My favorite season is about to begin. The weather outside may be frightful, but the Library is always delightful. Let it rain, snow, sleet, or blow, we provide cozy spaces to read and relax, meet your neighbors, or attend a program. New books and other items arrive every day. Please check out a list of new materials here.

We will begin the winter season with two historical programs, one based on the diaries of Ella Bray, who lived on the Yarmouth Port Common in the nineteenth century and wrote about her travels. Local historians Lawrence Perera, Laurel Gabel, and Pat Tafra, have published her travel diary and will talk about the book on December 12. Don't miss this special occasion, at which costumed volunteers will provide refreshments. In January we will honor our local celebrities when local author and Register editor John Basile presents a talk based on his new book, Legendary Locals of Yarmouth.

We have two new periodicals for your perusal: The first, Bookmarks, published six times a year, is a review of books for the public and for the library staff. It includes a new book guide, with extensive reviews from publications such as the WSJ, NPR, and US and British newspapers. It also features selections by the editors: for example, the latest issue features WWI books and books with unusual narrators.

The other new periodical is Travel and Leisure, to assist patrons with their travel plans, whether actual or virtual. If you are looking for additional virtual experiences, please check out our collection of gardening books, as you think about next year's projects.

We look forward to seeing you this winter. Best wishes for a happy holiday season.

Generations!

Fall has passed in the blink of an eye, hasn't it? The holidays are upon us and I bet there are plenty of you out there looking for an oasis of peace and tranquility to escape to every now and then, right? I can't exactly promise those things in the Children's Room.  What I can suggest is that if you need a place where you can bring your kids to play in warmth and safety, think of us. Want to visit with friends and not have to clean your house first? You can do that here! Stop in during the Christmas Stroll. Come to Lapsit Storytime. Join us over at the Congregational Church on the first Friday of the month for Generations! music and movement with Denya LeVine. (This program is for kids and seniors so pretty much everyone is welcome.) Build something at Lego Club. (And don't forget to check the website for programs of interest throughout the year. )

Lego creations

Lapsit Storytime continues on Friday mornings at 10:30. This is a very young group this season - ranging from newborn to 2. It's short, fun and there is playtime afterward. We are waiting to hear about a grant for Generations! but we do plan to continue to offer this popular program at least through March, one way or the other. This seems like a good time to thank the Yarmouth Congregational Church for donating the space and Joe, their handyman, for his help in setting up the hall for us every month. Thanks so much! Oh, and for those of you who have school aged children - keep our Lego Club in mind. On the first Wednesday of every month through June we host this ambitious group from 4 to 5 PM.

We have new books and movies to share with your family (Yes, we have Frozen in both regular and Sing-Along versions!). We just got new Lego and Minecraft books, along with additions to popular series like Fancy Nancy, Divergent, Star Wars, and Pete the Cat. We have quite a few fun titles for your fledgling readers and picture books galore for the youngest library users.

Happy Holidays, Everyone. Remember: this is your community and we are your library. Stop in and check us out - soon!

The fall has been a very busy time for the Yarmouth Port Library. We had a very successful member's reception in September and a wonderful time at the spaghetti dinner in October. Thanks to all of the volunteers who cooked and baked for those events as well as those who worked so hard serving and cleaning at the spaghetti dinner. A huge thanks has to go out to Dona at Jack's Outback II for the delicious food and the venue for the dinner. She gives so much to our Library - when you need a delicious breakfast or lunch, please remember Jack's Outback II. (More on the supper below.)

The Yarmouth Port Christmas Stroll is on December 7th - a festive time for sure. We hope for seasonable, clear weather and look forward to seeing all of you at the Library. We will be decorated for the holiday season with a cozy fire to warm you and delicious treats to sample. There will be items available for purchase - knitted hats, socks, mittens and scarves as well as mugs, caps and tote bags. Be sure to stop in and say "hello".

As I am writing this note, the Library staff and volunteers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of seven new Apple computers and all of the appropriate accessories to update the Library systems. Much time and thought has gone into the decision making for the new systems-a big thanks goes out to the volunteers who devoted so much time and effort to get this process going. Maybe they will be in place by the Stroll. Here's hoping!!

On behalf of all of our volunteers and staff, I wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy New Year. Thank you for all of your support -financially and otherwise - over this last year and we hope it continues into the future as we continue to serve you.

