To The Moon and Back: Celebrating Robert Goddard, The Artemis, and Project Hail Mary

In March 2026, Worcester Public Library joined with the greater community in celebrating the 100th anniversary of native son Robert H. Goddard's launch of the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which flew 41 feet in 2.5 seconds and landed 184 feet away in a field in Auburn in 1916. While his rocketry experiments and research caught interest for military use and atmospheric research, Goddard dreamed of  reaching high altitudes for spaceflight. While he preferred working alone and with his very small team, he joined the American Rocket Society and became a director towards the end of his career. Goddard holds 214 patents, many around rocket apparatus. He mentored and influenced many rocket scientists and aerospace engineers, and is generally considered to be the person who ushered in the Space Age. While he did not live to see a person land on the moon (1969), we celebrate his accomplishments still; the April 2026 Artemis mission to orbit the moon and return, and the hype--and success!--of the book/audio/film Project Hail Mary are a nod to Goddard's lasting legacy. 

For those us who have been obsessed with space flight since we first looked up at the stars, or those who came of age with the explosion of Challenger in 1986 and held our breath during the Artemis mission's reentry blackout, or cheered along with Rocky and were "Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!" by the creative problem solving skills of fictional microbiologist and middle school science teacher Dr. Ryland Grace, here are some read-a-like suggestions. Check out our Staff Picks: Hard Science Fiction for more novel suggestions, and Space Hipster's Recommended Reads for a more comprehensive list of nonfiction titles.

FICTION

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
A tale set in a technologically sophisticated solar system three hundred years in the future follows the experiences of former world designer Swan, who in the wake of an unexpected death is led into a plot to destroy everything she has helped to create.

Atmosphere by Taylor Reid Jenkins
Joan Goodwin, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University, dreams of going to space after seeing an ad for NASA’s space shuttle program. Selected in 1980, she trains at Johnson Space Center with fellow candidates, including Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond, scientist John Griffin, mission specialist Lydia Danes, warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, and aeronautical engineer Vanessa Ford. As they prepare for their first flights, Joan finds new passion and love, questioning her place in the universe. Everything changes on mission STS-LR9 in December 1984. The full cast audio is particularly excellent.

Artemis by Andy Weir
Burdened by debt and hampered by poor job prospects, courier Jazz Bashara can't earn enough to get ahead in the (expensive) lunar city of Artemis -- even with a lucrative sideline in smuggling. So when a wealthy businessman makes her an offer she can't refuse, she doesn't. Hired to carry out an act of industrial sabotage, Jazz soon finds herself in over her head.

Cosmogramma by Courttia Newland
A dark and incisive collection of speculative short stories set in an alternate future of interstellar space travel, robots, mythical creatures, and the uncanny.

The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang
In his training as a spy, Ro was warned: you will always be living a lie. Jumping into a Star Eater's mind in the first place requires a moment of perfect psychic connection, and he has studied all his life to comprehend their species - the only species physiologically capable of mining the element needed for lightyear-spanning space travel. It will feel real, his elders impressed upon him. It will never be real. But Ro's certainty runs deep: he will be different. Ro will not be an imposter hiding the truth of his past, because his heart will be one of them. He will be one of them. To understand is to become. It never occurs to him that the mere act of understanding can destroy.

The Martian by Andy Weir
Stranded on Mars after an aborted surface mission, astronaut Mark Watney must rely on his wits to survive on an inhospitable planet. As Watney documents his attempts to create food, water, and oxygen from limited resources, NASA officials work to increase his chances of survival until they can find a way to bring him back to Earth.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Over the course of 24 hours, six astronauts from five countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and Russia) navigate life with each other and ponder their pasts and their futures while orbiting earth in a final space station mission.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission--and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Alone on this tiny ship that's been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it's up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And thanks to an unexpected ally, he just might have a chance. The award-winning audiobook is highly recommended.

Shoot the Moon by Isa Arsen
In this thought-provoking debut novel, Annie Fisk is hired as a secretary at NASA despite having a physics degree. After she discovers errors in an engineer's calculations for the Apollo 11 space flight, Annie gets a promotion and makes a mysterious, life-altering discovery that could change the future of physics and space travel forever.

Sphere by Michael Crichton
Four American scientists are summoned in great secrecy to the South Pacific to investigate a giant spacecraft at least three hundred years old.

The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
Private aerospace company Prime Space Systems Laboratory has selected three astronauts for its planned mission to Mars. As part of their training, Helen Kane, Sergei Kuznetsov, and Yoshihiro Tanaka take part in Eidolon, a 17-month mission simulation in the Utah desert that will test their physical and psychological fitness -- not to mention their relationships with the loved ones they've left behind.

NONFICTION

Apollo 11: The Inside Story by David Whitehouse
 David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the Apollo 11 mission, putting it in the context of the wider space race and telling the story in the words of those who took part - based around exclusive interviews with the key players. This enthralling book takes us from the early rocket pioneers to the shock America received from the Soviets' launch of the first satellite, Sputnik; from the race to put the first person into space to the iconic Apollo 11 landing and beyond, to the agonizing drama of the Apollo 13 disaster and the eventual winding-up of the Apollo program. 

Ask an Astronaut: My Guide to Life in Space by Tim Peake
Based on his historic mission to the International Space Station, the author reveals the cutting-edge science behind his groundbreaking experiments and what daily life is like in space, answering the thousands of questions he has been asked since his return to Earth.

The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel
Beginning in 1959 with the selection of the first crew members of the Mercury space program, a small group of women who had been ordinary military wives became celebrities. These astronauts' wives had to be perfect representatives of the space program. Everything, down to their clothing and the food they served their families, was scrutinized by NASA. In response, they formed a support group that grew to include the wives of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts and became an essential resource during the stresses of waiting on the ground while their husbands orbited in space -- or after spacecraft mishaps. This group portrait offers an intimate and informative view behind the scenes of the space program's early years.

Bringing Columbia Home: The Final Mission of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew by Michael Leinbach 
Mike Leinbach was the launch director of the space shuttle program when Columbia disintegrated on reentry before a nation's eyes on February 1, 2003. And it would be Mike Leinbach who would be a key leader in the search and recovery effort as NASA, FEMA, the FBI, the US Forest Service, and dozens more federal, state, and local agencies combed an area of rural east Texas the size of Rhode Island for every piece of the shuttle and her crew they could find.

The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster by Kevin Cook
Infused with drama, immediacy and compelling characters, thirty-five years after NASA's revitalization program ended tragically with the Challenger explosion, this book uncovers the untold story of the disastrous order to launch that ill-fated, unforgettable morning.

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
Based on fascinating new archival research and deep reporting, this gripping and riveting narrative provides the definitive story of the 1986 Challenger disaster and how it led to America changing its view of itself.

Come Fly With Us: NASA's Payload Specialist Program by Melvin Croft
The story of an elite group of space travelers who flew as members of many space shuttle crews from pre-Challenger days to Columbia in 2003. Not part of the regular NASA astronaut corps, these professionals known as “payload specialists” came from a wide variety of backgrounds and were chosen for an equally wide variety of scientific, political, and national security reasons.

Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly
A memoir by the astronaut who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station shares candid reminiscences of his voyage, his colorful formative years, and the off-planet journeys that shaped his early career.

The First City on Mars : An Urban Planner's Guide to Settling the Red Planet by Justin Hollander
Urban planner Hollander draws on his experience as an urban planner and researcher of human settlements to provide a thoughtful exploration of what a city on Mars might actually look like. Exploring the residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure elements of such an outpost, the book is able to paint a vivid picture of how a Martian community would function – the layout of its public spaces, the arrangement of its buildings, its transportation network, and many more crucial aspects of daily life on another planet. Dr. Hollander then brings all these lessons to life through his own rendered plan for “Aleph,” one of many possible designs for the first city on Mars.

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
An inspiring biography of NASA's African American female mathematicians, whose work in the 1950s and '60s played a pivotal role in launching American astronauts into orbit.

How to Astronaut: An Insider's Guide to Leaving Planet Earth by Terry Virts
A behind-the-scenes look at the training, basic rules, lessons and procedures of space travel by the former astronaut, space-shuttle pilot and International Space Station commander includes coverage of the realities of living long-term in space.

Out of This World and Into the Next: A Physicist's Guide to Space Exploration by Adriana Marais
This is a theoretical physicist's grand tour of how life emerged on Earth and, perhaps most importantly, how human civilization will begin expanding beyond our home planet. Dr. Adriana Marais believes living on more than one planet is an inevitability of becoming a more advanced society, and getting there will provide us with essential tools for better stewardship of our own. In this sweeping treatise on exploration, innovation, and human ingenuity, Marais seeks to answer the questions that stand at the heart of scientific endeavor: What are the building blocks of life and how does life emerge? Are we alone in the universe and if so, why? How did we get here - and where are we going next?

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Roach describes the weirdness of space travel, answers questions about the long-term effects of living in zero gravity on the human body, and explains how space simulations on Earth can provide a preview to life in space.

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
The author traces the boyhood enthusiasm for rockets that eventually led to a career at NASA, describing how he built model rockets in the family garage in West Virginia, inspired by the launch of the Soviet satellite "Sputnik."

Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America's First Female Rocket Scientist by George D. Morgan
Mary Sherman Morgan, the first (and only) woman employed as a rocket scientist at North American Aviation, where she worked alongside 900 male colleagues during the Space Race era. Morgan invented hydyne, the fuel used to launch the Explorer 1 satellite in 1958.

Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age by David A. Clary
Traces the life and times of American rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard, describing his essential contributions to the science and technology of the twentieth century, the sometimes turbulent life of the visionary genius, and his pivotal role in launching the Space Age.

Spaceflight: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiosity by Buzz Aldrin
This comprehensive history of space exploration chronicles the development of space technology, including rockets, vehicles, and equipment; the role of the "space race;" tragedies; key accomplishments; and past and future missions.

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New Releases - May 2026 Edition

Check out these highly anticipated new releases featuring fiction and nonfiction titles. Click on the title to request a copy or get your name on the waitlist. Don’t forget to watch for more featured releases next month!

NONFICTION

Big Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love by Michael Schur & Joe  Posnanski 
An award-winning sportswriter (Posnanski) and an Emmy-winning television producer (Schur) travel across the U.S. and abroad to explore and examine the notion of being a sports fan. The format meanders from journalistic pieces to email exchanges, and conversational chats as the two discuss and deliberate on the depth of peoples' love or hatred for a given team, sport, or event. This smorgasbord of fandom introduces readers to everyone from the unlikeliest NASCAR fan to a maestro of crossword puzzles. Amid the stories of their travels, Posnanski and Schur discuss the origins of their own love/hate affairs with their favorite teams and deliberate whether fans are born and nurtured to teams or if people can develop into a fan of a sport with study and effort. Several interludes include messages from individuals describing their passion for an event, and in one endearing chapter they have their daughters describe their love for Taylor Swift. An entertaining, humorous, and thought-provoking examination of the human obsession with sports and entertainment told in a delightful, self-deprecating style that will appeal to a variety of readers. Copyright 2026 Booklist 

For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage by Stephanie Coontz 
Historian Coontz follows her return to the subject of marriage, which she addressed in Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage (2005), with this exploration of the reasons behind rising fears and uncertainty about the institution. In chapters covering the historical, social, economic, and political factors that have driven partner relationships, she effectively analyzes the role of marriage from the Paleolithic era through the post-WWII U.S. Examples ranging from division of labor among early humans to the evolution of the title "Mrs." from one of power to one of subservience to letters written between courting couples support the salient points. Coontz busts many myths--especially those of the male as sole provider in early America and the breadwinner in the 1950s--which are fueling the current trad wife fad. An afterward by gender-inequality expert Haley Swenson supports Coontz's hope that relationships can transcend inherited patterns and norms to become healthy and adaptable to today's world. This is accessibly written and provides extensive endnotes for those interested in learning more about this timely subject. Copyright 2026 Booklist 

The Killer and Frank Lloyd Wright: The True Story of Mass Murder in Paradise by Casey Sherman
Journalist Sherman (Blood in the Water) recounts the murder of Frank Lloyd Wright's lover in this fascinating work of true crime. In 1909, Wright made headlines for running off to Europe with his neighbor's wife, translator and feminist advocate Martha "Mamah" Borthwick Cheney. The couple were hounded by reporters abroad, so when they returned from Europe, Wright built the Taliesin compound in Wisconsin where they lived together happily. Then, in 1914, while Wright was in Chicago designing Midway Gardens, a handyman killed Mamah, her two children, and several of Wright's staff before burning Taliesin down. Sherman lingers on the mystery of the act--the suspect swallowed acid and died in jail while awaiting trial, so historians remain unsure if he was criminally insane or carrying out a targeted attack--but pays greater attention to the ways that Mamah's death haunted Wright, who considered her the love of his life. Though he remarried, Wright was buried next to Mamah at Taliesin in 1959. Sherman exhibits both a novelist's sense of pace and a reporter's eye for detail in this arresting true crime narrative of great passion and great tragedy. It's a heartbreaker. Photos. Agent: Peter Steinberg, UTA. Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly

FICTION

Offseason by Avigayul Sharp
A cynical PhD dropout tries to make do in her new digs at a girl's boarding school, in Sharp's distinctive debut. It's winter and the unnamed narrator has traveled to a seaside tourist town somewhere in the Northeast, where she's been hired to teach English literature. On double doses of her prescription stimulants, she lectures on subjects she's obsessed with, such as the life of Stalin and Dickens's Bleak House, noting how the students "stared back at me with the vacant curiosity of idiot fish whose aquarium had just been tapped by a finger." As the narrator settles in at the school, where "every year the cottages sank another inch into the earth," she befriends quirky students like Cordelia and begins dating fellow teacher Thomas, who's recently returned from leave, which he claims was due to a family illness. The lightly plotted narrative casts a spell on the reader, thanks to Sharp's powers of observation and the narrator's eccentric disposition, as when her seatmate on a train pretends he's sleeping and plays footsie with her, and she welcomes the touch. This pensive and offbeat work is an acquired taste. Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly

The Kindness of Strangers by Emma Garman
Garman's debut is an intriguing, slow-build mystery with a nicely drawn, morally gray cast of characters bouncing off one another in post-World War II London. Honor Wilson runs a genteel boarding house in London, inherited from her husband, and surprises her boarders one day when she takes in a stranger named Jimmy Sullivan who has appeared on their doorstep. Though the other tenants are surprised at the sudden addition to the household, they do their best to make Jimmy welcome, even as they sense undercurrents between him and their landlady. The stories Jimmy tells of his past seem to change depending on whom he's talking to, and it's clear that he holds secrets. In the weeks he is with them, it also becomes clear that he is interested in learning all of the boarders' secrets and, perhaps, using those secrets against them for his own purposes. Tensions rise, mistrust grows, and murder becomes inevitable. The tenants all agree to take Jimmy out, but can they get along for long enough to make sure no one goes down for the murder? VERDICT:  Readers seeking character-driven mysteries will find much to enjoy in this beautifully written novel. Copyright 2026 Agent Jane Jorgenson, Library Journal

Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker  Whitaker's latest (after The Animators, 2017), is a sharp, hard-hitting novel about the perils of capitalism, the pain of denying oneself, and the ugliness hiding below the joy of normal family life juxtaposed with the resilience inside the most unlikely people. Fred and Fran are co-owners of a small southern chain of stores, faced with the choice of buying out another small chain and expanding or keeping things the way they are. On the advice of family members and friends, they take out a $2 million loan and expand, only to find that things are not what they seem . . . and that capitalism itself is an open maw, forever swallowing those who fall victim to it, only to spit them back out. Fred, easygoing and kind, becomes harsh and even dangerous, and Fran soon realizes that she wants more in life--and that ""more"" is Wendy, a sweet, no-nonsense employee. With engaging characters and immersive prose, Whitaker shows readers both an intimate family portrait and a lesson in the perils of greed, and by the book's thoughtful, softly bittersweet ending, a commentary on humanity's determination to make beauty despite society's rejection of it. Copyright 2026 Booklist

SAMS Photofact Repair Manual Online

Are you still holding on to your grandfather's antique radio? It doesn't work but you treasure it for all the wonderful memories it brings with it. You might be able to repair it with the help of SAMS Photofacts! They are the leading resource for DIY repairs of electronics and provide wiring diagrams, schematics and service manuals for various items. Whether you are a professional repairman, electronics enthusiast, or a do-it-yourselfer, you will find this resource useful as this is the standard resource technicians go to for electronics repair.

SAMS Photofacts contains sets of schematics for consumer 
electronics such as TV, VCR, DVD player and Radio. The manuals usually include parts lists, diagrams, photos and detailed service information. You can search by model number and download the PDF. If the model you need is not available for immediate download, you can fill out a request form for the PDF and SAMS will upload the file within a few days. 

To access this manual online, go to WPL’s databases page and click on Photofacts Online (SAMS). A Worcester Public Library card is required for remote access. In addition to this digital format, the library also maintains a large collection of photofacts in print on the 2nd floor. 

     

Forgotten Women: Biographical Sketches of Worcester Free Public Library's First Assistant Librarians

We have previously written about the founding and early years of the Worcester Free Public Library and recently introduced readers to the life of its first head librarian, Zephaniah Baker. Now is the time to highlight the lives of the first two assistant librarians who helped organize and maintain the library. These forgotten women, known during their tenure at the library as Miss Callina Barnes and Mrs. Z. Baker (hereafter known by her given name, "Frances," because we're focusing on her, not Zephaniah), deserve not only recognition for their work in our library's history but also for their lives beyond the library. Therefore, in honor of National Library Week, we invite you to enjoy the following post. 

Miss Callina Barnes

Callina "Calla" Barnes with her husband, Rowland Parker Pollard, June 16, 1874

Callina and her twin brother, Moses Barnes Jr., were born on December 7, 1831 in Dudley, Massachusetts to Eliza (Larned) Barnes and her husband Moses. Moses was previously married to a woman named Callina Ammidown Barnes, who died at the age of 30 in 1827, leaving Moses with an infant son, George. 

Callina Barnes was listed as being a pupil at the Nichols Academy in Dudley in 1850 and 1852, where Zephaniah Baker also attended school several years prior. By the 1855 Massachusetts state census, 23-year old Callina was listed as living with her parents, while her brother Moses was living in Worcester and working as a clerk. Callina's mother died in 1856 and her father Moses remarried (again) in 1858 to Aurelia M. Barber Rice, the widow of Erastus Rice. 

