Visit the Library! 

We are open for browsing with no reservations required! Stop by:

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 9:30—5:30
Tuesday: 9:30—7:00
Saturday: 10—12 for curbside pickups only.

Curbside pickup will continue to be offered during all of our open hours.

Monday Morning Stories and Songs

Mondays at 10:00 am outdoors

Join us for a high-energy story time!  We’ll mix things up with a combination of stories for listening and songs for dancing. This program will be held outside on the library lawn. Bring a towel or blanket for stretching. Look for us around back! If there is rainy weather, the story time will be moved indoors.

Outdoor Story Time

Tuesdays at 10:00 am outdoors

We have missed you! Come and join us for in-person, outdoor story time on the beautiful grounds behind the library. Be sure to bring a blanket or chairs to get comfy. If there is rainy weather, the story time will be moved indoors.

Fragrance in the Garden

Monday, July 11 at 7:00 pm on Zoom

Perhaps you have smelled the lovely fragrance of a peony and were immediately transported back to a time long ago in your grandmother’s garden. Have you ever wondered why that is? Joanne Pearson is back to enlighten us about the power of aroma and its importance in the garden. We’ll look at the amazing things that scent does for a plant and discuss specific plants, shrubs, and trees with fragrant flowers and foliage that can be grown in New England and where to place them. Please visit our website to register and receive the Zoom link.

Elijah T. Grasshoper & Friends

Wednesday, July 13 at 6:00 pm outdoors

Join us on the lawn of the library for a musical show! Elijah T. Grasshopper & Friends are a children’s music group featuring Emma “Go-Go Green” Bean and their puppet pals, Willa the Worm and Weatherbee Frog. This program is best suited for children ages 2 through 8, but can be enjoyed by all ages. Come for some super-duper interactive kids’ music and a hopping good time! This show is sponsored in part by a grant from the Natick Cultural Council and by the Friends of the Bacon Free Library.

Puppet Story Time

Friday, July 15 at 10:00 am outdoors

Through Me To You Puppetry invites you to join Newton and the gang for some story time fun! Newton and his puppet friends take turns reading stories and singing songs with the kids. At the end of the show, the kids are invited to say hi to Newton and even play with some of his puppets! This program will be held on the library lawn, please bring a blanket or chair.

Morse Institute Library events:

Please click to learn more about this week's programs at the Morse:
Monday, July 11: Hidden Gems of New England
Thursday, July 14: Cryptocurrency 101

Barrel of Monkeys donations

The BFL is looking for the game Barrel of Monkeys for Elm Bank's Festival of Trees. If you have this game and are not using it, please consider donating it to the library. Thank you.

Summer Reading

Join our summer reading program and keep reading and listening all summer long! Fill out the tracking sheet by reading or listening to lots of books. Return the sheet and get coupons to win the raffle baskets. The longer the books the more coupons you earn. Learn more on our website.

We are all set for baskets - thank you to those who generously donated!

Container Gardens

Wednesday, July 20 at 10:00 am outdoors *registration required

Attention kids in grades 1-5: would you like to start your own portable garden? Join us on the grounds of the Bacon Free Library for this interactive program. You’ll learn what plants need to survive, decorate a terracotta pot, plant a container garden crop, and start a growing journal. All materials are provided. This program is presented by Tower Hill Botanic Gardens and sponsored by the Friends of the Bacon Free Library. Space is limited and registration is required; please visit our website to register.

Story Walk ®

Stop by the BFL grounds to check out our latest Story Walk: The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood. Read the book one page at a time on the library grounds. When you’re done, scan the QR code on the last story board and enter the raffle to win a copy of the book! 

The StoryWalk®Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.

Art Exhibit: Rob Dunlavey

Currently on display at the library

Visit the library to view the work of Natick artist and children’s book illustrator Rob Dunlavey, who will be showing landscape drawings and paintings at the BFL through September 28. Rob’s lyrical and expressionistic drawings of the South Natick dam capture the plant and animal life seen over the past dozen years of his daily artistic practice. Rob is also an award-winning children’s book illustrator; his next book Whale Fall, written by Melissa Stewart, will be published by Random House in Spring 2023. Learn more about Rob at his website.

History Book Club
Thursday, July 21 at 11:00 am
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Nonfiction Book Club
Saturday, July 23 at 10:00 am
The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell.

Book Club
Tuesday, July 26 at 7:00 pm
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.

Mystery Book Club
Thursday, August 4 at 1:00 pm, The Maid by Nita Prose.

Cinéphile Mondays

Monday, July 25 @ 4:00 pm on Zoom

Cinephiles, join us for our film series! Watch a movie at home and then join Film History & Media studies Professor MV for a virtual discussion on the last Monday of the month. Join us this month for a discussion of Krzysztof Kie?lowski's La Double Vie de Véronique, available on DVD through the Minuteman Network. Visit our website to learn more and email [email protected] to register for the Zoom meeting.

Around the web...

Here are some online materials we've enjoyed recently:

 -New bookstores are flourishing since the pandemic

-Visiting Martha's Vineyard this summer? Bon Appé*** has some dining recommendations

-Check out more summer reading suggestions from WBUR

Meet some of literature's great bartenders.

French Writing Club

We've adapted our conversation club into a writing club! Write in French and it will be corrected and sent back in order to improve French writing skills. If you are interested in participating or want to know more, email [email protected] and Graziella will follow up with you. We've adapted our conversation club into a writing club! Write in French and it will be corrected and sent back in order to improve French writing skills. If you are interested in participating or want to know more, email [email protected] and Graziella will follow up with you.

Digital Resources

Check out some of these great online resources:

-Overdrive/Libby: ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, videos, and more

-Kanopy: stream thousands of movies for free

-Hoopla: ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, videos, and more, all available with no wait list

-Morse Institute Library databases (Bacon Free Library cardholders may access these)

-Minuteman Library Network databases

-Project Gutenberg: thousands of free e-books in the public domain -- now's the time to catch up on some classics!

-Don't have a library card? Sign up online to begin accessing digital resources

-Having trouble with your library card password? Reset it here