Hingham Public Library News

Would you like to sharpen your driving skills? Assess how competent a driver you are? Well, help doing just that is as DrivesharpSoftware

close as the Hingham Public Library. AAA Southern New England has joined with California-based brain fitness company Posit Science to launch the DriveSharp Library Donation program. The Hingham Public Library has received a grant to provide the DriveSharp program to 25 patrons.

The program, funded through a million dollar donation from Posit Science, and run by AAA Southern New England in partnership with its Pioneer and Merrimack Valley clubs, provides more than 11-thousand software licenses for DriveSharp free of charge to Massachusetts public libraries in Massachusetts.

DriveSharp is a series of interactive, game-like computer exercises proven in independent clinical studies to improve reaction time, cut car crash risk and improve stopping distance by up to 22 feet at 55 m.p.h .

“Many brain functions including the visual behaviors that support good driving decline as we grow older, but that doesn't mean the brain can't be rejuvenated,” said world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Michael Merzenich, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Posit Science. “Using DriveSharp, visual skills supporting safer driving can be very significantly improved for almost all adult drivers”.

The Hingham Public Library will loan the software installation cd and instructions free through its Audiovisual Department beginning January 12, 2010. Call the Audiovisual Department at 781-741-1405 ext. 2605 for more information about borrowing the program and using it on your computer. Technical support for the software is not provided by the Hingham Public Library.

HPL is pleased to announce the addition of the Mango Languages online language-learning system to our website. Mango is free of charge to patrons, and offers a fun, fast and convenient solution to our community's growing language learning needs.

Click the Mango logo to connect.

Mango's online language learning system focuses on teaching actual conversational skills for a wide variety of languages. Each lesson combines real-life situations and audio from native speakers with an easy-to-follow interface and simple, clear instructions. Because it's completely web based, you can learn anywhere there is an internet connection - at the library, a coffee shop, or even relaxing on the sofa at home. It's so effective and easy to use, you may be speaking a new language after just one lesson! Users from outside the Library will need a Hingham Public Library card to access the service.

Mango Languages currently offers 12 language courses - Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Greek, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, ESL for Polish speakers, ESL for Spanish speakers, and ESL for Brazilian Portuguese speakers - with many more on the way.

Text a Librarian is the newest way to get answers to any & all of your questions!

HPL is happy to announce a new way to get your Reference questions answered. With the Text a Librarian service, you can access the Reference Desk from wherever you are, simply by sending a text through your cellular phone or mobile device!

The first time you use the service, all you have to do is text our library's ID - HPLREF - followed by your question, to the number 66746. All questions come through with an anonymous ID attached, so your name and phone number are kept private.

If you use the same device to ask any questions in the future, you do not have to include the library ID, as your phone number will be recognized by the system and directed to Hingham Public Library.

It would be a good idea, however, to save this number in your device under the name "HPLREF," in case you need to remember the phone number or the library ID in the future, or for use on another device.

You can also follow the instructions in the animation on the phone to the left.

We hope this service allows even greater access to our Reference Department, and we look forward to all of your questions!

OCLN has added eBooks to the Overdrive Collection!! The new format is compatible with the Sony Reader, B&N Nook, as well as with Internet-enabled Windows Mobile 5 or 6 devices. Click here for a list of compatible devices with our service. Other readers, not as yet tested with our service, may also work but check with manufacturer before purchasing. Our DRM-protected Adobe EPUB and PDF eBooks are currently incompatible with the following devices:

OCLN has purchased over 100 eBook titles and has plans to purchase many more! Our eBook titles will be offered in the 2 most popular eBook formats EPUB and PDF.

Do you ever ask yourself, "Have I already read this?" or "What was the name of that book I read last month?" If so, you might be interested in saving your reading history, a new service available beginning Tuesday, July 6 from the Old Colony Library Network.

To keep a list of what you have borrowed, log in to your library account in the library catalog, select My Reading History, and then choose the Opt In button. A policy statement about how the reading history option works, including information about your privacy, will display. Once you have read and agreed to the statement and completed the Opt In process, any items you borrow from Old Colony libraries will be recorded.

