The Sturgis Library's Vonnegut Celebration is upon us!  It will be held on Columbus Day weekend -- October 10, 11, and 12, 2014. 

Sturgis Library, in partnership with the Vonnegut family, Barnstable Historical Society, Tales of Cape Cod, the Barnstable Comedy Club, Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable Fire Department, Village businesses, churches, and Cape Cod Beer will host a weekend-long celebration of the life and writings of Kurt Vonnegut.  Vonnegut, who lived on Scudders Lane in the 1950's, 60s, and 70s, is well known for his numerous novels and essays, including the powerful novel Slaughterhouse-Five. He was a Sturgis Library Trustee, an active member of the Barnstable Comedy Club, and wrote some of his most successful novels right here in Barnstable Village. 

Most of the weekend events will be free, and seating is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.   Several events will be ticketed, and those tickets are on sale now. Check the Vonnegut Celebration page for details. 

Please visit the Vonnegut Celebration page on our website for a final schedule of events.  The schedule has changed in the last month, so please recheck it.  You can find the schedule here: www.sturgislibrary.org/vonnegut-celebration.  A program listing the complete schedule of events, event sponsors, and other information will be available on October 10th. 

We thank our sponsors and partners, including Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod, the Town of Barnstable Tourism Mini-Grant Committee, Cape Cod Beer, Shepley Wood Products, Howard Woollard / Woollard Builders, and many more.  Click here to see all the sponsors (listed after the schedule of events).   

For more information on the event, please contact Sturgis Library at 508-362-6636 or sturgislibrary@comcast.net. 

Thinking Outside The Box About College

A primer on identifying "best fit" schools and the financial advice you'll need for optimal success.

Tuesday, October 28th

6:00-7:30pm

Sturgis Library in Barnstable Village

Join other students and parents for an expert-facilitated discussion on strategies for establishing a college plan that is both appropriate and realistic based upon individual needs, strengths, challenges and goals.  Learn where to start, common barriers to success and how to leverage support resources to maximize the process.  The presenters will explore:

• Specific types of learners:  When to embrace the art/design/architecture path and students with special needs
• How and why to get really excited about "B" schools
• Guidelines and tips for financing a college education

With so much to consider, narrowing your search is the critical first step.

Jennifer Barnard and Joseph Malloy have spent many happy and productive years working with high school students as teachers, administrators, advisors as well as with college admissions.  Their unique perspective and experience will provide not only information, but food for thought about your child's talents, potential and future!  They cofounded Great Expectations Student Center in Barnstable Village.

Marguerite J. Dennis has been an admission and financial aid director for more than forty years, first at St. John's University in New York, then at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and at Suffolk University in Boston. She is the author of five books on college financing and enrollment management and has published more than 100 articles on college admission, financial aid, student success and graduation. She is a consultant to colleges and universities in the United States and abroad and lectures on higher education management and future trends.

Decoupage Pumpkins with Magda Brancato

Wednesdays, October 8 & 15 @3:00 p.m.

Sign up for a two-part workshop with staff member Magda Brancato to apply the decorating technique of decoupage to pumpkins.  You can create dramatic seasonal centerpieces or a spooky Hallowe'en decoration.  This class is free, and napkins and decoupage glue will be provided.  Attendees are required to bring their own pumpkins (6"-10" in diameter) and any special napkins they might wish to use.  

New England Dreams--Author Clint Hull  

Tuesday, 21 October @6:30 p.m.  

Who founded the town of Barnstable, John Lothrop or Thomas Dimmock and Joseph Hull? Why would an Anglican minister abandon a comfortable living in Devon, England, gather a congregation of 115 souls and set sail in 1635 for Puritan Massachusetts?

