If you want to experience people, cultural, language and scenery from around the world, but don’t have the resources or time for a cross continental trip, look no further than Wolfeboro.
Staff at the Wolfeboro Public Library have set up a year of activities with its “Travel the World” series. It will have lunchtime film screenings, a line up of presentations and guest speakers, and book groups will discuss books either set in other countries or written by foreign authors.
“Travel is something everyone can enjoy,” said Joyce Davis, one of the staff members who organized the series.
She and Lynne Clough, another staff member, were inspired to do the series while organizing and adding to the library’s travel guide section.
“It was a topic we could do a wide range of programming,” Davis said.
The series began with “Have Lunch, will Travel.” The library purchased a 14-film set called “Sites for your Eyes” from Film Ideas. Each is a 30-minute documentary on a different destination.
The screenings are held at noon the fourth Tuesday of each month. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch. The library provides dessert and a beverage.
“Some of the people that come will never have the chance to travel to these places, so it’s giving them the opportunity,” Clough said.
For the speakers series, the library worked with the N.H. Humanities Council to source guest lecturers and also reached out to members of the community.
Kris Kension is a teacher in the area and locally famous for hiking in Europe.
Brewster Academy has an exchange student program with Thailand. Some of those students will present on their homeland and the experience of coming to the United States.
The first of the lecture series was an Italian cooking class led by Chef Nadine San Antonio on April 2. Unlike the rest of the programs, this one had limited seats, which filled quickly and had a waiting list. San Antonio is a frequent traveler to Italy and utilizes those experiences in her cooking.
She taught attendees some cooking techniques and shared small plate samples.
The next month, a lecture on Rome and Pompeii filled the library meeting room, Clough said.
“There’s a natural curiosity to see how different people live,” Davis said.
The library tried to mix it up with a variety of countries and continents, Clough said.
“Maybe someone will be inspired to book a trip to wherever they’re seeing,” she said.
Davis hopes guests enjoy themselves, learn something and appreciate the library is a place to share ideas.
“We want Wolfeboro Public Library to serve as a community cultural center, where people of all backgrounds can gather to discover, connect, and be enriched,” Clough added. “So, we are hoping that our ‘Travel the World’ series helps to serve that purpose for 2016.”
All the programs are free and open to all; you do not need to be a Wolfeboro resident or library patron to participate. For more information, call 569-2428 or visit wolfeborolibrary.org.
May 12 at 7 p.m.:
May 24 at noon:
June 9 at 7 p.m.:
June 28 at noon:
July 14 at 7 p.m.:
July 26 at noon:
Aug. 11 at 7 p.m.:
Aug. 23 at noon:
Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.:
Sept. 27 at noon:
Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.:
Oct. 25 at noon:
Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.:
Nov. 22 at noon:
Dec. 27 at noon: