Foundation Directory Online Professional Database at WPL

Research is key to finding grant funding opportunities for the non-profit community and that process can be made a lot easier by using the Foundation Directory Online Professional Database available at the library.

The Foundation Directory is a searchable database that provides comprehensive information on U.S. grant makers for non-profits seeking support. Create a custom search based on subject, geography, type of support, grant maker type, foundation staff names, and many other search fields. There is no remote access to this database so it can only be accessed in-house on all library public computers. Search results can be downloaded and saved via email or with a flash drive. 

The library offers an in-person class on the 2nd Monday each month that provides an overview of how to use the database. If you can't attend the class, contact our business resources librarian, Jackie, at jdzugan@mywpl.org to schedule an appointment for individual instruction.

Virtual Money Smart Week, April 17 - 21, 2023

 

Virtual Money Smart Week is a national, free campaign that aims to help people better manage their personal finances through a coordinated effort of experts and educators across the country.

This year's line-up of free, virtual events include:

• Family Budgeting | Monday, April 17 @ 12:00 p.m. 
• Presented by Katie Cullum of the University of Arkansas System, Division of Agriculture
• Instituciones Financieras | Tuesday, April 18 @ 12:00 p.m. 
• Presented by Vanessa Arita Reyes of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions
• Debt Relief | Wednesday, April 19 @ 12:00 p.m. 
• Presented by Bruce McCleary of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling
• Employer Retirement Plans | Thursday, April 20 @ 12:00 p.m. Presented by Kimberly Johnson of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

Click on the program title links above to register for any of these free events.

The library has valuable resources to assist those wanting to improve their financial future and gain a better, well-informed understanding of how to manage their finances. A large collection of books on this subject can found on the 2nd floor of the library. The library has a subscription to the Morningstar Investment Center Research database that can be accessed from home with a WPL library card and PIN. If you need guidance on how to use Morningstar, please email Jackie, our business resources librarian, at jdzugan@mywpl.org.

A Staff Pick's book list for Financial Literacy can be found here.

New Releases: April Edition

Check out these highly anticipated April 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! 

Fiction

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. But when Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.

  

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb 

A gripping page-turner about a professor who uncovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time—that his music was stolen from a young Black composer named Josephine Reed. Determined to uncover the truth and right history’s wrongs, Bern Hendricks will stop at nothing to finally give Josephine the recognition she deserves.

Pomegrante by Helen Elaine Lee

Ranita is regaining her freedom, but she’s leaving behind her lover Maxine, who has inspired her to imagine herself and the world differently. Now she must steer clear of the temptations that have pulled her down, while atoning for her missteps and facing old wounds. With a fierce, smart, and sometimes funny voice, Ranita reveals how rocky and winding the path to wellness is for a Black woman, even as she draws on family, memory, faith, and love in order to choose life.

Nonfiction

Honey, Baby, Mine by Laura Dern & Diane Ladd

Laura Dern and Diane Ladd always had a close relationship, but the stakes were raised when Diane developed a sudden life-threatening illness. Diane’s doctor prescribed long walks to build back her lung capacity. The exertion was challenging, and Laura soon learned the best way to distract her mom was to get her talking and telling stories. 

The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois and the First World War

Drawing on a broad range of sources, most notably Du Bois’s unpublished manuscript and research materials, Williams tells a sweeping story of hope, betrayal, disillusionment, and transformation, setting into motion a fresh understanding of the life and mind of arguably the most significant scholar-activist in African American history. 

If It Sounds Like a Quack…: A Journey to the Fringes of American Medicine By Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling

It's no secret that American health care has become too costly and politicized to help everyone. So where do you turn if you can't afford doctors, or don't trust them? In this book, Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling examines the growing universe of non-traditional treatments -- including some that are really non-traditional.

New Releases: March Edition

Check out these highly anticipated March 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! 

Fiction

Evil Eye by Eta Rum

After Yara is placed on probation at work for fighting with a racist coworker, her Palestinian mother claims the provocation and all that’s come after were the result of a family curse. While Yara doesn’t believe in old superstitions, she finds herself unpacking her strict, often volatile childhood growing up in Brooklyn, looking for clues as to why she feels so unfulfilled in a life her mother could only dream of.

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey 

Pulsing with suspense and intellect while blending nonfiction and fiction, Biography of X is a roaring epic that plumbs the depths of grief, art, and love. In her most ambitious novel yet, Catherine Lacey, one of our most acclaimed literary innovators, pushes her craft to its highest level, introducing us to an unforgettable character who, in her tantalizing mystery, shows us the fallibility of the stories we craft for ourselves.

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez

The Ramirez women of Staten Island orbit around absence. When thirteen‑year‑old middle child Ruthy disappeared after track practice without a trace, it left the family scarred and scrambling. One night, twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on her TV screen in Catfight, a raunchy reality show. She rushes to tell her younger sister, Nina: This woman's hair is dyed red, and she calls herself Ruby, but the beauty mark under her left eye is instantly recognizable. Could it be Ruthy, after all this time?

Nonfiction

We Were Once a Family: A Stry of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian 

After a car crash of two white mothers and their six adopted black children was deemed a murder suicide, we follow Asgarian as she tries to uncover more about the children and their birth families. Her reporting uncovers racial biases and corruption as children of color are separated from birth parents without proper cause. The result is a riveting narrative and an indictment of a system that continues to fail America’s most vulnerable children while upending the lives of their families.

Planta Sapiens: The New Science of Plant Intelligence by Paco Calvo

A leading figure in the philosophy of plant signaling and behavior, Paco Calvo offers an entirely new perspective on plant biology. In Planta Sapiens, he shows for the first time how we can use tools developed in animal cognition studies in a quest to deeply understand plant intelligence.Most importantly, he demonstrates that plants are neither objects nor resources; they are agents in themselves, and for themselves.

Above Ground by Clint Smith

Clint Smith’s vibrant and compelling new collection traverses the vast emotional terrain of fatherhood, and explores how becoming a parent has recalibrated his sense of the world. Above Ground wrestles with how we hold wonder and despair in the same hands, how we carry intimate moments of joy and a collective sense of mourning in the same body. 

Reference Shelf: Government Documents

As a reference librarian here at the Worcester Public Library, I often see patrons searching for reliable and trustworthy information on a wide range of topics. From environmental research to health resources, government documents are a valuable resource for library patrons. In this blog post, I’d like to explore what government documents are and what you’ll find here at WPL.

Government documents are publications produced by the federal government. They provide all different types of information on a wide range of topics, including technical scientific data, general overviews of a currently political topics, weather, and health.  U.S. laws, regulations, and even the constitution, are also all government documents.

There are good reasons to keep government documents in mind when doing research.  Lots of time, effort, and expertise are used to make sure the government has the best information possible to provide to the public and make decisions, making these documents quite authoritative.  In some cases, like the census, the government has the only real comprehensive data set.  Government documents are also generally free of copyright, meaning they can be reused.   

The Worcester Public Library has been a depository library since 1859, which means we have been receiving and housing government documents for more than 150 years!  Because of this long tenure, WPL has a large collection of government documents, with some dating back more than a hundred years.

Most government documents are held in WPL’s basement, so if you are searching our catalog and see an item with an unusual call number, don’t hesitate to ask a librarian to help you find it.  Chances are you have stumbled upon a government document and it will need to be retrieved for you.  Newer documents can be found displayed on the second floor alongside a display of recently returned or used government documents.

