Meetup @ the Library

Registration is required. You must register through the library's website to attend: https://berlinpeck.org/events/comfort-and-benefits-of-tea/

Join us for a cozy evening exploring all things tea! Taste 12 different varieties and learn about tea’s health benefits, proper brewing, and the differences between loose and bagged tea. You may bring your own teacup, or we will provide one for you. Snacks will also be served. Open to adults, teens, and middle schoolers attending with an adult.

Sponsored by a partnership between the Berlin-Peck Memorial Library and Berlin Social Services (Anchored in Wellness series).

Register online: https://berlinpeck.org/events/2024-12-senior-center-book-club/

Join us at the Senior Center for a discussion of Should We Stay or Should We Go? by Lionel Shriver. Contact the library for a copy of the book.

About the Book
Over ten years, Kay Wilkinson watched as Alzheimer’s steadily eroded her father into a paranoid lunatic. Both medical professionals, Kay and her husband Cyril have seen too many elderly patients in similar states of decay. Although healthy and vital in their early fifties, the couple fears what may lie ahead. Determined to die with dignity, Cyril makes a modest proposal: To spare themselves and their loved ones such a humiliating and protracted decline, they should agree to commit suicide together once they’ve both turned eighty. When their deal is sealed, the spouses are blithely looking forward to another three decades together. But then they turn eighty….

Register to attend online: https://berlinpeck.org/events/unearthed-exploring-the-smithsonian-national-gem-collection/

Author Talks Online lets you enjoy a range of live talks from bestselling authors and thought leaders. You can even submit questions to be answered during the event!

Participate in upcoming live talks or browse through their back catalog of past speakers.

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Join us for an absolutely dazzling presentation with the emeritus curator of the Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection, Dr. Jeffrey E. Post as he talks about The Smithsonian National Gem Collection Unearthed: Surprising Stories Behind the Jewels.

The Smithsonian’s Unearthed explores the scandals, mysteries, and human stories behind the world’s greatest gems. In this original book, the surprising stories behind this world-renowned gem collection are brought to life by Dr. Jeffrey E. Post, curator of the Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection for over 30 years. In this webinar, fact is separated from fiction and Dr. Post will reveal fresh information and regale the viewers with anecdotes and tales of some of the world’s greatest and most famous gemstones. Inside the illustrious pages of Unearthed, Dr. Post tells the stories of the Smithsonian’s most famous gems, including the Hope Diamond, Star of Asia Sapphire, Carmen Lucia Ruby, Hooker Emerald, and Blue Heart Diamond and presents the tales, details, and fascinating facts surrounding rarely displayed gems from the Smithsonian vault and recent additions made to the collection.

Shine bright with us this holiday season and register now!

Learn more: https://berlinpeck.org/events/2024-holiday-decor-swap-drop-off/

Learn more: https://berlinpeck.org/events/holiday-decor-swap-2024/

Visit the library's website for more information: https://berlinpeck.org/events/15th-annual-gingerbread-house-contest/

Visit the library's website for more information: https://berlinpeck.org/events/15th-annual-gingerbread-house-contest/

Please register through the library's website: https://berlinpeck.org/events/2024-12-empathy-book-club/

Join us for a discussion of Solito by Javier Zamora.
The Empathy Book Club features primarily biographies and nonfiction that help us enter into the lives and experiences of others. Our goal in reading and discussing these titles is increased understanding and empathy for others.

Contact the library for a copy of the book.

About the Book
Trip. My parents started using that word about a year ago–‘one day, you’ll take a trip to be with us. Like an adventure.’ Javier’s adventure is a three-thousand-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico, and across the U.S. border. He will leave behind his beloved aunt and grandparents to reunite with a mother who left four years ago and a father he barely remembers. Traveling alone except for a group of strangers and a “coyote” hired to lead them to safety, Javier’s trip is supposed to last two short weeks. At nine years old, all Javier can imagine is rushing into his parents’ arms, snuggling in bed between them, and living under the same roof again. He cannot foresee the perilous boat trips, relentless desert treks, pointed guns, arrests and deceptions that await him; nor can he know that those two weeks will expand into two life-altering months alongside a group of strangers who will come to encircle him like an unexpected family. A memoir as gripping as it is moving, Solito not only provides an immediate and intimate account of a treacherous and near-impossible journey, but also the miraculous kindness and love delivered at the most unexpected moments. Solito is Javier’s story, but it’s also the story of millions of others who had no choice but to leave home.