Concord Reads "The Martian" by Andy Weir

In November library patrons and Concord residents were invited to vote for a book title for this year’s Concord Reads. Concord Reads involves the community reading one book and attending related events during the month of March. The Concord Reads committee created a ballot with five book titles and asked the community to select their favorite. The titles included: The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; The Martian by Andy Weir; The Big Tiny by Dee Williams, and Elephant Company by Vicki Constantine Croke. Andy Weir’s The Martian received the most votes. Following is the complete list of related programs hosted by the library. All Concord Reads programs are generously funded by the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library.

• Photography Exhibit. Throughout the month of March in the meeting room at the Fowler Branch at 1322 Main St., West Concord. Dan Barstow, Development Director at Maynard’s Virtual High School (VHS) as well as Director of VHS’s Space Station Academy, has worked on the development of software that helps astronauts on the International Space Station take photographs of Earth. A selection of these photographs will be on display during the month of March. Barstow will be hosting a talk on this software and how students at VHS sort through ISS photos and share them online. Date/time to be determined. Please refer to concordlibrary.org.
  
  
• An Afternoon with Stuart Gibbs, author of Space Case. Tuesday, March 1 (1 p.m.) in the meeting room at the Fowler Branch at 1322 Main St., West Concord. Space Case is a funny and thrilling children’s novel about a group of families living on the surface of the moon. Mr. Gibbs will give a presentation via Skype. Attendees will have a chance to ask the author questions about Space Case and his writing. Copies of the book will be available at the Main Library and the Fowler Branch. Light refreshment will be served. Drop-in.
  
  
• The Real Martian: Earth Explores the Red Planet. Wednesday, March 2 (6 p.m.) in the meeting room of the Fowler Branch at 1322 Main St., West Concord. Presented by Jim J. Zebrowski of the Aldrich Astronomical Society Inc. Zebrowski will discuss the reality of getting to and surviving on Mars and our ever-increasing knowledge of it thanks to satellites, probes, and unmanned rovers. Drop-in.
  
  
• Space-themed Stay and Play. Friday, March 4 & March 18 (10 a.m.) in the Children’s Room of the Main Library at 129 Main St., Concord. Parents and caregivers socialize while supervising an informal play group for their babies and toddlers. Ages 0-6. Drop-in.
  
  
• An Evening with a Space Suit Designer. Saturday, March 5 (6 p.m.) in the Main Lobby of the Main Library at 129 Main St, Concord. Presented by Nikolay Moiseev of Final Frontier Design in Brooklyn, New York. Final Frontier Design is a private design firm that crafts aerospace safety garments for the future of space travel. Mr. Noiseev has 20 years of experience from the Russian space suit agency, Zvezda. He is FFD’s Chief Engineer and one day plans to put an FFD suit on Mars. Registration is required. Please register on the library’s online calendar.
  
  
• Library Book Discussion of The Martian. Tuesday, March 8 (9:30 a.m.) in the Trustees room of the Main Library at 129 Main St., Concord. Copies of the book are available at both the Main Library and the Fowler Branch.
  
  
• The World of Robots. Wednesday, March 9 (7 p.m.) in the Children’s Room of the Main Library at 129 Main St., Concord. Presented by iRobot Corporation of Bedford. The fascinating research that the company has been doing has opened up the capabilities of robots and expanded what they are able to do. This program is planned for kids 8 years and up. Drop-in.
  
  
• Space-themed Saturday Storytime. Saturday, March 12 (10 a.m.) in the Children’s room of the Main Library at 129 Main St., Concord. A fun way for children age three years and up and their families to visit the Library to enjoy stories, songs and a short puppet show. Drop-in.
  
  
• Space Camp for Grades K-5. Monday, March 14 (4 p.m.) in the meeting room of the Fowler Branch at 1322 Main St., West Concord. Participants will learn some of the ways astronauts train for life in space and get to make their own “astronaut food”. Drop-in
  
  
• 3rd Grade Book Eaters Group. Wednesday, March 16 (4 p.m.) in the Children’s room of the Main Library at 129 Main St., Concord. This monthly book group is for sharing favorite books, games, crafts, and food. This month’s meeting will have a science fiction theme.
  
  
• Book-a-Mystery Discussion Group. Wednesday, March 16 (2 p.m.) in the meeting room of the Fowler Branch at 1322 Main St., West Concord. This month the group is reading and discussing The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: a Hercule Poirot mystery by Agatha Christie. (The main character in The Martian reads many ebook editions of the Poirot mysteries while stranded on Mars). Copies of the book will be available at the Fowler Branch. Drop-in.
  
  
• Space-themed Lego Challenge. Thursday, March 17 (4 p.m.) in the meeting room of the Fowler Branch at 1322 Main St., West Concord. Grades K-5. Drop-in.
  
  
• Screening of the film The Martian. Saturday, March 19 (2 p.m.) in the meeting room of the Fowler Branch at 1322 Main St., West Concord. This film, nominated for many awards, stars Matt Damon. Rated PG-13. 144 minutes. Registration is required. Please register on the library’s online calendar.
  
  
• Library Book Discussion of The Martian. Monday, March 21 (11 a.m.) in the meeting room of the Fowler Branch at 1322 Main St., West Concord. Copies of the book are available at both the Main Library and the Fowler Branch Library.
  
  
• Self-Published Author Panel. Tuesday, March 29 (7 p.m.) in the periodicals room of the Main Library at 129 Main St., Concord. The Martian was originally self-published. This program will feature three self-published authors from New England including Jason T. Tavares (Broken Tracks Beneath Forgotten Windows), Nancy Shohet West (Family Recipes from Mill Iron Farm), and Liza Carter (Moving with the Seasons: Portrait of a Mongolian Family). Each author will discuss their work as well as the pros and cons of self- publishing. Copies of the authors’ books will be available for purchase. Registration required. Please register on the library’s online calendar.