New England Dreams, an historical novel based on the life of Reverend Joseph Hull, traces Hull's odyssey from Devon to Weymouth, Hingham, Barnstable, Yarmouth, York, Cornwall, Oyster River and the Isles of Shoals, while accounting for his motives and his problems with Puritans, Pilgrims and Quakers. Employing both known facts and imagination, the novel explores these questions and elucidates the early days of Mattakeese Plantation, the arrival of Lothrop, the excommunication of Hull for preaching in Yarmouth without permission and his subsequent flight to the friendlier shores of Maine.

Clint Hull holds degrees from the University of Vermont, the University of Rhode Island and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He worked for the Navy Department as a technical publications writer and editor for 27 years. Since retiring, he has devoted his full time to writing fiction. New England Dreams was his first published novel; in 2013 he

published Occupying Powers, about the final months of World War II in the Pacific and the occupation of Japan. He is currently at work on a sequel to New England Dreams dealing with the Reverend Joseph Hull's son, Tristram. Clint and his wife Maureen live in Yarmouth Port.

• A limited edition signed Vonnegut print
• A Vonnegut basket of books, a Vonnegut "Little Thinker" doll, and other items
• A beer-related basket with the Vonnegut Cape Cod beer, 4 beer glasses with a Vonnegut quote, and other beer-related paraphernalia.

Tickets will be $10 each, and the winning tickets will be drawn on Sunday, October 12th at the Chowderfest.    Proceeds help fund the Vonnegut Celebration events.

Take the Kurt Vonnegut Writing Challenge!

Writer Kurt Vonnegut, a major presence in Barnstable Village in the 1960s and 70s, and once a Trustee of Sturgis Library, created a list of 8 rules for writers. Think you can follow them? See what you can do!

Submit your entry by October 5th, 2014. We'll share them during the Vonnegut Celebration and on our website, and highlight those that come closest to following the rules.

Here are the rules, as Vonnegut wrote them in Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction: 

Come join us for Drop-In Preschool Storytime every Thursday morning at 11:00!

Exhibits and Displays 

The following artists will be featured in the coming months:

• October 2104:  Kurt Vonnegut exhibit 
• November 2014:  Hugo Rizzoli, Mixed Media 
• December 2014:  KrisMarie Photography  
• January 2015:  Nilton Cutino Sodie Kaleisoscope Art
• February 2015:  Qing Dong oil paintings 

• October 2014:  Kurt Vonnegut exhibit
• November 2014:  Crafts by Magda Brancato
• December 2014:  Holiday Sale  

______________________________________________________________________  

Do you have artwork, photography, sculpture, crafts, a collection, or other interesting items to exhibit?  Contact Lucy Loomis at 508-362-6636 or drop her an email at sturgislibrary@comcast.net

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of exhibited art, photography, and crafts benefits the Sturgis Library.  Proceeds are used to enhance library services and programs. 

• Antonia: "Coldsleep Lullaby," by Andrew Brown (adult fiction, mystery, South Africa), "The Going to Bed Book," by Sandra Boynton (children's board book).
• Lisa: "The Glass Castle," by Jeannette Walls (non-fiction, memoir), "Under Magnolia: a Southern Memoir," by Frances Mayes (non-fiction, memoir) and "Weekends with Daisy," by Sharron Kahn Luttrell (non-fiction, service dogs).
• Katherine: "Brave Companions: Portraits in History," by David  McCullough (non-fiction, American biographies).
• Cathy: "The Bear," by Claire Cameron (adult fiction, wilderness survival).  
• Megan: "The Secrets We Keep," by Trisha Leaver (young adult fiction, suspense,  hidden identity).
• Lucy: "The Paying Guests," by Sarah Waters. (Adult fiction) and "Folk Art of Cape Cod and the Islands," by Jean Carley.  (Adult nonfiction)
• Magda: "The Giver," by Lois Lowry (young adult fiction, dystopia) and "The Lost Island," by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (fiction, suspense)

Library Hours & Holidays 

Sturgis Library will be CLOSED on Monday, October 13, 2014 for Columbus Day. 

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