In early 1860, the Worcester Free Public Library board of directors first approved Zephaniah Baker as the head librarian of the newly established library, and then later approved Miss C. Barnes as assistant librarian, with a salary in the first year of $250 (half the salary of Zephaniah). The 1860 federal census lists Callina's occupation as librarian, and she is listed as living in a Worcester residence with several other people. She would be listed as a boarder at 15 Portland Street in 1861. Both Zephaniah and his assistant were credited by the Library Board of Directors in the First Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library as having "discharged their duties with approved assiduity and fidelity" (1861, p. 5).

1860 Federal Census

The Worcester Almanac, Directory, and Business Advertiser for 1861, 1861

Callina's salary increased to $300 by the second year of her employment at the library (compared to Zephaniah's salary raise to $800). By the third year, it seems one of her primary responsibilities was assisting in the Circulating Department, because the second assistant librarian was responsible for working with the Green Library's collection. Callina would continue to serve as first assistant librarian until April 1866, when she resigned her position. It is not known what Callina immediately did after she left the library but the 1870 federal census lists Callina as having no occupation and living in Dudley with her father, Moses, and step-mother, Aurelia Barnes. As far as we can tell, Callina never worked again outside of her household responsibilities.

Callina Barnes married Rowland Parker Pollard on June 16, 1874 at the age of 42 in Chester, Vermont. Rowland was a 59-year-old farmer and widower of Mary Ann Shedd Pollard, who died in October 1873 of consumption. Incidentally, Mary Ann Shedd was the younger sister of Frances Maria Shedd (Baker), the former wife of Zephaniah Baker. Frances, of course, was also one of the Worcester Free Public Library's original assistant librarians. Small world, right?!

Marriage Record of Callina Barnes and Rowland Parker Pollard, June 16, 1874

Rowland had two adult children from his first marriage but Callina and Rowland had a son, Arthur, in November 1875. The 1880 federal census lists Callina's occupation as "keeping house," while Rowland is listed as being a farmer. 

Rowland died in 1899, at the age of 84 years. Callina and Arthur would continue to live together after selling the family farm and moving to several properties within Chester throughout the years as evidenced by the 1900, 1910, and 1920 federal censuses. By the 1920 census, 44-year-old Arthur was a postmaster who lived with his 88-year-old mother and a housekeeper. Arthur would eventually marry 29-year-old schoolteacher Cola M. Martin in July of that year. Callina Barnes Pollard died of valvular heart disease, with a contributing disease of senile degeneration, on December 28, 1920 at the age of 89 years. She was buried in the family plot at the North Street Cemetery in Chester.

Death Record for Callina Barnes Pollard, December 28, 1920

Mrs. Z. Baker, a.k.a. Mrs. Frances M. Baker, a.k.a. F. M. Baker, a.k.a. Frances Maria Shedd

Frances M. Baker - Mrs. Zephiniah [sic]: President 1880-1881, Officers of the Worcester Woman's Club, photo from circa 1880s 

Frances Maria Shedd was born on November 22, 1812 in Reading, Vermont, to Sally Mann Shedd and William P. Shedd. She was the oldest of seven children (including the aforementioned Mary Ann Shedd) but not much is known about her early life prior to her marriage. As we mentioned in our biographical blog post about Zephaniah Baker, Frances and Zephaniah married on June 1, 1840 in Chester, Vermont and eventually moved around the Northeast and later Ohio as Zephaniah ministered to different Universalist congregations.

In the early 1840s, Frances and Zephaniah lived in Canterbury, Connecticut. In 1842, Frances Baker published a couple of articles in the Samaritan, and Total Abstinence Advocate, a short-lived temperance newspaper based in Providence. Zephaniah was pro-temperance, in part because his father had suffered injuries during an accident caused by a drunk man, but it is not known whether Frances was in favor of temperance before she married Zephaniah. 

During this time, Frances also became the corresponding secretary of the Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society and wrote a letter that was published in the abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. She also developed a high school for young ladies in Canterbury in 1845.

Select Young Ladies' School, Trumpet and Universalist Magazine, April 19, 1845

Frances wrote two children's books, including one titled Louisa Murray, and Other Stories, published in 1846.

Cover page of Louisa Murray, and Other Tales, 1846

Frances would also continue to write articles and poems for newspapers throughout her life, including a piece called "The Spirit's Mission," published in the Ohio-based The Anti-Slavery Bugle in 1851.

Excerpt from "The Spirit's Mission," The Anti-Slavery Bugle, December 6, 1851

The Second Assistant Librarian

Frances is first mentioned in the context of the library in the Second Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library, when she is acknowledged for creating a Numerical Catalogue with "great care and neatness" for the benefit of the librarians. During the following year, she would commence a detailed cataloging of the Green Library and would finish the catalogue a couple of years later. 

Index to the Catalogue of the Books in the "Green Library" Department of the "Free Public Library, September 1, 1865

In 1867, Frances would be credited with creating the Second Supplement to the Circulating Department's catalogue. Future Head Librarian, Samuel Swett Green, would praise Frances on behalf of the Committee on the Reading Room in the Eighth Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library, stating, "[The Committee] would express its entire satisfaction in regard to the superintendent of this department of the library by Mrs. Z. Baker, our accomplished First-Assistant Librarian, and congratulate the Board on having so able and faithful a servant" (1868, p. 30).  The Ninth Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library would recount the observations by the "very efficient Assistant Librarian" of how the Green Library was used.  

Excerpt from The Ninth Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library, 1869

Other Interests

Of course, Frances had many other interests besides her responsibilities as an Assistant Librarian at the public library. As previously mentioned, she believed in temperance and would speak at a public temperance meeting at Sons of Temperance Hall in 1863. She would also be on a committee of the Freedman's Relief Society to raise funds to support teachers of freed slaves.

Most notably, however, was her groundbreaking accomplishment of being one of the first two women elected to the Worcester school committee in 1868. As we previously noted, Frances was quite interested in education. Alas, she resigned her position in April 1869 due to unknown reasons.

School Committee, Worcester Evening Gazette, December 9, 1868

By September 1869, Frances moved onto the newest stage of her life: leaving the library to pursue other intellectual opportunities. First, Frances opened a new select school in the Insurance Block on Main Street.

Select School, Worcester Daily Spy, September 3, 1869

Then in December 1869, Frances became the secretary of the newly formed Worcester Woman's Suffrage Association. The 1870 federal census has Frances M. Baker living separately from her husband. At some point before 1873, she and Zephaniah divorced and while he eventually remarried, Frances never remarried.

Woman's Suffrage Association, Aegis and Gazette, January 1, 1870

Frances loved to give lectures and read aloud important papers on a variety of topics including biology, botany, and geology at meetings of the Worcester Natural History Society. 

City News, Worcester Daily Spy, February 10, 1874

In late 1872 Frances wrote a 5 1/2 page historical poem that she read at the centennial celebration of the founding of her hometown of Reading, Vermont.

Excerpt from Historical Poem by Frances Maria Shedd Baker from Centennial Celebration Together with a Historical Sketch of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont, 1874

Frances enjoyed traveling all over the world and then recounting her travels to attentive audiences at the Natural History Society and other Worcester organizations. For instance, she shared details of the "Glacier on the Stachine River" as seen during her Summer 1880 trip to Sitka, Alaska during a January 1881 meeting of the Natural History Society. She also talked about her trip to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe to the Young Ladies' Club of the Church of the Unity.

Passport Application for Frances M. Baker, May 28, 1878

Amusements, Meetings, &c., Worcester Daily Spy, January 11, 1883

Natural History Society, Worcester Sunday Telegram, November 23, 1890

In 1880, Frances joined the newly created Worcester Woman's Club, an association that was devoted to "mutual improvement in literary and social matters" (Worcester Daily Spy, March 21, 1881). Early meetings met in member's houses and members would present original papers on topics such as "Enlightened Motherhood" and "Electricity" (Worcester Evening Gazette, March 19, 1881). Frances would serve as the first president of the organization and would be posthumously honored years later at a 75th anniversary celebration of the club. As you can see below, one of the 1955 club members acted as Frances in a commemorative play and the club created a figurine meant to represent Frances as well.

Rehearsing Anniversary Play, Worcester Telegram, April 17, 1955

The Death of Frances M. Baker

Frances M. Baker returned to Worcester on August 10, 1891 but felt under the weather upon her arrival at the house of her friend, Mrs. Charles W. Smith, where she would be staying while in the city. Alas, her illness turned into pneumonia and she died on August 25, 1891 at the age of 78. Her obituary in the Worcester Daily Spy noted that she had last visited the Worcester Free Public Library two weeks prior. Her obituary in the Worcester Evening Gazette paid tribute to her brilliance, stating "if anyone wanted to know a quotation or an historical date, Mrs. Baker was pretty sure to have it at her tongue's end" (Worcester Evening Gazette, August 25, 1891). She was taken to Plymouth, Vermont, where she was buried in the Plymouth Notch Cemetery.

Conclusion

We hope you've enjoyed our post about Callina Barnes and Frances M. Baker - we actually think Frances had a much more fascinating life than Zephaniah Baker! For more information about the history of Worcester Public Library and its first head librarian, visit our previous blog posts.

