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 Did you miss the video that we showed during the Library Centennial Town Fair this past Wednesday, or would you just like to see it again? We have DVDs available for purchase and for borrowing, and our good friend Martha Lardent, who directed and produced the video, has given us an edited version which you can watch right now on YouTube!
http://youtu.be/zucu2T0Epco
Our sincere THANKS! to everyone who made Wednesday possible, especially Andy Richmond and Ann Malpass, Sarah Labadie and the Centennial Town Players, Alex Herlihy, Rye Police officers, and the Friends and Trustees of Rye Public Library who baked pies, directed visitors, made signs, stood in the rain, booked our musicians and singers and magician and puppeteer, produced and directed Look! A Library!, directed traffic, painted faces, sang, played, served food. We estimate that at least 500 people came through our doors during the four hours of the Town Fair. Last but not least, THANKS! to all of YOU for coming and enjoying and making it such a success.
Come back soon, and stay tuned for news of another event in September, when we observe the 1911 dedication of the original building.
Thursday October 6th at 7:00 pm
Join former President of the Isles of Shoals Historical and Research Association (ISHRA) and acting Shoals Historian for the Seacoast Science Center, Ann Beattie for a captivating look at the Isles of Shoals through history. Learn more about the quirky lore and legends of these islands just seven miles from Rye, New Hampshire. Determine the truth behind stories of pirates, ghosts and occasional bouts of mayhem. Learn of the isolated and sometime peculiar villagers of Gosport on Star Island along with little known incidents regarding more famous residents of the Shoals. This program satisfies the perrenial regional interest in the Isles of Shoals along with Rye history specifically, since the border between Maine and New Hampshire splits the Islands; and Star, Lunging, Seaveys and White Islands not only fall within the border of New Hampshire, but within the Town of Rye!
It was a tough choice from over 130 entries, but at our Centennial Open House on the afternoon of September 9th, the Rye Public Library Owls were christened with their new names, Artemis and Athena!
They take their alliterative names from Greek mythology: Artemis, goddess of the hunt; and Athena, goddess of wisdom and the liberal arts. And, appropriately enough, we have two winners who each submitted the same pair of names!
Grace Schwaegerle and Brianna Mastro have been notified that their submissions were chosen and that their own names will accompany the owls’ names on a plaque to be mounted in the Library lobby.
Congratulations to our winners, and our thanks to everyone who entered!
 Artemis
 Athena
 Please join us on Friday, September 9, from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, when we celebrate
Opening Day, 1911!
In early September, 1911, the Rye Public Library first opened its doors to the public. Join us for refreshments, historic displays, our video birthday montage, and live entertainment with flutist Cynthia Chatis.
 Gov. John Langdon House Tuesday September 20th, at 7:00 pm
Sandra Rux, the curator and manager of the Portsmouth Historical Society / John Paul Jones House / Discover Portsmouth Center, will reveal the tips and tricks for identifying the architectural features that can help you place your home in its construction era. Sandra has had a life-long interest in dating old houses, and created and taught a course on the topic in Guilford, CT for several years.
Continue reading Dating Your Old House
Look up!
Did you ever notice these guys before when you entered the Rye Public Library? These wise avian ambassadors have welcomed Library visitors for decades. Up to now, they have labored in obscurity.
In the continuing observance of our Centennial year, we have decided to recognize our strigine sentries with a contest to provide them with their long-overdue names. We invite you to
Name the Owls!
Continue reading Name the Owls!
 Photograph courtesy of Rye Historical Society Town Museum, 2011. All rights reserved. Thursday, August 25th at 7:00 PM
As part of the continuing Rye Library Centennial series, the RPL, Rye Historical Society and Friends of the Rye Public Library will present Alex Herlihy, with stories and historical photos from Rye a century ago when the library was built.
Continue reading Looking Backward
It’s almost here, and are we excited! Preparations have begun for tomorrow’s big event. We have music, exhibits, puppets, food, face painting, juggling, a petting zoo, Squamscot soft drinks, two performances of Look! A Library! by the Centennial Players, and much more! Please join us Wednesday, June 22, from 3:00 to 7:00 pm to celebrate the Library’s 100th anniversary!
 Centennial Players Our Centennial Players, ranging in age from 6 to 9, and directed by Sarah Labadie, have prepared a unique dramatic interpretation of the Library’s birthday and history called Look! A Library!
They will offer two presentations of this inventive, student-conceived vignette, at the Library Centennial Town Fair, Wednesday, June 22, 3:30 PM and 4:00 PM, in the Community Meeting Room.
 Centennial Players
 Vintage Voices In period evening dress, the three classically trained singers of Vintage Voices and their accompanist perform music you might have found on your great-great-grandmother’s piano circa 1890. From the sparkling gaiety of Vive La Compagnie to the martial gravity of Star of Liberty, from Stephen Foster’s simple melodies to the urbane satires of Gilbert and Sullivan, these pieces were popular entertainment in their day, sung in public and private throughout the land. They are part of the soundtrack of 19th-century America. With live performances of this music, Vintage Voices transports audiences to a late Victorian parlor for a highly enjoyable, creatively staged concert.
Vintage Voices will be performing Wednesday, June 22, at 5:00 PM, on the Main Level, during the Library Centennial Town Fair.
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