The Board of Directors of Talbot County Free Library is pleased to welcome two new members, Heena Paracha and John Stumpf, to the Board.

Heena Paracha and John Stumpf

Heena Paracha is CEO and founder of The Race Thing, Inc., a social media platform for discussing race issues on the Eastern Shore, born from her passion to be a journalist. She describes herself as a problem solver, an activist and a strong advocate for open and honest communications. Parachamoved to Easton from Pakistan when she was 14. She attended Easton High School and received an AA in Liberal Arts from Chesapeake College. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business management from Salisbury University. Paracha is a mentor with Talbot Mentors and is a facilitator with Talbot Family Network for their Conversations on Race program.

John Stumpf is a former senior information services and technology executive whose 30+ year career has included positions with Pan American World Airways, Texaco, Arthur Young & Company, United Distillers of North America, and Guinness Bass Import Company. Following his retirement in 2000, Stumpf relocated from New York to St. Michaels where he was a member of the Miles River Yacht Club and Treasurer of the Miles River Yacht Club Foundation. Stumpf is a volunteer and was President of the board with St. Michaels Community Center and has more than 3,000 volunteer hours with the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. He is a former board member with the South Salem (NY) Library and theBay Country Chorus in Easton.   Stumpf has a BS and MBA in International Business from American University.

“We are delighted to welcome Heena and John to the board,” said Dana Newman, Library Director. “They each bring a unique perspective, experience, and skills to our board, as well as a passion and dedication to our community.”  Susan Sherman, President of the Board of Directors, added “the Board appreciates the commitment and new perspectives each new member brings to the Board and looks forward to working with Heena and John to support the mission of the Library.”

Talbot County Free Library’s mission is to inspire the community to discover ideas and information to enrich and renew lives.  Its trustees are a vital part of that mission. In order to promote diversity, Trustees are chosen to provide a wide demographic and geographical representation of Talbot County. While serving on a volunteer basis, they help to determine the mission of the library, assist with the development of the strategic plan, establish by-laws, and set the policy that governs the library.

Additional information about the Talbot County Free Library and a full list of current trustees is available by visiting tcfl.org, emailing askus@tcfl.org, or by calling 410-822-1626.

Talbot County Public School students will now be able to access the Talbot County Free Library’s myriad of eResources with a Student eResource Access (SEA) Card thanks to a partnership between the library and TCPS. The new SEA Card is based on each student’s lunch number.

According to Executive Director Dana Newman, students will now be able to access authoritative databases for research and homework, live tutors through Brainfuse HelpNow, test prep through the Testing & Education Reference Center, learn a language through Mango Languages, download books, and much more. This pilot program will eventually be available to all elementary and secondary schools in Talbot County to provide the same virtual access to our digital resources.

Access to the library’s digital content was previously available only to students while on the TCPS network, or if they had a physical library card for use to log into the individual eResources from the TCFL website. Now every student enrolled at TCPS, PK-12, has access to this range of digital resources while not at school using a simple sign-in unique to TCPS students. This includes eBooks in a variety of formats for all grade levels and interests, access to live tutoring and homework help, world language and English learning courses, to name a few.

Students can also use their SEA card to log into the library’s public computers and get 10 free pages of black and white printouts a day, once library buildings have reopened to the public.

While both TCPS and TCFL are working to share out how-to videos on accessing this site and the various resources provided, students and families may reach out to their teachers and Library-Media staff for assistance for additional help in using the eResources page.

“I am grateful to TCFL for their partnership with TCPS and their commitment to further supporting all of our students,” said Christine Davis, TCPS Library Media Supervisor.  “This was an idea brought to the table when the TCFL staff invited me in to ask how they could better serve our students and families during the pandemic. It is exciting to be able to bring the library to our students while they are home.”

For more information about the SEA Card and how to access it, visit tcfl.org/eresources, email askus@tcfl.org, or call 410-822-1626.

In the spirit of the holidays, Bill Peak, the Library Guy, will read aloud his favorite prose-poem, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, on Zoom, Sunday afternoon, December 20, at two o’clock.  Dylan Thomas’s beloved story of a little boy’s Christmas day in a small Welsh village, circa 1922, is recommended for all ages between ten and a hundred and ten.  You can join Peakat the following address: https://marylandlibraries.zoom.us/j/94771143623. The passcode is 663225.

Shauna Beulah

Out of all the hundreds of people working for libraries in the state of Maryland, the private, non-profit Citizens for Maryland Libraries has named St. Michaels Library Branch Manager Shauna Beulah its Outstanding Library Employee of 2020.  Quoting from the organization’s website, “The award is presented to a library employee or team who has made exceptional contributions to the library, particularly in the areas of customer service or community outreach.”

In nominating Beulah for the award, Talbot County Free Library Director Dana Newman wrote, “It is with great pleasure that I nominate Shauna Beulah, Branch Manager at the St. Michaels Library for consideration for the 2020 CML Outstanding Employee Award in recognition of her strong commitment and passion toward inclusion, partnerships, excellent customer service and collaboration with the community.  Every library has a story and a hero, a staff member or volunteer who empowers people through their passion and compassion, to help individuals to succeed and to uplift the community in which they work.  This year (and for many other years) for the Talbot County Free Library, that hero is Shauna Beulah. Her leadership has been consistently characterized by a strong caring attitude for library patrons, staff, and the community; her advocacy and vision to put service before self; devotion and a penchant to go above and beyond.  She is always actively looking for ways to assist those in the St. Michaels and Bay Hundred areas to address individual and community challenges while also inspiring staff to look for their own ways to support the community.”

