AROUND THE TOWNS
Library coalition puts out the word

By Robert Preer, Globe Staff, 04/04/99

o one is immune from competition these days, and that includes public libraries, which now vie with mega-bookstores and the Internet, not to mention television, for the hearts and minds of patrons.

On Thursday evening, a coalition of south suburban libraries will take to the Independence Mall in Kingston in an attempt to sell themselves. From 6 to 8, librarians from Plymouth, Kingston, Duxbury, Pembroke, and possibly other communities will be showcasing their offerings at a centrally located booth in the mall.

Along with information on library cards and special library programs, there will be stories, songs, face painting, arts and crafts, free raffle prizes, and a visit from Mother Goose.

''From our point of view, it increases our visibility in the community,'' said Evelyn Moschella, the Plymouth Public Library's youth services librarian. ''People learn more about the programs we offer.''

The Plymouth library, usually in conjunction with other area libraries, sets up shop in the mall three times a year, once in November during Children's Book Week, in April for National Library Week, and again in June as school children begin summer vacation.

Moschella said the mall event draws a lot of visitors. ''We have tables at the food court, so we attract a lot of attention,'' she said. ''We set up right where the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus usually sit.''

SAVING VETS' STORIES

On a morning run about two months ago, Brockton Mayor John T. Yunits Jr. and his regular jogging partner, Robert H. Gale Jr., the city's director of veterans services, got to talking about the hit movie ''Saving Private Ryan,'' which the mayor had seen the night before. Yunits mused that it might be a good idea for the city to somehow record and preserve the stories of local surviving World War II veterans.

''I've been running with the idea ever since,'' Gale said in an interview last week.

Tomorrow night, Gale and other volunteers, assisted by Brockton Community Cable Television, will videotape the World War II recollections of four Brockton veterans. They will discuss their wartime experiences - from the battlefields to the draft boards to the neighborhoods and families they left behind.

''Hopefully, it is not going to be just blood and guts and combat,'' said Gale. ''I'm sure there will be some humorous stories and anecdotes.''

Tomorrow night's taping at the Brockton Community Cable studio on Main Street is the second of what Gale hopes will be many sessions. The first taping of four roughly half-hour interviews was held two weeks ago.

The tapes will be stored in a video library at the city's War Memorial Building on West Elm Street. They will be available for public viewing at the building, or they can be copied for a small fee.

''We are also thinking that with the permission of the people we taped we would produce a program for cable television. We would call it `Wartime Memories,''' Gale said.

Although the focus now is on recording the stories of World War II veterans, soon efforts will be made to tape the recollections of civilians during that era, as well as the wartime memories of veterans from more recent conflicts. Gale said the tapes will be important for future generations.

''I can imagine someone's great-great-great-granddaughter coming in someday and watching a tape, and saying, `Hey, that's my great-great-great-grandfather there,''' Gale said.

If you are interested in being a subject of a videotaped interview or in volunteering to help with the project, call 508-580-7850.

`SMOKE AND CHOKE'

What do fifth graders think of smoking? If you stop by the Holmes Public Library in Halifax in the next few days, you can find out.

As part of the national anti-smoking campaign Kick Butts Day, the Eight-Town Tobacco Control Program recently gave Halifax Elementary School students an assignment: Imagine being seated in your favorite restaurant, about to take a bite of your favorite food, when suddenly someone lights up a cigarette or cigar. Then students were asked to make a facial expression that showed their response. As they did so, their pictures were taken.

A total of 124 ''Smoke and Choke Ugly Faces'' now grace the walls of the town library. Charlotte Scozzafava, director of the Middleborough-based tobacco control program, said the lineup is impressive.

''They did their best to make their ugliest faces,'' she said.

A panel of town officials will judge the photographs. The five ugliest will receive $25 Wal-Mart gift certificates and an ''I helped make smoking history in Halifax'' T-shirt. Ten runners-up will receive T-shirts only.

The photographs will be on display until Friday. The awards will be

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presented at the school at 2 p.m.

April 14, which is the official Kick Butts Day.

The Eight-Town Tobacco Control Program serves Halifax, Middleborough, Carver, Hanson, Pembroke, Plympton, West Bridgewater, and Whitman.

AUCTION

AT THE ABBEY

Fancy a gourmet Italian feast for 10 prepared by monks in your own home? How about an airplane ride over the South Shore in a private plane? Maybe a quiet weekend at a bed and breakfast on Cohasset Harbor or a raucous Saturday afternoon at the Boston College-Miami football game this fall?

These items and more will be up for bid Saturday from 1 to 7 p.m. at Hingham High School at the 15th annual auction sponsored by Glastonbury Abbey, Hingham's community of Benedictine monks. There also will be a raffle with a Bermuda vacation as the top prize. The auction is Glastonbury's chief fund-raising event, which helps fund the abbey's ministries, including housing for the elderly and spiritual retreats for members of all faiths.

''This is a terrific way to spend a spring afternoon,'' said Father Nicholas, abbott of Glastonbury Abbey. ''Auctions are always fun, and I like to think of ours as being special because of the people it benefits.''

CAROUSEL SPINS

INTO SPRING

One of the surest signs of spring arrives today with the opening of the Paragon Carousel on Hull 's Nantasket Beach.

The antique merry-go-round, one of only 153 classic wooden carousels surviving in the United States, is scheduled to begin turning at 11 a.m.

The 1928 Philadelphia Toboggan Co. carousel features 66 horses, two Roman chariots, and 35 oil paintings.

The carousel's hours of operation now are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekends only. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the attraction will operate every day from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

This story ran on page 03 of the Boston Globe's South Weekly on 04/04/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.