin is back with a fun Zoom talk called “Winter Celebration: Prints of Plenty – A Visit with Currier and Ives.”  This event has a new date but we hope you will still join us.  Printmakers Charles Currier and James Ives were in-law relations and revolutionalized home décor with their lithography business during the 19^th century.  Ms. Cragin will examine prints, and talk about their themes (the beauty of New England, tragic accidents!) and at the end of the program, the audience can look at a REAL C&I print in Sally’s collection.  Their story is the story of America in the 19^th century as they pioneered the assembly line, as well as introduced everyone to the dramatic landscapes of the frontier, as well as reminding us all about “home sweet home.”  Did you know they also specialized in disasters and competitions?  Horse racing was one of their most popular themes.  Advance registration is required and signup is open now at our website at this link:

https://tinyurl.com/y5h8u7xz

You can sign up for all of these programs at this link:    https://tinyurl.com/y5h8u7xz  and they are kindly sponsored by the Friends of the Milton Public Library.  For more information, you can Email Librarian Jean Hlady at [email protected] or check www.miltonlibrary.org and click on “events.”  Here’s the direct link for registration for all of these events:  https://tinyurl.com/y5h8u7xz