June 24, 2015

Always innovative Toronto Public Library...



Hey, tired of every single book? Nothing looks appealing? The Toronto Public Library hears you and they have the solution! The Human Library.




June 23, 2015

22 gift ideas




Because, really, who doesn't need a pillow with The Twits on them?

June 22, 2015

10 Books To Read Before You See The Movies This Summer



Are books always better than movies? Have you seen any movies that put their original books to shame? Any recommendations to add to this read-before-you-see list?

June 20, 2015

Remember how when you were 7...


...and you wanted to be a paleontologist? Yeah, good times. 
Relieve the dream with these dinosaur books



Then? Go listen to They Might Be Giants.


June 19, 2015

Teach Kids How Beautifully Diverse The World Is


June is LGBTQ Pride Month. Why not cuddle up with a little kid and 
read some of these books to one another to celebrate it?



June 18, 2015

7 (Fairly) New Books Every Middle-Aged Person Should Read This Summer


We may not be able to trust anyone over 30 but we can at least recommend books to them.

(Although the Friends believe "middle-age" is approximately 92...)


June 17, 2015

Books can't get no respect around here



Is this disrespectful or simply having fun with books? The Friends are kinda thinking it'd be pretty neat to see...

June 15, 2015

Warring British author's society



It is a saga worthy of any epic novel, including village squabbles, accusations of snobbery, and the threat of squandering the legacy of some of Britain's best-loved authors. The Brontë sisters couldn't have made this stuff up!

June 12, 2015

Homer's Iliad to become an epic online performance


Sure it might take longer than reading it yourself but you'll get to hear things like this spoken out loud: "There is the heat of Love, the pulsing rush of Longing, the lover’s whisper, irresistible—magic to make the sanest man go mad..." Mark your calendars for Aug. 14.


June 11, 2015

Free concert Saturday



A concert this Saturday & Sunday evenings of vocal chamber music for tenor, horn, and piano by local musicians and singers: Peter Shea, Jean Jeffries and Susan Dedell.

The centerpiece of the concert is the premiere of Lew Spratlan's "The Fish," a setting of the poem by Elizabeth Bishop. Also on the program will be pieces by Paul Dedell, Ron Perera, David Kidwell, Judith Weir, Arnold Cooke and Larry Siegel, four of whom are local composers. The pieces are challenging and gorgeous. And a few of them are very funny, too.

The Amherst concert is listed on the Events Calendar at the college.

Saturday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.
Buckley Recital Hall, Amherst College
Free

Sunday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.
St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Brattleboro
Free/donation

Coloring books


If your child has merrily finished up his or her "Cars" coloring book and every page in the "Hello Kitty" one is happily crayoned, the Friends have a new coloring book to recommend just in time for idle summer days.


You're welcome.

Read to a dog!


(click on image to enlarge)

June 8, 2015

Bah humbug!




Do you know kids who like to read too much? Are your children too happy? Have there not been enough nights interrupted with bad dreams at your house? Is life all rainbows and butterflies for the child in your life?


Fear not! The Friends are here to help ruin small people's lives with a helpful list of Top 10 ways to be evil in children's books.

Bwahahahaaa.

June 4, 2015

6 Vacation Destinations for Children’s Literature Fans



If you're traveling with kids this summer, here are some suggestions of places to visit and the books that accompany them.

And hey, even if you can't really go to Venice, you can still read about it...




June 3, 2015

Not Just Another Pretty Picture


Join us on Saturday, June 6 at 2 pm in the Woodbury Room for a presentation by photographer Michael Zide.


"Not Just Another Pretty Picture" is a visual presentation and talk about establishing a photographic point of view and interpreting, rather than just describing, what is in front of the camera's lens. This is for all photo enthusiasts, regardless of  prior experience. A question and answer period will follow, addressing individual ideas and photographic concerns. 

A member of Moab fine art paper's Master Photographer's Program and an Ambassador for Manfrotto Distribution and Livebooks web design, Michael Zide's focus has been on creating black and white fine art landscape images from Western Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard, and  the Southwest.  As an educator,  he designs workshops and private tutorials, as well as presentations for speaking at venues such as the PhotoPlus International Expo in New York, B and H and Hunts Photo, and at colleges and camera clubs. Selections from this body of work are in museum, corporate, and private collections. 

Free & open to the public.


This program is made possible with the support of the Friends of the Jones Library System and the Woodbury Fund.

Summer stuff to do with your kids at the library!


(Click on image to enlarge.)

June 2, 2015

June 1, 2015

Friends Book Recommendation of the Month




Feeling the need to get away from it all? Take a summer road trip with Roland Merullo's Breakfast with Buddha. Successful book editor Otto Ringling drives his sister's enlightened spiritual guru Volya Rinpoche across country to North Dakota, exploring American society along the way. This is a 'buddy story' spiced with quirky spirituality and self-discovery. Merullo, who lives in Western Massachusetts, drove the entire route himself and writes vividly about the landscape and people that they meet. Otto and Rinpoche are re-united for two more journeys in Lunch with Buddha and Dinner with Buddha (just published June, 2015).

-- Bonnie, Friends of the Jones Library President