Our latest and penultimate Muslim Journeys event, an interfaith panel discussion, went even better than I had hoped. Everyone, including the panelists, had a great time. Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz of Temple B’nai Brith, Rev. Jeff Mansfield of the First Church of Somerville, UCC, and Dr. Ghiath Reda of the Islamic Center talked about what their…
Every year on the evening of October 31 children in the US and Canada put on costumes and go door to door asking for candy. Some adults put on costume parties. TV networks and theaters air horror movie reruns. But why? Halloween is a corruption of the term All Hallow E’en or All Hallows Eve,…
October is American Archives Month, the purpose of which is to promote awareness and value of archives in society – as our country’s collective memory. The city of Somerville has its own archives, as does the SPL in the form of our Local History Room. I love old pictures, so I enjoy visiting the city…
[[{“fid”:”519″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:”Hoopla logo, with tagline “Borrow free digital video, music, and audiobooks with your library card””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false},”link_text”:null,”type”:”media”,”field_deltas”:{“1”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:”Hoopla logo, with tagline “Borrow free digital video, music, and audiobooks with your library card””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false}},”attributes”:{“alt”:”Hoopla logo, with tagline “Borrow free digital video, music, and audiobooks with your library card””,”height”:600,”width”:960,”style”:”height: 188px; width: 300px; margin: 10px; float: left;”,”class”:”media-element file-default”,”data-delta”:”1″}}]] Hoopla is here! We…
by Eileen and Sujei If you’re like me, you have a ton of things on your mind/plate. And although I knew July was International Zine Month, I couldn’t quite pull the trigger on this blog post till now. But, all this information is still valid – and it’s always a good time to enjoy and make…
Since our Muslim Journeys series began at SPL, I’ve been reading quite a bit about Islamic history and culture and taking note of events in the Islamic calendar. As with Christianity and Judaism, the Islamic year is based on a lunar calendar. Ramadan, the period when Muslims must fast between sunrise and sunset, ended recently….
Boston University professor Linda Heyw0od gave a great talk last night on Prince Among Slaves, one of the titles in our Muslim Journeys bookshelf. Prince is the story of Abdul Rahman, a Fulbe prince captured and sold into slavery in Mississippi and his quest for freedom. The book is also a fascinating portrait of antebellum…
Somerville Public Library’s central branch is marking its centennial this year. Way back in January of 1914, the Italian Renaissance-style building at 79 Highland Avenue opened for patrons after its dedication on Dec. 17, 1913. Famed library architect Edward Lippincott Tilton designed the new building. According to the Somerville Journal in an article dated Dec….
Books for Somerville Reads 2014 have arrived and are now available at all SPL locations! Somerville Reads is a project that promotes literacy and community engagement by encouraging people all over the City to read and discuss the same book. The book that has been selected for 2014 is Dark Tide: the Great Boston Molasses…
One of the most interesting books I’ve read this year has been Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders. I would have been drawn to it anyway because of my love of history, but I was especially intrigued by the book’s subject because I’m in charge of the library’s programming series Muslim Journeys. Thomas…
