You're never really famous...

...until they name a leech after you.

You are not what you read

Librarians purge user data to protect privacy.

Perhaps the best line of the article is: "When it comes to federal authority, few librarians have qualms about 'having an adversarial relationship.'"

The 1814 Lewis and Clark Journal

Independent powerhouse Powell's Books most expensive book.

The Library of Things.

One library in Sacramento is lending books and CDs and DVDs, sure. But they're also lending a laminator, crafting tools, video games, and musical instruments.

Bookstores and Libraries

The most wonderful places on earth.

Top 10 terrifying teachers in children’s books

Has a child you know ever complained about his or her teacher? Too hard? Too strict? Too mean? HAH! The Friends have an alternative for the small disgruntled student in your life.

And Professor Snape isn't even the worst one.

Bwahahaha.

How to make a book

And the Friends always though writing a book was hard. 

Turns out, that's not even the half of it.

Makerspace at the Jones

There is still room in this weekend's Jones Library Makerspace!

Saturday January 23 2:00pm- 3:30pm

Join us for our ongoing Makerspace (do-it-yourself spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn). We will have creative tools and equipment from robotics and coding programs to modeling clay and craft supplies.

This Makerspace program will also feature a 3D printer and CNC machine! (Even better, knowledgeable community volunteers Peter and Arthur Evans will be on hand to help answer your questions about these machines!)

For ages 8-12. Please pre-register in the youth room or call 413-259-3091.

15 Picture Books That Support Children’s Spatial Skills Development

Having strong spatial skills has been identified by researchers as characteristics of those who are successful in STEM fields. Here are some books that might encourage your budding scientist. Or mathematician. Or programmer...

Julia Child's house is for sale

Well, the house in Provence she owned until 1992 is on the market. This one costs a wee bit more than F. Scott's does but hey, the kitchen IS better...

On y va?

Chess club at the Jones Library

Some of the town's elementary schools have chess clubs. These are huge successes where children laugh, play, and learn chess with wild abandon. Undoubtedly you've been hearing the buzz while having a romantic dinner at Chez Albert or getting your morning joe at Amherst Coffee. The town is all atwitter about the grand, well pint-sized actually, chessmasters swaggering the halls of your local elementary schools every. single. day. Classmates want to know them, teachers want to be them.

Maybe you know a child who just can't get enough of chess? Maybe you know a child who's never tried chess and wants to check it out? Oh boy do the Friends of the Jones Library have a program for your kid!

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Reason number eleventy-one why we

love, love, love librarians.

When children's librarian Courtney Bonnet moved into a new Pennsylvania home with her family, she noticed a cupboard under the staircase.

Psst, smarty pants.

Do you fancy yourself rather erudite? Are you fairly literarily savvy? Do you think you have book smarts (pun intended)? We've got a 2015 How Closely Were You Reading? book quiz for you.

We'll see who's the bookly one now, Friend.

US school stops teaching Huckleberry Finn because of 'use of the N-word'

"The community costs of reading this book in 11th grade outweigh the literary benefits." Philadelphia Quaker school drops Huck Finn.

What would Mark Twain say?

What would you say?

Homeless French man writes a bestseller

Now this is a story that warms Friends' hearts.

We'd love to see this memoir added to the Amherst library collection...

Publishing books

can be scary. 

Geez. 

Too bad we don't live in Germany

Then we could take that Christmas sweater we got this year and 

turn it into a new book.

Historic Photograph Contest

The Friends highly recommend you click here (or click on the photo below) to see bigger copy of this very cool, very old picture. This is Somewhere In Amherst. But where oh where?

If you can guess where it is, shoot special collections an email, and fame and glory will soon be yours, all yours.

Or at least you'll be entered into a drawing to win a Sammy's t-shirt. A real one.

Good luck! 

Writing the stories of our lives

Join author Jane Roy Brown in a six-week class to explore your life through writing.

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Oh yeah. Especially the tub. Yup.

Here are 10 libraries we'd love to get lost in...

Um, but as responsible library patrons we'd be super duper careful with library books anywhere near water, Jones Library. Ahem.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's house is on the market

Despite there being only a two-burner electric stove for all the Friends' culinary masterpieces (especially recipe #9 in this case), we are completely drooling over F. Scott Fitzgerald's former digs.

But really we're wondering, will the new person to move in write the next great American novel?

Stuff to do with your kids!

Know someone age 0-5? 6-10? 8-12? 

Boy, are you glad you know the Friends, too.

Four, count 'em, FOUR activities for the younger people in your world!

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** Friends Book Recommendation of the Month **

The Arsonist 

by Sue Miller

If you're looking for a beautifully written novel, try "The Arsonist," by Sue Miller. I took it out of the North Amherst Library, and enjoyed it immensely. It's the story of a New Hampshire village where someone has been setting fire to summer homes. Sue Miller delicately and masterfully chronicles the shifting relationships between summer and year-round residents as the fires continue and the investigation develops. It's also a story of love, aging, family and the importance of place. I always admire Sue Miller's skill for inventing characters so alive that I find myself still thinking about them weeks after finishing her books. I am pleased to report "The Arsonist" is no exception!

-- Jean, member, Friends of the Jones Library System

Check out the NYPL's check outs

This is kinda neat. The New York Public Library's  most popular books of 2015. Also broken down by (a couple of) boroughs.

Are you a New Yorker at literary heart?

Some New Year's resolutions

the Friends can really get behind. Read 16 resolutions just for you, you book nerd.

And when you actually get around to doing #3, bring them to the Friends. We'd love your old books. You have good literary taste.

Your input is needed!

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Four nights of Oscar nominated movies!

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Sing. Sing a song...

Back by popular demand, Wendy Plummer sings with babies and toddlers and their caregivers during this special winter session of Sing With Your Baby. The program features a sing-along as well as time for children to play with musical instruments.

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P.S. This program is free and open to all. However this is a special extra bonus not-originally-planned-for "Sing With Your Baby" winter session. Anyone who'd like to make a donation to the Friends with this particular program in mind is very welcome to do so. Let us know if this is the specific reason you're donating in the memo line of your check by writing "Sing With Your Baby."

Cracking the Codes film & discussion

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This Thursday! Be there!

One Dad’s Reading Resolutions for the New Year

Check out these New Year's resolutions. The Friends especially like the idea of resolving to exploit inter-library loan like it's going out of style this year.

Writing workshop for kids during February break

This month at the Burnett Gallery:

Lois Barber & Elliot Blass:

Birdz of a Feather & Life: Writ Large & Small

Paintings, Prints & Photographs

January 3-30, 2016

Amherst artists Lois Barber & Elliott Blass will have a show of their current work at the Burnett Gallery at the Jones Library from Monday, January 4 through Saturday, January 30, with an opening reception on Thursday, January 7, from 5-8 pm, as part of Amherst Art Walk.

The show features original paintings and prints from Barber’s current watercolor series, “Birdz of a Feather.” These whimsical yet sophisticated birdz bring on smiles.

Blass’ photographs capture the essence of life—both the big picture and the small details—and give new perspectives and insights into familiar subjects in our lives.

Be sure to stop by in January and enjoy this month's exhibit!