Friends of the Jones Library System News

**Seriously.** Tonight, after dinner, go get a glass of wine, put your screen on your lap and your feet on the coffee table, and spend an hour watching this. We guarantee you'll laugh out loud. Or at least sit there, smiling ridiculously at your screen the whole time. Ladies and gentlemen, we present the 2019 Jones Library Sammys Award Ceremony . Complete with Tony M DiTerlizzi , Richard Michelson , Bruce Watson , The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art , Cammie McGovern , Leverett author and screenwriter Steve Adams, and Barry Moser . You'll enjoy your evening spent with them. We promise.  

Have you seen John Wick 3: Parabellum , Keanu Reeves' most recent thriller, yet? Perhaps you were particularly taken with a certain library scene? If so, read on ! The LA Times has a particularly elucidating article on how that scene was created.  

"Loneliness is rampant, and it's killing us -- literally. Anywhere from 1/4-1/2 of Americans feel lonely a lot of the time, which puts at risk for developing a range of physical and mental illnesses...This is a public health problem that needs to be addressed on a wide scale." Does that resonate? Read this article to learn what you can do to combat loneliness. And then? Then come see us, Friends .

Here are the best global destinations to visit that celebrate the written word.  Plan your summer accordingly!

T he following letter is from Cammie McGovern, children's book author, Sammy' s award winner, co-founder of Whole Children, and Amherst resident. She addresses all of us who appreciate the Jones Library. Dear Friend, First, a confession. I love libraries to a degree that makes me sentimental at times. I'll wander t h e basement stacks of the Jones, looking for a spot to settle with my greedy pile of reading, and come upon an ESL tutor pair, heads bent together, voices low, and tears will prick my eyes. I'll reel away, weeping for reasons I don't entirely understand. That a hopeful immigrant is learning Eng li sh in hushed whispers, that the tutor is an esteemed professor who once lectured to halls of 300 students. Perhaps the sight reminds me (a bit too much) of my own unmoorings, when strangers and b ooks and, m ost of all, libraries have helped m e adjust to a new setting and a lonely time. Here's the confession though: I can (and often do) spea...

You love it for its playground, its pool, its trail walks.  Now come learn about why it matters.   (Click on image to enlarge.)

 Tomorrow night!

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Friends, check out the first one on the list .  Here's a hint:

Sure, the Friends love libraries best of all. But? We also love our independent bookstores. This Wall Street Journal article, How One Independent Bookstore Succeeds in the Amazon Age , points out happily that "Independent stores are making a strong comeback, with the number of locations rising to 2,470 currently from 1,651 in 2009." Lookin' at you, Amherst Books and Odyssey Bookshop. Don't have a WSJ subscription? That's okay! The Jones Library does for you. Swing by a check out the Monday WSJ.