Friends of the Jones Library System News

"A chief factor seems to be the household one is born into, and the culture of reading that parents create within it." But that's not all ...

..."the library’s onsite 26-room B&B " that first caught our attention.   Perhaps it was merely the title of the Smithsonian Magazine article:   I Spent the Night in a Library in Wales, and You Can Too.  Regardless. We're smitten. Want to learn how you, too, can spend the night in a library?   Read away, Friends .

For almost as long we’ve been writing, governments and religious groups have attempted to censor what we read. Click here to see a cool map of a bunch of banned books from this year.

Take this NYPL quiz and find out!

Because we're in the midst of Banned Books Week , we thought you all might be interested in this two minute video by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom: Then? Go check out George , A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo , Captain Underpants , Junie B. Jones , The Hate U Give , Drama , The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , Tintin , Brave New World , The Catcher in the Rye , The Satanic Verses ...

Trying to get a little more organization in your life?  Feeling overwhelmed by your To-Do list? Curious about Bullet Journaling ?  If you want to learn more, here's your chance!

This Fast Company article discusses  one woman's attempt to read a book a day.  And what she learned.

"When priceless texts began disappearing from a seventh-century hilltop abbey, the police were mystified. They were even more befuddled when they finally caught the culprit... He was our Arsène Lupin .”  Who WAS this mystery man??  Read on, dear Friend .

Each one is better than the last.  Check out these works of art in homage to books .

(you should be reading that with your movie trailer voice) ...  of books set in worlds without books. Here are four books that have no books in them . Once you're done, go over to your TBR pile and give it a gentle little thank-you caress. Because, thankfully, we DON'T live in a world without books.

Go on, guess.  Here's a hint: it was established in 1646.  Here's a visual hint: Give up?   Here's your answer. Raise your hand if you knew that. Now raise your other hand and  high five yourself, you smartypants, you.

And? It's free!   (Click on image to enlarge.)

Other than JK Rowling, we know of no one else who comes up with names like Charles Dickens. He was a master. Here's a fun article deciphering ten names he invented, from Mr. Pumblechook to Mr. Pecksniff. Happy reading, Friends!

We just found out there's a website called Reading With Austen that digitally recreates the library at Godmersham Park, Jane Austen's brother's estate. You can explore the library as Jane Austen might've seen it and look at photos of the very editions she might have handled. Janeites, how cool is this??

Books you can read in a pool or a tub or at the beach.   Books made to get wet.   Er, don't try this with library books, mkay?

Tonga, a small South Pacific kingdom has a 99% literacy rate and is full of avid readers. The problem? They didn't have a single "catalogued library system, allowing books to be issued and loaned out to members of the public." Until now.

Come hear National Geographic speaker, TED talker ,  and award-winning author of The Great Penguin Rescue ,   Dyan deNapoli .   (Click on image to enlarge.)

Springfield eye surgeon and novelist, Dr. Andrew Lam, discusses his new novel Repentance . Read about it in the Gazette here . Or better yet? Come hear the man himself at the Jones!   (Click on image to enlarge.)

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for a discussion about forms of government this Tuesday.  Got questions? You'll get answers!   (Click on image to enlarge.)

Did you know that Beatrix Potter originally wanted her Peter Rabbit books to be small for children's hands but that publishers wanted them to be bigger and, therefore, more expensive? "Potter refused, explaining that she would rather make two or three books costing one shilling each than one big book because 'little rabbits cannot afford to spend six shillings on one book, and would never buy it.' In December 1901, she self-published The Tale of Peter Rabbit . The 250 copies sold out in a few months..." Here are more interesting facts about your favorite bunny.

We are so excited to share that the Jones Library has been selected to be a part of the Big Y Community Bag Program, which is designed to make it easy for customers to contribute to their local community while supporting the environment. For the month of September , each time a $2.50 reusable Community Bag is purchased at the Big Y located at 175 University Drive, Amherst , $1 will be donated to the Jones!

Which we think is wicked cool. Read more about it here . We also think Bueno y Sano ought to have one. What do you think, Bueno?

Superhero cape optional.