The Yarmouth Port Library Book Group usually meets the third Thursday of each month at 3:00 PM. in the Reading Room of the Library. However, there will be no meeting in December; we meet next January 15th. At each meeting we discuss a book chosen by the group and serve light refreshments provided by members.

Newcomers are always welcome!

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It takes a lot of time and effort by many people to keep the Yarmouth Port Library open and serving the village and town. Except for the librarians, everyone involved volunteers and does so gladly. Here are the people serving this year:

Ann Petrou, President, Jean Paquin, Vice-president, Les Peat, Treasurer, Charles Gale, Assistant Treasurer, Susan Bonnell, Secretary.

Trustees: Carolyn Gale, Dorothy Halmstad, Sean Sheehan, Charyn Tietge and Dinah Wolff.

Members of the Corporation: Karen Alexander, Leslie Altman, Anne Cifelli, Trenor Goodell, Jack Graham, SallyHockenbury, Donald Knaub, Lynn Lesperance, Ralph Menconi, Judy O'Brien, Carol Oliver, Duncan Oliver, Theodor Oxholm, Benita Pierce, Stephanie Rodricks, Peggy Shea, John Shea, Charles Spooner, Henry Teuwen, Tiffany Turner, Cindy Watson, Edward Weissberger and Ruth Weissberger.

And Our Fantastic Volunteers

It is the season for giving thanks, and the staff gives thanks for our loyal core of volunteers, without whom the YPL could not function. They help our patrons in so many ways: finding books, checking them out, shelving them, repairing them, and more, but most of all, they make our patrons feel welcome and valued. Here's a list of our volunteers. When you see a volunteer behind the desk, please say thank you. We do every day.

Peter Brightman, Ann Carosso, Nancye Dawley, Dick Dee, Dottie Halmstad, Ginnie Hatch, Ruth Hockenbury, Sally Hockenbury, Carolyn Lodders, Nancy MacEachern, Jane McGimsey, Regina Mullen, John Parker, John Shea, Peggy Shea, Carol Smith, John Trotto, Cindy Watson and Peggy Whitney.

The Library is looking for small hand-knit items, to be sold as holiday gifts at The Stroll and during the following weeks. We would very much appreciate contributions such as mittens and gloves, socks, hats, knitted ornaments, and the like. All these sold very well last December.

Please leave your donations with the Librarians. Thank you!

As The Yardarm goes to press, membership renewal notices will be going out to all members. We hope that everyone will renew, and that those of you who have not yet joined will do so. (A membership form is included here for anyone who does not receive a reply envelope in the mail.) This is the fourth year of our membership program, and in each of the first three years, we have met or exceeded our goals; the goal this year is once again $40,000. From the start, memberships have been an important source of funding for the Library's operations, providing about 27% of the operating budget.

This year, it is particularly important that we meet the goal, as we have incurred several unanticipated expenses. We had to replace a rubber membrane roof over a part of the building, replace an air conditioning unit, and acquire seven new computers. We maintain reserves to cover the cost of such unusual items, but because we have been hit with so many large expenses in the current year, these reserves have been depleted. We ask each of you to seriously consider a larger membership gift this year, perhaps in a higher category, and we thank you in advance for your generous support.

Les Peat

For the Membership Committee

P.S. We also want to clarify the terms of membership. All memberships in the Yarmouth Port Library are for a calendar year - not, as with some other organizations, beginning and ending on the anniversary of joining. Current renewals and new memberships are for calendar 2015. We are sending out renewal notices in the current year so that anyone wishing to make a year-end gift for tax purposes may do so, but we will accept 2015 membership payments until June 30th of next year.

Should you inadvertently send a duplicate payment later in the campaign (and every year some members do this), please be assured that we will contact you before processing the payment - we don't want to take advantage of mistakes. If you are ever in doubt about the status of you membership, you should call the Library before writing a check - we can quickly check the status for you.

Membership List Correction

Due to an embarrassing editing error in the last issue of The Yardarm, we failed to include Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop Wilbur in our list of Sustaining Members. We sincerely apologize.

The Yarmouth Port Library has a number of area business sponsors. In each 

issue of The Yardarm, we profile one of them to show our appreciation.

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Bass River Pediatric Associates

Flu shots are available for all children age 6 months and older.Please call to schedule a visit with the nurses to get your child immunized soon.

Office Hours: 8:00AM-5:00PM, Monday through Friday.

Saturday, Sick Visits & Well Visits 8:00AM-3:00PM

Call 508 394-2116

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When you bring your child to Bass River Associates,

please remember to thank them for their support.