Book
Discussion: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson,
Tuesday, March 4, 7PM, sponsored by the
Friends.
The Friends invite you to discuss this
bestselling book, considered a
an adventure, a comedy, and a celebration,
destined to become a a modern classic of
travel literature. Dave Barry says,
"Bryson is great company, right from the start--"
An Evening on the Appalachian Trail with
REI, of
Reading, Tuesday, March 11, 7PM
Staff from REI will be on hand to share tales
of their own adventures hiking portions
of the AT. The program includes maps and other visuals.
Since its beginnings in the
1930's, "REI has been committed to helping
people enjoy the great outdoors to the
fullest."
A Poetry Reading by Erica Funkhouser, Tuesday,
March 18,
7PM

Poet Erica Funkhouser will read from
her fifth collection of poems,
Earthly, to be published in March
by Houghton Mifflin. A 2007 recipient of a Guggenheim
Fellowship, her
previous books include
Pursuit,
The Actual World,
Sure Shot, and
Natural Affinities. Her poems have appeared in
The New Yorker,
The Atlantic,
Ploughshares,
Poetry, and many other magazines and anthologies. One of
her poems has been sand-blasted into the wall of
the Davis Square MBTA Station in Somerville, MA
She received a B.A. from
Vassar College and an M.A. from
Stanford University. She was honored as a Literary
Light by the Boston Public Library
in 2002. She lives on the North Shore and teaches poetry writing at MIT.
Of her work, Joyce Carol Oates has said it has "an unusual
clarity of vision and
language." Poet Gerald Stern writes, "At the center of
Funkhouser's poetry...
lies a love of clarity and sanity...She is sure-footed, a
true singer."
Copies of
Earthly will be available for signing
through Book Ends of Winchester.
Climate
Change in the Northeast: What It Could Mean for
North Reading and What We Can Do About It, Presented by
John Rogers, Thursday, March 20, 7PM
John Rogers is the Northeast Clean Energy Project
Manager for the
Union of
Concerned
Scientists,
helping to implement a range of cutting-edge clean energy and
climate
policies that the organization has helped win in the
region. John joined USC in 2006
after 15 years of clean energy experience in the private and
public sectors, including
as co-founder of Soluz, Inc., a leading developer of
clean-energy solutions for rural
markets.
Among other prior positions, he served as a U.S. Peace Corps
Volunteer
in Honduras. He serves on the advisory board of a
not-for-profit organization
dedicated to expanding energy access worldwide through rural
energy enterprises.
John holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the
University of Michigan and
an A.B. from Princeton University.
John is a member of North Reading's Recycling Committee
and the town's new
Ad Hoc Energy Study Committee.
Buildings and Climate Change: Can Building
Energy Use Go to
Zero? Presented by Les Norford, Thursday, April 17, 7PM
Les Norford is a Professor of Building Technology
in the Department of Architecture
at M.I.T., where his goal is to reduce energy use in
buildings.
His talk will highlight efforts at M.I.T. and allied
institutions to meet demands for
safe, comfortable and affordable buildings, while respecting
limits on fuel resources
and the linkages between carbon emissions and climate
change. These efforts include
advances in construction methods and space-conditioning
equipment, systems
engineering methods to identify optimal combinations of
technologies, and
operations of renewable generation of electricity.
Responsibilities of research
institutions, government policymakers and consumers in
achieving zero-energy
buildings will be identified.
After undergraduate education at Cornell and a stint as
a nuclear-power engineer in the
U.S. Navy, he studied mechanical engineering at
Princeton University, motivated by oil
shocks and the research community's recognition that energy efficiency
represented a
very large resource that could be harvested at low economic
and environmental cost.
His early research included a studyf energy use in office equipment that contributed to
the EPA's
energy Star computer-labeling program and measurements of energy use in
Russian housing that supported major changes in building codes to require higher
efficiency.
Dr. Norford has worked on
village housing in Pakistan and India and on energy-efficient
urban housing in China. He is starting major projects in Abu Dhabi
and Singapore.
A Walk in
the North Reading Woods led by Janet Nicosia,
Saturday, April 26, 2PM , Ives Memorial
Forest
Join Janet Nicosia and others for a walk in the spring
woods of North Reading.
Janet likes
to share her love of the outdoors by leading hikes with friends,
and has taught hiking classes for children through
North Reading
Parks & Recreation. As Co-Chair of both Martins Pond
Committees, she advocates for
environmental causes, and has partnered with the town
and with Merrimack College to
win grants for restoration and pollution reduction in
the Martins Pond Watershed. She
works for the town of Andover and is also a graduate
student in GIS at Salem State
College. She plans to create a new hiking map of the
area for this event.
Meet at the cul-de-sac at the end of Arline Drive,
which is the first left off of Foley
Drive. This is called Ives Memorial Forest.
The Ives Memorial Forest, which is town conservation
land, was established in 1968,
in memory of Richard B. Ives, who served on the
Conservation Commission, and
intendedto be used by the young people of North Reading as a
recreation area. The
Ives' 19.2 acres abut the Harold Parker Forest.
The walk is open to all ages. Families are encouraged to attend.
John
Veneziano, Author of Numbelieveable!: The Dramatic
Stories Behind the Most Memorable Numbers in Sports
History, Tuesday, May 20, 7PM
John
Veneziano is co-author, with Michael X. Ferraro, of
Numbelieveable!: The Dramatic Stories Behind the Most Memorable
Numbers in Sports History, published by Triumph Books.
The book includes several stories with Boston themes, including:
Ted Williams' batting average in 1941; Bill Russell's 11 NBA
championships; and Bobby Orr's No. 4 uniform.
John Veneziano is currently an editor at H.O. Zimman
Publishing in Lynn; editor of the Official Super Bowl and Pro
Bowl programs for the National Football League; and assistant
editor of the Official US Open (Tennis) Program, produced for
the United States Tennis Association. A graduate of Boston
University, he was Assistant Sports Information Director at
Boston University and
Sports Information Director and
Assistant Director of Athletics at Harvard University.
He is now at work on The Third H Book of
Harvard Athletics, detailing the school's athletic history
from 1963 to the present day.
John Venziano has
lived with his family in North Reading
since 1994.
Wingmasters, North American
Birds of Prey,
Monday, June 9, 7PM
"Birds of Prey" with
Wingmasters--a chance
to see and learn about New England
raptors. There will be a brief Annual Meeting of the
Friends. Free tickets
required.
Children must be 6 or older. Friends have priority.
Old
House Restoration, Tuesday, September 16, 7PM
Matthew Cummings, architect, of
Cummings Architects and James Whidden,
woodwright, of , will present a program about restoring
old houses, touching on topics
ranging from historical documentation, to budget, to
permits. They will also
talk about how and when to update
historical spaces for modern living, or build new
additions that retain traditional styles.
Matthew Cummings and James Whidden
have
restored some of the most
historically significant 17th and 18th century houses still
standing on the North Shore.
Sisters in Crime, "Using What You Know to Write Mysteries,"
Thursday, October 2, 7PM
Mystery writers
Frankie Bailey,
Leslie Meier,
and Dana Cameron,
of Sisters in Crime,
will discuss their craft.
To see artwork by local artists that has been displayed at the
library, click on the image below and visit the Library Gallery: