In a recent Somerville News column reflecting on the career of former Mayor Eugene Brune, Mayor Curtatone quoted a Boston Sunday Globe insert (below) from October 17, 1965 entitled, “The New Somerville–Colonial Birth, Space Age Rebirth,” extolling a “new Somerville” with state-of-the-art infrastructure and institutions emerging from one of the birthplaces of America. But as…
Last Saturday there was a community discussion with the founders of Cuppow. The event was sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Sara Fix is a patron and volunteered this write up of the event…many thanks Sara! If you care about the environment, if you support local businesses, or if you’ve ever spilled coffee…
A friend read the earlier post about therapeutic reading and wrote to me that The Divine Comedy had helped him through a very difficult time (he thinks it was either Mark Musa’s translation or John Ciardi’s).* He has also found comfort in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Terrible Sonnets” (an example here) and the poetry of George…
Recently someone wrote to the editors of The Paris Review for reading recommendations. The person in question was suffering from severe depression. As a result he had already lost his job and relationship. He wrote that he was in therapy, but wondered if the editors could recommend books that would help him recover. Sadie Stein…
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is a great heart-wrenching book about the lives of two women, born a generation apart, and how they become entangled in an unlikely friendship amongst the ongoing wars in Afghanistan. I highly recommend it, either for summer reading or just for fun! It is very interesting and you…
Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Director of Libraries, Maria Carpenter, announced today that the City of Somerville has been approved by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) to be placed on a waiting list for an $18 million construction grant to partially fund a new public library in the heart of Union Square. Fourteen…
I am working at the library because, first of all, I wanted a summer job. Many of my friends decided to participate in the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program and my older sister has done it last year. Based on all that, I decided to participate as well since it looks good on a resume, is…
…and the weather is hot! But to make the livin’ a little easier, here are some ways to avoid (or minimize) cooking. Here are 101 hot-weather recipes by Mark Bittman that require only ten minutes (or fewer) of cooking. And Boston.com has a list of quick summer recipes (it’s a slideshow, but worth it!). Furthermore,…
Last night yours truly and Kristi Chase of the City’s Historic Preservation department gave a presentation on genealogical and house history research. Since most people remember research processes when they’re given concrete examples, we took one house in Somerville and explained how to use library resources and local government document to find out how the…
At the March 22, 2012 Board of Aldermen meeting Mayor Curtatone requested the following transfers from DPW Snow Account: $21,600 to replace the pipes and rugs in the Children’s Room in the West Branch. $36,086 to repair the elevator in the Central Library. $59,500 to repair/replace the East Branch Library roof and front entrance. All…
