Grafton Public Library

Library Updates

Free Comic Book Day 2023

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After you’ve stopped by the library for the Free Comic Book Day giveaways and activities, keep the celebration going with these comics-loving titles!

Kids

Teens

Fiction

Comics About Comics

And more!

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Autism Acceptance Month

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© 2023 Autism Society

Celebrate differences this Autism Acceptance Month with one of these titles!

Kids

Teens

Fiction

Memoir

Graphic Novels

And more!

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March into National Crafting Month!

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Take a break and dive into crafting with these fiction titles!

Kids

Teens

Knitting & Crochet

Quilting

Embroidery

And more!

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Book Lists

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Check out our book lists for topical suggestions!

Authors

Tom Clancy in Memorium

Award Winners

Newbery Award Winners – most distinguished writing in a book for ages 0-14

Caldecott Award Winners – most distinguished illustration in book for ages 0-14

National Book Award – Fiction Winners – given by writers for writers

Celebrations, Displays, & Themes

Autism Acceptance Month

Black History Month

Emotional Wellness & Mental Health Comics

Frankenstein Day

Free Comic Book Day

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!

Independence Day

March into National Crafting Month!

Public Domain Day 2023

Rainbow Book Month

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Black History Month

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Kids

Teens

Classic Fiction

Current Fiction

Graphic Novels

Nonfiction

Poetry

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Public Domain Day 2023

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Celebrate the new works entering the public domain this January 1, 2023!

Kids

Adults

Copyright & Public Domain

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Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!

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A selection of books and movies to celebrate Jane Austen’s 247th birthday all December long!

Kids

Teens

Austen’s Classics

Fiction Inspired by Jane

The Life & Times of Jane

Austen on Film

And more!

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Emotional Wellness & Mental Health Comics

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Kids

Teens

Adults

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Seed Library

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for screen readers: Grafton's seed library is housed in an antique card catalog

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.
~Marcus Tullius Cicero (d. 43BC)

As part of the fulfillment of our LEED certification, we are excited to nurture a community of gardeners by providing a seed collection and exchange through the Library! The 2024 seed library will launch in March 2024.  We have a variety of seeds for herbs, flowers, and vegetables. The Seed Library is located in the Historic Reading Room in our antique card catalog. Each packet contains a few seeds and a link to growing instructions to start your own plants. Most seeds can be sown directly into your prepared soil.

NEW this year: Expanded selection of native plant seeds!

Check back often–we’ll be adding new seeds throughout the season!

For Seed Library questions, please contact Mary Murtland at murtlandm@graftonlibrary.org.

Our Goals

  • Provide free seeds to the community from seed companies and from gardeners who’ve saved seeds from plants that thrive in our local area.
  • Encourage the use of native, heirloom, open-pollinated, and organic seeds.
  • Encourage gardeners to save seed and donate seed back to the Seed Library from successful varieties of plants they have grown.
  • Educate our community on topics related to gardening, ecology, food and nutrition, health and wellness, and the environment.
  • Promote the importance of organic gardening for our health and the health of our planet.
  • Increase awareness of and mitigate food scarcity.

How the Seed Library Works

1. Choose a maximum of 2 free seed packets per visit
2. Follow the link on the back of the seed packet for growing instructions and plant the seeds in your garden.
3. Donate any leftover seeds back in the original packet.
4. Water, weed, and wait!
5. Harvest seeds from successful flowers and produce and thoroughly air dry them.
6. Label and return to the Seed Library so others can grow them next year (optional).

For gardening information, please visit the 635 section of the nonfiction collection or check out the Gale Database Collection on Gardening & Horticulture for articles and ebooks.

Donating Organizations

Thank you to the following organizations for their seed donations! Your generosity has been instrumental in establishing our program.

