Friends of the Jones Library System News

Wartime librarians' everyday activities were fraught with mystery, uncertainty, and even danger. Learn more about the far-flung librarian-spy network during WWII in Information Hunters , a history of librarianship that isn't as quiet as some of us might believe.

Maybe you listened to Weekend Edition and heard his interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro ? Maybe you're a fan of This American Life and heard Ira Glass talk about him ? Maybe you saw him interviewed on WGBH ? Or hey, maybe you read the On the Same Page 2020 book: Call Me American ? However you've come across him, now's your chance to hear Abdi Iftin in person for free. Come to the middle school on Thursday, March 5th, and learn more about his amazing story. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Check out this recent New York Times article about how   More Libraries Are Doing Away With Overdue Fines . 

Come to the Jones Library Saturday morning to hear some string instruments make their musical magic. This event is free, there's stuff for all ages, and it'll make you happy.  Come. (Click on image to enlarge.)

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Wednesday morning come to the Jones for a free, fun puppet show  for all ages, from bubbes to babies. (Click on image to enlarge.)

During February break there are loads of fun things to do at the Jones.  Here's a list of what you can do at the library alongside local children's book illustrator David Hyde Costello. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Eudora Welty, the great Southern writer, loved books from an early age. Her mother told her, when she was two, “Any room in our house, at any time of day, was there to read in, or be read to.”

We read about refugees around the world in the newspapers and watch videos on our screens. BUT if you'd like to learn more about refugees right here in Western Mass, come to the Jones Tuesday night for a free discussion about what it's actually like for folks who resettle here . (Click on image to enlarge.)

Special Storytime! Come to the Odyssey Bookshop on Sunday, February 16 at 2:00pm for a very special storytime with Megan Dowd Lambert, author of  A Kid of Their Own . About the Book In this fresh and funny follow-up to the Ezra Jack Keats Honor Book  A Crow of His Own , rooster Clyde is forced to adjust to new roommates on the farm when Fran the goat and her kid, Rowdy, take up residence. Can Clyde handle having a new kid in town? Rooster Clyde has just settled in and found his voice when everyone demands that he take his hard-earned crow down a notch so as to not disturb newcomer Rowdy. That doesn't sit well with Clyde. Neither does the fact that motherly goose Roberta seems to have taken the new animals' side. The farm community learning to deal with a young member of the group is the main story in text and is paired with a wordless story in illustrations that shows Farmer Jay and Farm...

This year's On The Same Page book is Call Me American by Abdi Nor Iftin . Learn more about it at one of these two book discussions this week.   (Click on image to enlarge.)

The 2nd Annual Friends of the Jones Library Mini Golf Classic sponsored by the UMassFive College Federal Credit Union was a HUGE success! Thank you to EVERYONE who came and putted the library! Thank you to Jones Library staff and librarians! Thank you to our WONDERFUL sponsors: Allergy & Immunology Associates of New England , PeoplesBank , the individual Jones Library Trustees, Jones Group Realtors, the Daily Hampshire Gazette , PV Squared , Pelham Auto , Northsquare Apartments , Amherst Golf Club , All Energy Solar , the Amherst Club, the Rotary Club of Amherst, and West Branch Capital! Thank you to the anonymous donors who gave in honor of: the Amherst Fire Department , the Amherst Police Department , the Amherst Survival Center , Cherry Hill Golf Course , and Kestrel Land Trust ! Thank you to our raffle & other donors: 110 Grill (Hadley, MA) , 50/50 Fitness/Nutrition , Dave DiRico's Golf and Racquet , Andrews Greenhouse , Pinz Entertainmen...

If you accidentally take home a golf ball from the 2nd Annual Friends of the Jones Library Mini Golf Classic and then you mail it back at the Amherst Post Office with a very carefully drawn stamp, it WILL make it to the library? #USPSLove

This Tuesday, come to the Jones.  Learn about Ida B. Wells.  Leave inspired to make the world a better place.  (Click on image to enlarge.)

Roses are red, Violets are blue, We've got live poets To read poems for you! P.S. It's free. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Learn more about the nomadic way of life.  Learn more about Somalis. (Click on image to enlarge.)