Lego Madness will take place on Tuesday, June 11 at 3:15 PM
Bring your imagination for an hour of fun. Imagine, Build, Create! Unstructured build time will be followed by a group-building challenge and game.
This program is for elementary-aged students. Please give us a call to register at 967-2778.
THIS EVENT IS FULL
We are so excited to join forces with the Maine Classic Car Museum to invite Maine Author/Illustrator Chris Van Dusen back to visit with us at the Museum on Saturday, August 10. Chris will be hanging out among the cool cars at the Museum from 10:00 to 12:00 and to read from one of his many books. There is no charge for children. Adult admission is $12 per person. Registration is required. Please call the Library (967-2778) to add your name to the list.
The Maine Classic Car Museum is located at 2564 Portland Road, Arundel. Copies of Van Dusen’s books will be available for sale in the Museum store. This program includes a craft to go and treat!
More About Chris Van Dusen:
Chris lives in a little town on the Coast of Maine with his wife Lori and a dog named Opal. As a child, he spent hours drawing pictures. Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey were his heroes. After high school, he studied fine art at The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA. For more than ten years he worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in art for kids. His first book, Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee was published in 2000.
Since then, Chris has written several books including The Circus Ship, If I Built a House, Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit, A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee, Big Truck, Little Island, and so many more! He also illustrated the Mercy Watson series written by Kate DiCamillo.
More About the Car Museum:
The Maine Classic Car Museum is New England’s friendliest visitor destination, with dozens of classic cars on display and an array of vintage automobilia and cultural curiosities. Come take a tour of the 2024 exhibits. Explore the Museum store with unique gifts for that car person in your life. Every car has a story, and they can’t wait to share them with you!
SHANNON BUTLER – DECEMBER 12 AT 5:30 PM
To help us celebrate Christmas Prelude in the perfect literary fashion, Maine Author Shannon Butler will be here at the Graves Library on Thursday, December 12 at 5:30 pm to sign copies of her book All is Calm: a Maine Christmas Reader.
When many people think of Christmas, they dream of snow-covered pine trees and a small cabin warmed by the wood fire on a cold December day. Since Maine was founded, people have written stories about the joys of Christmas in the state. In times of hardship and in times of wealth, Maine and her people have always put the value of Christmas in time shared with family and friends, connections with the natural world, rich traditions, and warm wood stoves. In a collection featuring essays, stories, and poetry, All Is Calm is a look at the lives of Mainers during the holidays from the mid-1800s, to the Great Depression, to modern day. Spanning nearly 200 years, these stories show that while Christmas traditions and trends may be changing, the warmth, gratitude, and humility of the Maine spirit is evergreen. [Islandport Press]. A perfect gift for the holidays or a special treat for yourself!
The Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport. Please call for more information on this event and other Prelude festivities (967-2778). Parking is available along Maine Street, the North Street Fire Station Parking Lot, and Consolidated School (Route 9).
THE PATSY BRAY MAHONEY LECTURE SERIES PRESENTS
Maine Author Irene Drago will be here at the Graves Library on Saturday, October 5 at 2:00 pm to talk about her passion for writing and the sea.
Born in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, Irene M. Drago developed a keen interest in every kind of watercraft at an early age. Before moving to Maine, she worked for the Defense Department as a Russian analyst, earned a Master of Arts degree in Spanish language and literature, and taught at the high school and college level. Her debut novel, Daughters of Long Reach, was a 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner, First Novel and led to a sequel, The Maine Point. More recently, Lavinia Wren and the Sailmakers is a 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, Regional Fiction. If Drago isn’t penning a story, you’re apt to find her giving a shipyard tour at Maine Maritime Museum or leading a creative writing workshop. But in fair weather, there’s a good chance you’ll find her piloting her Maritime Skiff on Casco Bay.
Copies of Ms. Drago’s books will be available for sale and signing after the discussion.
Light refreshments will be provided by the Graves Library Snack Team. Please call the Library for more information on this event and the rest of the series (967-2778). Parking is available along Maine Street, the North Street Fire Station Parking Lot, and Consolidated School (Route 9).
The Graves Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport, Maine. Please enter through the white door in the Parking Lot.
It is a great honor to welcome Vermont-Based Author (and Dartmouth Professor) Peter Orner to the Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library on Thursday August 8 at 6:00 pm.
Mr. Orner will be here for a special tribute to help us honor and celebrate our dear friend – Thomas Staley, who died in 2022. Dr. Staley, the Director of the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, was well known for acquiring the papers of a host of literary lions (James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald), and of Woodward and Bernstein to boot. A special reception with light refreshments will follow the discussion.
Chicago-born Peter Orner is the author of two novels published by Little, Brown: The second coming of Mavala Shikongo and Love and Shame and Love, and three story collections: Esther Stories, Last car over the Sagamore Bridge, and Maggie Brown & Others. Peter’s essay collection/memoir, Am I alone here?: Notes on Reading to Live and Living to Read was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Peter’s fiction and non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Granta, The Paris Review, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, The Southern Review, Ploughshares and many other publications. Stories have been anthologized in Best American Stories and twice received a Pushcart Prize. Peter has been awarded the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy in Rome, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a two-year Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship.
He’s a graduate of the University of Michigan, Northeastern University School of Law, and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Peter is also a former member of the Bolinas, California Volunteer Fire Department in Bolinas, California and current member of the Norwich Fire Department, Norwich, Vermont. Peter holds the Professorship of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College, and lives with his family in Norwich.
Copies of the book, Am I alone here? will be for sale and signing after the event.
We want to thank the family of Paul Mahoney for sponsoring this very special tribute to Dr. Tom Staley. For more information, please call 967-2778. The Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport, Maine. Parking is available at Consolidated School, 25 School Street, Maine Street, or the Village Fire Station Lot, North Street.
BOOK LAUNCH OF CITY GONE ASKEW – AUGUST 1st @ 5:30 PM
We hope you will join us for the launch of Maine Author Matt Cost’s newest book here at the Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library, 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport on Thursday, August 1 at 5:30 pm. Cost’s talk will feature his latest release in the Brooklyn 8 Ballo PI Series City Gone Askew. Cost is the highly acclaimed, award-winning author of the Mainely Mystery series. The first book in that series, Mainely Power, was selected as the Maine Humanities Council Read ME Fiction Book of 2020. I Am Cuba: Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution was his first traditionally published novel.
Please join us for our Death Café – Community, Conversation, and Coffee. We will be meeting in the Community Room on Wednesday, May 15th at 9:00 a.m.
What is a Death Café? A Death Café is a safe and relaxed space to gather with people to discuss topics related to death and dying. The objective is to engage in interesting, thought-provoking, and life-affirming conversations. Please join us for this community conversation. Registration is required.
Facilitated by: Marilyn R. Gugliucci, MA, Ph.D., AGHEF, GSAF, AGSF, NAOMEF, Professor and Director of Geriatric Education and Research at the University of New England.
Hosted by: Kennebunkport Public Health Department and Graves Library. Please call (207) 967-2778 to register.
It’s Not About the Camera: An Evening of Beautiful Imagery and Compelling Reflections
Wednesday, May 29 at 5:30 PM
Come enjoy an evening of captivating photography as Mark Jones shares thoughts and take-aways that can be used to improve your own images regardless of your camera. Mark is CEO and President of Saco & Biddeford Savings (SBSI). He joined SBSI in 1985 after completing his education at the University of Southern Maine and remains committed to building on the founding principles of SBSI meeting the financial needs of Southern Maine.
He shows this commitment through his volunteer work as a board member and treasurer of Shutterbugs4Charity, the vehicle through which support is provided for various worthy causes. Outside of SBSI, Mark has an unrivaled passion for photography, learning, practicing and teaching that pushes him to spend time with others who provide reminders and lessons for staying focused on those things most important in life: service, love and care for those in his circle of influence.
The Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport. For further information, please call 967-2778 or visit www.graveslibrary.org.
Monthly Movie Night! Join us for a great night of theater, snacks, and friends in the Community Room.
One night a month, the Library’s Community Room will transform into a movie theater. Meet up with your friends, and snack on some popcorn!
Evening Book Group
Join us on Thursday, May 30th, for this month’s book group. All are welcome to attend. For May, the group is reading Spring Rain: A Life Lived in Gardens by Marc Hamer.
Please give us a call at 967-2778 for more information on this event and other upcoming reads.
