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Bass Harbor Memorial Library

Celebrate Our Community with Books!

Bass Harbor Memorial Library
89 Bernard Road, PO Box 99
Bernard, Maine 04612

Voice & Fax (207) 244-3798

Panel Discussion

March 18, 2023 By Librarian

Women’s History Month : Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we want to celebrate the voices of these notable women. The women here are changing our world for the better with their storytelling prowess. From them, we can learn many lessons about storytelling.

Come listen and talk to these women from our community that are working to make contributions to society in countless ways, including through the power of storytelling. 

Please join us on Thursday, March 23rd at 6 PM at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library, 89 Bernard Road, Bass Harbor. Our panelists will include:

Sara Trunzo is a songwriter, curator, and community organizer (Veggies For All, Waldo County Bounty) who delivers songs with, what Adobe and Teardrops describe as, “a sense of empathy that few songwriters can attain.” Lonesome Highway says her latest EP, Cabin Fever Dream, is “loaded with truly touching lyrics and provide[s] a glimpse of an unquestionably talented artist.” Her 2019 LP Dirigo Attitude reached #22 on the Folk Alliance International chart and featured Darrell Scott and Mary Gauthier. The lead single “Food and Medicine” reached #3 on the Folk Alliance International chart, won 1st prize at the 2018 Maine Songwriters Association contest, and was a runner-up in the 2023 International Acoustic Music Awards. Sara is the host of ‘Country & Northeastern’ on WERU Community Radio. FMI: www.saratrunzo.com and socials @saratrunzomusic.

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Kristen Britain grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where she started her first novel – an undersea fantasy featuring herself and her friends – at the age of nine. She published her first book, a cartoon collection called, Horses and Horsepeople, at the age of thirteen. In 1987 she completed a degree in film production, with a minor in writing, at Ithaca College. After graduation, travel beckoned and she began a career as a ranger with the National Park Service, enabling her to work in a variety of natural and historical settings, from 300 feet below the surface of the Earth to 13,000 feet above sea level on the Continental Divide; and from the textile mills of the American Industrial Revolution to the homes of Americans who changed the course of history. Her first published epic fantasy novel, Green Rider, the story of a runaway school girl who finds herself in deep peril when she agrees to bear a message for a dying Green Rider (king’s messenger), was released in 1998.

She lives in the woods of Maine with two cats, and a West Highland White Terrier (who cosplays as a Hillander Terrier).

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Sarah Hinckley is a two-time Islander reporter who grew up in western Maine and first made her way to Mount Desert Island for a summer job 30 years ago. While working as a journalist in Maine and Vermont, she reported on town and capital politics, education policy, and news, as well as everyday happenings like seeping lobsters in THC and Christmas bird counts. Capturing the stories of now and highlighting the characters who make them history is a great responsibility, which Hinckley doesn’t take lightly. Currently, she is working as the director of a nursery school, capturing her own story of raising two small children.

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Weslea Sidon is a poet and musician who lives in Seal Cove, Maine, on Mt. Desert Island, with her husband, cats, and big plans to finish the garden and the kitchen.

Her poems have appeared in several anthologies and literary magazines, including, most recently, Paumonok, Poems and Pictures of Long Island, and Still on the Island, as well as Two With Water, Wolf Moon, and Off the Coast Food Issue: Tounge & Taste. A column, “Permanently From Away,” appeared regularly in Face Magazine for two years, and reviews, mostly music, have appeared in the Mt. Desert Islander, Bar Harbor Times, Off the Coast, and High-Performance Magazine. Her favorite prose work was for the late, lamented Squash.

Weslea teaches guitar privately and has taught poetry and creative writing to children aged 10–16 at the Summer Festival of the Arts since 1989. She was awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship in Poetry in 2002.

Filed Under: Coming Soon, Current Events, Events, Front Page Slider, Library News, Uncategorized, Upcoming Events

On Our Walls

March 2, 2023 By Librarian

Image: “Soundings,” a mixed media collage on paper by Kathie Pratt, Dawn Nuding, and Michele Marks

The Bass Harbor Memorial Library joins with other island libraries to celebrate Women’s History Month, March 2023. This year’s theme, “Women Who Tell Our Stories,” will bring together island artists to honor women storytellers. The exhibition will feature artworks in a range of mediums from watercolor to hooked rugs, knit banners, screenprints, and more. The library will host a reception for the exhibit on Thursday, March 9th from 5-7 PM. The show will be up for the month of March, and can be viewed during regular library hours.

 

Filed Under: Coming Soon, Current Events, Events, Front Page Slider, Library News, On Our Walls, Online Events/ Galleries, Uncategorized

Creating Future Gardeners on MDI

November 30, 2022 By Librarian

(Left to Right) Westside Summer Gardening Club participants: Oliver Presa-Guzman, Delfina Presa-Guzman, and Maddy Wedge with the program’s co-lead Linda Woolley of the Bar Harbor Garden Club, cutting zinnias at their plot at the Kelley Farm Preserve. Photograph courtesy of the Bar Harbor Garden Club.

This summer the Bar Harbor Garden Club (BHGC) and the Bass Harbor Memorial Library (BHML) launched the Westside Summer Garden Club, a first-time program designed to foster a life-long interest in gardening and horticulture among youth between ages 8 and 14. The program, which began in June and ended this fall, was co-led by BHGC members Douglas Heden and Linda Wooley with support from BHML librarian Lisa Murray. Read the full article here.

Filed Under: Front Page Slider, Library News, Uncategorized

Donate to the 2022/2023 Annual Appeal

October 22, 2022 By Librarian


The Bass Harbor Memorial Library is a tax-exempt organization under the Town of Tremont, EIN # 01-6000399

To donate with a credit card online, click the button above

 

CHECKS
If you would like to make a donation by mail, please make your check out to the Town of Tremont, with Bass Harbor Memorial Library on the memo line, and send to:

Library Director
Bass Harbor Memorial Library
PO Box 99
Bernard, ME 04612

STOCKS
If you would like to donate stocks, please contact the Library Director, at librarian@bassharborlibrary.com  or 207-244-3798 with the name and number of stocks to be donated.

Your broker can contact Ron Hamilton at Bar Harbor Trust Services at rhamilton@infinexgroup.com or 207-667-9963. Our DTC # (0443) and Brokerage Account number NFL066760  Account Name: Town of Tremont/Bass Harbor Memorial Library.

 

Filed Under: Front Page Slider, Library News Tagged With: Annual Appeal, donate, Fundraising

Introducing Bendable Maine!

August 25, 2022 By Librarian

The Bass Harbor Memorial Library is proud to introduce Bendable Maine, a robust learning marketplace, in partnership with the Maine State Library. Bendable Maine allows residents of all ages and backgrounds to easily discover and access content that is just right for them on a wide variety of subjects and then acquire new knowledge and skills through online courses as well as local, in-person learning opportunities. The vast majority of the learning made available through the system is free to residents of the state. (When there is a cost to the user, it is clearly indicated.) Having people attain new skills so that they can improve their job prospects is extremely important, so much of the learning on Bendable Maine is work-related. The platform includes career pathways, backed by Maine employers, where you can earn a digital badge, giving you a leg up in your job search.

At the same time, Bendable Maine has resources on a wide variety of topics, including cooking healthier meals, handling personal finances, fixing things around the house, understanding technology—even foraging for mushrooms.

The platform features personal learning playlists from individual residents across Maine. It also has lots of resources from state and local providers (the university and community college systems, career centers, adult education programs, music schools, art museums and many others), along with a wide range of national providers (including study.com, edX, GCFGlobal and a dozen more). To check out Bendable Maine, visit maine.bendable.com.

Filed Under: Front Page Slider, Library News Tagged With: Bendable Maine

2021 Book Reviews

December 29, 2021 By Librarian

Staff, Trustee, Patron and Volunteer favorites in 2021. Some new titles, some older

Lisa Murray, Director: For fiction, I was absorbed in the Ishmael Series, by Daniel Quinn (Ishmael, The Story of B & My Ishmael) . It is impossible to give a pat description of what these three books are about, as they all explore modern animism in one way or another. All three explore modern society and its hypocrisy, ranging from world hunger and poverty and the disparity from the connection with all living species and our environment. Featuring a gorilla as teacher. Yes, it is fiction, but there’s a lot to think about in each of these thin volumes.

