Fundraisers:

The Book & Bake Sale, the biggest book sale of the year, will be on Saturday, July 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will feature a lawn full of tables covered with gently-used books. There will also be lots of homemade goodies to delight every taste bud, including pies, cookies, cakes and more.

For children:

A Universe of Stories, the 2019 Summer Reading Program, will focus on the theme of space, including planets, shooting stars, the aurora borealis, and more. The program will be held every week from July 10 through Aug. 6. Children ages 6 to 9 will meet on Wednesdays at 10 a.m.; children ages 3 to 5 will have a choice between Thursdays or Fridays at 10 a.m., with identical programs on both days. Please call the library (864-5529) to sign up.

Northern Stars Planetarium will be presenting programs for preschool and kindergartners on Tuesday, July 23, called “Pictures in the Sky.”

Using the day/night wheel and the planetarium, children will discover day/night, stars, constellations, clouds, the moon, rainbows and much more.

On the same day, for children in kindergarten through second grade, the library will offer “Our Family in the Sky,” a program which personifies the planets as Mr. Sun guides the children through a tour of the solar system. This includes planets, comets, asteroids, the moon, and a constellation.

The planetarium programs will be held at the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust building at 2424 Main St. There will be three or four programs during the course of the day, with a limit of 25 children at a time. Call the library (864-5529) or stop by to find out the times and to reserve a space.

For Adults:

Book groups: The library offers two book groups year-round. Rangeley Readers meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 10 a.m.  Adventure Book Group meets the last Wednesday of each month at 4  p.m.

Contact the library (864-5529) to find out what books will be discussed, or stop by to pick up a copy.

Wednesday evening Adult Lecture Series (all at 6 p.m.):

July 10, Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby: Pam Matthews, author of the book Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby, Champion of Maine, will speak about this famous woman who fished “the Rangeleys.” Pam lives in Phillips, the birthplace and home of “Fly Rod” Crosby and of the newspaper for which she wrote, the Phillips Phonograph.

Cornelia Crosby broke barriers for women in the late 1800s as an angler, a hunter, a journalist, a marketer of the Maine outdoors, and early conservationist, and the holder of the first Maine Guide badge.

July 17, Meet the Author! Roger Guay: A Good Man with a Dog: Roger Guay, retired after 25 years with the Maine Warden Service, has written a book along with co-author Kate Clark Flora. As both a warden and a K-9 handler, Guay shares experiences such as catching poachers, searching for lost hikers and hunters, and protecting Maine’s pristine wilderness.

July 24, DNA & Genealogy: What Does It All Mean? Maine State Library’s Genealogy Specialist, B.J. Jamieson, will offer a PowerPoint presentation explaining the topic.

July 31, Mystery Making: How the Stories Get Told: Join us for this presentation with mystery writers Barbara Ross, Kate Flora and Richard Cass. With intense audience participation, the three writers will build a mystery novel on the fly — or at least the plan for one. In the process, you’ll learn how writers make the decisions when they create their books. Hilarity generally ensues.

Aug. 14, History of the Farmington Fire Department: Ruth McCleery Watson, daughter of the late Farmington Fire Chief Robert L. McCleery, will present a history of the Farmington Fire Department, based on her father’s memoirs. This history includes the 1939 fire at the Kempton Lumber Co. in Rangeley and the 1941 fire at the Rangeley Baptist Church. Additionally, Ruth will talk about the 1971 fire in Phillips that ravaged the center of town, destroying 10 businesses and 4 homes.

Aug. 21, William Morris & 20th Century Vaudeville:

Bill Berlinghoff will revisit the days before television, radio, and “talkies,” when entertainment was always live and hardly ever in your living room. Bill will tell about the greatest agent in vaudeville, his Great Uncle William Morris, and his grandfather Henry’s “Young American Band” which was the first act Morris ever booked at the William Morris Theatrical Agency.

 

Aug. 28, Mainers on the Titanic: Author Mac Smith tells the stories of passengers on the Titanic who had ties to Maine, both wealthy summer visitors and year-round residents. Mac reveals the agonizing day-to-day wait of

      Author Mac Smith

Mainers for news of their loved ones, and tells stories of passengers from boarding to sinking, rescue, and arrival back home.

Sept. 4, Louis Sockalexis, Baseball’s First Indian: Author Ed Rice will present Louis Sockalexis, the man who inspired the nickname for the Cleveland professional baseball team in 1897. Sockalexis, who is considered one of the greatest college baseball players of the 19th century, is also a civil rights icon who endured extreme racial prejudice as the first known Native American to play professional baseball.

Sept. 11, Maine Bats: A Question of Survival: In Rangeley, summer evenings just 10 years ago were filled with little brown bats swooping and diving for mosquitoes. Now, Mainers should will consider themselves lucky if we ever see a little brown bat again. This program is presented by Jan Collins, a Maine Master Naturalist who volunteers with the Bat ME project.

Sept. 18, Maine Revives Civility: Civil discourse seems to be a lost art in our culture. Mark Hews will facilitate this program designed to help people restore civility and respect by teaching skills to further constructive conversations.

Sept. 25, William McKinley: His Life & Assassination: Military Historian Gary Duneanko will discuss the life and untimely death of William McKinley, 25th president of the United States.

Sign up for all programs at the Rangeley Public Library, 7 Lake Street, 864-5529.