Reference Librarian Ben Izaurralde poses with his display of U.S. Government documents on #LibraryShelfieDay at the Worcester Public Library in Worcester, MA. This library has been part of the #FDLP since 1859. @worcester_PL pic.twitter.com/dinCstUxLx

— USGPO (@USGPO) January 25, 2023

In keeping with the Government Publishing Office’s mission of “keeping America informed,” most government documents are now available online.  The information is not all in one place however, and you will generally need to go to the website of the agency which published the information to find what you need.  Fortunately, documents from a number of different government agencies can be searched and found through our catalog.   If you need to view one of these documents, just look for the link under the ‘Electronic resources’ heading in the record.  This link will take you directly to the document.

There is certainly more that can be said about government documents, so if you have more questions, don't hesitate to reach out.  We are here to help you find the answers to all your burning questions.

New Releases: February Edition

Check out these highly anticipated February 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! 

Fiction

Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns

In this electrifyingly fierce and funny social satire—a gender-flipped reboot of the iconic 1970s film Taxi Driver—a ride share driver is barely holding it together on the hunt for love, dignity, and financial security…until she decides she’s done waiting.

Scorched Grace: A Sister Holiday Mystery by Margot Douaihy 

Sister Holiday is more faithful than most, but she’s no saint. To piece together the clues of this high-stakes mystery, she must first reckon with the sins of her chequered past – and neither task will be easy. An exciting start to Margot Douaihy’s bold series that breathes new life into the hard-boiled genre, Scorched Grace is a fast-paced and punchy whodunnit that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Endpapers by Jennifer Sarvan Kelly

An accessible, character-driven story set in 2003 New York City about a genderqueer book conservator who feels trapped by her gender presentation, her ill-fitting relationship, and her artistic block, as she discovers a decades-old hidden queer love letter and becomes obsessed with tracking down its author.

Nonfiction

Africatown: America’s Last Slave Ship and the Community it Created

An evocative and epic story, Nick Tabor's Africatown charts the fraught history of America from those who were brought here as slaves but nevertheless established a home for themselves and their descendants, a community which often thrived despite persistent racism and environmental pollution.

The Wise Hours: A Journey into the Wild and Secret World of Owls by Miriam Darlington

In The Wise Hours, Darlington watches and listens to the natural world and to the rhythms of her home and family, inviting readers to discover the wonders of owls alongside her while rewilding our imagination with the mystery, fragility, and magnificence of all creatures.

I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter

For twelve years the Golden State Killer terrorized California, stalking victims and killing without remorse. Then he simply disappeared, for the next forty-four years, until an amateur DNA sleuth opened her laptop. Barbara Rae-Venter reveals how she went from researching her family history to hunting for a notorious serial killer.

Welcome to the Adult Winter Reading Challenge! This winter we're offering readers two different prizes. 

Prize 1: Pirates 2023 Season Kickoff Package
In partnership with The Massachusetts Pirates, we are offering readers a chance
to win a pair of tickets for any regular 2023 season home game and Pirates swag!

Prize 2: Cozy Readers Dream Package
Win this package geared towards all readers! Includes a neck reading lamp,
page holder, library-themed socks, and WPL swag!

Click here to log into your Beanstack account to start logging your books and reviews. If you don't have an account, you can create one today!

Read these patron book reviews submitted by your fellow readers to get an idea of what to read next! And don't forget to log what you read, WPL events you attend, and your book reviews!

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Great read with a slow and steady love story behind it. The world is rich and colorful and left me wanting several more of these. Lovely lgbt character representation. Don't miss the epilogue and prologue stories after the end.       ~ Margo S. 

Deep Water by Emma Bamford

Keeps you on edge from the very beginning of the book! I couldn’t put it down with how well it was written just wanting to know what’s next. 4.3/5 ~ Kaylee F. 

Little Green by Walter Mosley

Fully developed entertaining read.                 ~ Sandra B.

Tracy Flick Can't Win by Tom Perrotta

Such entertainment for a retired teacher...education at its most hilarious! Politics, shenanigans, stuff the outside world (from education) doesn't hear about.             ~ Ages W.