In This Book, Craftsmanship Is a Matter of Life or Death In the underground city of Caverna, the setting of Frances Hardinge’s novel A Face Like Glass (opens new tab), a sip of wine can rewrite memories, a bite of cheese can spark visions, and certain perfumes make the wearer literally irresistible. Its citizens’ facial…
Today (Nov. 28) was Giving Tuesday, a day designated by the United Nations and New York City's 92nd Street Y as a universal day of giving, as a way to establish a contrast to the consumerism of the holiday season. But despite that rampant consumerism, the month of December is when Americans are most likely to donate…
This past weekend we set our clocks back one hour as we do every year. Ideally when we get up in the morning it will be a little lighter, and, not so ideally, after we work we'll all be stumbling home in the dark. But why do we do this? Supposedly Benjmain Franklin first proposed…
Welcome to our latest installment of Meet the Staff on the Library blog! This October, we would like to introduce you to two of our newest staff members, Julie and Lilly. These two women bring a lot of great ideas, previous library work experience, and enthusiasm to their jobs at the SPL. Though Julie and…
This month on the blog and in our e-newsletter, we’re introducing you to our amazing staff from Tech Services and the Business Office! (If you’re joining us from our e-Newsletter, welcome to the blog!) You might have seen these wonderful women around the Library, filling in wherever needed. You’ll often see Patty and Wendy in…
On Monday, August 21, 2017, a solar eclipse will be visible in most of the United States. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth and blocks all or part of the sun. While Massachusetts is not in the “path of totality,” Somerville residents should be able to see a…
We're past the late spring/early summer when many of us are beginning to think about what to plant on our back decks or in our window boxes. But there's no reason we can't start planning what to grow indoors. Plants are beautiful, they make us feel better, and they can even clean up our environment….
Last week I posted about the filter bubble–the selective bias programmed into search engines via your search histories and the cookies web sites leave on your computer. This week I'm posting about how to break out of the filter bubble, so that the results of your web searches don't merely reflect your previous searches but have…
…which sites you visit? If you think you do, you're right only up to a point. Sure, you decide which links to click on, but who decides which links appear on your screen when you keyword search in the first place? If you're searching with Google, Bing, or Yahoo, they use your previous searches, the…
It’s time for another edition of Meet the Staff! For any of you who haven’t met her yet (you really are missing out!), Brigid is our English as a Second Language (ESL) Coordinator at the Library. She oversees our ESL program, which means that she teaches classes at all three library locations, organizes a group of great…
