Click the images below for a list of books and DVDs that are new or coming soon to the Library!
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MILS is Here!
As many of you know, we have long been working on transitioning to a new computer system, and we have finally switched! We are live on MILS, Maine Infonet's shared library system for small libraries!
Some new frequently asked questions:
What do we do next?
The first thing to do is to come into the library with your library card (if you have lost your library card, let us know) to get a new card number. Then you will be able to access your patron account online so that you can see what items you have checked out, request renewals, request interlibrary loans, update your email address and even add your cell phone number so you can get text reminders when your items are due or your holds are in!
Ok, how do I do access my patron account online so I can do all of that?
We'll have instructions up on the website soon. In the meantime, you are welcome to ask any of the librarians and we will happily show you, or you can explore on your own at mils.maine.edu. If you have used a MINERVA or URSUS library in Maine before, it will look very familiar!
I don't have a computer at home and have no need to access my account online. Do I still need to get a new card number?
Yes, sorry. The new system requires a longer barcode number than our cards currently have.
Wait, what about my checkout history? I sometimes ask the librarians if I've checked out a book before, because I can't always remember if I've already read it.
Don't worry, you're not alone - most people can't remember unless they have a system or an app like Goodreads to keep track. Unfortunately, we weren't able to import everyone's checkout histories into the new system. If you come in to the library BEFORE MAY 31, we can still access our old system and print your checkout history for you. Please note that for patron privacy reasons, we are only able to give the history to the person whose name is on the account.
Will the new system track my reading history?
Yes, on your patron account on MILS online unless you specifically opt out. If you do decide to opt out, please note that your reading history up until that point will be completely deleted and cannot be retrieved. The librarians do not have access to checkout histories any more on the staff side of the system.
Ok, so I have my new library card number and I'm ready to request materials on MILS, but I can't find the book I'm looking for!
A couple of tips:
- If your first search is of just Thomaston Public Library's collection, try selecting "View Entire Collection" from the drop down at the top of your search results screen. This will search all other MILS libraries.
- If you still can't find what you're looking for, try clicking the "Search MaineCat" button, which will then search all of the other Maine libraries. Please note that you will only be able to request items through MaineCat after May 14. Before May 14, you can submit your request through the Interlibrary Loan form on the website, which will be up until direct MaineCat requesting is available.
I have more questions.
That's ok! We're here to try to answer them. Email Caroline at caroline.wardnesbit@thomaston.lib.me.us or stop in to the library and any of our librarians would be happy to help.
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Save the Date - Presentation by Anne B. Gass on June 3rd!
We Demand: America's First Cross Country Automobile Trip for a Cause
Mark 5 pm on June 3rd on your calendars, because you won't want to miss this presentation by author, activist, and historian Anne B. Gass, sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council!
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May 2: Mystery Book Club
The Thomaston Public Library Mystery Book Club met on Thursday, May 2 at 11 am to discuss Anthony Award-winning In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson.
From the author's website, www.inspectorbanks.com:
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"When a boy finds a skeleton buried in a dried-up reservoir built on the site of a ruined village, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is brought in by his arch-enemy Chief Constable Jeremiah “Jimmy” Riddle to head what looks like being a dull, routine investigation. It turns into anything but. With the help of Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot, Banks uncovers long-kept secrets in a community that has resolutely concealed its past.
"One former resident, now a writer, reveals her memories of Hobb’s End, the village that died before the reservoir was built. Her first person narrative, touched with both innocence and irony, takes us from 1941 to 1945, recreating another age, an era of rationing, of Land Girls, of American airmen, of jitterbugging and movies. And of murder.
"As Banks and Annie unravel the deceptive and disparate relationships of half a century ago, suspense heightens and the past finally bursts into the present with terrifying consequences."
The next book on the club's agenda for discussion on June 6 will be Still Life by Louise Penny, the first in the much-loved Chief Inspector Gamache series. Copies can be borrowed at the library or through interlibrary loan. For more information, please feel free to contact us at (207) 354-2453.
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May 13: Family Movie & Pizza Night
Join us at Thomaston Public Library on Monday, May 13 at 5:00 pm for our Family Movie & Pizza Night! Free and open to all, and pajamas are welcome. We are so excited to bring you the Academy Award-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse this month!
