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Library Giving Day is April 23rd
Library Giving Day is on April 23rd!
In these extraordinary times we have all adjusted, and readjusted, our daily lives and future plans on a daily basis. One thing has never been clearer, community is incredibly important.
Over the past few weeks, our Librarians have had to rapidly shift gears to provide services to the public without the use of buildings or in-person visits. And the Library Corporation is doing the same to ensure the Library has the necessary funding to enrich the lives of everyone in our community, regardless of age or economic circumstance.
Year in and year out, the Concord Library has been able to do this because of the generosity of people like you who love and rely on the Library, have a deep belief in the value of its mission, and recognize the essential role libraries have in reducing social and economic inequalities. Their Annual Fund typically raises $150,000 per year to support vital needs. As you can imagine, the pandemic has us concerned about the reality of raising this essential funding this year.
In an effort to reach out to our community please consider one (or all) of the following efforts to support our Library on April 23rd (or before if you choose).
Donate in Support Of Library Giving Day Here
1) Facebook: A Peer Challenge Post a sentence or two about your favorite book or library resource. Challenge a friend or friends to describe their favorite book or resource and consider supporting the library and include a link to do so.
Example 1: “There is so much I love about the Library! But my favorite thing is being able to find a quiet nook to read a book or work on my laptop:)” I challenge “insert name” to post their favorite book or library resource and to consider supporting the Concord Free Public Library!
https://cfpl.networkforgood.com/projects/97451-library-giving-day-2020
Example 2: I am still a kid at heart…and while I love to read new fiction, I always return to the Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I challenge “insert friend’s name” to post their favorite book or library resource and to consider supporting the Concord Free Public Library!
https://cfpl.networkforgood.com/projects/97451-library-giving-day-2020
2) Instagram: A Peer Challenge Post a photo of the cover of your favorite book. In the caption post some language about your support of the Concord Free Public Library with appropriate hashtags (see below) and ask friends to do the same. Consider posting the link in your bio, or include language about copy and pasting the link from the post.
Example: Photo: A photo of you reading, or the cover a book you love. Caption: My favorite book is the Secret Garden! I am supporting the Concord Free Public Library on Library Giving Day! I challenge @”insert friend’s name” to share their favorite book! https://cfpl.networkforgood.com/projects/97451-library-giving-day-2020 #librarygivingday #cfplconnects @cfplconnects
3) Email to Friends and Family Having worked with all of you, we are well aware that you are gifted communicators. If you would prefer to reach out directly through email we ask that you include the campaign page link. For inspiration please refer to a letter written a few weeks ago by our Library Corporation President, Sherry Litwack found here: https://cfplcorp.org/ Campaign Link: https://cfpl.networkforgood.com/projects/97451-library-giving-day-2020
Thank you so much for all that you have done and continue to do to support the Concord Free Public Library. We are all looking forward to seeing you again. In the meantime, please practice social distancing and enjoy all the virtual resources available at your Library.
30th Musketaquid Earth Day Celebration Goes Virtual
The Umbrella Prepares Expansive Month-long Series of Online & At-Home Activities Amid Covid-19
CONCORD, MA—April 25, 2020 would have marked several milestones for The Umbrella Arts & Environment Program. Commemorating both the 30th anniversary of Concord’s Musketaquid Earth Day celebration and the 50th anniversary of International Earth Day itself, this year’s parade and festival were to have been the most ambitious yet as programming was scheduled to return to 40 Stow Street after years of construction and expansion.
Region-wide partnerships were forged to create a month-long schedule of activities exploring of the theme “Fresh Water and Our Watershed,” from water treatment plant tours to a film festival, boating excursions to multimedia art installations.
But with the coronavirus state of emergency, Earth Day planners were forced to pivot, completely reconceptualize and repackage its programs for the new normal of social distancing.
The resulting celebration, Musketaquid Earth Day 2020 Re-Imagined, instead offers an extensive series of virtual learning and creative activities rolled out from April 1-May 20 exploring the Water theme. All can be performed DIY at-home, online, or asynchronously as outdoors activities while maintaining social distancing.
Key components include Earth Month 30/50 – 30 water-themed activities released over 50 days, from making a glass harmonica or a rain stick to canoeing the Sudbury River; building an Earth Float to watching themed performances. The annual Earth Month Exhibition that would have been displayed in The Umbrella’s Main Gallery has been moved onto the online Art Cloud platform, where work can explored and even purchased for pickup after Covid-19 restrictions.
Artist Liz Helfer’s installation The Voyage of the Yellow Wellies, was planned to range throughout The Umbrella building. But the sprawling multimedia print, audio and video installation exploring the SuAsCo watershed, proved highly adaptable to an online installation, according to Arts & Environment Director Nancy Lippe.
The homepage for Musketaquid Earth Day 2020 Re-Imagined can be found at TheUmbrellaArts.org/Earth-Day and updates are released almost daily on The Umbrella’s social media and email list.
Thank You to the Helpers – National Charity League Class of 2026 sends an important message
Thank You to the Helpers – National Charity League Class of 2026 sends an important message
Please make signs and show your appreciation for all those essential workers.
Bring the World to you…
We may not be able to travel now but this is a wonderful time to bring the family together to learn more about the world and have fun in the process…
Try celebrating a different country / cuisine each night…. Check out Epicurious for recipes.
We did Italian night with bruschetta, risotto and biscotti. One of my boys pulled together some facts about Italy to share during dinner and another created a Kahoot game, all about Italy that we played after dinner. Try finishing off the night with Roman Holiday, Casino Royale or another film that takes places in Italy.
Fun for family, guess locations in the world – visit Geoguessr
Use this time to learn some new words in another language – try Duolingo
Also these are good resources if you want to learn more about geography or want to play some geography games:
Draw your own map of the world – have the family pin spots they have pin and use a different color pin to represent areas you’d like to visit.
Or pull out an album from a favorite family trip and try drawing or painting one of the spots you visited. Or create a diorama, using crafts and recyclables around the house.
Want to learn more about our own town?
Check out The Concord Museum website – it’s full of so interesting info.
Also, The Concord Library, obviously, has a lot of terrific reading material.
Test your family and see who knows the most about our town’s history. You’ll be prepared for Patriot’s Day!
Concord Carlisle Community Chest Night IN for Neighbors TONIGHT
No need to get dressed up!
Do not hire a babysitter!
Don’t designate a driver!
TONIGHT let’s celebrate a Night IN for Neighbors from the comfort of our own living rooms!
What CAN you do to support your neighbors in need?
Stay home!
And make a donation.
We would like to reach a goal of 200 donations to represent the 200 guests we expected to have join us in person on Friday evening. All donations received NOW through Monday, April 6 will count toward this goal.
And…Cambridge Savings Bank, a generous donor to the Chest for 15 years, has offered to match all new and increased gifts to our Annual Campaign for a total of $10,000! Help us reach our goal of 200 donors, and DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT at the same time!
Our spring event is the Chest’s largest fundraising event of the year, raising over $25,000 that is even more critical given the current COVID-19 Crisis. All funds raised at this event go directly to local non-profit organizations in need of our support. More than ever, our assistance is critical. Please help our neighbors in need.
We look forward to celebrating in person when we can, but for now let’s still make a difference and have a great weekend IN!
Fun Ways to be Creative at Home
We’re on to April and a whole new crop of ideas are pouring in to keep busy, be creative and add some fun & laughter to every day… and a little friendly competition!
Read about these and send us your photos – we’ll designate a blog post to display your
Art recreations, Peep dioramas and Teddy Bear Hunt.
Art Recreations
The Getty Museum called for people to recreate works of art while in quarantine — and they did not disappoint (CBS News.com)
Give it a try with your family and send us the photos (to polly@livingconcord.com) – we can’t wait to see them!
Peep candy dioramas
No better time than Easter season to stock up on Peeps and get really the creative juices flowing. Challenge your friends & family to a competition, complete with voting & prizes for different categories. Snap a photo of yourself with your Peep creation and send to us. Check out Pinterest for tons of ideas & inspiration.
Teddy Bear Hunt
Contact your neighbors or use Facebook Neighborhood Groups to get a Teddy Bear Hunt going for your neighborhood. Only takes a few minutes to round up teddy bears (or photos / cut outs of bears) and prop up in your windows or around front yard. This is a wonderful way to unite a neighborhood and bring some joy to the little neighbors as they go on a “Teddy Bear Hunt”. Bonus – you get to see some of your neighbors (from safe distance) as they stop in front of your house to count bears.
Snap & send some photos so we can share with LivingConcord community.