Joy to the World!

The ornaments are from Anne Cifelli's collection 

Changes are coming to the Yarmouth Port Library. After helping to guide the Library through its separation from the town library system and its rebirth as a private library continuing to serve Yarmouth Port and neighboring communities, Anne Cifelli has announced that she will be leaving the Library at the end of December. At the same time, we are very fortunate to be able to welcome Leslie Altman as the new librarian. Leslie has been a long time patron of and volunteer at the Library and brings a wealth of experience to the position of Librarian.  

The patrons, volunteers, Corporators, and Trustees of the Yarmouth Port Library extend their deepest  thanks for your service to our library. Your unfailing good humor and willingness to serve will  be long remembered. We are so grateful that you smoothed the transition of our library's return to private status from town control. Your initiative in bringing many friends, old and new, to our library for varied programs and community events has returned the Yarmouth Port LIbrary to a position of vital service to Yarmouth Port.

We all wish you the very best in the next chapter in your life. Be assured of our good thoughts.

With Gratitude

Jean Paquin

President

Leslie Altman may be a familiar face behind the circulation desk. She has been enjoying the Yarmouth Port library since 1976, when she first came to spend summers in Yarmouth Port. Her two sons, now 40 and 37, loved it too, walking

to the library from home and then marching into the

Leslie Altman

children's room for the books and the boat.

A graduate of Smith and the holder of a Ph.D. from Boston College, Leslie spent most of her working life teaching English, beginning in Bolton, Massachusetts. She later taught in public schools in Needham and Lexington, at Boston College and Arizona State University, and at the Hawken School outside of Cleveland, Ohio. She also served for six years as a school counselor at an elementary school on a Yaqui Indian reservation in Arizona.

Since retiring and moving to the Cape full-time, Leslie has worked and volunteered frequently at the Yarmouth Port Library and in the libraries in South Yarmouth and West Yarmouth as well. She has also served as Librarian at Mayflower Place in West Yarmouth. She volunteers for the Historical Society of Yarmouth and for the Master Gardeners of Barnstable County, and is an avid gardener and watercolor painter, as well as a water aerobics instructor. She is a member of the Garden Club of Yarmouth, the Yarmouth Artists' Guild, and the Cape Cod Art Association.

She particularly enjoys reading contemporary fiction and is always eager to discover a new writer. Right now she is reading NW by Zadie Smith.

Season's greetings!  

Those of you who read the December issue of the YardArm last year learned about one of my family's Christmas traditions-ornaments. Every year, my mother gives me one and I give one to my husband to commemorate something special from the past year. A selection of these ornaments along with their stories will be on display this month at the Library.  

Also on display are some holiday favorites-from cookbooks to classics, movies to music. If you're in need of some inspiration, relaxation or a trip down memory lane, stop by! There's something for everyone-including those Scrooges out there.  

Speaking of Scrooge, even he gave Bob Cratchit time off. The Library will be CLOSED Tuesday, December 25th and Wednesday, December 26th. The Library will reopen on Thursday, December 27th at 1:00 PM. The book drop can fill up during the holidays, so please, if you find it impossible to jam your book in there, DO NOT just leave it on the front porch. Hang on to it until the Library reopens. The staff, in the holiday spirit, will be lenient about overdue fines.  

In addition to highlighting some of the happenings at the Library, I would like to say that it has been an honor to represent the Yarmouth Port Library and to be part of this very special community. The trustees, staff, volunteers and patrons have made the Library a wonderful place to work.  

I will continue to be an active Library user and supporter and hope to see lots of familiar faces on the other side of the Circulation Desk. Please join me in welcoming the new Librarian, Leslie Altman. I wish her and you all the very best.

Season's Greetings!

The holiday season is upon us.  I am hoping that you and your family will be stopping by to pick up books, movies and music to enhance your festivities.  Don't forget to put our Annual Family Holiday Party on your calendar.  We will be celebrating the season on Wednesday, December 12th from 5 to 7 PM with crafts and games for the whole family. Again this year, Deputy Chief Steven Xiarhos will be our special guest reader while everyone enjoys refreshments. Call today to reserve space for your family.

We have one more session of Generations! A music and movement program for kids under 5 and adults over 55 with Denya LeVine. It's scheduled for Friday, January 4 at the Congregational Church and starts at 10:30 AM.  What a great way to stretch your holidays just a little bit further.  Do join us!

Our last Lapsit Storytime of the season will be on Friday, December 14th and we will then be on hiatus until January 11th.

Here's wishing a Happy, Healthy Holiday Season to you and yours!

Last year the Library embarked upon a new membership program to bridge a projected annual gap between our other revenue sources and our operating expenses. Thanks to a very generous community response, we nearly met our goal, and for this, we are extremely grateful. This year, we hope to raise the entire $40,000 needed. With your help, this should be achievable.

For 2012, we asked our patrons subscribe at what for them would be a sustainable level. If the majority of our present members maintain their 2012 levels of membership, their contributions, together with those of new members and those who are able to step up to a higher level, should allow us to meet our objective. In considering your membership renewal, we hope you will think about what the Yarmouth Port Library means to you and to the community at large-and what Yarmouth Port would be without it. Please be as generous as you can.

The response to date has been extremely gratifying, so we are optimistic about our chances of closing the budget gap, and thus being able to continue to provide first-rate library services to the residents of the north side of town.

If, for some reason, you did not receive membership materials in the mail, we have included this coupon for your response. If you did receive materials, please use the reply envelope provided.

Presidents' Day Paperback Book Sale
Saturday, February 16 4-6 pm for members only
Sunday February 17 and Monday February 18 12-4

Around the Corner Bookshop
Looking for a new title or a favorite author?
Visit the book sale nook "Around the Corner" in the Reading Room.
Many 2010-2012 hardcover, paperback and trade books for
BARGAIN PRICES - $1.00 - $3.00

Stock up for cold, winter days or your trip South.
Support the Yarmouth Port Library!

CLAMS New and Popular Titles 

 Recent YPL Acquisitions 

Chef/Owner Bob Calderone and partner/wife Susan Finegold have  been bringing great food and friendly service to their restaurant and tavern in the heart of historic Barnstable Village since 2005. Before that, they had been working together in Cambridge and Boston since 1986. They opened their first restaurant, the award winning Anago Bistro in 1992 moving it to the Lenox Hotel 5 years later. They have been living on the Cape since 2001 when their daughter Sophia was born.

Open for lunch and dinner, the Barnstable Restaurant and Tavern features creative Cape Cod/American cuisine with a full range of exciting appetizers, refreshing salads, fabulous meat and seafood dishes, and wonderful Italian specialties. On the lighter side, they serve delicious crispy thin-crust pizzas and their award-winning Grilled Tavern Burger.

Stop by and join Bob and Susan for a delightful dining experience that will soothe your soul.When you do, be sure to mention the Yarmouth Port Library.