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Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the creative minds behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, bring their unique talents to a fresh vision of a different Spider-Man Universe, with a groundbreaking visual style that's the first of its kind. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduces Brooklyn teen Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), and the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one can wear the mask. Also featuring the voice talents of Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali and more.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is rated PG for "frenetic sequences of animated action violence, thematic elements, and mild language" by the MPAA. All films for Family Movie & Pizza Night are shown with closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing.
For more information or to RSVP, contact the library at (207) 354-2453 or visit our Facebook page.
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May 14: Let's Talk About It Book Club
The Let's Talk About It book group, facilitated by author and mentor Lee Heffner, will meet Tuesday, May 14, at 11 a.m. at Thomaston Public Library to finish the "The Civil War: Fiction" series with The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks.
From the publisher:
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"Carnton Plantation, 1894: Carrie McGavock is an old woman who tends the graves of the almost 1,500 soldiers buried there. As she walks among the dead, an elderly man appears--the same soldier she met that fateful day long ago. Today, he asks if the cemetery has room for one more.
"Based on an extraordinary true story, this brilliant, meticulously researched novel flashes back to 1864 and the afternoon of the Civil War. While the fierce fighting rages on Carrie's land, her plantation turns into a Confederate army hospital; four generals lie dead on her back porch; the pile of amputated limbs rises as tall as the smoke house. But when a wounded soldier named Zachariah Cashwell arrives at her house, he awakens feelings she had thought long dead--and inspires a passion as powerful and unforgettable as the war that consumes a nation."
These discussions are always thought-provoking and lively, and we welcome anyone to join for one book or the whole series! Light refreshments are served.
Next month, we will begin a new series: "Where Am I? The Individual and the Community" which will explore a variety of community structures and the effects they have on individuals, beginning with reading and discussing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne on June 11. Copies will be available to borrow at the library. For more information, please contact the library at (207) 354-2453.
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May 17: Communi-TEA!
Join us for a celebration of spring, a cup of tea and delicious sweets and savories. We encourage folks to bring an item of personal care to donate to our local food pantry. These are items not generally covered by SNAP funds and would be most welcome. Tea is from 3-4:30 in our Main Reading Room. All are welcome!
For more information contact the library at 354-2453 or check us out on social media and on our website.
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May 20: Film and Discussion
We are proud to host the showing of Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope, a one-hour documentary that delves into the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent toxic stress. One of the leading causes of everything from heart disease and cancer to substance abuse and depression, extremely stressful experiences in childhood can alter brain development and have lifelong effects on health and behavior.
But, as experts and practitioners profiled in Resilience are proving, what’s predictable is preventable. Physicians, educators, social workers and communities are daring to talk about the effects of abuse and neglect, domestic violence, divorce, parent in jail, and substance abusing parents. Using cutting edge science, they are helping the next generation break the cycles of adversity and disease.
Film will be shown at 5 pm, and discussion led by Patrick Walsh of Midcoast Resilience Project will follow. Light refreshments will be served. For more information please contact Patrick Walsh at 338-2200, resilience@brmaine.org or the library at 354-2453.
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May 21: Intergenerational Book Club
On Tuesday, May 21 at 2:30 PM, the Thomaston Intergenerational Book Club will discuss Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen.
From the publisher:
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"Still Life with Bread Crumbs begins with an imagined gunshot and ends with a new tin roof. Between the two is a wry and knowing portrait of Rebecca Winter, a photographer whose work made her an unlikely heroine for many women. Her career is now descendent, her bank balance shaky, and she has fled the city for the middle of nowhere. There she discovers, in a tree stand with a roofer named Jim Bates, that what she sees through a camera lens is not all there is to life.
Brilliantly written, powerfully observed, Still Life with Bread Crumbs is a deeply moving and often very funny story of unexpected love, and a stunningly crafted journey into the life of a woman, her heart, her mind, her days, as she discovers that life is a story with many levels, a story that is longer and more exciting than she ever imagined."
On the third Tuesday of every month, the Intergenerational Book Club, a group of men and women of all ages, comes together at the library to share their opinions and ideas about the selected book. All are welcome at the Thomaston Public Library on May 21 at 2:30 p.m. If you live in Thomaston and would like to attend but need a ride, please call the library at 354-2453 a week before the discussion date.
