Adult Events
VIRTUAL: A Trip To Greece (Macedonia) With The Traveling Librarian (*RR)
Tuesday, May 30, 10:30am
Join Jeff Klapes, the Traveling Librarian, for another of his popular armchair travel presentations. This series highlights travel photography and stories and travel tips about destinations around the world. This month, journey to the northern provinces of Greece. This is the land of Philip and Alexander the Great, and the ruins of their palaces and tombs are still waiting to be explored. It's also the home of beautiful Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, and stunning mountain censer as you head inland toward the border with Albania. Jeff is the recently retired Head of Reference Services at the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library in Wakefield and an avid traveler and photographer.
VIRTUAL: Lyndon Johnson -- Teacher, Politician, President with the LBJ Presidential Library (*RR)
Tuesday, May 30, 2pm
President Lyndon Johnson is known for being the "Civil Rights President," but he was so much more than that. His years as a teacher, Texas representative, Congressman, and President shaped his political career and reputation. His family, determination, and genuine care to make the United States a better, more equitable place is really at the heart of this complex individual. Join the LBJ Library to explore this fascinating President, from childhood through adulthood and to his decision not to run for a second term. Led by Sheila Mehta, Education Specialist for the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum.
VIRTUAL: The Black Great Migration in New England (*RR)
Tuesday, May 30, 7pm
Author Blake Gumprecht will discuss his new book, North to Boston: Life Histories from the Black Great Migration in New England, in this ZOOM webinar. Between World War II and 1980, tens of thousands of Black people moved to Boston from the South as part of the Great Migration, one of the most consequential mass movements of people in American history. Black migration from the South transformed the city, as it did urban areas across the country. North to Boston is the first book to examine that important subject.
IN PERSON: The Page-Turners Fiction Book Group
Wednesday, May 31, 6:30pm
This month, join us for a discussion of The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens. Why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
VIRTUAL: Romance Author Panel -- The Rise Of Monsters In Romance (*RR)
Wednesday, May 31, 7pm
Welcome bestselling romance authors Ann Aguirre and CM Nascosta, as well as popular romance authors Lillian Lark and Kathryn Moon, as they discuss the rising appeals of "monsters" in romance. How did "Mon-Rom" become a thing and how does it keep capturing our imaginations? This is sure to be an amazing conversation!
VIRTUAL: Momfluenced -- Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture (*RR)
Wednesday, May 31, 7pm
Author Sara Petersen will discuss her brand new book, Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture, in this ZOOM webinar. Drawing on her own fraught relationship to momfluencer culture, Sara Petersen incorporates pop culture analysis and interviews with prominent momfluencers and experts (psychologists, academics, technologists) to explore the glorification of the ideal mama online with both humor and empathy. At home on a bookshelf with Lyz Lenz's Belabored and Jia Tolentino's Trick Mirror, Momfluenced argues that momfluencers don’t simply sell mothers on the benefits of bamboo diapers, they sell us the dream of motherhood itself, a dream tangled up in whiteness, capitalism, and the heteronormative nuclear family.
VIRTUAL: Revolutionary Design -- Modern Architecture In New England (*RR)
Thursday, June 1, 10:30am
New England is known for its history and its traditions, but it is also home to some daring and inventive modern designs from some of the world's leading architects. How do giants in the field like Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Louis Kahn, Philip Johnson and Maya Lin combine the expected and the familiar with the innovative and experimental? This program introduces audiences to each architect and walks you through their notable works in New England locales. Led by art historian Jane Oneail, owner of Culturally Curious. Jane curates and delivers art appreciation programs to audiences throughout New England. She holds a Master’s in Art History from Boston University and a Master’s in Education from Harvard University. Born and raised in New Hampshire, Jane has worked at some of the state's most esteemed cultural institutions, including the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, where she served as Executive Director, and the Currier Museum of Art, where she held the role of Senior Educator. Jane has also taught at the college level for more than a decade, most recently at Southern New Hampshire University.