Maps and wayfinding are a passion of mine and I was thrilled to have a friend recommend Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World, by M.R. O’Connor. The book delves into how people have managed to find their way across the globe well before the advent of not only GPS, but paper or even primitive tools. Part neuroscience, part cultural travelogue, the title reinforced by love of exploration via natural landmarks and phenomena, paper maps, and word of mouth. I now understand why every Mainer has a well-worn copy of the Gazetteer in their vehicle!

A library patron recently recommended Everything Was Possible to me, as a fascinating look into the making of the Stephen Sondheim musical, Follies. She specifically found the process of pulling all the pieces together so quickly fascinating. Published in 2005, author Ted Chapin was a production assistant at the creation of one of the greatest Broadway musicals, Follies. He kept a journal of everything he saw and heard and was able to document how the musical was created. Now, more than thirty years later, he has fashioned an extraordinary chronicle. At a time when many of us are missing live theatre, this title will help you get your stage fix.

Carey Donovan, Substitute & Volunteer: One of my favorite books this year was Madame Fourcade’s Secret War by Lynne Olson.  This is the true story of an upper class French woman who headed a major spy ring in France during World War II. The intelligence her group delivered to the British was of high value to the Allies. It did not come easy. The story of what she and her compatriots accomplished is stunning. Her role was not widely known or celebrated after the war, but this book gives her the credit she is due.  In addition to being a gripping story, it also gives a realistic picture of what life was like in France during World War II and the various ways in which people coped.

Peter Madeira, Library Board: No matter where you sit on the national political spectrum, The Room Where it Happened, by John Bolton is an excellent insider’s take on how the White House functioned during the eighteen months that Bolton was National Security Advisor for Donald Trump.  Bolton, who had worked in the White House for other Republican presidents (Reagan and both Bush’s) was stunned by the chaos and disorganization he saw during Trump’s tenure.  Decisions were always made with an eye toward the effect on the hoped-for re-election. Bolton was involved with challenging diplomatic issues as far ranging as Ukraine, North Korea, China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela.  Many of these have had far reaching impacts on the United States diplomatic policy going forward. At over 500 pages it is not light reading but well worth it if you are interested in recent history, national politics and diplomacy.

Melinda Rice-Schoon, Library Board: I loved Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce, about a middle-aged woman in post World War II England setting out on a quest to find a mythical beetle in New Caledonia with the help of an unlikely companion. It’s poignant, funny, feminist and a great adventure story with very unlikely heroines and it has an ending that is unexpected and very satisfying.

Art Paine, Library Board: I have many to recommend, but I think I’d start with Lost Connections by Johann Hari.  It’s supposed to be a book about his own journalistic quest to learn and reveal everything about modern treatment of depression and anxiety. This from an author who had been using antidepressant drugs since the age of 17. He points out that the incidence of depression has steadily increased over the past 20 years, and gone ballistic during Covid. He’s come to the conclusion that SSRI drugs are hardly effective at all, and that people ought to stop blaming themselves and chemical imbalances in their brains, and begin realizing that the society around them is broken, depressing, and anxiety provoking. He proposes various fixes, but first of all he makes a good case that Big Pharma and drugs are no answer. It was a great book mostly for the view it presented about modern Western Civilization.

Kathie Pratt, Library Board: Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics  by Dolly Parton and Robert K. Oermann is a big book with a beautiful cover photo of a young Dolly. It’s best enjoyed with Youtube, so you can listen along while reading the lyrics.  The book is richly illustrated with photographs from an era when good photos were an art form, not just pics from a smartphone.  Its language is simple and straightforward, so you really get the sense that it comes right from the source.  Dolly never forgets her roots, and her sincerity and humility is evident on every page.  As she often describes herself, she may be artificial on the outside but she’s as real as it gets on the inside.  Even if you are not a country music fan, you gotta love Dolly.