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Resources for Self-Quarantined Adults

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Check out the full list of online resources and databases offered by the Grafton Public Library

Local Resources

COVID-19

Vaccination Information

Find your vaccination appointment

MA Vaccination data and updates

Where to Get Tested for COVID-19

Rental Assistance – call 211

State of MA COVID-19 Resources & Info

CDC COVID-19 page

FOOD

Restaurants open for takeout/delivery
(compiled by Jenn Lord Paluzzi, GraftonCommon)

Grafton Food Bank
Providing Stop & Shop gift cards to participants

Find Your Local Food Bank

MA Pandemic EBT Program
For students on free/reduced school lunch

Food Distributors 
A list of restaurant suppliers now selling to the public

How and Where to Buy Local
Sourcing MassGrown food from local farms

Meals on Wheels
Making deliveries to local seniors

Quarantine Food Calculator
Enter the number of men, women and children in your family and it will calculate how much food you need for 2 weeks. Includes shopping tips and a meal plan.

FINANCIAL

Find Your Local United Way

COVID-19 Relief Fund for Military Veterans (no longer taking applications)

Coronavirus Tax Relief – Federal

Coronavirus Tax Relief – MA

Disaster Loan Assistance (SBA)

Federal Student Aid: Loans and Forbearance during Coronavirus

Financial Relief for Artists

Find Childcare and Childcare Assistance

Find Unemployment Benefits

MA Financial Resources for COVID-19

Stimulus Payment Calculator

What do I do if I lose my job-based health insurance?

How can I apply for food stamps?

How do I apply for Medicaid and CHIP?

HEALTH

Grafton Board of Health

Social Distancing Calculator
Designed to help you to understand how your actions affect the spread of the virus within your community. Includes a Toilet Paper Calculator!

Work/Working From Home: the “new normal”

Ask the Career Advisor series with Ken Mattsson
Tuesdays at 6:30pm

Harvard Business Review: A Guide for Working from Home (Parents)

Harvard Business Review: How Dual-Career Couples Can Work through the Coronavirus Crisis

Harvard Business Review: A Guide to Managing Your (Newly) Remote Workers

The Verge Guide to Working at Home

ZDNet Remote Working 101: Professional’s Guide to Tools of the Trade

Self-Care

Calm: Take a Deep Breath
(meditations and more, including Sleep Stories for kids)

Coloring Sheets from 113 Museums

Free Meditation and Relaxation Resources

Free/Reduced Cost Online Therapy
With licensed, insured therapists.

In the Room: Online Meetings for Those in Recovery
(for parents and caregivers)

Marathon AA meeting via ZOOM, 24/7
ZOOM 144108372
PASSWORD 750583

Self-Care Bingo

YMCA360 
Online exercise, fitness, well-being, and youth sports classes.

Yoga with Adriene

Keeping Busy & Entertained During Social Distancing

*Ancestry.com
Build your family tree and research vital stats.

By The People!
Library of Congress’s crowdsourcing project: transcribe primary source documents.

Calendar of Online Library Events in Massachusetts

How to Make a Face Mask
Patterns and instructions from Joann

MA Audubon Society’s Outdoor Almanac
Things to look for on solo walks outdoors

Project Checklist

WGBH Learning Center: Families

Play

Adobe Coloring Books

D&D Beyond
Website/app intended to take care of all the fine print and number crunching, leaving dungeon masters and players free to focus on crafting a good story.

Digital Jigsaw Puzzles
from the Smithsonian Institution.

Games to Play Virtually with Friends 

Golden Girls Escape Room

McSweeney’s Self-Quarantined: The Adult Activity Book

O is for Octopus coloring book for adults
A Fantasy Trip Abeeceedary from Steve Jackson games

The Arts

ALT Free Comic Book Day
2 days worth of panels, drawing and more in celebration of Free Comic Book Day, celebrated the first Saturday each May.

MOVIES
Open Culture Free Movies online


Includes classics, indies, film noir, documentaries and other films.

We Are One: A Global Film Festival
Showcase of feature films, shorts, documentaries, music, comedy, and panel discussions from May 29 to June 7, curated by the Berlin International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Venice Film Festival and more.

OPERA

The Met: (Opera) Live in HD

Paris Opera

DANCE

Alvin Ailey

MUSIC

Amazon Music
3 months, free.

