Summer is a beautiful season in the northeast, and the library staff loves to make the most of the sunny weather and the annual events unique to our region.

Explore the great outdoors:

Matt Sylvain, systems and digital services librarian, is a fan of kayaking the Slocum River or hiking in the White Mountains (such as in the Pemigewasset Wilderness). Kari Mofford, undergraduate & user services librarian, likes to walk or read at Duxbury Beach, and Olivia Piepmeier, arts & humanities librarian, recommends nearby Horseneck Beach. Lorraine Heffernan, business & economics librarian, suggests enjoying time out on the ocean on a whale-watching tour.

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Experience local festivals:

Special events abound in the summer. Judy Farrar, archives & special collections librarian, notes that the Barnstable County Fair (July 22-28 in Falmouth) offers a fun Demolition Derby. She, Natalie Ferreira, learning commons, and Karen Tavares, library administration, all suggest the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament in New Bedford (August 1-4). Both Maureen McDevitt, access services, and Joanne Garfield, acquisitions, recommend the inexpensive and hugely popular New Bedford Folk Festival (July 6-7).

Take in some culture:

Lorraine is a veritable font of information about the local cultural scene. She suggests enjoying some Gilbert & Sullivan at the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth and picnicking at Westport Winery’s Friday night Sunset Music Series. Prefer a movie? Smithfield, Rhode Island, still has a drive-in theater, the Rustic Tri View Drive In, where Hilary Kraus, nursing & health librarian, enjoys the occasional current double-feature (her favorites are retro weekends, like the time they showed Jaws & Jurassic Park). She also recommends you catch a full lighting of Waterfire in downtown Providence.

Don’t forget to eat!

Olivia is a big fan of consuming oysters al fresco, and Lorraine notes that if you want to spend lavishly, you can reserve a table on weekend evenings at Just Right Farm for a local farm-to-table experience. Spending time in nearby Rhode Island? Hilary loves getting a huge scoop of ice cream at Sunshine Creamery in Rumford.

Travel farther afield:

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Massachusetts is marvelous in summer, but don’t forget other nearby destinations. Olivia enjoys long weekends in Vermont. Need something to read on your trip? Check out the Book Barn in Connecticut; Hilary goes at least twice a year. Susan Raidy-Klein, collection development & acquisitions librarian, suggests the Lenox, in the Berkshires, where you can spread a blanket on the lawn at Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony, or enjoy a theater performance at Shakespeare & Company.

The Science Fiction Book Club’s second comic of the summer is Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal. Woman World provides a look at the lives of a community of women after men have become extinct. The art and use of the comic medium are relatively simple, which provides room for strong comedic timing and reflection on what it might be like to exist in this world.

While many “graphic novels” get their start as stereotypical, weekly or monthly floppy comic books, some begin on the internet in a format known as “webcomics.” While Woman World did get its start on the internet, its start is unusual as it didn’t begin on a website as much as it did on an app: Instagram. Dhaliwal, an animator by trade, started this daily comic after a show she spent three years developing for Nickelodeon didn’t make it past the pilot. Friends suggested she start a project just for herself and she was inspired by humorous signs at the Women’s March and the nonfiction book, Adam’s Curse: A Future Without Men. She posted panels daily on Instagram and it became a hit. She soon signed a deal for a print book. You can read more about the creation in this interview or listen to this interview.

Published in September 2018, the book garnered much attention in a short amount of time. It was nominated for an Ignatz, (a well-known small press comic award) and an Eisner (the Oscars of comics) for Best Humor Publication in 2019. It also received a starred Library Journal review. Dhaliwal’s work is even in talks to become an animated series.

You can find Woman World here at the Claire T. Carney Library, at your local public library, or through interlibrary loan.

We look forward to chatting with you about Woman World on Tuesday, July 16th at 12pm in Library 314.