• Former Paris bureau chief at the New York Times Elaine Sciolino will talk about and read from her recent book, The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue Martyrs, at the Library TONIGHT! WEDNESDAY August 17 at 7:00 PM. More info here. 

• Retired historian and professor of philosophy, Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. will discuss and read from his new book, Creating Acadia National Park: the Biography of George Bucknam Dorr at the Library THIS THURSDAY! August 18 at 7:00 PM. More info here.

• The Olympics viewing party continues TODAY AND THURSDAY, 10 AM to 5 PM in the Elvira Bass Room. More info here.

• Kids-- Learn to collect Water Samples with 52 Weeks of Giving THIS FRIDAY at 1:00 PM! See below.

• Don't miss the Friends of the Library weekly book sale THIS SATURDAY! 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

The group will be meeting at MERI to learn about the important work they do, and then will head to Peter's Cove to collect samples. Kids will have a chance to look at samples under microscopes, play games, and have some popsicles to cool off.

Maine author Susan Conley and Maine photographer Winky Lewis will discuss  and read from their new book, Stop Here, This Is the Place: A Year in Motherland at the Library on Thursday August 25 at 7:00 PM. The two women tried an experiment: at the start of every week for a year, Winky sent Susan a photograph--of their children, the street where they live as neighbors in Portland, green places that their children like to explore, etc. Susan sent back a short story that talked to the photograph.

Although the two saw each other often each week, they did not discuss the project. The book tells the story of a year in which the camera watches as children's arms and legs get longer, and traces of babyhood fade - a year that feels interminable to a ten-year old looking forward and fleeting to that ten-year-old's mother.

Susan Conley, a native Mainer, is the author of The Foremost Good Fortune (2011), an Oprah Magazine "Top Ten" pick and winner of the Maine Literary Award for Memoir; and the novel Paris Was the Place, a People Magazine "Top Pick," Elle Magazine "Readers Prize" selection and Amazon "Big Books for Fall" selection. Her books have been excerpted in The New York Times Magazine and the Daily Beast.

Laura "Winky" Lewis's photographs are regularly featured in places such as the Boston Globe, Yankee Magazine, and Maine Magazine. Winky's work with Space Gallery, a Portland hub for art and ideas where she regularly exhibits her work, has made her a leader in photography in Maine. Features on Winky and her work have also been published in Popular Photography and Maine Home and Design. In 2015, she was named a Photo District News Annual contest winner.

Books will be available for sale and signing. This event is sponsored by the Library and Blue Hill Books. There is no charge, and everyone is welcome. For more information, call the library at 374-5515.

The Library invites kids ages 8 and up to join the "Inklings" Book and Movie Club on the last Saturday of the month, August 27 at 2:00 PM. Inklings explores stories of clever children who use their wits to overcome insurmountable odds. This month the book is "Here Be Monsters" by Alan Snow, and the movie based on it, "Box Trolls."



Welcome to Ratbridge - where shy trolls wear boxes, creatures worship cabbage, and a boy named Arthur has to save the day. Follow Arthur as he uncovers an evil plot and has to save the only family he has ever known...The Boxtrolls!



We have copies of Alan Snow's "Here Be Monsters!" available to check out at the library, and on the last Saturday of the month we will watch the movie, make an adorable Boxtrolls craft, and eat something trollish (probably not cabbage). For more information call the library at 374-5515.

Adults: