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The Provincetown Public LibraryA Cultural Storytelling Center at Lands End
Open Daily:
Monday and Friday: 10-5
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 10-8
Saturday and Sunday: 1-5
Please note: The doors are locked 15 minutes before closing time to ensure an empty and secure building. Thank you for understanding.
2019 Moby-Dick Marathon
Melville returns to Provincetown with the fourth annual Provincetown Public Library Moby-Dick Marathon Reading in April 2019. Joining New Bedford, MA, Mystic, CT, and New York City, this Moby-Dick Marathon celebrates Provincetown’s significant whaling heritage, as well as its history as the nation’s oldest continuous art colony. Published in 1851, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick chronicles the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on a massive white whale responsible for destroying his ship and severing his leg at the knee during a previous voyage. The three-day marathon reading of this nineteenth century masterwork will be held at the Provincetown Library on the starboard side of the Rose Dorothea Model, and officially begins at 12:00 pm on Friday, April 26. The full weekend reading schedule is as follows:
Friday, April 26: 12 pm to 6 pm
Saturday, April 27: 10 am to 10 pm
Sunday, April 28: 10 am to 4 pm
This year, in commemoration of Melville’s 200th birthday, we are honored to announce that actor and Melville performer, Stephen Collins, will open the fourth annual Provincetown Moby-Dick Marathon with “Call me Ishmael,” on Friday, April 26th at 12:00 pm. Collins will also conclude the first day of the Marathon with a performance of Sailing Towards My Father, a one-man play about Herman Melville at 7:00 pm.
Hosted by the Library Board of Trustees, presenting sponsor Bay State Cruises is joined by the Friends of the Provincetown Public Library in welcoming Collins as the featured orator. For the second year, the Marathon will feature a logo created by artist Peter Michael Martin, who specializes in black paper cutting and whose exhibit Moby Dick: Inspired Visions will be displayed at the Cape Cod Museum of Art June 13 through August 25, 2019. Angel Foods’ Liz Lovati will provide an on-site café with snacks and beverages.
Those interested in participating as readers in this year’s edition of the Provincetown Public Library Moby-Dick Marathon Reading are encouraged to contact Assistant Director Brittany Taylor at btaylor@clamsnet.org or 508-487-7094
The 2019 Reading Challenge
We’re told, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but what if someone gave you permission to choose a book just for the cover? What about that book that you don’t want to be caught dead reading, but secretly are dying to read? How about expanding your horizons by reading a book about books, a memoir, or a genre you don’t usually read?
The Provincetown Library 2019 Reading Challenge gives you permission to read just for fun while expanding your horizons. Read 12 books in 12 months. Choose your own books from 12 different categories, all of them guaranteed to bring you pleasure. Discuss your choices, have fun, and win prizes!
Anyone interested in a reading adventure can join our group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/614236512111364/), sign up on the Library website or at the circulation desk in the Provincetown Library. Signing up for the Reading Challenge qualifies you for a prize upon completion at the end of the year. You do not have to live in Provincetown to participate in the Reading Challenge, but anyone who checks all 12 books out of the collection at the Provincetown Library will get an extra prize.
The Provincetown Library Reading Challenge already has its own Facebook group page! Reading Challenge participants will be able to discuss their progress on Facebook, or in person at the Library’s Friday morning coffee hour. This will begin on January 4, 2019, at 10:00 a.m., and continue on the first Friday of each month thereafter.
This reading challenge originally appeared on a blog called “The Modern Mrs. Darcy.” Members of the Provincetown Library staff decided to challenge the Provincetown community to finish a similar list in 2019.
Here is the complete 2019 Provincetown Library Reading Challenge:
• A book you chose for the cover
• A book with a reputation for being un-put-down-able
• A book set somewhere you’ve never been but would like to visit
• A juicy memoir
• A book about books or reading
• A book in a genre you usually avoid
• A book you don’t want to admit you’re dying to read
• A book in the backlist of a new favorite author
• A book recommended by someone with great taste
• A book you were excited to buy or borrow but haven’t read yet
• A book about a topic or subject you already love
• A book you envy your best friend reading
Get out your library card and start reading!
New in the World of Books….
New York Times Best Sellers
COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK FICTIONWHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia OwensTHE SAVIOR by J.R. WardA GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor TowlesSUPERMARKET by Bobby HallTHE CORNWALLS ARE GONE by James Patterson & Brendan DuBois COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK NONFICTIONBECOMING...
Nan’s March Book Highlights
Juicy Memoirs! One category in the 2019 Reading Challenge is "a juicy memoir," but how do you know which books have the juice? Here are some guaranteed juicy books, as brainstormed by the library staff.
Nan’s January Book Highlights
Un-put-down-able! One of the categories in the 2019 Reading Challenge is a book that has the reputation of being un-put-down-able. Library staff members chose these 12 titles as suggestions to fit the bill. (You don't have to take the reading challenge in order to...
About the Provincetown Library:
Located downtown on Commercial Street, the Library is both a literal and metaphorical center of the Provincetown community, housing nearly 40,000 items, more than 30 works of art from the Town’s Art Collection, and the Rose Dorothea Schooner model.
Now Accepting Online Donations
Latest Video from the Provincetown Public Library:
Julie Lythcott-Haims at the PPL
August 2017 Writer's Voice Café
Brittany's Tech Tips: Uploading Video to YouTube
February 2017 Writer's Voice Café
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