Looking for a good book? Here are some that JEL staff have recently enjoyed! Clicking on the title will take you right to the library's catalog, where you can check to see if it's available, and put a hold on popular titles!

• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
• The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
• The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
• Toys by James Patterson
• Syren by Angie Sage
• Bossypants by Tina Fey
• An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell

Artists John Ferrara, Jean Murphy, and Sue Starkey will exhibit Cut Paper Technique during the month of May, in the Main Hall. It is a show with a difference - Cut Paper Technique is a new development. The Jacob Edwards Library is pleased to present this first public showing of these works.

Cut Paper Technique was developed by John Ferrara, as a therapy and enrichment program for handicapped adults. It can be expanded and adapted for use by children or artists as well as any interested adult. Subjects or designs are laid out on a smooth stable surface with pieces of cut paper. The image is built up by layering one piece of paper over another and adding more shapes and/or colors as desired. When the art is complete, a photo is taken, enlarged, and printed. The printed photo becomes the finished art and the cut paper image is dismantled.

A reception will be held on Thursday, May 5th from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Music will be provided by Skot Veroczi of Boston, a singer-songwriter and accomplished guitarist who has recorded and performed extensively for the past two decades. He has been a member of the New York-based Stolen Moments, and Boston's Shine Band, and has shared the stage with Gary Lamb, Sonny Jim Clifford, David Ladon, Michael Crawford, and Ryan Jackson.

About the artists:

John Ferrara is a journeyman artist. John was born in 1932 and attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. John has worked in all aspects of proprietary graphic techniques, and has had a long association with theatre arts, sculpture, and book illustration. Many of John's works are inspired by classic literature. John's drawings, paintings and sculpture have been exhibited at Boston Public Library, MIT, Nichols College, and numerous other colleges, libraries and institutions throughout New England.

Jean Murphy describes her happiest moments as a painter as "when I am outside on a sunny day in front of my easel looking at nature. For me, painting from life is the best way to paint. That extends to portraits, figures, and still life in a studio setting. I have used the mediums of oil, pastel, and charcoal extensively and have never met a medium I didn't like. In the past 25 years I have studied with MA artists from Holyoke to Provincetown and exhibited in many competitions within those boundaries and in my home state of Connecticut.

Sue Starkey, a Southbridge native, has long been interested in art. She has explored drawing, printmaking and painting while studying at UMass Amherst, the Worcester Art Museum, Quinebaug Valley Community College and Wild Vine Studio. As the Health Director at the Northeast District Department of Health, she is interested in finding ways ot link arts and culture to improve public health.

The Friends of the Jacob Edwards Library present 1981, which will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Pioppi Room, lower level.  Candy will be available for purchase.

The Homestead Act has changed. You may wish to check your current filing and hear the latest on how you can protect your home - Anthony J. Vigliotti, Worcester District Register of Deeds and Assistant Recorder of the Land Court will be here to discuss the Homestead Act.

Chapter 395 of the Act of 2010, an Act Relative to the Estate of Homestead, revises and replaces the provisions of the MA Homestead Protection Law, General Laws Chapter 188. Mr. Vigliotti will provide an overview of the new Homestead reform legistlation, which went into effect on March 16, 2011.

If you filed a Homestead Declaration prior to this date, your $500,000 protection will continue to apply. There is no need to re-file your homestead protections due to these statutory changes. The new law creates an automatic $125,000 protection on homes that do not have a declaration filed in order to safeguard deposits and situations where a declaration may be incorrectly filed. Homestead protections now extend to pre-existing debts and the proceeds of a sale or insurance coverage.

As a follow-up to last month's Common Threads, where we discussed three poems ("In the Waiting Room" by Elizabeth Bishop; "The Lost Pilot" by James Tate; "Occupation" by Suji Kwock Kim), participants and all who are interested are invited to write their own poem, and join us for a discussion.

"To begin our common writing project, consider the Greek word 'ekphrasis'. The concept of ekphrasis might have its origins in Plato's ideas of forms. Plato famously thought that our world was a kind of shadow world and that each shadow-thing in the world held within it ann essence or ideal form. In the Republic, Book X, Plato says that when a bed maker constructs a bed, the bed maker has in mind a sense of 'bedness' -- a sense of the essence or ideal form of what a bed is and what a bed is for. In short, ekphrasis is making something with the essence of that something in mind.

When we apply ekphrasis to poetry, the aim is to construct a new poem based on a grasp of the essence of some other work of art. What we're inviting you to do is to consider practicing ekphrasis with one of the poems we've presented to you. You may relate to the essence of the father-son in "The Lost Pilot," or to the theme of recognition of one's identity in "The Waiting Room." Or perhaps you relate to the idea of victimhood in "Occupation." We invite you to create synergy between your own experiences and what you find in one of the pomes..., and get writing! If it helps, begin by imitating the poem you choose to focus on.  The important thing is to get writing and enjoy it.

We also invite you to get together again and discuss your writing with us on Monday, May 23rd, at 6:30 p.m. at the library."

Mark Wagner is the organizer of the Common Threads presentation in Southbridge. Dr. Wagner is currently teaching at Worcester State University and Qunisigamond Community College and is a member and past president of the Worcester County Poetry Assocation.

Leila Philip is author of A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family. Ms. Philip teaches at the College of the Holy Cross where she is a professor in the department of English.

Brad Davis is the creator of the poetry series Opening King David, and is involved with the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. Mr. Davis is a lecturer at Easter Connecticut State University in Creative Writing. 

Did you know that May is Mental Health Month?

The Bridge of Central MA will be here on Wednesday, May 25th from Noon - 3:00 p.m. Staff will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.

Beginning at Noon, they will also be screening A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly, in the Pioppi Room.

A Beautiful Mind is the true story of mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr., a brilliant professor who battled mental illness, yet went on to win the Nobel Prize. The film is based on the book of the same name by author Sylvia Nasar.

Popcorn and beverages will be provided!

Please join us for an evening of music!

Aaron Packard will present a solo performance with a selection of favorite classical pieces for the violin.

Packard is a concert violinist who has studied at Oberlin Conservatory and SUNY Stony Brook. His principal teachers have been Greg Fulkerson and Mitchell Stern.

Recurring Events