Friends of the Jones Library System News

Join local author Burleigh Muten in Emily Dickinson’s garden on Saturday, September 16 at 2 pm for a poetry workshop for adults and children called Children Are Poets Too! All writing prompts will relate to Miss Emily, her work, and her life here in Amherst. This free workshop is part of the 2016 Amherst Poetry Festival. To see the full festival schedule, click here . Bring your child and a notebook and pencil,and we'll have a good time. Saturday is also the day of the Poetry Marathon in which all 1,789 poems are read aloud in the Dickinson Homestead in a round-robin style. You can stop in for a few minutes and listen and/or read or you can stay for an hour... or two... or all day!

Free poetry readings by Real Live Poets!  You can even ask them questions afterwards about their craft. (Click on image to enlarge.) See you on the 18th!

Proof . So we're thinking maybe who needs to exercise??  We got BOOKS, baby. 

can get you taken off . But in a fitting turn of events, it can also become a best-seller because of it .

We need more diverse books like "The Snowy Day." "We need diverse books to be sure, but those must be part of a literature that reflects our reality, books in which little black boys push one another on the swings, in which little black girls daydream about working in the zoo, in which kids of every color do what kids of every color do every day: tromp through the woods, obsess about trucks, love their parents, refuse to eat dinner. We need more books in which our kids are simply themselves, and in which that is enough." Check out this article on Slate.com.

Visit the CatInHat4Prez headquarters and cast your vote.

Film Screening & Discussion: You Can Help Stop Violence against Young Black Men Join us on  Thursday, September 8, 2016 at 7 pm  in the Woodbury Room for the next film in this ongoing film and discussion series that may educate, touch your heart, and inspire you to action to help dismantle racism.  A facilitated discussion will be held after the screening. You Can Help Stop Violence against Young Black Men   is a TEDx talk by diversity advocate Verna Myers that looks closely at some of the subconscious attitudes we hold toward out-groups. She encourages everyone to acknowledge the bias and then move towards, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable, suggesting new ideas about how to help rid our minds of harmful, unwanted stereotypes.   The film will be followed by a brief discussion and an opportunity to begin to develop some local anti-racism action projects. Free and open to the public.  For more information, p...

Go check your bookshelves! Does your Harry Potter have a typo ? 'Course it needs to be a UK version, but still...

Extra bonus baggage weight allowed for book lovers on German flights.  Woo hoo! Book your vacay to Berlin, mein Freund.

A new study by the University of Pennsylvania has discovered that "Americans who read JK Rowling's Hogwarts stories are more likely to dislike Trump, possibly as a result of the franchise's 'opposition to authoritarianism' (we're looking at you, Voldemort) and promotion of diversity, tolerance and acceptance." JK Rowling has Tweeted that Voldemort is "nowhere near as bad" as Donald Trump.

that you're trying to figure out dinner on Wednesday night, JUDIE's got you covered.  You'll BLOOM after one bite. (Too much with that last one?)

is the final Friends of the Jones Library Literary Feast of the summer! (Click on image to enlarge.) Join us at Judie's Restaurant !