Joining in the nomination, a patron wrote, “Shauna is truly one of the most kind, caring, generous people I have ever met, and she has created a warm and welcoming space for everyone that walks in the door of the St. Michaels Library.”

In explaining her organization’s decision to recognize Beulah with this award, Citizens for Maryland Libraries Executive Director Lynn Wheeler wrote to Beulah, “… you have made personal connections to customers over your 34-year career, including hand delivery of materials to customers who are ill.”

Beulah is known throughout Talbot County for her gracious smile, her eternally upbeat attitude, and her dedication to service.  Generations of children have grown up in St. Michaels knowing they can trust and depend upon the nice lady who runs the local branch of the Talbot County Free Library.  Board President Susan Sherman put it best when she said “When people think of the St. Michaels Library, they think of Shauna.” She has touched untold hundreds of lives.  It is people like Shauna Beulah that make living in Talbot County such a delight.

Due to the rise in COVID cases across the Eastern Shore, both branches of the Talbot County Free Library will temporarily close to inside visits and return to the Books-to-Go Servicebeginning Monday, November 30, 2020.

According to Executive Director Dana Newman the Library is changing its service model temporarily to keep patrons and staff safe during the current COVID-19 surge. “We are working closely with the Talbot County Health Department and following guidance on safe practices,” said Newman.

Book drops will stay open at both locations and returned items will continue to be quarantined for seven days and will remain on the patron’s library card until checked-in. No fines will be charged while items are in quarantine. The library is not taking any book donations until further notice.

Through Books-to-Go, patrons will be able to reserve materials through the online catalog and will be able to reserve a time to pick them up.  Chromebooks or WiFi hotspots are not available for checkout at this time. Patrons will be notified via email or phone when their items are ready to be picked up. Once notified that holds are available for pickup, patrons should call or email the library to make arrangements to pick up their holds. “Although, for the safety of the community, we have to close our buildings to visits again, we are pleased to still be able to offer books and DVDs for our patrons’ enjoyment,” said Newman. Specific details on how the program will work are available on the library’s website at www.tcfl.org. Staff will answer the phone at both branches during limited hours Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9-noon and 2-5 p.m. and on Monday and Thursday from 10-noon and 3-7 p.m.Wi-Fi is available around the clock outside both the Easton and St. Michaels branches.

“We plan to reopen the buildings to inside visits to the public as soon as it is deemed safe for both our patrons and staff,” said Newman.“In the meantime, there continues to be a host of free eResources and virtual programs available for everyone to enjoy on the library’s website. If you don’t already have a library card, you can easily get a temporary card online at tcfl.org/tcfl@home.”

For more information, email askus@tcfl.org or call 410-822-1626.

Frederick Douglass Portrait Donated by Laura Era

Portrait artist Laura Era has painted, framed, and donated to the Talbot County Free Library an original work in oil of Talbot County’s most famous native son, Frederick Douglass.  Though the portrait will be officially unveiled at the library during this year’s celebration of Frederick Douglass Day (September 26), it is now on view in the Troika Gallery, 9 S. Harrison Street, Easton.

Childlene Brooks, Vice President of the Frederick Douglass Honor Society, said of the donation, “Laura Era has made an extraordinary gift to the people of Talbot County.  Now, thanks to her, in our Talbot County Free Library, the people of Talbot County can see a powerful image of the man who reflects the very best in all of us.”

Talbot County Free Library Director Dana Newman said, “The Board, staff, and patrons of the library are delighted to be the beneficiaries of Laura Era’s generosity.  She is a talented, painstaking, and discerning artist who has captured the very essence and spirit of one of our country’s greatest men.  This remarkable work of art will now hang in a place of honor in the library’s Frederick Douglass Room.”

Laura Era is an award-winning, portrait and landscape artist and teacher.  Since turning professional in 1988, she has created innumerable portraits on commission, both formal and informal, in oil and pastel.  Her work hangs in collections throughout the U.S. and Europe.  Painting trips have taken her across America, as well as to England, France, Portugal, Germany, and Italy.  Era and her husband, Richard, built their home and her studio on the Little Choptank River, near Cambridge, Maryland.  She is the owner of the Troika Gallery.

Due to COVID-19, Frederick Douglass Day will be celebrated virtually this year.  Beginning at 10 a.m. on September 26, the public will be able to link to all the festival’s lectures, events, and activities using either Facebook or the Frederick Douglass Honor Society’s website.The official unveiling of Era’s Frederick Douglass portrait is scheduled for 11 a.m.

This year’s Frederick Douglass Day will include welcoming comments by guest speakers Mayor Robert Willey, County Council President Corey Pack, Talbot County Free Library Director Dana Newman, Talbot County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kelly Griffith, Frederick Douglass reenactor Terron Quailes, musical performances by Easton High School students and the U.S. Navy band; a Children’s Village featuring learning, challenging, and fun activities with prizes and giveaways and a Frederick Douglass story time reading by St. Michaels Library Branch Manager Shauna Beulah; a virtual tour of Douglass’s home in Washington, D.C., by museum curator Ka’mal McClarin; “Around the World with Frederick Douglass,” highlighting Douglass scholars, curators, and dignitaries from Scotland, Ireland, England, and the United States; and a lecture by Harvard Professor John Stauffer, a leading authority on the antislavery movement, the Civil War, social protest movements, and photography.

To learn more about Frederick Douglass Day, please visit the Frederick Douglass Honor Society’s website at https://frederickdouglasshonorsociety.com/FrederickDouglassDay.html

To learn more about Laura Era, please visit lauraera.com or troikagallery.com.