Well this is exciting!  The following are book reviews written by the library staff.  This is our first run at this segment and look for a lot more in the future.  If you have a book review or want to report on an upcoming or past event just let me know - bruce@friendsofmedfordlibrary.org!

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. 

It's like a roadmap that guides the reader through challenges in life. The theory behind the phrase "Let Them" is a practical one, relatable through stories and backed by research. It teaches the reader to let others do what they need to and lets the reader use the tools and exercises described within to find peace and move on. For me, it's been freeing to learn to do this. 

-Evalyn, Administration 

Schott's Significa: A Miscellany of Secret Languages by Ben Schott

This dictionary of dozens of English-language jargons is fascinating reading for any word nerd!

-Andrew, Adult Services

Where the Dark Stands Still by  A. B. Poranek. 

A story about accepting yourself, demonic bargains, and semi-sentient forest manor homes. This dark fantasy tale based on Polish folklore is great for fans of "The Ancient Magus' Bride" and "Howl's Moving Castle".

-Maddie, Youth Services

A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O'Leary

One child is worried that her family is just too different to explain, but one by one, her classmates describe who they live with and who loves them -- family of every shape, size and every kind of relation -- the child realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, her family is special.

-Ash, Youth Services

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

A middle grade novel about a ten year old who lives in a motel with her immigrant parents who manage the motel. Though they go through hardship, it's balanced with warmth and humor. Kelly Yang shows the power of a child’s courage to change her family’s future. 

-Ash, Youth Services

Patience and Fortitude have a new, freaky playmate. Tom Verlaine, the late livewire best known as frontman for the proto-punk band Television, has left his remaining archive to the NYPL.

According to Fine Books & Collections, six decades of Verlaine material “including lyric drafts, handwritten notebooks, short stories, correspondence, and hundreds of hours of unreleased music” will soon be housed at the Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. These treasures stand separate from Verlaine’s massive personal library, which went on sale to the public in 2023.

In a letter to the library, Verlaine’s old friend Patti Smith framed this as a most suitable get.

“It is impossible to speak of Tom Verlaine without giving prominence to his deep relationship with books. It was through a shared passion for books that we forged an enduring friendship, collecting volumes on everything from poems of Rumi, French literature, ufology, detective novels, to mystical and spiritual literature,” she wrote. “We spent hours in used bookstores and loved the Public Library. I well remember mounting those steps with him and whistling a hello to Patience and Fortitude, the library’s magnificent guardian lions.”

Verlaine’s works are joining friends. The Lou Reed papers can also be found—via onsite request—at the Library for Performing Arts. Ditto the diaries of Jim Carroll, former downtown fixture and author of The Basketball Diaries.

To read the rest of the article check out the site - https://lithub.com/the-nypl-has-acquired-tom-verlaines-archive-which-other-rock-stars-live-on-at-the-library/

I hope wherever you are its warm and dry!  If your internet is still up, consider yet another option if you do not have streaming services OR you're tired of scrolling through netflix, hulu, hbo/max. etc, etc.  Consider linking your library card to Kanopy and start streaming movies tonight!  For more information, go to their website - https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Friends of the Medford Public Library have released a new episode of the podcast. 

Bruce apparently has forgotten how to count, despite this being labelled episode 7, its actually episode 6. We’ll release the ‘lost’ episode later in the year.

Join Sam Sednek and Jenna Barry as they discuss the Digital Archiving Project. They discuss the mountains of work that is going on in regards to digitizing, collecting, recording and sorting. This is no small feat. What you need to know. They are looking for volunteers to help with the project and if you are interested, email them at medford@minlib.net. If you want to tell your story and why you chose to live in Medford, they would like to hear from you. Again send your email to medford@minlib.net.

Podcast Episode 7 - fmpl7.mp3

To download this episode, just right click on the player and “save as”. We hope you enjoy the show as much as we enjoyed putting it together.