Book Recommendation

Keeping Watch: A History of American Time
By Michael O'Malley (1990)

Focusing on the period from 1820 to 1920, Keeping Watch details the far-reaching changes in American society brought about by the transition from natural to mechanical sources of time - from farmers' almanacs and religious formulations of time to regional time zones, synchronized watches, and factory punch clocks. Michael O'Malley shows how the pressures of industrialization, the emergence of the telegraph, and the spread of railroads led to a demand for uniform, consistent schedules.

For more information about the history of time, including an interview with author Michael O'Malley, listen to this podcast from BackStory with the American History Guys: On the Clock: A (Brief) History of Time

VITA Tax Help

Tax Day Is Around the Corner!

VITA Volunteers will be at the Library until April 15.

Monday, 10 a.m to 1 p.m.
Tuesday, 6 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m.

Book Recommendation

This Republic of Suffering
By Drew Gilpin Faust (2008)

An illuminating study of the American struggle to comprehend the meaning and practicalities of death in the face of the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War.

During the war, approximately 620,000 soldiers lost their lives. An equivalent proportion of today’s population would be six million. This Republic of Suffering explores the impact of this enormous death toll from every angle: material, political, intellectual, and spiritual. The eminent historian Drew Gilpin Faust delineates the ways death changed not only individual lives but the life of the nation and its understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. She describes how survivors mourned and how a deeply religious culture struggled to reconcile the slaughter with its belief in a benevolent God, pondered who should die and under what circumstances, and reconceived its understanding of life after death.

NPR interview with Drew Gilpin Faust

Book Recommendation

Detroit: An American Autopsy
By Charlie LeDuff (2013)

Detroit: An American Autopsy exposes bureaucratic corruption and systemic arson in Detroit. LeDuff writes about his experiences with the local fire department and his investigations into the daily lives of politicians, police officials, and others who are working to save the troubled city.   Charlie LeDuff was a staff writer at the New York Times and a reporter at the Detroit News, and is now a television journalist for Detroit’s Fox 2 News. He contributed to a Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times series and has received a Meyer Berger Award for distinguished writing about New York City. He is the author of US Guys and Work and Other Sins. LeDuff lives with his wife and daughter on the edge of the Detroit city limits.

Freeport in the News

Freeport Librarians Featured in March Issue of Library Journal

Congratulations Margaux, Rose, and Tanisha!

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/

Patron Spotlight

Patron Spotlight: Deb and Jennah Newton

By Regina G. Feeney and Cynthia J. Krieg

 

There are three things that Deb loves: being a mom, riding a motorcycle, and the Freeport Memorial Library.  Deb’s fondness for libraries began as a child in Amityville.  Her mother took her to the library frequently and, for many years, she was an active participant in the various summer reading clubs.  Work eventually brought Deb to Freeport.  While working at the Social Security Office on Sunrise Highway, Deb would often come to the library on her lunch break.  Eventually, she bought a co-op close to work and the library. 

Deb believes in following her dreams.  As a teenager, she always wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle.  Once she was living on her own, she took lessons, got her motorcycle license, and bought a bike.  Deb also likes being a trailblazer.  She became the first woman to join the Queen's motorcycle club, the Urban Knights.  Her tenacity paid off.  While in the club, she met and married fellow Urban Knight, Mark Newton. 

On August 21, 2009, Mark and Deb had a baby girl named Jennah.  Since then, Deb has been home schooling her daughter with materials from the library.  Like her own mother, Deb wants Jennah to be a life-long library user.  She makes a special effort to take Jennah to the library every chance she gets.  "Between six and nine months old" Deb said, "Jenna was enrolled in Baby and Me."  From there came Crafty Toddler, Circle Time, Mother Goose, Parent-Child Workshop, and more.  The door to the Newton's apartment is decorated with many of Jenna's library crafts.  Deb also takes advantage of the library's Museum Pass program that allows Freeport residents to check-out passes to local museums for free.  The Newton's have been to the Children's Museum of Manhattan, the Long Island Children’s Museum, and the Cradle of Aviation.

After Hurricane Sandy hit, Deb noticed that many of her neighbors in her co-op were struggling to keep their children entertained.  Schools were closed, gas was next to impossible to get, and families were suffering from cabin fever.  Deb received permission from the building’s management agent to open the party room and created the "Park Sutton Kiddie Club."  Deb modeled many of the club's activities from library programs she and Jennah had attended.  For about a week, children could play, read, draw, and do crafts.  The club even held a baking program.  Jennah especially loved making the "princess cookies." 

Wherever Deb and Jennah go, they like to check out the local library.  But according to Deb, "Nothing compares to our library.  The staff is so accommodating and I appreciate that the library offers the same programs at different times during the week.  Freeport Memorial Library is awesome!"

Book Recommendation

100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson (2013)

 

After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he's still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn't interested (and he'd like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant.