Events
Merrill Film Society
Wednesday, December 8, 8:00pm, on Zoom
We have moved our discussions to Zoom.
December 8 — Pierrot le fou (1965) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-2021)
December 22 — Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) directed by Monte Hellman (1929-2021)
Time to remember some of the great actors and moviemakers who died in 2021. Jean-Paul Belmondo will be remembered as the coolest actor in France, the French equivalent of someone like Humphrey Bogart or Marlon Brando. He became famous in the 1960s because of his association with director Jean-Luc Godard. Pierrot le fou is quintessential Godard (i.e. brace yourself). There aren’t many copies of the film on disc in Maine, and the last time I checked, it wasn’t on Kanopy. But I hope you can manage to see it and join us for discussion.Monte Hellman directed Two-Lane Blacktop, a spartan film about racing a spartan hot rod and spartan lives of two nameless characters whose lives revolve around it (played by rock stars Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys and James Taylor). In fact none of the characters in the film have names, and they barely have any spoken lines. Unfortunately, there aren’t many copies of this on disc in Maine either. I did see the 2007 Criterion release for sale used at the Bull Moose in Brunswick, which comes with a copy of the script, which to my surprise, was more than a few pages long. I joke, but I really love this film.Watch the films on your own, and join on Zoom for discussion. Email Jeff at jeastman@yarmouthlibrary.org for an invitation to the meetings.
Merrill Film Society is an informal gathering of community members to view great works of cinema with one another. Everyone is invited.
Book and film discussions at MML
The Camden Conference is an annual event whose mission is to foster informed discourse on world issues. Every year, satellite events are held in communities around Maine. Merrill Memorial Library will host a film discussion and book discussion via Zoom in January 2022. Check back here for details about how to sign up for the Zoom discussions.
For now save these dates:
January 12, 2022. 8pm.THURSDAY, January 13, 2022, 8pm. A discussion of the 2019 documentary Collective. See the film on your own and join us for discussion. DVD available through Minerva.Tuesday, January 18, 2022. 7pm. A discussion of the 2018 book How Democracies Die by Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky. We have ten copies of the paperback here at MML, and the hardcover is widely available through Minerva.
The theme of the 2022 conference is Europe: Challenged at Home and Abroad.
‘The Gatherings’ Authors Visit
Author Talk: Tuesday, January 11 @6pm
Sign up for the Zoom link here: tinyurl.com/MMLBookTalk
For more information about The Gatherings, click here.
Multiple copies of The Gatherings are available through the library catalog.
Barb Martin is a Mi’kmaq woman from the community of Esgenoôpetitj/Burnt Church, New Brunswick. Since 1995, she has co-owned Han Martin Associates, a consulting firm helping communities and organizations achieve their goals, particularly when these involve building relationships and working with diversity.
Barb is currently the program manager of Oeliangitsoltigo Mental Wellness Team (MWT), serving four Indigenous communities. She was the recipient of the 2011 Honouring Our Peoples Award from the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs for her work with residential school survivors and in recognition of her contributions to improving the health of First Nations people in Atlantic Canada. She is a co-author of The Gatherings.
Shirley N. Hager lives in Chesterville, Maine. She is a retired associate professor with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Currently, she serves with the Friends (Quaker) Committee on Maine Public Policy and chairs its Committee on Tribal-State Relations. She is a trained facilitator with the Center for Courage and Renewal. Shirley coordinated the Gatherings that are the subject of this book, and is the book’s lead author.
Techspresso Tuesdays!
Every Tuesday, 2-3:30pm! Sign up at the Circulation Desk!
Phuc Tran, Author Talk
Phuc Tran, local Maine author of the excellent memoir Sigh, Gone, spoke at an online event Thursday, June 3. Video of the discussion is now available.
Readers’ Circle book club discussed Sigh, Gone on Thursday, May 27. New voices are always a welcome treat.
Geopolitics of the Arctic: A Region in Peril
This January, Merrill Memorial Library and Falmouth Memorial Library hosted two Camden Conference community events, and recordings of the lectures are now available online.
January 19, Jeff Thaler, a professor of practice at the University of Maine School of Law, associate university counsel for environmental, energy, and sustainability projects for the University of Maine System, and associate faculty member of the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, presented “Comparing Impacts of Climate Change upon Maine and Greenland.” Watch a recording on our channel on YouTube or download a PDF of Professor Thaler’s slides.
January 26, Geneviene LeMoine, curator of the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center at Bowdoin College, presented “Melting Away: Disappearing Archaeology in the Arctic,” looking at the damage climate change is doing to prehistoric and historic archaeological sites across the Arctic and the ways archaeologists and northern communities are coping with this emerging problem. To request a recording of the presentation, please contact jeastman@yarmouthlibrary.org.
Collections
- Non-fiction (including special sections on Gardening, Interior Design, Home, Cooking, Travel, and recently purchased titles)
- Fiction (including new best-sellers)
- Audio Books on CD (fiction and non-fiction)
- Movies and Television on DVD
- Large-Print Books
- Periodicals (over 70 titles ranging from news commentary to popular interest)
- Newspapers (Portland Press Herald, Boston Globe, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post)
What will you read next?
If you’ve discovered a book that you like and are looking for something similar, try the following web sites for ideas:
- whatshouldireadnext.com This site lists other titles by the same author as well as books that you may like within the same genre.
- gnooks.com This site offers an interesting “Map of Literature” as well as suggestions of similar authors.
- GoodReads This site offers users a bookshelf to organize books they are currently reading as well as books to be read.
- NextReads This site offers users the chance to sign up for a weekly newsletter of reading suggestions.
