Nov
25
Fri
LATHAM LIBRARY CLOSED @ Latham Library
Nov 25 all-day

Latham Library will be closed in observance of Veterans’ Day.

Nov
29
Tue
Nonfiction Book Discussion Group @ online via Zoom
Nov 29 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Nonfiction Book Discussion Group @ online via Zoom
The next meeting of Thetford’s informal nonfiction book discussion group will take place on Tuesday November 29th at 12:00 Noon via Zoom.
We will be discussing What a Fish Knows by Jonathan Balcombe.
Do fishes think? Do they really have three-second memories? And can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? In What a Fish Knows, the myth-busting ethologist Jonathan Balcombe addresses these questions and more, taking us under the sea, through streams and estuaries, and to the other side of the aquarium glass to reveal the surprising capabilities of fishes. Although there are more than thirty thousand species of fish—more than all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined—we rarely consider how individual fishes think, feel, and behave. Balcombe upends our assumptions about fishes, portraying them not as unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines but as sentient, aware, social, and even Machiavellian—in other words, much like us.

What a Fish Knows draws on the latest science to present a fresh look at these remarkable creatures in all their breathtaking diversity and beauty. Fishes conduct elaborate courtship rituals and develop lifelong bonds with shoalmates. They also plan, hunt cooperatively, use tools, curry favor, deceive one another, and punish wrongdoers. We may imagine that fishes lead simple, fleeting lives—a mode of existence that boils down to a place on the food chain, rote spawning, and lots of aimless swimming. But, as Balcombe demonstrates, the truth is far richer and more complex, worthy of the grandest social novel.
Highlighting breakthrough discoveries from fish enthusiasts and scientists around the world and pondering his own encounters with fishes, Balcombe examines the fascinating means by which fishes gain knowledge of the places they inhabit, from shallow tide pools to the deepest reaches of the ocean.

Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, What a Fish Knows offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fishes and inspires us to take a more enlightened view of the planet’s increasingly imperiled marine life. What a Fish Knows will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins—the pet goldfish included.
The book may be obtained from your local library, via interlibrary loan,  possibly as an audio or e-book via ListenUp Vermont or in New Hampshire,  New Hampshire Downloadable Books. Users need only get a barcode number from their local library to use the services.  Or you can obtain the book from your favorite local bookseller, or via www.bookfinder.com, the aggregator site for booksellers both large and small from all over the world, and for books both new and secondhand.
All are welcome and we look forward to seeing you.   
Nov
30
Wed
Peabody Library Open @ George Peabody Library in Post Mills
Nov 30 @ 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Local Author Event: Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling @ Peabody Library
Nov 30 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Local Author Event: Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling @ Peabody Library

Thetford author Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling will read from A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears).

Once upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched one of the most ambitious social experiments in modern American history—the so-called Free Town Project: a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government. In 2004, they set their sights on Grafton, NH, a flyspeck town with only one paved road, buried in the woods of New Hampshire’s western fringe.

When freedom-focused libertarians across the US—from as far as California to as near as Massachusetts—descended on Grafton, state and federal laws became meek suggestions. Soon the wilderness-thick town lost public funding for pretty much everything: fire dept, the schoolhouse, library, and perhaps most importantly wildlife services. As the people were ignoring laws and regulations on hunting and food disposal, their newly formed off-the-grid tent city caught the attention of some unruly neighbors: the bears.

Armed with a pen and journalist’s notebook, Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling—a seasoned journalist who has covered everything from Maine’s stately Governor’s Mansion to the mud hut of a witch doctor in Sierra Leone—was drawn to Grafton in hopes of uncovering the truth behind this fantastical tale of bear vs. libertarian. In his  book A LIBERTARIAN WALKS INTO A BEAR:  The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears), Hongoltz-Hetling details how this tiny town became a radical social experiment—until the bear attacks started. Along the way he meets a band of interesting characters: Jessica Soule, a Vietnam-era veteran who became an acolyte of the controversial Reverend Sun Myung Moon; Adam Franz, a poker-playing communist who dreamed of founding a survivalist community; John Connell, a Massachusetts factory worker on a mission from God; and, of course, John Babiarz, the firefighter libertarian who opened Grafton’s doors to the Free Town Project and then spent the next decade trying to explain it to his nonlibertarian neighbors.  This book is a sometimes funny, sometimes frightening tale of what happens when a government disappears into the woods. Complete with gunplay, adventure, and backstabbing politicians, this is a quintessentially American story, a bearing of our national soul.

Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling is a freelance journalist specializing in narrative features and investigative reporting. He has been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, won a George Polk Award, and been voted Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press association, among numerous other honors. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, USA Today, Popular ScienceAtavist Magazine, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Associated Press, and elsewhere. 

 

Dec
1
Thu
Knitting Group @ Latham Library
Dec 1 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Knitting Group @ Latham Library

Get together with fellow knitters to knit and talk! All experience levels welcome. This program is now being held in person at Latham Library.

Dec
7
Wed
Peabody Library Open @ George Peabody Library in Post Mills
Dec 7 @ 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Latham Library Board of Trustees Meeting @ online via Zoom
Dec 7 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Dec
8
Thu
Knitting Group @ Latham Library
Dec 8 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Knitting Group @ Latham Library

Get together with fellow knitters to knit and talk! All experience levels welcome. This program is now being held in person at Latham Library.

Dec
14
Wed
Peabody Library Open @ George Peabody Library in Post Mills
Dec 14 @ 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Dec
15
Thu
Knitting Group @ Latham Library
Dec 15 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Knitting Group @ Latham Library

Get together with fellow knitters to knit and talk! All experience levels welcome. This program is now being held in person at Latham Library.