Around Town

Library Curbside Pick Ups Continue, New Phone Number

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The historic facade of the Watertown Free Public Library. The Watertown Library provided the following announcement:

Beginning Monday, June 1 the new phone number to place curbside pick up orders at the Watertown Free Public Library is 857-203-8009. 

Placing Orders

Calls can be made Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A library employee will take orders for up to 5 items that are currently available in the library catalog. Anyone that does not have internet access may call for personal assistance with choosing materials. We are only accepting orders via phone at this time. Picking Up

Library materials are available for pickup on Mondays from 1-4, Wednesdays from 11-2 and Fridays from 9-12.

Around Town

Hatch Makerspace Offering Curbside Pickup of 3D Printing, Laser Cutting

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Hatch Makerspace Coordinator Liz Helfer preps the 3D printer for new orders. Design and submit your 3D printing or laser cutting projects and the Watertown Library’s Hatch makerspace will do the work. Then you pick it up! See details in the Hatch announcement below:

Even though the Watertown Free Public Library’s Hatch Makerspace is closed to the public, you can still access Hatch’s 3D printers and laser cutter for free. Starting the week of May 25, Hatch staff will be available to 3D print and laser cut original work submitted online.

COVID-19

Watch Out for Watertown’s Plan to Reopen Recycling Center, Parks, Library & More

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With Gov. Baker laying out the reopening plans for Massachusetts, Watertown’s municipal facilities will begin to reopen from the COVID-19 shutdown in coming days and weeks. As of Friday, Watertown had a total of 373 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 254 residents who have recovered. The town has lost 23 people to the virus. Four Town employees have had confirmed cases. Two of those employees are back to work, Town Manager Michael Driscoll said.

Around Town

See This Week’s Virtual Programs at the Watertown Library

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Watertown Free Public Library

The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department:

The Watertown Free Public Library’s new curbside book pickup service has been a big hit with Watertown residents. “Talking to patrons and hearing how thrilled they are to have books again is truly the highlight of my day” says WFPL director Leone Cole. 

While curbside orders pick up, WFPL continues to offer virtual programs. This week via Zoom, find peace during Community Yoga, learn to knit, or make homemade mac & cheese during Cook the Books: Pantry Edition. For tweens in grades 5-7, the Library is starting First Chapter Fridays (via Facebook Live) to spotlight some fantastic books available online via the Library apps Hoopla and Overdrive. Here’s a full list of virtual offerings for the week of May 25 – 31:

FOR CHILDREN

Springo!May 1 – 30 | Can you get bingo on our spring-themed outdoor scavenger hunt? Post your bingo board on social media and be sure to tag WFPL! Download the Springo bingo board here: bit.ly/SpringoWFPL

Story Time (via Facebook Live)Tuesday at 10:30 am with Emily | Thursday at 11 am with Kazia | facebook.com/watertownfpl

Lunch Bunch Book Group (via Facebook Live)Mondays and Thursdays | 12 PM | Children’s Librarians will read aloud from The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. This title is available without waiting via Hoopla.

Around Town

Library Still Closed, But Offering Curbside Pickup, Online Activities

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Watertown Free Public Library

The Watertown Library provided the following announcement:

The Watertown Free Public Library will remain closed pending guidance from the State of Massachusetts regarding safe re-opening. The Library will update the community when more information is available. This announcement is part of Town Manager Michael Driscoll’s COVID-19 Update for Watertown, issued on Friday, May 15. View the update here: bit.ly/WatertownUpdateMay15 

Next week, WFPL will continue to offer curbside book pickup and virtual programs via Zoom. For more information, visit watertownlib.org. Want to stay in the loop? The Library’s eNewsletter is the best way to learn about everything that the Library has to offer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sign up at watertownlib.org/eNews

There are so many ways to access the Library from home. Here’s a list of virtual programs for the week of May 18:

FOR CHILDRENSpringo!May 1 – 30 | Can you get bingo on our spring-themed outdoor scavenger hunt?

Around Town

This Week’s Hatch Happenings: Curtain Making, Case Binding and Q&A

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The staff at Hatch continues to provide opportunities to learn a new skill, despite the makerspace being closed due to the COVID-19 shutdown. This week, the classes include curtain making and book binding. See details in the announcements below:

Maker Questions with Liz & Yi Bin

Tuesday, May 12, 4-5pmJoin the Hatch Coordinator, Liz, and the Hatch Assistant, Yi Bin, to ask all your maker questions. They will field anything from fine art to finding tools. If they don’t know the answer, they know someone that does!

Around Town

UPDATED PHONE NUMBER: Watertown Library Starting Curbside Pickups This Week!

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Watertown Free Public Library

The Watertown Library building remains closed, but its collection will be open to be borrowed using curbside pickup beginning May 11th. The library sent out the following information:

The Watertown Free Public Library will offer curbside pickup of library items for Watertown residents while the library is closed, starting the week of May 11. 

“The library is a lot of things to a lot of people,” said Library Director Leone Cole, “we often talk about how the library is more than just books, but to some people, those books are a lifeline. We know people are struggling mentally and emotionally and we hope that doing this will offer respite and a little extra energy for everyone to stay committed to physical distancing until it is safe to live our lives more publicly again.” 

Curbside pickup will not be “library business as usual”–only items that are currently available in the library can be checked out, no holds can be placed for items at other libraries or items that are already checked out, there’s a limit of five items, and only Watertown residents are eligible for the service. “We’d love to be able to do more,” Cole said, “but it just isn’t possible at this time. We’re working with extremely limited staff and we want to be safe and cautious about how we do this.” 

Placing Orders: Starting Monday, May 11, Watertown residents can call the dedicated curbside pickup line at 857-228-8308 to place an order.

Around Town

Watertown Library Helping Citizens’ Document Their Responses to COVID-19

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:

Watertown residents have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in varied and inspirational ways. As we support each other and our community during this unprecedented time, the staff of the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL) believe it is important to document the experience. Preserving local history is a core and vital function of libraries. WFPL is, therefore, establishing the COVID-19 Collective Memory Initiative (watertownlib.org/memory) to collect and save the experiences, thoughts, and writings of Watertown residents during this historic time. The goalof this initiative is to provide future generations with primary source materials to understand this moment in Watertown history, while strengthening our town’s solidarity in the present.