Friends of the Jones Library System News

Are you in need of a beautiful art book to elegantly grace your table? Perhaps for that photoshoot that Dwell is coming to do of your living room? If so, the Friends have your back. We suggest placing this baby prominently on your coffee table. We think it's actually pretty cool that a former president did this.

National Banned Books Week September 25 - October 1

We know you're an erudite bunch. After all, you're here, reading this, aren't you?  (silence.) Why not come out on Thursday, October 6, and  share your superior grey matter with the rest of the world? (Click on image to enlarge.) Maybe, just maybe, you'll be the lucky winner of new speedboat!

Wool by Hugh Howey I highly recommend this first book in the Silo trilogy (dystopian, science fiction). Imagine growing up underground, in a silo. The outside world is toxic. The inside world lives by a set of extreme rules, in order to maintain peace and order. Authority is not questioned. Women must wait for permission to have a baby, otherwise the silo will become overpopulated. Citizens who work with their hands live in the lowest levels of the silo; administrators live in the highest levels of the silo. Now imagine what happens when one person questions those rules. Peace and order is threatened. Or is it? Loved the strong female lead character. This book kept me guessing until the end. --Sharon, Director of the Jones Library

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First, on September 29, come discuss Nabokov's Lolita with UMass professor John Clayton. Then, on October 20, join a discussion of The Archive Thief with UMass professor Aviva Ben-Ur. Wrap it all up on December 1 with Valiant Gentlemen , something Humbert Humbert most definitely was not, by author (and hey! UMass professor!) Sabina Murray. (Click on image to enlarge.) Then? Give yourself an honorary B.A. in Literature from UMass because you basically just earned it, Friend.

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Ocean's Eleven and The Italian Job have nothing on this. (Click to enlarge.)

"If your kid doesn't like to read, don't give up.  You haven't found the right book."  Keep trying! Here's an article to help .  And you can always enlist one of those Human Googles at your local library to help you find the right book for your small person.

Come to a Charter Commission meeting  and voice your thoughts.

One of the most wonderful children's book authors in the world will be 100 on September 13th. What will YOU do to mark the day? Make some Trunchbull chocolate cake ? Indulge in a giant peach? Wash it all down with a jug of Farmer Bean's cider? Let us know!

This one's for you! (Click on image to enlarge.)

...Italy also has the right idea about books . Andiamo, Friends?

Feel free to read scary books to your small people. Experts say it "helps forge resilience." Well, one expert at least . One expert who sleeps with the light on.

The Friends are quite taken with the Australian National Dictionary . Because any book that contains terms like grey nomad and snot block is a book worth reading.

This one's for you.

The Friends dare you to watch this without getting all verklempt. Double dog dare.