Citizen DJ
Make music using the free-to-use audio and video materials from the Library of Congress.

Free Punk Music
Dischord label makes entire music catalog FREE on BandCamp.

Live Virtual Concerts

Ukes in Space Festival
May 22, 2020

THEATRE
Actor’s Fund: Broadway stars sing, daily at 2pm EST

Broadway Cares
clips

BroadwayHD

Broadway Shows & Musicals to watch from home

A Chorus Line in Quarantine

Filmed on Stage: PBS presents Broadway

Globe-TV
Shakespeare’s plays from the Globe Theatre, London.

The Show Must Go On
Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals

Lifelong Learning

*Pronunciator
Personalized language learning via website or app – over 100 languages available

Class Central & Ivy League MOOCs

Free Online Courses

The Great Courses
Audio lectures from experts in their field – 30 day free trial.

Museum of Modern Art courses 
Through Coursera

Quinsigamond Community College online courses

Serv Safe Food Handler Trainer & COVID-19 training

Smithsonian Associates Streaming
Individual programs, multi-part courses, studio arts classes, and virtual study tours inspired by the Smithsonian’s research, collections and exhibitions.

Parenting

Bingo Card Generator

Child Mind Institute
Resources for parenting during crisis.

Coronavirus Explainer

Mass.gov 
Open letter regarding co-parenting during COVID-19 from Chief Justice John D. Casey.

National Association of School Psychologists
Helping kids cope with changes resulting from COVID-19.

NPR: What Kids Want to Know About COVID-19
Talking points and free comic.

Reading

*ComicsPlus
Nearly 20,000 streaming comics for kids, teens and adults, always available, including Bone, Disney, TokyoPop and more!

*Overdrive
Digital eBook, eAudio, eMagazines

*NoveList Plus
Reader’s Advisory Tool that helps you figure out what to read next!

450 Free manga releases to read online

BookBub
free and discounted ebooks

Guggenheim Art Book Collection
over 200 digitized volumes.

JSTOR
Academic articles

Marvel Unlimited App
Free 7 day trial and a dozen comics available free during the pandemic.

OPenn collection
Medieval Manuscripts and more

Virtual / Online Tours

13 Virtual Train Rides

20 Virtual Train Rides

Live Penguin Stream

BOSTON
Aerial View of the vacant city

MUSEUMS

The Cowboy Museum (via Twitter)

Frida Kahlo’s home in Mexico City

Museum of Obsolete Library Science

Museum of Russian Icons (Boston, MA)

Orchard House: Louisa May Alcott’s home, Concord MA

National Gallery of Victoria (Australia): Collecting Comme
Japanese designer fashion exhibit

National Gallery of Victoria (Australia:) Marking Time
Indigenous art exhibit

National Gallery of Victoria: Petrina Hicks
Photography exhibit

Newport Mansions

Virtual Tours of Famous Castles

Winchester Mystery House, CA

British Museum Virtual Tour

The Louvre Virtual Field Trip

Interactive Frida Kahlo Exhibition from Google

BOTANICAL GARDENS

Chicago Botanic Garden

Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Gardens virtual tour

Kew Royal Botanic Gardens

Monet’s Garden virtual tour

Waddeson, A Rothschild House and Garden

Nothing is Certain but Death and Taxes

MA Income Tax
Filing deadline extended to July 15, 2020

Federal Income Tax
Filing deadline extended to July 15, 2020

MA MOLST & CC/DNR Forms
The MOLST and CC/DNR forms are statewide standardized forms issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Patients and their health care providers can use these to document the results of discussions they have had about appropriate life-sustaining treatment.

TIME Magazine: Why You Need to Create a When I Die File before It’s Too Late
It may sound morbid, but creating a findable file, binder, cloud-based drive, or even shoebox where you store estate documents and meaningful personal effects will save your loved ones incalculable time, money, and sufferin

Last Will and Testament
Free sample and instructions at eforms.

 

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Grafton Public Library