Check out What’s Happening at the East Boston Branch Library!

Teen Listening Skills Workshop
Saturday, August 25th at 2 p.m.
Sharpen your listening skills just in time for the school year with local educator Kim Kerrigan!


Bees & Honey / Abejas y Miel
Thursday, Sept. 6th at 6:15 p.m.
Dave Strickler, an avid local beekeeper, will give a talk on honeybees in urban environment, what it’s like to raise honeybees in your backyard, and the small things you can do to help honeybees flourish. He’ll also bring a sampling of honeys for tasting that will delight your taste buds and change the way you think about honey.

Introduction to Genealogy
Monday, Sept. 10th at 6:30 p.m.

Interested in learning about your family history, but not sure how to begin? Getting Started in Genealogy will teach you the basics of genealogical research. Topics will include how to begin, how to find available resources, how to record and organize your research and much more.

Jeanne Belmonte is a board member of the of the East Boston Museum and Historical Society and a professional genealogist/family historian with more than 10 years of research experience.

Sponsored by the Friends of the East Boston Branch Library.


Birds of Prey
Saturday, Sept. 15 at 2 p.m.
Mass Audubon Society returns to the East Boston Branch of the BPL with Birds of Prey.  Live birds will be present!!!!!

Orientation Workshop for Foreign-Trained Professionals
Saturdays, Sept. 22nd and 29th from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

Join us for a New Immigrants Orientation Workshop! We are bringing in experts to answer questions and provide resources that will help recent immigrants build on their foreign training to reach their potential in the United States. Attendance is FREE.  Participants are expected to attend both sessions.
Sponsored by the African Bridge Network and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Advancement.



Book Discussion Club:  Substance Use Recovery Memoirs and Stories:
Thursday, Sept. 27th at 6:30 p.m.

For our September Book Discussion Club, we will be focusing on memoirs and stories that talk about substance use, addiction, and recovery as part of SAMHSA's National Recovery Month. 

Starting August 20th, choose from a selection of titles ranging from graphic novels to fiction to first-hand accounts from people in recovery. Print, ebook and audiobook options are available. We will meet on September 27th to discuss the books we have selected while enjoying light refreshments.

Meridian Street library plaque to be moved after all; victory for preservationists in East Boston!

Here's the latest on the plaque issue at the Bremen Street Library from Maddy McComiskey:

Just a happy note to let everyone know that Copley has consented to installing the Meridian St. Library Plaque in our beautiful new library as a momentous reminder of the fact that the first public branch library in the City of Boston and in fact the country was in East Boston. It is a great day for history and heritage of the Boston Public Library at the East Boston Branch Library. "It is a great time to be a Friend of the Library.

Earlier Christine Schonhart, Director of Branch Libraries for the BPL, wrote Maddy McComiskey of the East Boston Friends of the Libraries.

Maddy,

We have the plaque and I'm sure we can find a place for it at the new branch. I will ask our Facilities department to begin that process. It was certainly not a slight to the East Boston history, only that we had only discussed adding the Druker plaque to the quiet reading room and had not planned for the East Boston plaque. But we can make it happen in the quiet reading room...

Sincerely,
Christine Schonart

Here's a picture of the plaque!

Wrap up from latest meeting of the Friends of East Boston Library

[Editor's Note: The following is from  Maddy McComisey, President Friends of the Library East Boston Branch, a wrap up of its November 25th meeting.]

The Friends of the Library East Boston Branch met on Nov. 25th 2013.  We had a full agenda beginning with a request that the library implement ongoing programs presenting authors, music, culture and art for adults, teens and children.  A collaboration of local schools, dance studios, music venues (locally Zumix) playing out their art, music, writing poetry etc. Things mentioned by patrons was the desire to have many, many, many more books on the bare shelves.  Not only are the shelves bare they said, but it is hard to find books look for books because of the bending down.  It was requested something be done to heighten the existing book shelves and again more more more books.  Compared to the 65,000 available at the old libraries in East Boston, 18,000 or 20,000 books is  skimpy

Commenting on the library everyone agreed it was a beautiful building and state of the art and it will win a prize but commented the adult reading room is small.  Where are rest of the the paintings (FLK)? How come there aren't any young children's tables and chairs? And where are the local artists and schools going to display their work?  There isn't a good display system anywhere in the library.  A good quality permanent hardware system to hang and display exhibits could be installed throughout the library.  It wouldn't be nice to hammer nails to hang a display.

Friends of the Library need an ongoing book sale.  Friends needs this to help fund the $400.00 Zoo passes every year.  Patrons like to buy books on the cheep.  Who doesn't like a bargain?

The community needs a large bulletin board in the front of the building.  Our community likes to know what is going on.

These comments were put together from comments from patrons who have called, stopped us in the street, walked to our houses to let us know what they thought because they know we are affiliated with the library somehow.  Patrons have commented on what they see and would like to have fixed.

We ended the meeting with the Friends agreeing to contact the people in command to request these things be fixed or implemented as soon as possible.