Saturday, December 31, 2016

Welcome 2017!

It's New Year's resolution time again, and the library is here to help!

Stop by to check out materials on quitting smoking, weight loss, positive thinking techniques, finding a new job, or even a new hobby.

If we don't have what you need, we'll help you find it!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

For those cold winter's nights...

Winter is upon us, and what better way to stay warm than with a good story?

Do you want to escape with fiction, or learn something new with non-fiction?   Books (paper and audio), and movies are available to be checked out of the library.

Our catalog can be found by following this link:  WMCC Library's Catalog

Monday, December 12, 2016

What is Fake News?

How can you tell what is real news anymore?  Which stories should you trust?  What is misinformation?

In this age of social media "sharing", it's hard to tell the difference between genuine news, satire, or advertising.  Some organizations try to slant the facts in favor of their agenda, or by giving only part of the story; to misinform.

By questioning everything, you can be information savvy:


  • Read carefully:  Does the headline match the content?  
  • Evaluate the content: Does it include quotes, statistics, facts, references?  
  • Consider the source: Is it from a reputable news agency?  Does it have an author?  Is it dated?
  • Can you find the same news being reported from other reputable news outlets?
  • Does the article have an agenda?  Is it objective?
  • Are the words "sponsored" or "paid partners" near the article?
  • Is it too ridiculous or funny to be true?  It could be satire or a hoax.


  Don't believe everything you read.  Evaluate it first!

For more information, stop by the library and test your skills on our "Real or Fake News" display.


Wednesday, November 30, 2016

The Sixth Extinction

In her Pulitzer Prize award winning book, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, author Elizabeth Kolbert uses extensive worldwide historic and scientific evidence to make her case about how the Earth is facing yet another mass extinction.

Be part of the conversation about this cautionary examination of  the ending of life as we know it on our planet.  The group will meet on Thursday, January 12th at noon in the library.

Copies of the book and audio are available in the library.  Bring your lunch!


Monday, November 28, 2016

Monday, November 14, 2016

Saturday, November 12, 2016

An American Feast

If you're hosting a Thanksgiving dinner this year, and need ideas, stop by the library!  Not hosting?  We can help you be a most appreciated guest!

We've got books on cooking poultry, vegetables, breads, finding the perfect wine, and how to bake yummy pies.  And for that lovely table, books on crafts and even napkin folding.  

To keep the kids busy, we have a selection of Thanksgiving themed books too!  

Note: To celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, WMCC and the Fortier Library will be closed November 24th and 25th. 

   

Thursday, October 27, 2016

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Acclaimed Scottish author and poet Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886, which became an immediate hit on both sides of the Atlantic.  Since then, its popularity hasn't wavered, with cultural references, plays, films, tv shows, and many audio adaptations too.

For some scary Halloween season reading, check out a copy of the book or audio, and come to the discussion on Thursday, November 17, at noon, in Room 122.  Bring your lunch!    

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

All-Hallows Eve


As the spooky time of year approaches, it's time to light the pumpkin and curl up with a spine-chilling story.  Check out our variety of ghost tales, true crime, scary fiction, and even a some cute books for the little ones.

   
   
     


Thursday, September 29, 2016

Go Set A Watchman

In Harper Lee’s wildly popular novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, published in 1960, readers were introduced to Atticus Finch and his family, and to the deep moral dilemmas wracking their small southern town.

The story continues in Go Set A Watchman, published 55 years after Mockingbird.  Atticus is back in Watchman, as is an adult Scout who revisits Maycomb, Alabama, in a different time, but finds it faced with many of the same issues.

Be a part of the discussion, on Thursday October 27, at noon, in Room 122.  Copies of the book and audio are in the library.  Bring your lunch!

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Banned Books Week

Every year, the list of books that are challenged or banned, gets longer.  People decide that certain books should be removed from libraries or schools for various reasons, usually religious or political.

Here are the top ten titles that the American Library Association said were most challenged in 2015:
  1. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
    Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
  2. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James
    Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other (“poorly written,” “concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it”).
  3. I Am Jazz, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
    Reasons: Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group.
  4. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, by Susan Kuklin
    Reasons: Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints”).
  5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
    Reasons: Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“profanity and atheism”).
  6. The Holy Bible
    Reasons: Religious viewpoint.
  7. Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel
    Reasons: Violence and other (“graphic images”).
  8. Habibi, by Craig Thompson
    Reasons: Nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
  9. Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, by Jeanette Winter
    Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence.
  10. Two Boys Kissing, by David Levithan
    Reasons: Homosexuality and other (“condones public displays of affection”).

Check out our display, and be a rebel by checking out some "dangerous" books!





Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Autumn's Arrival


Whether you want to identify what trees those colorful leaves fell off of, or bake the perfect pumpkin (or apple) pie, stop by the library this fall and browse our collection to find just what you're looking for.  
If you're not into cooking, or trees aren't your thing, how about curling up with a blanket and escaping to someplace warm and sunny with one of our fiction books, or DVDs?  

Of course, as the days get shorter, and a chill is in the air, it's the perfect time to create lasting memories: pull your kids close and read to them.  We've got a great bunch of kids' books!


Thursday, September 15, 2016

Happy 50th Anniversary!

In September, 1966, New Hampshire Vocational Institute opened the doors to it's northern most campus in Berlin, N.H.  Director Ed Oleson welcomed 102 students, enrolled in four programs.

Fifty years later, White Mountains Community College welcomes 813 students at our main campus in Berlin, and our Littleton and North Conway centers too.  We offer 23 degree, and 29 certificate programs.  Oh how we've grown!

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The Martians are Coming!

Forced by a series of unfortunate events, an astronaut on a mission to Mars tests his knowledge and skills to survive, alone, under harsh conditions, limited resources, and without any way to signal for help.  

Join the lunchtime book group on Thursday, September 29, in the Library, to discuss this acclaimed debut novel by Andy Weir, that sparked the hit movie.  Bring your lunch!

Copies of the The Martian in book and audio formats are available in the library. 


Monday, August 29, 2016

Fall 2016

The 50th Fall Semester at White Mountains Community College has begun!

In September 1966, the first students walked through the doors of NHVI, the little college in Berlin, N.H., so we begin our golden anniversary celebration (the library, however, didn't open until 1968).

During the fall semester, our hours are:

Monday-Thursday:  7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday:  7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

We are closed weekends, and on all major holidays.


Monday, July 18, 2016

Jungle Book

On August 25, at noon, the WMCC Book Discussion group will meet in the Library to discuss the short stories that comprise Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.

Kipling was heavily influenced by British India, the country of his birth and where he had spent many of his formative years.  After living in England, he and his new family settled in Vermont, where, in 1894, he began to write stories about an Indian boy, Mowgli, and his animal friends who inhabit the jungles of India.  These stories became two volumes of The Jungle Books.  

The Jungle Books' rich characters and settings have inspired films, television series, animated productions, radio shows, comic books, and have been adapted for the theater.

Closed, due to work being done to the library


Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Celebrating Independence Day

WMCC and the Fortier Library will be closed on Monday, July 4, 2016 in observance of our nation's 240th Independence Day.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world...
For more information on the Declaration of Independence, visit the National Archives and Records Administration website:

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Welcome Summer!

Summer is finally--officially--here!

Looking for something to keep the kids busy on a rainy day?  Will you get the chance to relax with a book at the beach?  Doing some landscaping and gardening?

Here are just a few of our many summer-themed titles to choose from.  And, don't forget about our audio book collection for those long road trips!

Book Jacket for: Albie the lifeguard  Book Jacket for: Summer fun! : 60 activities for a kid-perfect summer  Book Jacket for: Flower fairies of the summer : poems and pictures

Book Jacket for: Summer; a novel.  Book Jacket for: The end of summer  Book Jacket for: Moon over Manifest

Book Jacket for: Nature writings : the story of my boyhood and youth, my first summer in the Sierra, the mountains of California, Stickeen, selected essays  Book Jacket for: The boys of summer  Book Jacket for: Summer world : a season of bounty

Monday, June 6, 2016

Dad's Day

Sunday, June 19, is set aside to honor the father figures who support, love, and care for us.

Read more about fatherhood from our library collection; here are a few titles to choose from:


Book Jacket for: Disney's The lion king Book Jacket for: Daddy, Papa, and me Book Jacket for: My father's dragon  Book Jacket for: Every Friday Book Jacket for: Knuffle Bunny : a cautionary tale

Book Jacket for: Fathers and early childhood programs  Book Jacket for: The way we never were : American families and the nostalgia trap  Book Jacket for: The road Book Jacket for: March : a novel Book Jacket for: Faith of my fathers  Book Jacket for: Bread givers : a novel : a struggle between a father of the Old World and a daughter of the New

Book Jacket for: The lightning thief  Book Jacket for: Preacher's boy Book Jacket for: Living with dad Book Jacket for: Shadow of a bull Book Jacket for: Flush