Merrill Memorial Library

Catalog Search

Programs for Adults

  • Poetry Reading

    Join us at the library, Thursday, April 6th at 7 pm, for a special poetry reading at the library.

    The Chorale Poets got their start through a series of workshops at Merrill Library that began in 2016, originally led by Martin Steingesser, supported by the Maine Arts Commission’s Lifetime Arts Program. The funded group subsequently coalesced into the unfacilitated independent one, and has continued meeting since. These workshops planted the seeds that have now become a published book of their work. Several of the poets also have published independently and/or won awards for poems workshopped with Chorale. It will be a joy to hear the fruits of their labors.

    “These poets write about passages—their own and our country’s—looking deeply at the world as they find it. They investigate those profound memories that shape us throughout our lives and examine the natural world that can transform us every day. They are a community of writers, and their poems at times become a call and response, voices joined together to create images and stories that evoke and complement each other. At a time in our world when darkness feels omnipresent, these poets remind us that there is light in everything as well.” —Stuart Kestenbaum, Maine’s 5th Poet Laureate

  • Techspresso Tuesdays!

    Need help with technology issues? MML librarians are here to save the day!

    Contact the circulation desk to schedule a 15 minute appointment between 2 and 3:30 PM to learn how to live with all this ever changing technology just a little bit better.

    Due to the close nature of tech help, mask are still required.

  • Long Term Care Planning

    Southern Maine Agency on Aging

    Community Presentation Long Term Care Planning Workshop
    Tuesday, April 11th | 11:00AM.
    Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth ME.
    Third Floor

    Presenter:
    Lori Campbell
    Family Caregiver Support Program Specialist

    How do you begin the process of planning for the future? What concerns must be considered? How do you find out what resources are available when help is needed? All of these topics will be discussed in this class, whether you are thinking ahead for an older adult in your life, or for yourself. If interested in attending this presentation, please sign up with Zyanya (Zany) Shorey by calling: (207) 835-9866 or email: YarmouthResources@smaaa.org

    About Southern Maine Agency on Aging:
    The Southern Maine Agency on Aging is the focal point in Cumberland and York counties for resources, services, and information to empower older adults, adults with disabilities, and their
    caregivers to live to their fullest potential.

    Connect with us: 207-396-6500 | info@smaaa.org
    Follow us on Facebook @southernmaineagencyonaging

  • Nature Journaling Group

    Need time to get out of your own head and into the amazing world around us? Do you enjoy journaling, sketching and/or painting and are curious about the science of climate, bird flight patterns and the names of the cloud formations?  Nature journaling may be just the thing!

    Join our Natural Journaling Group at the library! No experience is needed. We meet to look at a variety of journal layouts, discuss making nature journaling a consistent practice, and share a wide variety of resources available. Sometimes we try out a variety of different papers, pens and stickers. Field trips to sketch are arranged outside of our monthly meetings.

    A suggested basic supply list will be sent to all registrants, as well as access to a variety of materials shared by our members. No drawing experience is needed, and none will be taught, but we can share resources to learn if you are interested. Join us on the following Saturday mornings to discuss and share nature journaling experiences:

    March 4, 2023
    April 1, 2023
    April 29, 2023
    May 6, 2023
    June 24, 2023.

    Our meetings start at 8:30 am and end by 10:00 am. Please feel free to come later or leave earlier. Since we meet outside of library hours, registration is required.

  • Poetry Reading

    Author Wesley McNair will be joining us at the library on Thursday, April 20th at 7 pm for an evening of readings from his latest work: Late Wonders: New and Selected Poems. 

    “Wesley McNair has won grants from the Fulbright and Guggenheim foundations, two Rockefeller Fellowships, two NEA grants in creative writing, and an Emmy Award. He has twice been invited to read his poetry by the Library of Congress and served five times on the Pulitzer jury for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. He was recently selected for a United States Artists Fellowship as one of America’s “finest living artists.” His collection The Lost Child: Ozark Poems, won the 2015 PEN New England Award for Literary Excellence in Poetry. McNair’s most recent book of poems is Dwellers in the House of the Lord.” – Godine.com

  • Journaling Challenge

    Thank you to everyone who joined in on the Journaling Challenges in 2023. The journaling habit continues into April with a new challenge…

    There is no theme this month, we are just journaling! We will be using 2 ½ x 2 ½ squares to journal daily in April. Prompts will be available on the Library’s Facebook page and via email to those who sign up. The goal is to journal.

    Daily journaling is highly encourage to help build your writing habit, however, the only rules are that you use your favorite writing utensil and paper. Feel free to add sketches, painting, or mixed media on the squares to supplement your journaling. Maybe use one side for illustration and the other for your writing.

    We will provide some daily prompts. They will be available daily on the Library’s Facebook page, or you can sign up to receive the prompts daily in your email.

    Click here to Sign-up for daily journaling prompts. Supplies and directions will be available for pick up at the Library to those who request them at ajdarling@yarmouthlibrary.org.

    Please contact Andi Jackson-Darling at 846-4763 or ajdarling@yarmouthlibrary.org for additional information.

  • Merrill Film Society

    The Merrill Film Society meets at the library, and occasionally other locations, to watch and discuss great films and the industry. Any and all are free to join in!

    Film Screenings

    Wednesday, March 8th at 7 pm: American Graffiti
    We’ve used the last five months to experience movies from the past and, thanks to Yarmouth Historical Society, we’ve been able to do that using technology from the past. Now let’s take a look at movies that deal with the past, specifically the unrecoverable past and the complicated emotions those films might inspire. This means: March is unofficially Nostalgia Month for the Merrill Film Society! Our first film to tackle this theme will be George Lucas’s American Graffiti. This was Lucas’s second film, and the first made by his own company, Lucasfilm. With its focus on cars, music, and the trials and tribulations of a group of teenagers getting ready to step into adulthood, the film is fertile ground for a discussion of nostalgia.
     
    Wednesday, March 22nd at 7 pm: High Fidelity
     
    For our second film in “Nostalgia Month” we will be watching the Stephen Frears directed High Fidelity which is based on the book by Nick Hornby. Much like American Graffiti this film deploys music to evoke emotions and, in fact, the main character spends much of the film speaking directly to the camera about the power of music to evoke emotions. Unlike American Graffiti this film is less of a document of a specific time and place and more of an examination of a particular moment in one man’s life. As a bonus, during the film discussion please feel free to share your own experiences with live music and mix tapes!

  • Readers’ Circle

    Join the Readers’ Circle for our Spring 2023 book club selections loosely theme “Books with a Curse:”

    …a literal curse…

    March 23 @ 7 PM & March 29 @ 1:30 PM

    The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

    …the curse of memory loss…

    April 27 @ 7 PM & May 3 @ 1:30 PM

    Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

    …the curse of slavery…

    May 25 @ 7 PM & May 31 @ 1:30 PM

    Beloved by Toni Morrison

    …the curse of family…

    June 22 @ 7 PM & June 28 @ 1:30 PM

    A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

    Signup for this club’s mailing list to receive club updates and important announcements.