Posted in Authors, Civil War, Library Events, Michigan on September 11, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Thursday, October 11, 2012; 6:30-8:00 P.M.
Jack Dempsey, author of the 2012 Michigan Notable Book Michigan & the Civil War: A Great and Bloody Sacrifice, will visit the library to discuss his book.
Copies will be available for purchase and signing.
All author proceeds are donated to Michigan’s Civil War Sesquicentennial commemoration.
Registration begins September 13th.
Posted in Digital scrapbooking, Library Events, Online photo albums, Scrapbooking, Scrapbooks on April 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Online Scrapbooking examples from TreasuredAlbums @ Flickr.com
Join Wendi Corteville and Pam Zeman of Treasured Albums LLC in the Community Room on Wednesday, May 16th from 6:30 to 8:00 P.M. and learn how to take your photo albums, traditional scrapbooking and memoirs to the next level with cost-effective Websites and software. To register call 248-684-0845 or register online at http://www.milfordlibrary.info/
Posted in genealogy, Library Events on September 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Monday, October 3, 6:00PM-8:00PM
Sign up here
Exploring census records is a great way to learn out more about your family history. Join us for a fun 2-hour workshop that is great for beginners or experienced researchers. Learn techniques for searching census records in Ancestry Library Edition & FamilySearch.org, and get help if you need it. This is a hands-on class using laptops provided by the library. Hurry, because space is limited!
Posted in Digital scrapbooking, Library Events, Online photo albums, Scrapbooking, Scrapbooks on August 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Join us on Saturday, September 24th; 10:30 A.M.-12:00 P.M.
Do you want take your photo albums, traditional scrapbooking and memoirs to the next level but don’t have a great understanding of all the latest websites and software? Our class will provide the understanding of what is currently out on the internet and provide you the resources to take you to the next step in creating cost-effective photo memories.
Put on by Treasured Albums LLC: www.treasuredalbums.com
Call 248-684-0845 to register or register online at: http://tinyurl.com/3mykjzg
Posted in Authors, Books, Library Events on February 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Join us on Monday, March 7th from 6:30-8:00 P.M., as Michigan author Greg Tasker traces the history of Sanders, Detroit’s beloved confectioner, in a visual presentation that includes rare photographs of early Detroit stores and Sanders family members. His presentation chronicles the company’s humble beginnings–a leased storefront and a barrel of borrowed sugar–to its explosive growth in the city and suburbs over the next several decades. Afterward, Tasker will answer questions and have copies of his book available for purchase and signing. Register for this program online at: www.milfordlibrary.info
Posted in Book Discussions, Library Events on February 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It’s been said there are only two plots: A Man Goes on a Trip and A Stranger Comes to Town. These “master plots” can be found in every time and every literary form: classical epics and medieval poetry, fairy tales and children’s books, novels and plays. Homer’s Odyssey is the classic example of the “man goes on a trip” plot. Odysseus spends more than ten years wandering the Mediterranean while trying to return home after the Trojan War. Other examples of these master plots include Marlow’s trip down the Congo to find Mr. Kurtz (Heart of Darkness), the Joad’s journey from Oklahoma to California (The Grapes of Wrath), Mr. Bingley’s arrival at Netherfield (Pride and Prejudice), and Mark Twain’s short story “The Mysterious Stranger.”
The theme of the library’s Spring 2011 Reading and Discussion Group is one of these master plots: A Man Goes on a Trip. All of the books discussed feature people who find adventure on the road. The group meets from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, February 14; Monday, March 14; Monday, April 11; and Monday, May 9. Register either online, by phone (248-684-0845), or in person at the library’s Adult Reference desk.
In February’s book, A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, a woman goes on a trip. Lucy Honeychurch, a naïve young
lady from England, is on her first trip to Italy. She is chaperoned by her older spinster cousin, Charlotte. Lucy has been particularly looking forward to visiting Florence, where they have been promised rooms with a view of the Arno. But when they arrive at their pension, they find their rooms overlook a courtyard rather than the river. The Emersons, a father and son who are also staying there, have a view and offer to trade rooms with Lucy and Charlotte. But Charlotte fears that accepting would put them under an improper obligation to people of not quite the same class. She is eventually persuaded to make the exchange, but her fears seem confirmed when she sees Lucy and George Emerson kiss. Forster’s novel of Edwardian manners takes readers through countries, classes, cultures, and customs. The discussion leader is Cecilia Donohue of Madonna University.
The book for March is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck Finn is Twain’s classic story of the 
adventures of a boy and a runaway slave on a raft on the Mississippi River. Huck’s adventures begin when he escapes from his brutal drunken father by faking his own death and hiding out on an island. There he finds Jim, a slave who ran away rather than be sold down the river to a cruel new owner. Huck’s sympathy for Jim leads him to agree to help Jim become free. But he worries about the morality and legality of concealing stolen “property.” When their hideout is discovered, Huck and Jim use a raft they’ve found to head down the river and escape from the “sivilization” found on its banks. Huck Finn was published in 1884 and reflects the typical language and attitudes of the pre–Civil War South, which has led to occasional attempts to ban it from libraries and school curriculums. Madonna University’s Will Horwath leads the discussion of Twain’s controversial novel.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole filled with the ends of worms and an oozy 
smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” April’s book is J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again. It’s the story of Bilbo Baggins, a respectable middle-aged hobbit, who somehow finds himself leaving his comfortable hobbit-hole for a very uncomfortable adventure with thirteen dwarves and a wizard. The dwarves are going far over the Misty Mountains cold to their ancestral home, the Lonely Mountain. They plan to reclaim their home—and especially its fabled treasure—from the dragon who had conquered the Mountain and stolen the treasure. The wizard, Gandalf, has selected Bilbo as the dwarves’ “burglar” in the venture. The burglar is supposed to enter the dragon’s lair through a small Side-door and then locate the treasure. But first they have to get past trolls, goblins, wolves, and giant spiders… The discussion of The Hobbit will be led by Sandra Sutherland, who recently retired as a Professor of English from Oakland Community College.
The final book in this series is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. It is the story of 
Christopher John Francis Boone, who is 15 years and 3 months and 2 days old. He knows all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057. He does not like to be touched by other people. He finds people confusing. Christopher likes dogs. Dogs are always faithful and they do not lie. When he finds his neighbor’s dog dead with a pitchfork sticking out of its side, he is sad. The dog’s muzzle was still warm but nobody else was around when Christopher found it. So he realizes it must have been killed. Christopher is autistic. He cannot read people’s faces, but he does like to read murder mystery novels. The Hound of the Baskervilles is his favorite book. In murder mystery novels someone has to work out who the murderer is and then catch them. Christopher decides to work out who killed the dog and then catch them. Christopher is writing a murder mystery novel about how he catches the killer. Doing so requires him to go from his home in Swindon to London, even though the thought of going somewhere on his own is frightening. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is Christopher’s story, in his own words. The May discussion will be led by Carla Iris, who has led book discussions in Allen Park and on Grosse Ile.
Join us as we discuss these books with the “masterplot”: A Man Goes On a Trip.
Posted in Authors, Books, Library Events on October 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
With an eye on the upcoming Halloween season, the Milford Public Library will be hosting a program on Thursday, October 7th from 7:00-8:30 P.M. for Gerald S. Hunter, author of the books Haunted Michigan and More Haunted Michigan. Rev. Hunter will discuss his books and his own experiences with the paranormal. Following the program he will be signing copies of his books, as well. Register for this program online at: http://tinyurl.com/2bq9jlp
Posted in Books, Library Events on August 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It’s been said that there are only two plots: A Man Goes on a Trip and A Stranger Comes to Town. These “master plots” can be found in every time and every literary form: Homer and Shakespeare, fairy tales and children’s books, plays and novels. Recent examples include Jack Kerouac going on the road (On the Road), Holden Caulfield running away to New York (The Catcher in the Rye), Blanche DuBois moving in with her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski (A Streetcar Named Desire), and Maxim de Winter’s second wife coming to Manderley (Rebecca).
The theme of the library’s current Reading and Discussion Group is one of these master plots: A Stranger Comes to Town. All of the books discussed feature strangers who come and change the place where they’ve arrived. The group meets from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, September 13; Monday, October 11; and Monday, November 8. Register either online, by phone (248-684-0845), or in person at the library’s Adult Reference desk.
