To prepare for the event:

Bank of England—Bank holiday on June 4, 2012 and June 5, 2012.

British Summer Time holiday for government and citizens.

All schools closed for month of June.

Pre-Jubilee Events:

March 12: Commonwealth Day Observance in Westminster Abbey.

May 10, 11, 13:  Diamond Jubilee Pageant (dancers, musicians, military, equestrian displays).

May 19:  Parade and Muster at Windsor Castle (all armed forces of the United Kingdom).

Central Weekend: June 2-5, 2012

June 3:  Thames River Pageant: At high water the queen will lead at least a thousand boats down the Thames: one of the largest flotillas ever assembled on the river.  Down river at Tower Bridge there will be a gun salute and an avenue of sailing ships. The Royal Navy will also be in attendance.

June 4: Concert at Buckingham Palace – The Queen and Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family and 10,000 members of the public who were selected to receive free tickets will attend a Concert at the Palace.  The BBC will televise the event. There will also be special Jubilee Beacons lit.

June 5: Service of Thanksgiving – The Queen and Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family will attend a Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral.  A prayer, written at the Queen’s direction by the Chapter of St. Paul’s in honor of the Diamond Jubilee, will be used in the service. Children from across the UK will also have the chance to sing at the Service of Thanksgiving as part of the Diamond Choir.

Other Events:

Big Jubilee Lunch: Basically a  nationwide block party for neighbors – a great excuse to get to know people, try new things and have a party!

Thousands of beacons will be lit around the world.

Jubilee Time Capsule: The Royal Commonwealth Society has organized a special Jubilee Time Capsule, a digital archive of The Queen’s reign. You can contribute to this by picking a day and adding your memories and stories of that day. You can use photos, words or videos and talk about anything you want.

Establishment of a new charitable trust: Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust.

Other information:

The Diamond Jubilee emblem was chosen from a national competition and won by 10-year old, Katherine Dewar.

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal an official medal commissioned to mark the Jubilee.  Armed Forces and emergency services personnel are eligible to wear it.

To become Britain’s longest serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth, will have to reign until September 10, 2015. Long may she reign!

John

Zweigler will discuss Colonial burial customs and beliefs, and share ghost stories from some of the most beautiful and long forgotten cemeteries in the northeast. Learn about the ancient symbolism, stone carvers and stories behind some of New England’s oldest gravestones. Copies of her book will be available for purchase.

Roxie Zweilger has been compiling stories of New England legends and lore since 1993. She is the author of five books and two CD’s based on New England’s legends, lore and history. She has given hundreds of lectures throughout New England and New York over the past 10 years, and has been featured on numerous television programs including the History Channel, Travel Channel and NECN.

For more information call the reference desk at 624-6550 x 320.

Poetry Slam Guidelines:

• Teens ages 12-18 may enter the competition
• Material should be appropriate for ages 12-18
• Poems must be original/poet’s own work
• Please limit your presentation to five minutes
• No props are allowed
• You are encouraged to memorize your poem
• Be respectful, no talking when others are presenting
• Please state your name and the title of your poem before you begin
• You may opt to start over or read again later in the evening

The book sale will have thousands of materials for all ages and interests. There are fiction and non-fiction books, VHS tapes, Long Playing 33 1/3 records and other musical odds and ends, DVDs and some unique odds and ends.  We have also a good assortment of used Large Print books in this sale, mostly fiction.  Check it out; you just don’t know what you will find.

 Please bring your own bags (cloth or paper).  As you exit the sale, you will pay $5 for each bag that has materials from the sale.  If you have questions please contact Eileen A. Reddy by email ereddy@manchesternh.gov or by phone at (603) 624-6550 ext. 319.

Imagine you can consider all ideas
And images represented by all words
And numbers in all libraries worldwide.
Open the book of this consideration.
Touch the paper. See the illustration
Of you, reading, when you were ten
In your local library. Turn
Several pages. Now read how you
And that other person ignited romance
In, of all places, the stacks, third floor,
In quite a different library. Snowflakes
Brushed against dark glass as you two
Stood between PQ and PR.

Now go to the index. Find “possibility.”
Look up from the book. The librarian
Who looks away was watching you.
She knows how to phrase the question
You want answered.

Librarians know where wisdom’s stored.
They catalogue the countless forms
Of silence and tell people what they
Didn’t know they wanted to know.
They treat the mentally fractured
As if they’re whole, the dull as if they’re
Sharp, Winter as if it’s Summer.

A band of sunlight angles through high
Windows, brightens shoes of a librarian,
Who knows the patron in the gray enormous
Coat will steal a book about sex or wiccans.
She knows some Christians will steal books
Deemed Satanic, ignoring a commandment
And the homeless person sleeping in a chair.
She knows some atheists treat Library as
Church, so when she moves into shadows,
She does so quietly. She worries for books.

For the librarian knows books are easily burned,
Recycled, or digitized, reduced to oxygen, carbon,
Silicon, and such basic elements as hate and
Budgetary cuts. She wishes presidents of
The United States would consult librarians
Before going to war. It would save so much time,
So many lives. She knows exactly which references
Know how badly any war will go and how soon
Citizens come to loathe their leaders. She knows
How to find stories about all the libraries
Wiped out by war. She knows patrons who’ve
Been harmed by war. Sometimes they set off alarms.
Someone asks her, “Can you help me find out
If I’m related to Napoleon? ” Yes, ” she answers,
“Come with me, please.”

All libraries may now gather inside invisible
Electrons. After closing time, books in Sweden
Send emails to maps in Chile. A librarian in Topeka
Posts a reply to one in Tokyo, adding to a blue thread
Wrapped around the globe.

As sincerely as librarians worry for books, for shelves,
For catalogues, buildings, and best practices,
So should we worry for librarians, for images and ideas.

At a table in a library, a circle of light
Lies on a book. The hand not writing turns
The page, and something important happens.

Hans Ostrom

Social networking now accounts for 22% of all time spent online in the US.

Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.

Social Media has overtaken pornography as the #1 activity on the web.

If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 3rd largest.

The number of social media users age 65 and older grew 100 percent throughout 2010, so that one in four people in that age group are now part of a social networking site.

On Tuesday, March 20th we will be hosting an introductory class on social media applications.  This class will be part hands on/part discussion and is intended for those who are new to social media.  The class will run from 2-3 PM in the Winchell Room of the main branch. Registration is required, so please visit our website or call us (at 624-6550 X320) to register.

See you at the library!