Acknowledgements

A special thank you to Wendy Essery, the Library and Archives Manager at the Museum of Worcester, for helping us locate a photo of Frances M. Baker! We were positively giddy upon opening the scrapbook of the Officers of the Worcester Woman's Club and seeing the name of Frances M. Baker under the first photograph. We also thank the Chester Historical Society in Vermont for their assistance with research on Callina Barnes and the Pollard family.

Sources:

"Amusements, Meetings, &c." (1883, January 11). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 1.

Baker, F. M. (1844, May 10). "Anti-Slavery in Canterbury." The Liberator, p. 1.

Baker, F. M. (1851, December 6). "The Spirit's Mission." The Anti-Slavery Bugle, p. 5.

"City News." (1874, February 2). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 1. 

Davis, G. A. (1874). Centennial Celebration Together with a Historical Sketch of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont. Steam Press.

"The Education of Freedmen." (1864, April 14). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 2.

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What to Read Next When You've Finished Binge-Watching The Pitt

We never thought we'd crush on ER's John Carter as a teenager, and Dr. Michael Robinavitch aka Dr. Robby on The Pitt as an middle-aged adult, but here we are; must-see TV is back on Thursday nights for HBO subscribers, and the Emergency Department hospital drama set in Pittsburgh has been a runaway success. If you can't get enough medical jargon; fast-paced, high-stakes emergency medicine; patient stories; and pointed political views on healthcare in America--with a side of personal personnel stories--here's some suggestions for what to read when you've finished binge-watching both seasons of The Pitt.

FICTION

These novels focus on the experience of being a doctor or working in a hospital, particularly during trying times, like an outbreak or pandemic:

Cutting For Stone by Dr. Abraham Verghese
Physician Marion Stone and his twin brother Shiva, born from a secret love affair between an Indian nun and a British surgeon in Addis Ababa, come of age in an Ethiopia on the brink of revolution, where their love for the same woman drives them apart.

Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon
Maggie McCabe has always lived life at the edge, and it was all going to plan until a series of tragedies led to her medical license being revoked. Maggie is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand absolute discretion along with the best care money can buy. When one of the world’s most mysterious men requires unconventional medical assistance, Maggie - one of the few surgeons in the world skilled enough to take the job - fulfills her end of the agreement. But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself - or she will be the next one who is... gone before goodbye?

The House of God by Samuel Shem
First in a series, The House of God takes readers into the lives of Roy Basch and five of his fellow interns at the country's most renowned teaching hospital in Columbia, NY.

Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang
An ICU physician at a busy NYC hospital, 30-something Joan, a workaholic with little interest in having friends, let alone lovers, is required to take mandatory leave until the day she must return to the city to face a crisis larger than anything she’s encountered before.

Last Patient of the Night by A.J. Docker
Emergency physician AJ Docker is no stranger to violence, but the brutal torture and murder of an innocent, young patient demands a response. Together with his policeman friend and a police dog, he sets out on a quest for justice for his lost patient. Doc's investigation leads him into the dark world of organized crime, and when the killers come after him, it becomes a fight for survival. Will he survive to find justice for his patient, or will he be the next victim of Dyyavola, the Devil?

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
Determined to leave a mark on the world even though they are in the hospital and
their days are dwindling, unlikely friends, 17-year-old Lenni and 83-year-old Margot, devise a plan to create 100 paintings showcasing the stories of the century they have lived.

Viral by Robin Cook
With his wife in a coma after contracting a rare and highly lethal mosquito-borne viral disease, Brian vows to seek justice against the hospital and insurance company that won't cover the costs by exposing the dark side of a ruthless industry and bring down the executives preying on the sick.

Not strictly about the hospital ER experience, these novels center on the patient experience, from diagnosis to treatment to progression of specific diseases:

Counting Backwards by Binnie Kirshenbaum (Lewy body dementia)
Manhattan medical researcher and professor Leo is diagnosed with Lewy body dementia at 53, shattering his world and leaving his wife, collage artist Addie, balancing caregiving, work, grief, and her own mental health. Told primarily in second person by Addie, this witty novel sharply examines marriage, memory, loss, and loneliness.

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova (ALS)
A once-celebrated concert pianist who is gradually succumbing to ALS is forced to accept help from the estranged wife he pushed away, a situation that forces the couple to reconcile their past before time runs out.

Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova (Huntington's Disease)
When 44-year-old cop Joe O'Brien is diagnosed with Huntington's disease, his wife, and their four children must decide whether or not to be tested for this incurable hereditary condition. As Joe's health worsens, his youngest daughter Katie, at 21, just starting her adult life, and she isn't sure she wants to know what her future holds. How the O'Briens cope is both heart-wrenching and riveting.

