Unless otherwise noted, the following programs are made possible by the Friends of the Library.
Director’s Corner: New York Times Cooking Database! This is the perfect database to find a new recipe for your holiday table. If you enjoy cooking and sampling new recipes, be sure to check out the “New York Times Cooking” database. “An inspiring cooking guide, innovative and interactive kitchen tool, and diverse recipe collection that helps home cooks of every level discover, save and organize the world’s best recipes, while also helping them become better, more competent cooks.” Access from home for 24 hours per redemption code. The redemption code will already be filled in; just click the “Redeem” button. Access this database from our Alphabetical Listing of Databases.
Holiday Closing: In observance of Veterans Day, the Library will be closed on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. The Library will re-open on Thursday, November 12 at 10:00 a.m.
Talk & Tour at MIT Haystack Observatory: Tuesday, November 17, 6:00-7:30 p.m. MIT Haystack Observatory 99 Millstone Road – For ages 12 through adult!
Come join us for a fun evening at MIT Haystack Observatory! We’ll enjoy a special talk and tour led by Anthea Coster and discover some of the amazing research and exciting technology projects happening at the observatory. We’ll learn how they use radio science to study our planet, our Sun, and the universe. We’ll even get to put on hard hats and step inside their enormous, iconic dome to see the giant radio telescope in motion! We hope you’ll join us for this unique adventure.
Questions? Please email us at youthservices@westfordma.gov.
Registration is required. This talk & tour is supported by the MIT Haystack Observatory and the J. V. Fletcher Library. .
Adult Programs
Virtual – Historical Fiction Book Recs with Bestselling Author, Jane Healey, Tuesday, Nov 10th, 6:30 p.m.
Love Historical Fiction but not sure what to read next? Join bestselling author, Jane Healey monthly for 30 minutes of pure book recommendations – the best of historical fiction out there! We’re sure you’ll find something to like from Jane’s many enthusiastic reviews. Registration is required. This program is presented in collaboration with the Ashland Public Library.
Adult Book Club – Thursday, November 12, 6:30 p.m., 515 Groton Rd.
We’ll discuss Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard. Copies are available at the Main Desk. The e-book and audiobook are available to download from Libby and Hoopla. Join a lively group of readers to discuss fiction and nonfiction titles (we alternate each month)! No registration required. Email Kristina Leedberg at kleedberg@westfordma.gov for more information.
Virtual Job Search Help for 50 & OVER – Marketing & Networking Plan: Wednesday, November 18, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (please note time change) The Massachusetts Library Collaborative’s 50+ Job Seekers Group meets on biweekly the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., via Zoom. If you are unemployed and actively looking, underemployed, seeking a new career direction, re-entering the job market after a long employment gap, or recently retired and looking for your “Encore Career”, this networking group program is perfect for you! Take advantage of these free, weekly skill-building and networking group meetings. A new topic will be covered at each meeting. Register here.
Virtual: SciFi Book Recommendations with Author Elizabeth Bear, Wednesday, Nov 18th 7:00 p.m.
Love SciFi but not sure what to read next? Join bestselling author, Elizabeth Bear, for 30 minutes of pure book recommendations – the best of Science Fiction books out there! We’re sure you’ll find something to like from Bear’s many enthusiastic reviews.This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with a multitude of MA and NH libraries. We’ll send out a list of all recommendations for those who register. Registration is required.
Monday Mystery Book Club: Monday, November 23rd at 2:30 p.m., Roudenbush The Mystery Book Club will discuss Return to Sender by Craig Johnson. Copies are available at Main Desk.The ebook and audiobook are available to download from Libby. The audiobook is also available to download from Hoopla. Drop-ins welcome. Email lernick@westfordma.gov for details!
Virtual – The Real Thanksgiving with Bill Thierfelder, Tuesday, November 24th 7:00 p.m. On the fourth Thursday of November every year, countless millions of Americans gather around the table–and the television–to enjoy a banquet, football, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It’s a tradition that goes back decades. But it wasn’t always so–and that’s what this program examines. We’ll look at that first sport-famished, non-Santa, un-apple-pie Thanksgiving in the early 17th century and see how that straight-forward, rather modest feast among early colonials and indigenous peoples transformed into the most widely celebrated event in our country, a day on which more Americans travel than any other holiday. We’ll explore regional traditions, folklore, music, and even a few recipes–and try to discover the “thanks” in Thanksgiving. Registration is required. This program is hosted by and presented in partnership with the Groton Public Library.
Staff Recommends: Miss Wolcott’s Ghost by Louise Penny “The head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec has no idea where Lost Nation is, or who woke him in the small hours of the morning at his home in Three Pines insisting there’s a body in Lost Nation. What he does know is that the man was terrified. And so Armand is thrust out of a deep sleep and into the surrounding forests in search of the mythical Lost Nation. And a body. When he and his team of Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste find both, the situation only grows more bizarre. The unidentified dead man appears to be from an era more than a century old. He’s lying in a long-abandoned cemetery, on top of a grave with a date, but no name. Adding to the mystery, the early morning call appears to have come from Gamache’s friend and neighbor, Clara Morrow. While she denies any knowledge of it, it becomes clear there is some connection between her, the Morrow family, and Lost Nation. Soon, Gamache and his team are faced with tracking down not just the legend of Lost Nation, but a lost ship, lost documents belong to an eccentric Victorian botanist, and a mysterious plant not seen in a century, that might save, or take, countless lives. As the murder investigation deepens, nightmarish spectres from the past begin to haunt the Sûreté officers, only heightened by the appearance of one of Gamache’s former and now disgraced protégés, with whom he must form an uneasy alliance. As the ghosts begin to gather, Gamache, Beauvoir, and Lacoste, with the help of Reine-Marie, Clara, and the other villagers of Three Pines, realize that the body on the grave is far from the only death. To solve the crime and avert catastrophe they must look to rancid secrets and old lies no longer dead and buried.”
