The Special Collections continues to find tidbits in the image collection, including items from the 19th Century periodical, Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing Room Companion. This Boston publication was established 1851 by Frederick Gleason and future Boston Daily Globe editor Maturin Murray Ballou. Inspired by The Illustrated London News, Gleason’s sought to combine local and national journalism with high quality illustrations rather than letting the text stand on its own. Gleason’s regularly featured work by artists such as Winslow Homer and John Andrew, as well as many anonymous and semi-anonymous artists. In a world before cameras, Gleason’s is a fascinating time capsule of what mid 19th century America looked like.

Come to the library to see the examples in our photograph and image collection. Talk to one of our archivists if you have questions about this or any other part of the local history collections.

The Public Library of Brookline houses a collection of paintings by local artist Dorothy Clemens in our Special Collections. We are pleased to display a selection of Clemens’s work. Focusing primarily on abstract expressionism, Clemens was most active in the 1950s and 1960s.

Brookline Turkeys celebrates the Town of Brookline, Massachusetts and its freewheeling fearless feathered friends: our wild turkeys. Viewed by many as an invasive species, turkeys are actually native to this area and are simply returning home.

When local artist Caroline Barnes decided to create a series of travel posters portraying her home town, it only seemed natural to feature our newest star residents. Would it be a serious project, with grandiosity and gravity? Of course not. Although turkeys are gracefully geometric and beautifully colored (in the right light), they’re still utterly absurd. And so, ultimately, the posters carry that same silliness.

Caroline Barnes was training to become a biological illustrator before stepping into the wondrous world of web design. After 20 years, she is returning to her illustration roots. Rather than using pencils, pens, paints, and paper, she develops her concepts in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop using an Apple Pencil and a Wacom Tablet. You may follow her story on Instagram @bklineturkeys.

The Brookline Library Music Association was founded in 1951 and disbanded within the last year. The library is now the official repository for the Association’s archives. Stop by the display case near new books to see a snippet of the collection.

During the months of March and April, colorful enameled jewelry by Toni Strassler will be on display at the Brookline Village Library. Using the ancient technique of cloisonné, Toni, a long-time Brookline resident, fires vitreous grains of enamel that are enclosed in fine gold or silver metal wires to produce pictorial images of scenes and other designs. After building up many layers, the images are polished and then placed into the handmade setting such as a brooch or pendant. Many pieces will be on exhibit along with an explanation of this challenging technique.