Footnotes: November 2026

Closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day

Closing at 5pm on Wednesday, November 25

Closed Thursday, November 26 & Friday, November 27 for Thanksgiving

Keep scrolling for the director's note, a few vignettes, save the date, a staff update, and one cool library resource.

Cold and dark will be the adjectives that dominate our afternoons. As we transition into a quieter time our community resources become an even greater asset to our well-being. This newsletter presents numerous opportunities to share the warmth of our community connections and a way to break the daily grind. Find an event or program that brings joy and join us! 

But we aren’t the only ones offering these opportunities! Check out our town newsletter for events, news, and initiatives that our partners at Town Hall, SEDCO and Community Services are diligently building for Scarborough, oftentimes in partnership with the library:

 
Town E-Newsletter - Town of Scarborough, ME 

 

Attention cloudLibrary, Libby, and Kanopy users!  We found out a week or so ago that a PIN is needed to access those apps. The PIN is the same code you use for your Minerva account. If you do not have a PIN, please call and our staff will add a PIN for you. 

 

Kate Morgan 

Circulation Manager

Early Release Day is Extra Sweet

Our October Early Release Day was filled with sweet treats, great music, and plenty of fun as we introduced the newest addition to our Youth Services programming: the Charlie Cart mobile kitchen!

Students helped us break in our new kitchen by baking delicious cookies. The Charlie Cart is a hands-on teaching kitchen designed to build food literacy by helping kids develop cooking skills, explore nutrition, and gain confidence in the kitchen. Thanks to generous grants and sponsors*, we're excited to bring more opportunities for cooking, learning, and creativity to the library!

While cookies were baking, we turned up the tunes for Music Bingo! Students tested their musical knowledge with rounds featuring top hits of 2026, Halloween favorites, and songs with numbers in their titles. There was plenty of singing along, laughter, and friendly competition!

It was a wonderful afternoon of learning, laughter, and community, and we're looking forward to many more delicious adventures with our Charlie Cart!

 

Deanna McNamara
Youth Services Manager 

 

*A huge thank you to InterMed, Atlantic Credit Union, cPort Credit Union, Maine Community Bank, Katahdin Trust, Saco and Biddeford Savings, Nichols Fund, and Hannaford Charitable Foundation.

Celebrating Sustainability

Have a surplus of pens, pencils and markers that have outlived their useful life? We are thrilled to offer a Terracycle box to help recycled our tired writing implements. So if there's a child in your life who habitually forgets to put the cap back on their markers, or a favorite pen has run out of ink, drop them off at the library! Find it in front of our Information Wall (tm), cozily nestled between the box for Project Grace food donations and the box for plastic film recycling.

Speaking of plastic recycling, please do not put candy bags or wrappers leftover from Halloween in our recycling bin. The place to drop these off is GoGo Refill in South Portland, where they are taking candy wrappers for recycling through the end of November. Rest easy as you nibble at your candy stash this month, knowing that there is a sustainable solution for these indulgences.

 

 

Did You Know About Kanopy?

Did you know your library card gives you access to Kanopy? This free streaming service offers a fantastic selection of movies, documentaries, independent films, and more, all from the comfort of your own home! With Kanopy, you can discover something new, revisit an old favorite, or enjoy a movie night without paying for another streaming subscription. Kanopy is available as app for phones, tablets, and on smart TVs.

And there's even better news for families! Kanopy Kids offers unlimited, ticket-free streaming of children's movies, educational programs, animated favorites, and beloved storybook adaptations. Unlike regular Kanopy titles, Kanopy Kids videos don't use any of your monthly tickets, so little ones can watch and learn as much as they'd like! All you need is your library card to get started. Visit kanopy.com to explore what's available!

 

Trish Banks

Adult Services Manager

With support from the Maine Arts Commission, Scarborough Public Library is launching an Artist Series that brings working Maine artists directly into the library for free, accessible, hands-on public programs through June 2027. Sessions will pair artist talks about creative practice, tradition, and process with participatory workshops. In partnership with the Maine Crafts Association, the library will connect community members with a diverse group of Maine artists while providing artists with meaningful compensation and a public platform for their work. The series welcomes participants of all ages and experience levels, strengthen relationships between the library and Maine’s cultural community, encouraging support for Maine’s vibrant creative traditions.

Upcoming sessions include: BiblioQuilts, card making, watercoloring, embroidery, upcycling fashion, henna, dyeing with natural pigments, sewing, drawing, and cooking.

On our calendar for December are BiblioQuilts: Art Made from Distressed Books and a Creative Card Making Workshop with much more to come in January!

 

Kerstin Gilg
Development Coordinator

• Maine's Contributions to American Wars
• Monday Movie Matinee -- The Devil Wears Prada 2 
• Morning Book Discussion: "The Divided North"
• Death Cafe with Die Well Death Education
• Pathfinder Society
• Art Dingley, Maine Author Talk
• Memoir Meet-Ups
• Emerson Lecture: Atlas of Kinship: Stories of Connection Between Seabirds, People & Place
• Gentle Sound Bath & Guided Meditation
• Die Well Death Education: Session Eight VSED (Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking)
• Tuskegee Airmen, a Maine Connection
• Book Donation Drive
• Snug it UP!
• Managing Grief During the Holidays
• Recognizing and Responding to Cardiovascular Emergencies
• Books On Tap - One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, 3:30pm
• Books On Tap - One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, 4:30pm
• No Going Back: Europe and America at a Crossroads
• Evening Book Discussion: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
• Pathfinder Society
• French Discussion Group
• Memoir Meet-Ups
• Potluck & Games, for ALL AGES
• Repair Fair! Let's Fix What's Broken (or needs a battery)!
• Are You New Here? Join us for Coffee Talk!
• Idea Exchange: Free & Inexpensive Gift Giving Ideas
• Life's Essential 8

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, and with it come many points of view. Many true and fabricated quotes that have been splashed across the internet champion the idea that to change one's mind shows intelligence and courage. In this day and age of hyper-partisanship and biased news sources, how does one go about learning about "the other side" of an issue without pulling out their hair? 

 

One way is Points of View. Part of the Maine Digital Library, Points of View contains resources that present multiple sides of an issue. This database of rich content can help students (and curious adults) assess and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.

 

Elsa Rowe

Assistant Director

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Scarborough Public Library
48 Gorham Rd Scarborough, ME 04074
Phone: 207-883-4723