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova (traumatic brain injury)
A woman in her 30s suffers a traumatic brain injury in a car accident that leaves her unable to perceive left-side information, a disability that prompts her struggle to recover and heal an estrangement.

More Or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova (bipolar disorder)

Maddy Banks, a college student with stand up comedy ambitions, is just like any other stressed-out sophomore at NYU. Between schoolwork, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dreams, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.

Still Alice by Lisa Genvoa (Alzheimer's Disease)
Feeling at the top of her game when she is suddenly diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, Harvard psychologist Alice Howland struggles to find meaning and purpose in her life as her concept of self gradually slips away.

NONFICTION
The titles encompass emergency room doctor memoirs, from interns to seasoned professionals; an expose on a phamceutical company; a history of the first ambulance service in the United States, and odes to nurses.

All That Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His Young Patients, and Their Stories of Grace and Resilience by Jay Wellons
A pediatric neurosurgeon shares moments from his life and career that show what his young patients have taught him about courage while he literally held their lives in his hands.

American Sirens: the Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics by Kevin Hazzard
A history of the Freedom House and the paramedics who pioneered emergency services (as mentioned on The Pitt).

The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
New emergency room physician Michele Harper's shares encounters with the patients who changed her life.

The Blood of Strangers: Stories from Emergency Medicine by Frank Huyler
This memoir is a collection of stories set in the ER introduces a neurosurgeon who practices witchcraft, a trauma surgeon who commits suicide, a wounded murderer, and a man chased across the New Mexico desert by a missle.

The Bodies Keep Coming: Dispatches From a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence, and How We Heal by Brian H. Williams 
Narrating the grief and anger as a Black doctor on the front lines, a trauma surgeon recounts the events that thrust him into the spotlight in 2016, which forced him to rethink everything he thought he knew about medicine, injustice and what true healing looks like.

Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children's Health by Adam Ratner
A professor of pediatrics examines the resurgence of measles and the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that distrust in vaccines and weakened public health systems have led to preventable tragedies and urges restoration in confidence in science to protect future generations.

Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER by Farzon A. Nahvi
A medical memoir focusing on one emergency room doctor's shift in an urban ER follows the experiences of real patients and focuses on the story of a forty-three-year-old woman who arrives in sudden cardiac arrest and the challenges it presents for physicians.

The Desperate Hours: One Hospital's Fight to Save a City on the Pandemic's Front Lines by Marie Brenner
Drawing on more than 200 interviews, Brenner takes us inside secure ICU units, sealed operating rooms, locked executive suites, unknown basement workshops, and makeshift clinics to provide extraordinary witness to the war as it was waged on the front line at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER by Thomas Fisher
From a renowned emergency room doctor and healthcare policy expert comes the riveting story of a year in the life of an emergency room on the South Side of Chicago during a pandemic—and a powerful argument that American healthcare is designed to sacrifice the lives of the most vulnerable.

ER Nurses: True Stories From America's Greatest Unsung Heroes by James Patterson and Matt Everson
Around the clock, across the country, these highly skilled and compassionate men and women sacrifice and struggle for us and our families. You have never heard their true stories. Not like this. From big-city and small-town hospitals. From behind the scenes. From the heart. This book will make you laugh, make you cry, make you understand. When we're at our worst, E.R. nurses are at their best.

Letter to a Young Female Physician: Notes From a Medical Life by Suzanne Koven
Tracing the arc of her life, the author reflects on her career in medicine, revealing how she forged her authentic identity in a modern landscape that is as overwhelming and confusing as it is exhilarating in its possibilities.

No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris
In this blistering exposé, an award-winning investigative journalist uncovers reams of evidence showing decades of Johnson & Johnson’s deceitful and dangerous corporate practices that have threatened the lives of millions.

Patient Care:  Death and Life in the Emergency Room by Paul Seward
A retired physician who was one of the first to specialize in emergency medicine recounts his half-century of medical practice through suspenseful and memorable cases and highlights the important roles of nurses, pharmacists and other colleagues.

The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician's First Year by Matt McCarthy
A young doctor stumbles through his experience as a first year intern at New York's Presbyterian Hospital.

Something For The Pain: One Doctor's Account of Life and Death in the ER by Paul Austin
An ER doctor's memoir describes the psychological impact of his profession, explaining how his daily exposure to critical illness, injury, and tragedy in the industrial setting of a modern hospital rendered him bitter and estranged from his family.

Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World by Sarah DiGregorio
A journalist chronicles the lives of nurses past and tells the stories of those today—caregivers at the vital intersection of health care and community who are actively changing the world, often invisibly.

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