I read A Fair Wind Home  by Ruth Moore so many years ago, I’d forgotten exactly what it was about.  So I picked it up again and could barely put it down.  I am an avid Moore fan, and feel that she’s spoiled me for other fiction.  Nothing ever quite compares.  It was her 6th novel, a sort of prequel to Candlemas Bay.  Set in the 1700’s, it tells the origin of the fictional Ellis family.  It is an adventure story, complete with pirates, romance, treasure, betrayal, arson, and murder.   It has a different feel than her other works, yet in her usual signature way, she weaves in exquisite descriptions of the land and seascape, and zeroes in on the inner thoughts of choice characters.  It makes me want to reread Candlemas Bay, which was a more present day look at the Ellis family when it was written in 1950. 

 A sixth grade student turned me on to Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone.  I have only read a few chapters, but so far so good.  It was written for middle school readers, but it’s high quality and interesting to this adult as well.  The main plot is that some girls stand up against an unfair, sexist, body-shaming dress code at their school.  Just a few pages in and my blood was boiling at that all-too-familiar injustice.  Growing up in the 2nd wave of feminism, I could relate.  I was sad, but not surprised that 50 years later, girls are still dealing with it.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Amanda Crafts, Librarian: It is possible, if you had read a few of author Gary Paulsen’s obituaries when he died this past fall, that you might think that you had a knowledge of his early life. But Gone to the Woods- Surviving a Lost Childhood By Gary Paulsen, which was published earlier in 2021, fills in the gaps. Suddenly the reader is aware of exactly how his beginnings shaped the man and the author. Told primarily in the third person, Paulsen removes the emotion from his story. His story, however, in it’s stark retelling, will cause emotion enough in the reader. Paulsen’s books speak to his excellent storytelling, often encouraging reluctant readers. The Newbery Prize winning author of Hatchet and 200 other books aimed primarily for young readers has often focused on survival, exploration &  adventure.  The retelling of his own life story is no different; causing the reader to wonder how he survived such a chaotic and dysfunctional childhood.

During this Covid Crisis, I found comfort in another Pandemic Book. (Yes, there is an entire group of them!) Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks is one of my favorite novels of all time, so it was not difficult to leave our current pandemic for the plague of 1666 in a tiny village in England. There is much to be thankful for in our present situation, especially compared to life and medical beliefs back then. This village understood that SOMEHOW the “plague seeds” had been brought to the village, probably from London. As a community, they decided to act for the good of the towns that were nearby and they quarantined themselves from any outside contact. It was eye-opening to see how human nature tends to react in similar ways, no matter what the scientific ”knowledge” is at any given time.

I have loved the work of Laura Amy Schlitz for years. She writes primarily for young readers and her books are very different from one another in their style. However, her newest, Amber and Clay, is completely unique. Set in ancient Greece and the surrounding area, the reader gets to know two children as they travel to new lands and grow into teenagers. These two stories are told separately, until the lives of the artistic slave and the tempermental daughter of a wealthy family, both of whom seem to be trapped with no options for their future, are woven together. Newbery Award winner Schlitz weaves the epic tale like a drama of the time, complete with Gods and Goddesses making humorous comments to the audience,  together with appearances of a Greek Chorus and rather unbelievable events.

Jory John and Pete Oswald have done it again! The Smart Cookie is added to their picture book collection of The Good Egg, The Bad Seed and The Cool Bean. The cookie, the main character of this story, most certainly does not feel smart, quite the opposite. After a school assignment that gets Cookie to see things in a slightly different way, Cookie’s view of themselves changes for the better. Everyone in this quartet of hilarious books, The Egg, The Seed,The Bean and The Cookie, ALL have views of themselves that kids will recognize…even as the characters learn that THEY are more than what they seem at face value. Kids love these books…and so do adults!

Book we look forward to reading in 2022

Landslide, Susan Conley

Things in Jars, Jess Kid

Violeta, Isabelle Allende

Young Mungo, Douglas Stuart

The Candy House, Jennifer Egan

The Pull of the Stars, by Emma Donoghue

World of Wonders -In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Harvest -The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects by Edward Posnett

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer

Filed Under: Front Page Slider, Reader's Advisory

Hours and Building Procedure

November 4, 2020 By Librarian

March 15, 2022 The library is fully open during scheduled hours, without patron number limits. Masks are optional but required in the children’s area when others are present. All of our services are available, from browsing newspapers, books, and magazines, to computer use and interlibrary loan. In-person programming and meetings are now welcome inside the library.

Please be respectful of staff and patron’s decisions around masking and distancing.

The Library at 89 Bernard Rd in Bernard is open to the public on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10-5, Thursday from 10-8, and Saturday from 10-2.

We have a wonderful new space and are very excited to welcome you back! Please don’t hesitate to email or call me with any questions at 207-244-3798.

Lisa Murray, Director

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Front Page Slider, Library News, Uncategorized

New Books at BHML

October 29, 2020 By Librarian

This Bookshelf does not exist

March 2022

A child
A Dangerous new world
A drop of hope
A red herring without mustard
Anxiety relief for teens
As chimney sweepers come to dust
Atlas of the heart
Because of the rabbit
Belly button book!
cecilys summer
Cloud cuckoo land
Everything was possible
Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots
Feelings
Find your fierce
Fussy flamingo
glenns complete bicycle manual
Gone to the woods
Heritage skills
home herbal
Hoop dreams : modern hand embroidery
horses
I love my tutu too!
I
Joe Biden
Last night at the Telegraph Club
Last winter
let it rot
llama llama, nighty night
maine off the beaten path
March. Book three
Mending matters
NurtureShock : new thinking about children
Oh William! : a novel
Opening up by writing it down
Other words for home
Pathmakers
Plagues and pandemics
Restart
Ruby in the sky
Run. Book one
Self-compassion
Songs of ships and sailors
Sparks like stars : a novel
State of terror : a novel
sweet dreams, maisy
Tacky :
Talk to me : a novel
The anatomy of hope
The book of longings
The book of nature myths
The borrower
The damage
The dawn of everything
the eensy weensy spider
The flapper queen
The golden tresses of the dead
the graves a fine and private place
the happiness hypothesis
The kids
The loneliness of the long-distance cartoonist
The madness of crowds
the penderwicks at last
the ruinous sweep
The sentence : a novel
the unicorn alphabet
These precious days : essays
This way, Charlie
Three sisters
thrice the brinded cat hath mewd
twinkle, twinkle little star
Up all night : 13 stories
Water : a biography
We are not from here
When you find my body
Winter of the ice wizard
Wish you were here : a novel

October 2021

Browse through our newest titles using the left and right arrows. Click on a book cover to take you directly to our catalog for more information or to place a hold. If you see “1 of 1 copy available at Bass Harbor Memorial Library” that title is on our shelves. 0 of 1 copy available indicates that title is checked out to another Patron and you may place a hold to be notified when it is returned. To set up an online account with Evergreen, call the library at 244-3798 or email librarian@bassharborlibrary.com.

Filed Under: Front Page Slider

Library Hours

Tues:  10 AM – 5 PM
Wed: 10 AM – 5 PM
Thurs: 10 AM – 8 PM
Sat:   10 AM – 2 PM

Calendar

March 2023

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  • Trustee Meeting

    Trustee Meeting

    March 8, 2023  5:00 pm - 6:30 pm

    See more details

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Our Card Catalog

Bass Harbor Library Card Catalog
The Bass Harbor Memorial Library catalog is now on Evergreen. You can look up books and place holds with an account. Please call the Library at 207-244-3798 or email librarian@bassharborlibrary.com to request your card number and password.

Cloud Library: Download Audio & Ebooks

The new download library, CloudLibrary is up and running! Click HERE to borrow electronic materials.

Online Book Catalogs

  • Bass Harbor Memorial Library Catalog
  • Cloud Library
  • ComicsPlus
  • Digital Maine Library
  • Minerva Catalog- Interlibrary Loan

On Our Walls

On Our Walls

Image: “Soundings,” a mixed media collage on paper by Kathie Pratt, Dawn Nuding, and Michele Marks The Bass Harbor Memorial Library joins with other island libraries to celebrate Women’s History Month, March 2023. This year’s theme, “Women Who Tell Our Stories,” will bring together island artists to honor women storytellers. The exhibition will feature artworks in a range… [read more]

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