September’s book is Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, which is perhaps best known from the movie starring Humphrey Bogart as detective Sam Spade and Mary Astor as Brigid O’Shaughnessy. Brigid has appeared in Spade’s San Francisco office by the book’s eighth paragraph. She calls herself Miss Wonderly and asks Spade and his partner for protection from a Floyd Thursby. After that, Spade’s partner is killed, Thursby is killed, Spade is held up by Joel Cairo, who is looking for the “black bird,” the gunsel Wilmer takes Spade to meet Mr. Gutman, who tells the history of the Maltese Falcon…and then Spade’s life gets really complicated. Cecilia Donohue of Madonna University leads the discussion of Hammett’s noir classic.
October’s book, Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, is set in the days just before Halloween. In the dead of the night on October 24, Cooger and Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show arrives in the small town of Green River. The dark carnival’s arrival is heralded by the calliope playing the Death March. Sideshow attractions include Mademoiselle Tarot, the Dangling Man, and the Demon Guillotine. Those who venture into the Egyptian Mirror Maze can see themselves “a thousand times” and get lost. And Mr. Dark, the Illustrated Man, gives out special merry-go-round tickets that are redeemable only at night, when the ride runs backward. So in “that strange wild dark long year, Halloween came early.” The Indianapolis Star called Something Wicked This Way Comes “a magical blend of creepiness and nostalgia.” Madonna University’s Kathryn O’Dowd leads the discussion of Bradbury’s dark fantasy.
November’s book is Shane by Jack Schaefer. The stranger arrives in the book’s first line: “He rode into our valley in the summer of ’89. He rode easily, yet it was the easiness of a coiled spring, of a trap set.” Bob Starrett, a boy on the cusp of manhood, watches the rider approach the fork 
in the road. “One branch bore left across the river ford and on to Luke Fletcher’s big spread. The other bore ahead along the right bank where we homesteaders had pegged our claim in a row up the valley. He hesitated briefly, studying the choice, and moved again steadily on our side.” And with that choice, the stranger—“Call me Shane”—has placed himself on the side of the farmers rather than the ranchers. The farmers’ fences are closing in the range and the ranchers are being crowded out. Bob’s father, Joe Starrett, is the farmers’ leader. He takes Shane on as a hired hand. The confrontation between the farmers and the ranchers begins with Fletcher’s men needling Joe and Shane when they’re in town. It escalates when one of the farmers is killed. Finally Fletcher hires a “quick draw” to kill Joe and Shane, setting up the climactic gunfight. Will Horwath of Madonna University leads the discussion of this classic Western story of the range wars.
Posted in Library Events on March 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Civil War historian and avocational archaeologist Ron Cleveland will be discussing Civil War artifacts and the process used to locate, excavate and preserve them on Wednesday, April 7 from 6:30-8:00 pm. Attendees are encouraged to bring in artifacts of their own for identification.
Stop in now and take a look at Ron’s fascinating display of relics he has unearthed from battlegrounds. These items and more will be on display when Ron returns from a dig near Brandy Station, Virginia–site of the largest cavalry battle during the Civil War.
Those with an abiding interest in the Civil War may also wish to utilize the library’s specialized Art Geyer Civil War collection for their researches into this captivating period of American history. http://www.milfordlibrary.info/about/Civil_War_Collection.htm
Posted in Library Events on February 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
We are very fortunate that our library sits in the middle of a dynamic arts and cultural community with award-winning photographers, artists and writers. One such writer/poet, Thomas Lynch, is perhaps very familiar to you. You know his funeral home in the Village and often see him around town. You may know that he has published several books and may even be aware of his Emmy-winning film, The Undertaker. But a glance at his biography on http://www.thomaslynch.com reveals an art
ist of world-reaching acclaim. Mr. Lynch’s poetry and short stories have been published in The Times of London and The Paris Review. He has lectured at univeristies around the world from United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia to New Zealand and his interviews and commentaries have been broadcast on the BBC and the RTE in Ireland.
We are indeed fortunate to have Mr. Lynch call Milford his home and even luckier that he has chosen the Milford Public Library to launch his new and first novel, Apparition and Late Fictions: A Novella and Stories. Please join us for his book launch and signing on February 16th. Make sure to register at (248) 684-0845, as seats will go fast! (more…)