If you decide to save your reading history, everything you borrow (books, DVDs, CDs, etc.) will be added as soon as you return them to the library. Reading history information can only be seen by someone with your library card number and PIN number. Library staff cannot see your reading history.

If you try this option and later change your mind, you can opt out of the service at any time and your reading history will be purged from the system.

Library Trustees dedicated a sculpture created by Susan Luery on Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Trustees of the Hingham Public Library dedicated a sculpture created by internationally recognized sculptor Susan Luery . The dedication ceremony took place at the main entrance of the Library on Sunday, January 13, 2008. Hingham Town Moderator Thomas L. P. O'Donnell was the event's keynote speaker. Shown below are sculptor Susan Luery [seated left] and the models who sat for the sculpture. Photos courtesy of Library Trustee Edward Boylan.

The sculpture is a gift to the Library from Hingham residents Pat and Jim MacAllen . The MacAllen family has a four-generation association with Hingham and its public library. The sculpture is dedicated to the memory of “Thelma and William MacAllen and their love of Hingham”. The MacAllens selected the Hingham Public Library for their gift because they believe “the Library fosters a celebration and love of reading that can be shared by parents and their children throughout their lives”.

The Trustees of the Library commissioned Hingham resident Susan Luery to create a life-sized bronze sculpture depicting a young mother and her daughter enjoying a “story-time” while seated on a two-tiered base formed from Deer Isle, Maine granite. The sculpture is located adjacent to

Susan Luery was born in Baltimore and attended the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her gift for sculpting was refined in Carrara, Italy, where she worked with Alberto Sparapani, Maestro sculptor of Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Luery's best known sculptural works may be Babe's Dream”, the 16-foot monument to Babe Ruth located in front of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore and the Cal Ripken, Jr. monument that welcomes fans to his museum in Aberdeen, Maryland. Her works also can be found in private, public and museum collections throughout the world.

Getting bagged at the Library can be a good thing. The Hingham Public Library now has an attractive tote bag for sale that will enhance your reputation as an HPL supporter and user. In fact, we dare say you'll become a trendy bag fashionista and make your friends and neighbors go green with envy. Our new canvas tote is the perfect holiday gift-giving. Here's the story on our totes.

Massachusetts painter and illustrator T.A. Charron's pen and ink sketch of Susan Luery's sculpture located at the Library's main entrance graces the Library's new tote bags on sale for $15.00 at the main desk and in the Children's Room. The 15 ounce natural canvas bags with black trim and handles are a roomy 22”x14”x 6”. The bags also feature a handy inside zippered pocket to store your library card, keys, etc.

According to Library Director Dennis R. Corcoran, "the library is very pleased to have worked with T.A. Charron to not only make this bag unique but as a work of art in its on right." Corcoran adds, " we have Library Trustee Arthur Garrity, Jr. to thank for bringing us together with T.A."

Charron studied with painters Norman Baer and Walter Marks at the Art Institute of Boston and graduated in 1972. He also studied sculpture at Providence College and stone lithography at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts , Boston . He has studied with some of North America 's prominent artists; portrait painter Daniel E. Greene, Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman, painter Richard Schmid and Boston School eminent senior member Robert Douglas Hunter.

Nationally, Charron has received over 90 awards for excellence in both painting and drawing. His work has been shown with many of today's prominent America painters. Charron has been elected into many important American art societies and organizations including the Salmagundi Club in NYC, the Copley Society of Boston, Lyme Art Association in Connecticut , North Shore and Rockport Art Associations in Massachusetts . His artwork is in the permanent collections of museums and many other public and private collections worldwide and his commissioned painting of Dr. Martin Luther King and other prominent portraits have been unveiled to thousands of people. His paintings have been published in four historical books. Charron's art also has been featured nationally on PBS.

To learn more about Hingham sculptor Susan Luery and her beautiful sculpture at the Hingham Public Library, please click here.

The Book Group of the Hingham Public Library meets at 7:30 pm on the last Tuesday of each month, except for December, in the Fearing Meeting Room. The building is fully handicapped-accessible.

Book Selection: The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-Three Women Search for

Newcomers are welcome to drop in at any meeting. Library staff will be pleased to help readers place reserves

on current book selections. For more information, call the library reference desk (781-741-1405, x2650).