Youth Services Programs
Three & Up Storytime: Tuesday mornings, 10:30-11:15 a.m., Roudenbush – 3rd floor Join us Tuesday mornings for our preschool storytime full of interactive stories, rhymes, fingerplays, puppets, and songs. This storytime program, designed for children ages 3 to 6, promotes reading readiness and early literacy skills. Registration is recommended to receive both weekly reminder emails and updates in case of program changes. When you sign up, you are registered for the entire 8-week Three & Up Storytime session. Questions? Please email us at youthservices@westfordma.gov.
Time for Tots Storytime: Wednesday mornings, 10:30-11:00 a.m. Roudenbush – 3rd floor Our Time for Tots Storytime is a 30-minute interactive story time experience for our young library users and their caregivers. Join us for stories, songs, movements, and puppets that are developmentally appropriate for children from 15 months to 3 years of age. Enjoy time together with fellow parents, caregivers and little ones to learn, play and develop language, early literacy, and motor skills. Come prepared to sit on the floor one-on-one with your toddler. This program is designed for little ones who are on the move. Registration is recommended to receive both weekly reminder emails and updates in case of program changes. When you sign up, you are registered for the entire 8-week Time to Tots storytime session. Questions? Please email us at youthservices@westfordma.gov.
Baby Lapsit: Thursday mornings, 10:30-11:00 a.m., Roudenbush – 3rd floor Baby Lapsit is a 25-minute interactive story time experience for our youngest library users and their caregiver. Join us for stories, songs, rhymes, puppets, and bounces that are developmentally appropriate for children from birth to when they begin walking. This Lapsit program is just for you and the baby! Enjoy time together with other parents, caregivers and babies to learn, play and develop language, early literacy, and motor skills. Come prepared to sit on the floor one-on-one with your baby in your lap. This program is designed for newborns through pre-walking babies. Registration is recommended to receive both reminder emails and updates in case of program changes. When you register, you are registered for the entire 8-week Baby Lapsit
Create a Dinosaur Mosaic with Tiny Tile Mosaics: Monday, November 9, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Roudenbush, Room 105 Create a fun dinosaur mosaic as part of our DiNOVember celebration! Join Crystal D’Abbrachio, of Tiny Tile Mosaics, for this creative workshop. All supplies are included. This workshop is open to children ages 5 and up. Young participants will learn about mosaic art and will work with colorful mosaic tiles to create their dinosaur mosaic in a wood bezel. Children will have time to apply the mosaic tiles with adhesive during the workshop and will take the grout (and grouting instructions) home with them to finish once it is fully dry. Registration is required. Questions? Please email us at youthservices@westfordma.gov.
This children’s program is sponsored by our wonderful Board of Library Trustees.
Owls Up Close with Eyes on Owls (OPEN TO ALL AGES): Tuesday, November 10, 4:00—5:00 p.m., Abbot Elementary School Gym, 25 Depot Street
Who’s watching you? Find out on when Eyes on Owls presents a live owl program at the Abbot School Gymnasium. All who attend are in for some fun with close-up views of these secretive birds of prey.
Naturalists Marcia and Mark Wilson will present “Who’s Watching You? Owls of the World.” The Wilsons introduce the audience to six owls found in New England and as well as other parts of the world. Marcia imitates the owls’ calls herself, paying special attention to the more common owls that we might encounter in our area.
After a hooting lesson and much audience anticipation, Marcia brings out the live owls one at a time. With each owl perched securely on her gloved hand, she walks out in front of the audience with six or seven owls. There’s plenty of time for close-up views and questions. Each owl presented has a permanent disability that prevents them from surviving on their own in the wild. These non-releasable owls are captivating ambassadors from the world of wildlife. The Wilsons are legally permitted by state and federal agencies to use live owls in their environmental educational programs.
Which owl eats skunks? Can a little detective work reveal where owls live near you? What do pellets tell us about an owl’s diet? How can we protect owls and their habitats? The Wilsons explore these questions and more during this fun, interactive program. Questions? Please email us at youthservices@westfordma.gov.
Open to all ages. Registration is required.
This program is co-sponsored by the KDK Memorial Foundation and the Friends of the J. V. Fletcher Library.
YA Mario Kart Tournament with One Up Games: Monday, November 16 at 4:30-7:30 p.m., Roudenbush, Room 105. Are you the ultimate Mario Kart champion? Prove it! Join One Up Games to compete against other teens in a double-elimination tournament to take home the crown! Prizes will be awarded to first, second, and third place winners! For ages 11-18. Registration is required.
YA Bead Therapy with ZMakesBeads: Thursday, November 19 at 6-8 p.m., Roudenbush, Room 105. Join us for a creative and meditative beading workshop! For ages 12-18. Registration is required. This fun program is sponsored by our wonderful Board of Library Trustees.
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