In June, the group will discuss A Piece of the World by Maine author Christina Baker Kline, the novel inspired by Andrew Wyeth's painting Christina's World and set in nearby Cushing. Copies will be available to borrow at the library and through interlibrary loan. For more information, please contact the library at (207) 354-2453.
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May 22: Spaghetti Supper!
It's time for our fourth annual delicious Spaghetti Supper to support our summer lunch-and-activities program, 40 Days of Summer! Diane, our head librarian and chef par excellence, will be making the delicious pasta sauces as usual, which you don't want to miss. Join us at Thomaston Federated Church, 8 Hyler St, from 5 to 9 pm on May 22. $8 per person, and kids under 10 are free.
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May 27: Library Closed for Memorial Day
The library will be closed Monday, May 27 in observance of Memorial Day. We will re-open for our usual hours on Tuesday, May 28.
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Caroline: I've been working through Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series of novellas, beginning with Every Heart a Doorway. Folks, I can't express how wonderful this book was. If you enjoy beautiful, incisive writing and dark fairytales with just a touch of horror--not too much, I'm a scaredy cat--you'll enjoy this series. Think of it as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children meets The Hazel Wood. There are four books in the series (so far! I believe a fifth is in the works and I can't wait!), all around 200 pages or a little less, so give it a try!
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Diane highly recommends Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones, the second in his August Snow series. If you enjoy gritty, darker mysteries that also explore deeper issues such as racial tensions in modern-day Detroit and have an extraordinary sense of place, check out this series. Diane also loved the first book, August Snow, which won both the 2018 Nero Award and the Hammett Prize for Crime Fiction, and recommends reading them in order.
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Missy absolutely loved Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts, which is historical fiction based on the life of Maud Gage Baum, wife of the author of The Wizard of Oz. Letts weaves together the story of Maud meeting Judy Garland on the set of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Missy's favorite film of all time) when Maud was seventy-eight and Judy was sixteen, and the story of Maud's early life in South Dakota as a girl up through her marriage with Frank and the people who inspired the beloved book. Finding Dorothy is available through interlibrary loan, so put in a request today and let us know if you agree that we should add it to our collection!
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On Display at the Library
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Rudman Grant 2019
We are honored to be recipients of a grant from the Rose & Samuel Rudman Library Trust again this year! This grant is specifically for collection development, so it allows us to purchase books to help flesh out areas in the library's collection that might be lacking. This year, we applied for assistance with audiobooks, Maine children's book award nominees, series completion, and romance! We have a few items from each category on display this month in our main room, along with posters that show all of our recent purchases with the funds from this grant. Many thanks to the Maine Community Foundation and the Rudman Trust!
Adulting 101
Graduation season is upon us! Do you need a book recommendation for a new grad? They don't teach us everything about managing all the details of our lives in school, so check out our Adulting 101 display in the Reading Room for a few books that might help them not have to learn the hard way that you can't use liquid dish soap in the dishwasher, and yes, you really do need to file your taxes on time and contribute to your 401 (k).
In the Showcase
We are thrilled to have local artist and craftsman Wayne Keiderling's wood carvings on display in the glass showcase in our main room! Make sure to come visit to see his beautiful wooden birds as well as the delightful and incredibly detailed hobbit houses carved from cottonwood bark.
If you would be interested in showcasing your work, please contact us for more information!
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Did you know we have free help available for learning to use electronic devices including laptops, smartphones, tablets, e-readers, etc.? We have tech-savvy librarians happy to answer your questions! Feel free to contact us for more information at 354-2453.
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Bookmobile Home Delivery Service
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Some folks may be aware that we offer a Bookmobile Home Delivery Service, but many are not... We have obtained a grant to fund this service for people in Thomaston and some of the surrounding communities who are unable to come to the library due to disability (short- or long-term) or age. We have a new brochure to advertise the Bookmobile available at the library, or we would be happy to email it to anyone who would like a copy. Help us spread the word if you or someone you know is unable to visit us at the library and could benefit from a visit from our Bookmobile!
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New Titles Added
Adult Collection: 65
Children's Collection: 35
DVD Collection: 10
Total: 110
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New Patrons Added
Adults: 12
Children: 0
Total: 12
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Circulation Statistics
Items Circulated (in and out): 2,833
Average Daily Circulation (23 days open): 123
Interlibrary Loans: 236
Audiobooks: 70
Ebooks: 13
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