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Library Party for Gerald and Piggie: Friday, Feb. 22 at 1:30 p.m. Residents are officially invited to a library party for our favorite twosome, Gerald and Piggie. There will be games (can you walk with a bird nest on your head?), crafts, photo ops, and just maybe a dramatic reading of one of our favorite Elephant and Piggie books. Tickets ($2) for children and adults are available in person starting Monday, Feb. 4. This program is for all ages.
Ukulele Strum Along: Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. Adults and teens can learn to play by playing. Focusing on two and three chord songs, this program is for the beginner ukulele player who wants to practice and play music with others. Singing is encouraged. Ukuleles available to borrow, songs projected onto a screen so no music stands or books necessary. This program is open to adults and teens. Residents can register online or in Information Services to borrow a ukulele, or just drop in with their own.
Teens and Tween Make & Take Mondays: Monday, Feb. 25 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Each Monday teens will participate in a variety of hands-on activities that will include making fun, seasonal crafts, exploring STEAM activities, and/or creating one-of-a-kind masterpieces. All materials will be provided at the program in the Library’s Meeting Room. This week we will be building with graham crackers and candy: make a house, car, train, or …Castle? This is a free, drop-in event. Registration is now.
Blanchard Middle School Book Club: Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. Library book club open to Blanchard Middle School teens in grades 6 to 8. Students actively participate in book discussion and hands-on activities once a once a month until May at the Blanchard Middle School Learning Commons. This month we will be reading Ghost by Jason Reynolds. Sign-up at the Blanchard Middle School with the school librarian, Mrs. Brandt.
Green Burials: Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. Residents can learn about green otherwise called a natural burial, a practice being revived nationwide and currently under consideration in Westford’s cemeteries, where burial is directly in the earth with a simple casket or shroud, no vault lines the grave, embalming fluid is not used, and the body enriches the soil. There will be a short film and a presentation, followed by discussion. Ages 14 and up. FREE! Register online or call Information Services at 978-399-2304.
Advanced Snap Circuits and Takeaparts: Friday, March 1 from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. There are five Snap Circuits kits to play with: RC Cars, Light, Motion, Arcade, and 3D Illumination. Preregister online. This free program is for children in grades 3 to 5.
Lego® Club: Saturday, March 2 from 2 to 3 p.m. Participants can create something fun with Library Legos®. All creations will be displayed in the library until the next meeting. Free drop-in for ages 5 and up with parent or caregiver.
Teen Tech Week – Teens and Tween Make & Take Mondays: Monday, March 4 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Imagine, create, and participate! Each Monday teens will participate in a variety of hands-on activities that will include making fun, seasonal crafts, exploring STEAM activities, and/or creating one-of-a-kind masterpieces. All materials will be provided at the program in the Library’s Meeting Room. To kick of Teen Tech Week participants will make Wearable Tech! This is a free, drop-in event. Registration is not required.
Adult Nonfiction Book Club: Tuesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. Is truth stranger than fiction? Is it more entertaining? Readers can find out in the Adult Nonfiction Book Club. The group meets on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Mary Atwood Room. Dates and book titles can be found on the website and at the Information Desk. Our March 5 book discussion will be My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme. Copies are available at Main Desk. No registration required.
Votes for Women: Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Thursday, March 7 at 7 p.m. Massachusetts was at the center of the national struggle for women’s rights. Long before the Civil War, Lucy Stone and other Mass. abolitionists launched the organized movement at the first National Woman’s Rights Convention, held in Worcester. After the war, state activists founded the Boston-based American Woman Suffrage Association and Woman’s Journal to lead campaigns across the country. Their activities laid the foundation for the next generation of suffragists to triumph over tradition. Author Barbara Berenson will discuss her book, which gives these revolutionary reformers the attention they deserve. Admission is FREE. This program is for ages 14 and up. Residents can egister online or call Information Services at 978-399-2304.
Teen Tech Week – Ozobots: Friday, March 8 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Ozobots are teeny tiny robots with BIG opportunities. Use iPads to code, explore, and create Ozobot challenges of speed, skill, and imagination. Open to Teens and Tweens in grades 5-12. Registration required for this free program. Teens and tweens can register ONLINE starting Monday, February 25 at 9am.
Adventures in Seed Saving: Saturday, March 9 at 10:30 a.m. There’s nothing like the taste of homegrown vegetables. The options and varieties of produce are endless when plants are started from seed. Residents can join gardener and teacher Judith Taylor for an interactive session of seed starting tips and tricks. Attendees will have the opportunity to plant some seeds and take them home. FREE! Ages 14 and up. Register online or call Information Services at 978-399-2304.
Breaking Science: Vaccines: Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m. Do vaccines cause autism? Does the childhood vaccine schedule overwhelm my child’s immune system? Should adults get vaccines, and can vaccines cause diseases they’re meant to prevent? Researcher James Sampson will answer all of the above questions and more! Come learn the story of one of the greatest successes in modern medicine, that has reduced or even eliminated diseases that devastated the world not long ago. Enjoy a fact-based discussion of the history, state of the field, and future developments in this area. Ages 14 and up. FREE! Register online or in Information Services at 978-399-2304.
Adult Book Discussion Group: Thursday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. Please join us to discuss A Revolution in Color by Jane Kamensky. Copies of the current reading selection are available for check-out at the Main Desk. New members are always welcome. No registration required
MBLC and Bruins PJ Drive: The J.V. Fletcher Library has once again teamed up with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Boston Bruins to participate in their annual pajama drive to benefit DCF Kids and Cradles to Crayons. The PJ Drive’s goal is to collect 15,000 pairs of new pajamas for children and teens in need. The PJ Drive runs from Feb.1 through March 15. The library will be collecting new pairs of pajamas for babies, children and teens. The drop off bin is located next to the Main Desk.
Stop by our Reference display case and help solve a library mystery! The library held its 100th anniversary gala on June 2, 1996. We’ve put a number of unlabeled photos from that night on display. Can you identify any of the attendees? The photos will be on display through February.
The J.V. Fletcher Library is located at 50 Main St., Westford. For more information or to register for a program, visit http://www.westfordlibrary.org or call 978-692-5555.
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