Upcoming Adult Programs


Author Q&A: "Invisible Strings: 113 Poets Respond to the Songs of Taylor Swift"

Thursday, December 12 | 7:00 PM (Virtual)

We're celebrating Taylor Swift's birthday (Dec 13th) all month long! As we all know, Taylor is a musician and poet. Her words, put to music, sing to our souls. Today, we're chatting with author Kristie Frederick Daugherty about her book, "Invisible Strings: 113 Poets Respond to the Songs of Taylor Swift" - Swifties will experience the profundity and nuance of Swift’s lyrics through this anthology of brand-new poems inspired by Taylor Swift songs, while having fun matching the poems to songs from all of her eras—vault tracks included! For poetry lovers, this one-of-a-kind anthology is an unparalleled collection of new work from today’s most lauded and revered poets.

An anthology of brand-new poems inspired by Taylor Swift songs, from a powerhouse group of contemporary poets, including Kate Baer, Maggie Smith, and Joy Harjo. Let the decoding begin!

In Invisible Strings, poet, professor, and dedicated Swiftie Kristie Frederick Daugherty has brought together 113 contemporary poets, each contributing an original poem that responds to a specific Taylor Swift song.

REGISTER to receive the Zoom webinar link from Ashland Public Library.

This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

Presented in partnership with Ashland Public Library. Sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library.


Author Larry Rohter Discusses "Into the Amazon: The Life of Candido Rondon"

Tuesday, January 7 | 7:00 PM (Virtual)

2024 Mass Book Award Finalist Larry Rohter will discuss his new book, Into the Amazon: The Life of Cândido Rondon, Trailblazing Explorer, Scientist, Statesman, and Conservationist.

About Into The Amazon: A thrilling biography of the Indigenous Brazilian explorer, scientist, stateseman, and conservationist who guided Theodore Roosevelt on his journey down the River of Doubt. Cândido Rondon is by any measure the greatest tropical explorer in history. Between 1890 and 1930, he navigated scores of previously unmapped rivers, traversed untrodden mountain ranges, and hacked his way through jungles so inhospitable that even native peoples had avoided them―and led Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, on their celebrated “River of Doubt” journey in 1913–14. Upon leaving the Brazilian Army in 1930 with the rank of a two-star general, Rondon, himself of indigenous descent, devoted the remainder of his life to not only writing about the region’s flora and fauna, but also advocating for the peoples who inhabited the rainforest and lobbying for the creation of a system of national parks. Despite his many achievements―which include laying down a 1,200-mile telegraph line through the heart of the Amazon and three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize―Rondon has never received his due. Originally published in Brazil, Into the Amazon is the first comprehensive biography of his life and remarkable career.

Journalist and author Larry Rohter was the Rio de Janeiro bureau chief for the New York Times from 1998 to 2008 and held the same role at Newsweek from 1977 to 1982. He divides his time between the United States and Brazil.

REGISTER to receive the Zoom webinar link from Tewksbury Public Library.

This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

Presented in partnership with Tewksbury Public Library.


Author/Historian Philippa Langley: Finding King Richard III and "Princes in the Tower"

Wednesday, January 22 | 2:00 PM (Virtual)

Author and historical sleuth, Philippa Langley, speaks about her book The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case and her discovery of the grave of King Richard III in 2012. Join us as she discusses her research methods, her team, her findings, and how solving this cold case effects our understanding of the royal monarchy (in the 1500s, of course).

About The Missing Princes Project: Following years of intensive research by Langley and her international team, she reveals the findings of The Missing Princes Project. Using investigative methodology, it places the most enduring of mysteries about what happened to the 'Princes in the Tower' under a forensic microscope, unearthing an astonishing untold story of survival and uncovering remarkable new archival discoveries of proof of life. It is the first time that police cold case investigation analysis has been applied to a centuries-old historical mystery, leaving no stone unturned, and the results are extraordinary.

Philippa Langley MBE is an historian and award-winning producer, best known for her discovery of Richard III in 2012. She is co-author of the bestselling The Lost King with Michael Jones (first published as The King's Grave, John Murray 2013), and Finding Richard III, the official account of her Looking For Richard Project. On the ten-year anniversary of discovering Richard III, her extraordinary story was released as the internationally acclaimed major feature film, The Lost King, directed by Sir Stephen Frears and starring Sally Hawkins.

REGISTER to receive the Zoom webinar link from the Ashland Public Library.  Recording note: this program will NOT be recorded.

Presented in partnership with Ashland Public LIbrary.


Casual Crafting: Drop-In

Wednesday, January 22 | 6:30 PM-7:45 PM (In-person)

Bring your current craft project and join us for a drop-in crafting group! Get inspired by other crafters in this casual space for adults to craft and socialize. If you're in-between projects or looking to try something new, we'll have some materials on hand.

No registration required- come for as much or as little of the time as you'd like! We'll be in the Community Room on the ground floor.

Questions? Email reference@sharon.ocln.org


Encounters with Killers with True Crime Author/Professor Katherine Ramsland

Monday, January 27 | 7:00 PM (Virtual)

headshot of author Katherine RamslandDr. Katherine Ramsland recounts her most memorable interactions with serial killers over the course of her life, describing how it shaped her career in forensic psychology. A Pied Piper, two Coed Killers, a Candy Man’s handyman, and BTK, among others, have left their marks on her research and writing, both fiction and nonfiction.

Dr. Katherine Ramsland most recently taught forensic psychology and criminology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where she was the Assistant Provost. She has appeared as an expert in criminal psychology on more than 250 crime documentaries and magazine shows, is an executive producer of Murder House Flip, and has consulted for CSI, Bones, and The Alienist. The author of more than 1,800 articles and 73 books, including The Forensic Science of CSIThe Forensic Psychology of Criminal MindsHow to Catch a KillerThe Psychology of Death InvestigationsThe Serial Killer’s Apprentice, and Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, The BTK Killer.

She was co-executive producer for the Wolf Entertainment/A&E four-part documentary based on the years she spent talking with Rader. Ramsland consults on death investigations, pens a blog for Psychology Today, and is currently writing a fiction series based on a female forensic psychologist who manages a private investigation agency. Dead-handed is book #3.

REGISTER to receive the Zoom webinar link from the Ashland Public Library. Recording note: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

Presented in partnership with the Ashland Public Library.


Author Grady Hendrix Discusses "Witchcraft for Wayward Girls"

Friday, January 31 | 7:00 PM (Virtual)

headshot of author Grady HendrixBestselling author Grady Hendrix will discuss his new horror novel, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls.

About Grady: Grady Hendrix is a New York Times bestselling novelist and screenwriter living in New York City. He is the author of How to Sell a Haunted House, The Final Girl Support Group, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, We Sold Our Souls, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and Horrorstör. His books have sold over two million copies and have been translated into more than twenty languages. He also writes nonfiction and his history of the horror paperback boom of the seventies and eighties, Paperbacks from Hell, received the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction.

About Witchcraft for Wayward Girls: There’s power in a book… They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened. Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master."

REGISTER to receive the Zoom webinar link from Tewksbury Public Library.  This program will NOT be recorded.

Presented in partnership with Tewksbury Public Library.