On Tuesday, January 20, Patten Free Library will reprise its popular workshop series, “iPad for Seniors.” Roberta Jordan, an instruction and outreach librarian at Patten, will offer five workshops designed to provide new and beginner iPad owners with hands-on instruction on a range of topics. All five sessions are free, open to anyone aged 55 and over, and will be held on Tuesday mornings from 10:30 to noon in the Library’s second floor board room.

The January 20 session, “Getting Started: Understanding Your Machine” will cover the basic topics relating to the use and enjoyment of the iPad. Participants will learn the basics about device controls, adjusting iPad settings, basic navigation, how to use the apps that come with the device, how to browse for and add apps, and how to use other features such as the calendar and email. The session will also include a conceptual introduction to “the cloud” and how it enables sharing of information and data across devices.

“These workshops are designed to help iPad users that range from the absolute novice to advanced beginner,” said Roberta Jordan, the Outreach and Instruction Librarian at Patten. “They are designed to be small and hands-on so that our participants can develop confidence and basic skills. Most importantly, the workshops should allow participants to develop an understanding of the range of activities the iPad makes possible, whether it’s playing Scrabble online, listening to podcasts, or making and sharing videos.”

Participants can register by contacting Jordan by email (rjordan@ patten.lib.me.us) or by phone (443-5141, extension 25). Registrants must have their own iPad 2 or newer, and should be using the latest operating system (iOS 8.1.2). Participants may and may sign up for one, several, or all the workshops depending on their needs and interests. The subsequent sessions include: Messaging (Text and Video) on January 27; “Taking, Storing, and Sharing Your Photos and Video,” (February 3); “Music, Video, and Podcasts”(February 10); “eBooks and Audio Books” (February 24). There will be no class on Tuesday, February 17.

For additional information about the workshops, please contact Jordan at 443-5141, extension 25.

Author talk

On Tuesday, January 27 at 6:30 p.m., Arrowsic resident Ken Textor will present a slide show and sign copies of “The Hidden Coast of Maine: Isles of Shoals to West Quoddy Head,” which he coauthored with photographer Joe Devenney. Bath Book Shop will handle sales at the event.

Joe Devenney has been photographing the Maine coast for thirty-seven years, and Ken Textor has been writing about it equally as long. Separately–and occasionally on assignment together–they have turned over many stones in this varied 3,000-mile-long coastline, seeking out and recording its moods, seasons, and secrets. Now they are sharing their rich accumulation of images and insights.

Ken Textor’s essays reveal hidden nuggets on every page: why the shade on a Castine street has a strange, nostalgic feel; what to think of a mauve lobster boat or a seemingly abandoned dory in the weeds; how a lighthouse surrounded by granite quarries came to be built of brick; which is the front and which is the back of a house built between Main Street and the harbor; how to enumerate the many services provided by a salt marsh; why the lobstering isn’t better in upper Blue Hill Bay; why sea air makes us hungry; and how a wormdigger turns a mudflat into money.

Devenney’s photos capture moments of ephemeral grace and beauty in places that are forgotten or hiding in plain sight. Smelt Brook in Castine is not on any standard itinerary. Neither are South Addison, Merrymeeting Bay, the Scarborough Marsh, and many other places Joe has explored over the years. Even places that are familiar to many–West Quoddy Head, Old Orchard Beach, Monhegan Island, Pemaquid Point, Portland Harbor, Acadia National Park, and others–are revealed by Joe’s camera in moments of otherworldly allure. There are surprises on every page, just as there are surprises around any bend of a Maine coastal road. Every photo in this book was taken from a public vantage point you can reach by car or ferry. An appendix offers directions to each place.

The great naturalist Louis Agassiz believed that the only way to discover the truth of a thing is through sustained attention. In The Hidden Coast of Maine, Joe Devenney and Ken Textor share the results of three-and-a-half decades of attention to an amazing place.

Free concert

On Wednesday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m., Pan Fried Steel returns to Patten Free Library for a free concert. Based in Yarmouth, the band is directed by Ian Ramsay, Chair of the Arts Department at North Yarmouth Academy, who is also a musician, teacher, and writer. The band started more than 15 years ago and draws members from southern and midcoast Maine. They play a diverse repertoire including calypso, reggae, soca, Latin, swing, and covers from Charlie Parker to Jimmy Buffett to the Beach Boys. Recent venues include the Boothbay Opera House, Saco River Theater, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Beach to Beacon parties, and the Portland Ovations auction. The group performed to a packed house last year, as people danced in the aisles and in their chairs to the lively rhythms. This year the concert will take place in the first floor Reading Room where the acoustics for live music are superb!