Since its inception, the American Library Association has been fighting censorship and working tirelessly to protect the First Amendment rights of all readers. Snow Library, following the ALA's lead, believes that everyone should have access to all information and that the public library's responsibility is to provide that access, not only by the materials it purchases but also by offering interlibrary loan and electronic access.

Books are considered banned if they have been recommended for removal from public libraries, school libraries, or school curriculum. To highlight Banned Books Week and to promote the freedom to read with unfettered access to information, Snow Library encourages you to read some of the titles listed here that have been banned at one time or another. The first ten titles are the latest books to be added to the "banned books" list. The rest were recommended for removal from some school or public libraries between 1900 and the present.

The 2022 Fall Lifetime Learning Session begins on Monday, September 26. There will be 26 courses on a variety of subjects, from James Joyce’s Ireland to the natural history of Cape Cod, American modernist art to the musicals of Cole Porter and Meredith Wilson.

Course descriptions and convenient on-line registration are available starting on Sept. 6 at www.friendsofsnowlibrary.org/lifetime-learning-program. Brochures and registration forms are also available at Snow Library (67 Main Street, Orleans) starting on Sept. 6. Paper registrations and donations can be mailed in or dropped off at the library.

Would you like to take out information on a sensitive topic while maintaining your privacy? Snow Library introduces its Confidential Corner. Selected resources on sensitive topics such as addiction, depression, divorce, substance abuse, suicide and teen pregnancy are now discreetly located on the mezzanine level. With the Confidential Corner, you can skip the checkout lines. Take them out when you want; bring them back when you want--no checkouts or due dates.

The Visual Arts Cooperative is a group of artists working in various media who join together in order to promote their work to the general public and to foster increased understanding – mainly among themselves, but also others – of the various aspects of creativity in the visual arts. Each year, the Visual Arts’ Cooperative produces several exhibitions of members’ work throughout Cape Cod.

See a display of their works in Snow Library’s Craine Gallery through the month of August. A reception to meet the artists will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13. All are welcome.

Staff from the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School will provide advice and referral information to community members about civil legal issues at a free clinic from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26 . Some of the legal issues covered include housing law and tenants’ rights, disability rights, Social Security and public benefits such as SNAP, veterans benefits and military record corrections, divorce, custody and child support questions, LGBTA+ related concerns, tax issues, consumer loans and small claims court problems, and criminal record sealing or expungement.

This is both an in-person and a Zoom program, available at https://harvard.zoom.us/j/96701067778.

Meet local author Michael Pregot and learn about the "Sea Captains of Cape Cod" in a talk at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4 in the Craine Room at Snow Library. Pregot's latest book explores the connection that each Cape Cod town has to the sea through its seafaring residents, providing a glimpse into heroic maritime adventures, entrepreneurial brilliance, and an appreciation of the resolve needed by captains to thrive. …

The 2022 Winter-Spring Lifetime Learning session, sponsored by the Friends of Snow Library concludes the week of April 24-28. Two one-class courses and four continuing courses close out this session and are available for registration now.

On Monday, April 25 at 1:30 p.m., Marc Strauss presents the final film in his Humphrey Bogart series. "The Desperate Hours" will be introduced, viewed and discussed. Zoom only. Not recorded.

Tuesday, April 26 brings history and political science professor Russ Leng and the second of two classes in his course "U.S. Foreign Policy" at 1:30 p.m. The class will consider "The Case of Afghanistan," with an in-depth look at the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan between the 1979 Soviet invasion and the 2001 American-led NATO invasion. Zoom only. Later on Tuesday, at 5 p.m., Steve and Jeff Bornemeier discuss the last in their series of four novels: "The Transit of Venus" by Shirley Hazzard. . . .

Come celebrate the opening of the Story Book Trail! On Wednesday, April 20, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., there will be a party in the library’s Craine Gallery to fete the ribbon-cutting for the trail, an exciting new feature of the Orleans landscape that pairs outdoor adventure with reading. The trail was created on conservation land through a partnership between the Orleans Conservation Trust, the Orleans Community Preservation Committee, AmeriCorps Cape Cod, and Snow Library. Join us for refreshments, a letterboxing craft, and more.

The ‘Women in Jazz’ webinar, led by flautist Galen Abdur-Razzaq, has been postponed. We hope to reschedule a new date soon.

Snow Library is pleased to announce the reopening of its Craine Gallery with an exhibit of artwork by students from Nauset Regional High School. The show will hang through April. Works from the school’s metalworking and jewelry classes will be displayed in the front lobby at the same time. An annual tradition, the students’ art exhibit was suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic. Please join us in welcoming them back.

The Friends of Snow Library's winter-spring Lifetime Learning session continues the week of April 4-7 with four new courses and three continuing ones…

The Friends of Snow Library's 2022 winter-spring Lifetime Learning session continues the week of March 14 to 17 with a selection of new courses on art, music, literature and more.

On Monday Mary Ann Eaton, professor of studies in Irish and Celtic literature at University College, Cork, Ireland, continues her Irish film series with a screening of "Falling for a Dancer, Parts 1 & 2." Discussion follows the film. …

The Friends of Snow Library's 2022 Winter-Spring Lifetime Learning continues the week of March 7-11 with the following courses.

Monday, March 7, 1:30 to 4 pm: Mary Ann Eaton, professor of Studies in Irish and Celtic literature at University College, Cork, Ireland, presents the first of a series of four Irish films to watch and then discuss in the context of Irish history and culture. This first film is "Five Minutes of Heaven." . . .

Snow Library has begun a strategic planning process to envision and create the best future for the library and the community. Feedback from the community is vital to this process. All are invited to attend one of four Zoom Community Engagement Sessions where you will be able to contribute comments and suggestions for what you would like to see in your public library.

Click here to sign up. There will be four online forums to choose from: on Wednesday, Feb. 16 from 1 to 3 p.m.; Thursday, Feb. 17 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Tuesday, Feb. 22 from 3 to 5 p.m., and Wednesday, Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

You will receive a Zoom link to the session once you have registered.

Registration is now open for the 2022 winter-spring Lifetime Learning session, which begins on Monday, Feb. 28.

Most courses will be offered in a hybrid format, presented simultaneously in the classroom (Snow Library’s Craine Room, maximum of 40 registrants and the presenter) and via Zoom (unlimited enrollment).

There will be 27 courses, exploring topics in music, art, photography, literature, civics, culture, current events, film, history, science and nature. Complete course descriptions and registration information are available online at www.friendsofsnowlibrary.org/lifetime-learning-program. You may also pick up brochures and registration forms at the library. Paper registrations and donations may be mailed in or dropped off at the library.

The Snow Library wants to continually enhance its services, collections, and spaces to better serve the town and our community of users. Your responses to this short survey will provide information that will allow the Library and Board of Trustees to better meet your needs.

Click here to take the survey. It should take 5-10 minutes to complete.

Due to the blizzard conditions expected this weekend, the library building will be closed on Saturday, Jan. 29. Stay safe in the storm.

Due to the heavy snow expected this weekend, the book sale on Jan. 29 has been cancelled.

Today’s book sale (Saturday, Jan. 15) has been cancelled due to the weather.

Effective Friday, Jan. 7, by order of the Orleans Board of Health, masks are now required in all town buildings. For more information, visit https://www.town.orleans.ma.us/home/news/mask-requirement-in-all-municipal-buildings