Welcome back to the Ipswich Public Library’s 3rd annual celebration of the Oscars! After a two-year break, this February we are celebrating this year’s 95th Academy Awards Ceremony (airing Sunday, March 12th). Check out our “Night at the Oscars!” display table on the main floor to see what is available to checkout and to learn more about the list of nominees. This year, there will be a ballot to fill out and enter into the ballot box on the display table. Feel free to take the ballot with you first and use it as a checklist to figure out which movies you might want to start watching first! Some movies will be playing at the library. See schedule below. Feeling lucky? Grab a ballot, return it completed with contact information to the box, and you might win our “Night at the Oscars!” Giveaway basket full of movie night goodies. Ballots must be submitted by Saturday, March 11th (4pm). Winner to be announced on Monday, March 13th. Nominated Films are playing in the Collins Room up until the big night! Click on the title to register online: **Please note: For all movies beginning after normal library hours, the registration will close 5pm the night prior to the showing. If no registrations have been made by that deadline, the movie will be cancelled.** Monday, February 27th: Elvis (6:30-9:15pm, PG-13, 159min, Eight Nominations) Thursday, March 2nd: The Banshees of Inisherin (6:30-8:30pm, R, 114min, Nine Nominations)** Saturday, March 4th: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (10-12pm, PG, 115min, One Nomination) Wednesday, March 8th: Empire of Light (6:30-8:30pm, R, 115min, One Nomination) Friday, March 10th: Top Gun: Maverick (6:30-8:45pm, PG-13, 130min, Six Nominations)** All listed events are free and light refreshment will be provided. To learn more about the movies and to register for an event, you can also visit: ipswichlibrary.org/events. Questions? Please contact Teen Librarian Katy Wuerker at kwuerker@ipswichlibrary.org or (978) 356-6648.    

During the month of February we observe Black History Month. You may have already seen our displays around the library of various books, movies, and music to celebrate this month, but if you are looking for a little bit more information and a few more title recommendations, please read below. A Brief History of the Month According to the official U.S. government website dedicated to this observed month, “As a Harvard-trained historian, Carter G. Woodson, like W. E. B. Du Bois before him, believed that truth could not be denied and that reason would prevail over prejudice. His hopes to raise awareness of African American’s contributions to civilization was realized when he and the organization he founded, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that encompassed the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The response was overwhelming: Black history clubs sprang up; teachers demanded materials to instruct their pupils; and progressive whites, not simply white scholars and philanthropists, stepped forward to endorse the effort. […] The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” That year, fifty years after the first celebration, the association held the first Black History Month. By this time, the entire nation had come to recognize the importance of Black history in the drama of the American story. Since then each American president has issued Black History Month proclamations. And the association—now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)—continues to promote the study of Black history all year.”   Looking to learn more through a good book?   Adult Reading Suggestions: FICTION [books list=”adult-black-history-month-fiction” display=”carousel” total_items=”50″ auto=”true”] NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY [books list=”adult-black-history-month-nf-bio” display=”carousel” total_items=”50″ auto=”true”] Teen Reading Suggestions: FICTION [books list=”teens-black-history-month” display=”carousel” total_items=”50″ auto=”true”] NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY [books list=”teens-black-history-month-nf-bio” total_items=”50″ auto=”true”] Kid Reading Suggestions: FICTION [books list=”cr-black-history-month-fiction” display=”carousel” total_items=”50″ auto=”true”] NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY [books list=”cr-black-history-month-nf-bio” display=”carousel” total_items=”50″ auto=”true”]