News

Here’s what’s new at the Bacon Free Library:

• January 29, 2024 — Oldtown Calendars are now just $10 each!  We have a couple left, come and get one before they’re all gone. 

• December 15, 2023 — Come in and enjoy the oil paintings of Natick artist Ryan Black. His work will be displayed through February 7th. 

• December 4, 2023 — The Oldtown Calendars are here!  The Oldtown Calendar is a community building project of the Eliot Church.  The Calendar celebrates communities along the Charles River made famous over a century ago in Oldtown Folks by Harriet Beecher Stowe.  The photographs featured on each month are winners from the 2022 Oldtown Photo Calendar Competition.  Each calendar purchase of $20 goes to support the BFL, the Natick Historical Society, the Natick Service Council, the Morse Institute Library, and the Eliot Church.

• October 30, 2023 — we have a new system for borrowing museum passes.  The BFL and the Morse Institute have joined forces to provide easy access to reserve museum passes from both libraries on one page.  Try it out and plan your next weekend adventure!

• October 20, 2023 — in our new exhibit, local artist Elizabeth Cohen “seeks to capture ‘komorebi’, the Japanese word for sunlight filtering through the trees, as well as other feelings from the natural world.”  Her works, using natural materials, will be on display until December 13th. 

• September 7, 2023 — come and enjoy the oil paintings of Barbara Levine.  This collection, painted in both oils and in gouache, is called Here and There.  Barbara paints primarily “en plein air” in a New England impressionist tradition.

• July 27, 2023 — visit the library to enjoy unique portraits of farm animals by local photographer Judy Brown.  Judy has gotten to know these rescue animals over a decade of visiting Weatherbury Farm in South Natick and Unity Farm Sanctuary in Sherborn.

• June 16, 2023 — the BFL is happy to display Visual Music, mixed media works by Kevin Baldwin. These works utilize musical elements and experiences, from notation to listening or performing, to offer a new way of experiencing what music can be.

• May 4, 2023 —  come in to see our newest display by Shannon Slattery. Shannon has created semi-abstract landscape paintings  inspired by mid-coast Maine.  Please join us to meet the artist at a reception on Tuesday, May 16th from 5:30-6:30 pm.

• March 3, 2023 — the BFL is proud to display the art work of Lisa Hayden, a contemporary artist from Northboro.  On Tuesday, March 7th at 5 pm, join us for an opening reception, free & open to the public, to celebrate Lisa’s beautiful work.

• October 27, 2022 — Click here to watch the recent video presentation presented by BFL librarians and the Natick Community Senior Center.

• October 13, 2022 — Check out the recent video of Natick Historical Society’s “Meet Your Neighbors” series, featuring Amy Sadkin and David Parish from the BFL

• October 3, 2022 — Read about therapy dog Lorcan and his program at the BFL in the Natick Local Town Pages. 

• September 2022 — The BFL is now open to patrons on Saturdays from 9:30-1:30.  Come on in!

• August 2022 — A big thank you to fire chief Jason Ferschke and his crew for a fun story time last week!   The kiddos enjoyed some stories, seeing a firefighter in uniform, and checking out the big truck. 

• April 25, 2022 — We offer gratitude and support to our Ukrainian Voices presenters from April 20th.  A recording of this moving program is now available.

• March 8, 2022 — If you missed our previous program–Growing From Seed with Gretel Anspach–or you’d like to review the information, click here to view the slideshow.

• March 1, 2022 — The Natick Seed Library is now available at the BFL!  Here’s how it works: come into the library and select seeds to borrow (limit: 2 packets per patron); start your seeds indoors or wait until the ground warms up to plant them outside; during the spring and summer, enjoy the bounty of your garden; at the end of the season, allow 1-2 of your plants to go to seed; harvest those seeds and return them to the BFL in a labeled envelope.  More details are available at the library. 

The Natick Seed Library is a collaboration between Natick Community Gardens, the Morse Institute Library, and the Bacon Free Library.  Natick’s Community Gardens Program has received a community giving grant of $2,500 from Needham Bank in order to support a virtual lecture series for the 2022 growing season. Hosted in collaboration with the Morse Institute Library and the BFL, two lectures will be held virtually each month from March to September and will be open to the public at no cost. Click here to view the schedule of programs.

• January 28, 2022 — If you missed our program, Using Your Library’s e-Resources, you can view it here.  This 60-minute presentation explains how to use Libby, Hoopla, and Kanopy. 

• January 24, 2022 — For the third year in a row, the BFL has been awarded the GuideStar Gold Seal of Transparency. This honor, which recognizes the Board of Trustees’ commitment to transparency, provides donors with confidence that their donations are used wisely.

• January 4, 2022 — The BFL has four Apple iPads available for borrowing.  Each device comes in a case with a charger.  You may check out the device for 3 weeks at a time.  iPads must be picked up and returned to the library service desk, not through the drop box or interlibrary delivery.

• November 9, 2021 — The Museum of Science passes are in!  With the library pass, up to 4 people are admitted at 50% off the exhibit hall admission price (children under 3 are always free).  Visit or call the BFL to reserve your pass.  You’ll also need to purchase timed tickets from the museum.  See our Museum Passes page for all the details.

• October 25, 2021 — The BFL has four Wifi Hotspots for borrowing.  A Wifi hotspot is a wireless device that you can use to connect to the Internet.  Each hotspot will support up to 10 connected devices.  You may check out the device for 3 weeks at a time.  Each device comes in a case with a charger.  Hotspot devices must be picked up and returned to the library service desk, not through the drop box or interlibrary delivery.

• August 30, 2021 — Starting September 1st, both Natick libraries are fine free!  What does this mean for you? 

• July 21, 2021 — The grounds of the BFL is now a certified wildlife habitat!  Find out what this means and how you can make your yard more friendly to wildlife. 

• June 1, 2021 — the BFL is now open to the public with no reservations required. Our hours are Mon, Wed, Thurs, & Fri 9:30-5:30, and Tues 9:30-7:00. Curbside pickups will continue to be available all of our open hours as well as Saturdays from 10 am – noon. Stop by and say hello!

• January 2, 2021 — starting January 2021, the library will be open for pickups on Saturdays from 10 to noon.

• October 26, 2020 — We have a beautiful new picnic table, thanks to NHS senior Nathan Pravda. This table, which Nathan built for his Eagle Scout project, was designed with accessibility in mind and was built out of pressure treated wood and Trex composite decking. Nathan is a member of Boy Scout Troop 1775.

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