VIRTUAL: Native Americans of New England: History, Colonial Legacies, and Survival (*RR)
Thursday, June 1, 7pm
Explore the history of Native Americans in New England. While we will not turn a blind eye to the impact that colonization, dispossession, and racism had on the story of Indigenous peoples in the region, we will also explore Native American resistance, adaptation, and survival under often harsh and unfavorable circumstances. Moreover, we will examine some of the colonial legacies that still shape the views and (mis-) perceptions about Indigenous peoples to this day. Led by Christoph Strobel, a Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is the author of War and Colonization in the Early American Northeast, Native Americans of New England (2021 Choice Outstanding Academic Title); The Global Atlantic: 1400–1900, The Testing Grounds of Modern Empire; and, co-author with Alice Nash, of Daily Life of Native Americans from Post-Columbian through Nineteenth-Century America. Christoph has also published three books on immigration and his scholarly essays appear in many academic journals and in various edited collections.
IN PERSON: Colonial Cooking with Stacy Booth (*RR)
Saturday, June 3, 1pm
Come learn how colonial families cooked both in their 18th century homes and also how the American Revolutionary War soldiers were fed. Stacy Booth will present the typical foodstuffs of the era, kitchen equipment used, and how that translated into food on the campaign trail during the war from 1775-1783. Stacy served as a reenactor at the Plimouth Patuxet -- formerly Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts -- and is an active reenactor for Col. Bailey's 2nd Massachusetts Regiment. Presented in collaboration with the Tewksbury Historical Society. A brief Annual Meeting of the Tewksbury Historical Society will precede this program.
IN PERSON: The History of Railroads in Tewksbury and Wilmington (*RR)
Saturday, June 3, 2:30pm
Tewksbury and Wilmington once featured a dense network of railroad lines. Today some of these lines remain in service, while others have vanished, leaving only their rights-of-way behind. This talk will explore why these railroads were built in the first place, and why some have survived and others are only fading memories. The author of The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 editions) and Lost Railroads of New England (3 editions), Ronald Dale Karr is a retired reference librarian at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and a historian who has taught at several universities and published in many journals. He lives in Pepperell, where he is currently chair of the historical commission.
Teen Events
IN PERSON: Teen Paint Night (*RR)
Tuesday, May 30, 3:30pm
Join us for a creative and fun in-person teen paint night with Kate! We will be painting a wolf moon night scene with acrylic paint on canvas--so wear something you don't mind getting messy! Supplies will be provided for every registered attendee, so be sure to register below while supplies last! If you have any questions, please email Kate, our Teen Library Assistant, at kjennings@tewksburypl.org.
Children’s Events
IN PERSON: Girls Who Code (*RR)
Tuesday, May 30, 6pm
Join Miss Haley for Girls Who Code this May! We will meet every Tuesday in May at 6 PM for one hour. You will build the foundational skills and understanding of computer science concepts and sisterhood through a reading discussion and coding activities. Each session we will read excerpts from Learn to Code and Change the World, practice new skills by completing fun and simple coding tutorials, and make connections with club members through interactive team-building exercises. A copy of Learn to Code and Change the World will be available for each member at the end of the first meeting. I will have a few copies of the relevant chapter printed each week in case a member forgets the book. Although this club is "Girls Who Code," we welcome all kids grades 3-5. Registration is required. If you have any questions, please contact Miss Haley at hlawrence@tewksburypl.org.
IN PERSON: Children's Fiction Book Club: Matilda (*RR)
Tuesday, May 30, 7:15pm
This month we'll talk about Matilda by Roald Dahl. This program is intended for children ages 8 to 11.
IN PERSON: Nursery Rhyme Baby Time
Wednesday, May 31, 10:30am
Join Miss Haley for some early literacy fun with stories, songs, and nursery rhymes at this story time. No registration required.