September 30, 2013

Cook with a Nook!



Beginning Tuesday, October 1, 2013, 3:30pm
at the Boys & Girls Club of Amherst

The Jones Library, Inc. and the Boys & Girls Club of Amherst invite teens ages 12 and up to join us as we use Nooks to search for recipes which we will then cook together.

This program will take place every Tuesday (except the 15th) throughout the month of October, but you are welcome to attend as many or as few of the sessions as you wish.

Questions: please call Tomi Eve, Young Adult Services Coordinator, at 413-259-3091.

Western Mass Newspapers Now Available!



Want to read the local paper in your pjs with your bedhead and NOT venture out into your front yard to pick it up?  You can!

Effective immediately, library users have in-library and remote access to 10 local newspapers throughout the 4 Western Mass counties!

ACCESS – If you currently or previously used NewsBank, you can probably just continue using it as you did in the past.  If you don’t have or know that URL, go to http://infoweb.newsbank.com from your library’s computers.  If you get right into the NewsBank welcome screen and it contains a listing for “Massachusetts” (which lets you access these new titles) you should be all set.  If you encounter problems, contact NewsBank Customer Service by phone at 1-800-243-7694 or email at custserv@newsbank.com.

Remote access is also available for people to use outside the library or on their own devices.  They should use the same URL http://infoweb.newsbank.com.  Remote users will be prompted to enter their library card number, and they should get right in.  Once again, if you learn of remote access issues, contact NewsBank Customer Service by phone at 1-800-243-7694 or email at custserv@newsbank.com.

Keep those bunny slippers on!

September 27, 2013

"Bridging Cultures: Muslim Journeys" at the Jones Library

Earlier this year, the Jones Library was selected to receive a bookshelf grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  During the month of October, a series of programs will be presented to continue the exploration of the themes of the Muslim Journeys bookshelf grant.

The Jones Library is pleased to be partnering with ION (Interfaith Opportunities Network), a local interfaith organization, in offering these programs to the Amherst community.  The programs are free and open to all, and will be held in the Woodbury Room of the Jones Library.

·        October 1 at 7 pm:  Reflections of an American Muslim Woman
Hanan Yacteen will reflect on women and Islam as she shares her experiences as an American Muslim.

·        October 5 at 2:30 pm:  Koran By Heart: Screening & Discussion
Join us for a screening of this documentary about three 10 year olds at the annual International Holy Koran Competition.  A discussion follows, led by Muhammad Ashraf.

·        October 17 at 7 pm:  Book Discussion of Minaret by Leila Aboulela
Join us for a discussion led by Matt Goodwin from UMass-Amherst.

·        October 22 at 7 pm:  Islamic Art and Architecture: A Window into Muslim Cultures and Societies
Prof. Walter Denny, from UMass-Amherst, will discuss the role that art and architecture have played in the Islamic world.

·        October 29 at 7pm:  Pathways of Faith
Dr. Ali Hazratji will speak on the basic beliefs of the Islamic faith.

For more information about the Bridging Cultures:  Muslim Journeys initiative, visit the website athttp://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/

For further information about the Muslim Journeys grant and programming, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.


September 26, 2013

Light in August in October


Join the Classics Book Club this October to discuss William Faulkner's Light in August. We'll meet on Saturdays from 2:30-4:00 on October 12th, 19th and 26th. Copies of Light in August are available to check out at the Jones Library Reference desk. Contact Seth Rothberg at 413-259-3092 with any questions, and check out the Classics Book Club blog at http://classicsbookclub.wordpress.org.  

September 24, 2013

It's fall in New England and that means...




Bright Star at the Jones


Thursday, September 26, 7pm
in the Woodbury Room of the Jones Library

Join us for:

BRIGHT STAR


London 1818: a secret love affair begins between 23-year-old English poet, John Keats, and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, an outspoken student of fashion. Starting at odds with each other, the illness of Keats’ younger brother drew them together. Intensely and helplessly absorbed in each other, the young lovers were swept into powerful new sensations. Together they rode a wave of romantic obsession that deepened as their troubles mounted and only Keats’ illness proved insurmountable.


Free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.

Happy Banned Books Week!


In honor of Banned Books Week, we thought you might like to know what some of those bad boys are.  Here is the 2012 list of Most Frequently Challenged Books, according to the American Library Association:

Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher.
Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Beloved, by Toni Morrison

Looking for a little reading material?  The Amherst public libraries have them all.

September 23, 2013

Online Teen Reading Program


Monday, September 23, 2013 – Saturday, November 23, 2013

·         For ages 12-18
·         Login on the Jones Library’s website at www.JonesLibrary.org
·         Track your reading and win prizes including author signed books, candy and more!

Free and open to the public.


For more information, call Tomi Eve at 413-259-3091.

A bookless library.



Does it work?  Read more here.

September 20, 2013

Poetry, poetry, poetry!


Beginning Friday, September 20, and running through Friday, September 27, Amherst will hold a poetry festival with a wide-range of free poetry events happening every day.

The events being held at The Jones Library include:

·         Saturday, September 21 at 1 pm - Writing Poetry Togethera poetry workshop led by Jeannine Atkins for young people 10 and up with their favorite adult (sign up in the Children’s Room).

·         Sunday, September 22 at 3 pm - jubilat/Jones Reading Series:featuring Ugly Duckling Presse poets Corina Copp & Natalie Lyalin.

·         Tuesday, September 24 at 7 pm - Local Words: Poetry from The Jones Librarylocal poets Borowicz, Hennessy, Mainzer and Miller will each read from their works at this special gathering.

·         Thursday, September 26 at 7 pm - On the Big Screena screening of a 2010 feature film about a famous 19th century English poet.


All Library events are free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.

September 19, 2013

Daniel Deronda discussion





September 26, 7:00 pm
Jones Library, Amherst Room (second floor)

Suzanne Daly and Adam Colman, University of Massachusetts Amherst, will lead a discussion of "Daniel Deronda" by George Eliot.

The longest book we’ve yet taken on! Looking forward to seeing many of you next Thursday and to hearing your thoughts on this challenging text!

Break out the beer and mead!


As part of the Amherst Poetry Festival (Sept. 20-27), The Common has partnered with the Emily Dickinson Museum and Amherst Business Improvement District to bring you a night of Beowulf, readings, and beer at the High Horse upstairs pool hall on Thursday, September 26 from 6-8pm. From 6-7pm, contributors and friends of The Common will read poetry and fiction inspired by the epic poem. Then, from 7-8pm, UMass English Professor Stephen Harris will discuss Beowulf with epic readings in English and Old English to the beat of a drum. Indulge your inner medievalist and join us for a night that will "fill Heorot with head-clearing voice, / gladdening that great rally of Geats and Danes."



Featuring readings by Common contributors Brad Leithauser, Naila Moreira, Susan Stinson, Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller, and Marie Gauthier, and Tim Watt.

September 17, 2013

TOTO THE TORNADO KITTEN at the JONES LIBRARY


Saturday September 28, 2013
11 AM Woodbury Room

Local author Jonathan Hall and kitten Toto, a tiny six-ounce cold and hungry survivor of the Western Massachusetts tornado of June 2011, tell their story.  There will be Toto books for sale and a book signing. Proceeds from “Toto’s” book sales will be donated to the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

For all ages.

Want to be in a book group?

The Jones Library welcomes everyone to its adult book clubs. Don’t see one that interests you? Let us know and we’ll consider starting one.

· Jones Library Classics Book Club
This club reads books widely considered classics in the English and American traditions. Recent selections include: David Copperfield, Portrait of a Lady, To the Lighthouse, and Middlemarch.

In October 2013, we'll be reading Light in August by William Faulkner. When in session, the group meets on Saturdays in the Jones Library from 2:30 to 4:00 pm.

For more information, contact Jones Library staff member Seth Rothberg at 413-259-3092 or rothbergs@joneslibrary.org, or visit our Classics Book Club blog.

· Jones Library Book Club
Are you interested in exploring works of European and American literature with a lively and friendly book club? The Jones Library Book Club will resume meeting in September 2013, on the third Wednesday of the month from 11:00 to 12:30 in the Amherst Room of the Jones Library.

The books for the first four months are Frankenstein, The Last of the Mohicans, Silas Marner, and two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe.

For more information, contact volunteer moderator Lee Wicks at 413-834-2247 or wickswords@yahoo.com.

· Jones Library Contemporary Book Club
We are starting a new book club that will focus on recent works of literary fiction and occasional non-fiction. It will meet monthly at a time to be determined.

If you are interested in this club, please contact Jones Library staff member Linda Wentworth at wentworthl@joneslibrary.org and indicate what times of the week are best for you.

September 11, 2013

Lego lovers unite!



The fall season of the Jones Library Lego Club will begin on Saturday, September 14, at 3pm in the Woodbury Room of the Jones.

The word of the day will be "community," and the building challenge will be "to build something that is related to the community you live in."  

For more information, please call the Children's Room or email Theresa Atteridge at atteridget@joneslibrary.org.  

Happy building!


September 10, 2013

Jones Library "Knit In"


Do you knit or crochet?


Come join Tomi and Jess as they make hats for the 500 Hats Project. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the publication of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Springfield’s Dr. Seuss, a group of Western Massachusetts knitters and crocheters is collecting 500 winter hats to give to children and adults in need throughout the Pioneer Valley in the Fall of 2013.

This Thursday, September 12, 6pm
Amherst Room of the Jones Library

Please bring your own tools and yarn. We will provide an easy hat pattern.


September 9, 2013

Exhibit your work in the Burnett Gallery!

Applications to exhibit your artwork in the Burnett Gallery of the Jones Library for the season beginning June 2014 are now available.  They are due in the Jones Library Office by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, October 15, 2013.  The jury process begins soon thereafter.

Individuals and groups in Amherst and surrounding towns are welcome to apply.  See the application form for more details.

Paper copies are displayed on the metal rack in the Library atrium and also at the reference desk.  You may also find them in other locations.

The online version is available at www.joneslibrary/burnett.

Questions?  Call or write Arthur Mange (Burnett Secretary): 413 253-7769; amange@bio.umass.edu

September 6, 2013

jubilat/Jones Reading Series

Come hear poetry readings Sunday, 9/22, at 3 p.m. in the Woodbury Room of the Jones Library.  Free and open to the public!  Q&A immediately following.



September 5, 2013

Mark your calendars!


Join the Youth Services Staff of the Jones Library as they present the following fall programs:

·         Meet Toto the Tornado Kitten; Saturday, September 28; 11am; Woodbury Room

·         Family Adventures in Reading; Saturdays, October 5, 19, November 9, 16, 23; 11am; Woodbury Room

·         Sing With Your Baby; Tuesdays, September 10-November 12; 10:30am; Woodbury Room

·         Preschool Storytime; Thursdays; 10:30am; Children’s

·         Lego Club; Saturdays, September 14, October 12, November 9, December 14; 3pm; Woodbury Room

·         Spanish Storytime; Saturdays, September 21, October 19, November 16, December 21; 10:30am; Children’s Room

·         Chess Club; Saturdays, October 5, November 2, December 7, January 4, February 1, March 1; 3:30pm; Amherst Room

Children's book reading



This Saturday, September 7, at 2pm in the Woodbury Room of the Jones Library, please join us as Amherst author Aaron Becker gives a special reading and slide show based on his book titled "Journey."

For ages 4 to 10 and their families. Free and open to the public.

For more information, please call Sondra Radosh at 413.259.3091.