Events in the next month

Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Monday, May 13, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: Career Center Registration & Job Search Assistance
Date: Monday, May 13, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Location: Mezzanine
Categories: Adult Events, MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center, Recurring Events
Description:

Please see Annemarie for Career Center registration, job search assistance, UI and other available services on the Mezzanine. 

Title: LEGO Club!
Date: Monday, May 13, 2024
Time: 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Children's Events, Recurring Events
Description:

We've got bricks, baseplates and minifigs--now all we need is you! Join us for LEGO Club Mondays at 3:30 in the Forbes Library Community Room. Pick a design challenge out of the bowl or simply build a creation of your own choosing. This program is great for ages 4+.

Title: HYBRID Second Monday Book Discussion: Time Shelter
Date: Monday, May 13, 2024
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: Watson Room
Categories: Adult Events, Book Discussions, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

We'll be reading Time Shelter by Georgi Gapadinov. Request a copy of this book by placing a hold

About the book: 

An award-winning international sensation-with a second-act dystopian twist-Time Shelter is a tour de force set in a world clamoring for the past before it forgets.

"At one point they tried to calculate when time began, when exactly the earth had been created," begins Time Shelter's enigmatic narrator, who will go unnamed. "In the mid-seventeenth century, the Irish bishop Ussher calculated not only the exact year, but also a starting date: October 22, 4,004 years before Christ." But for our narrator, time as he knows it begins when he meets Gaustine, a "vagrant in time" who has distanced his life from contemporary reality by reading old news, wearing tattered old clothes, and haunting the lost avenues of the twentieth century. In an apricot-colored building in Zurich, surrounded by curiously planted forget-me-nots, Gaustine has opened the first "clinic for the past," an institution that offers an inspired treatment for Alzheimer's sufferers: each floor reproduces a past decade in minute detail, allowing patients to transport themselves back in time to unlock what is left of their fading memories. Serving as Gaustine's assistant, the narrator is tasked with collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the past, from 1960s furniture and 1940s shirt buttons to nostalgic scents and even wisps of afternoon light. But as the charade becomes more convincing, an increasing number of healthy people seek out the clinic to escape from the dead-end of their daily lives-a development that results in an unexpected conundrum when the past begins to invade the present. Through sharply satirical, labyrinth-like vignettes reminiscent of Italo Calvino and Franz Kafka, the narrator recounts in breathtaking prose just how he became entrenched in a plot to stop time itself. "A trickster at heart, and often very funny" (Garth Greenwell, The New Yorker), prolific Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov masterfully stalks the tragedies of the last century, including our own, in what becomes a haunting and eerily prescient novel teeming with ideas. Exquisitely translated by Angela Rodel, Time Shelter is a truly unforgettable classic from "one of Europe's most fascinating and irreplaceable novelists

 

Literary minded discussion. Open to new members. Join us in person or join via Zoom!

 

 

--

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Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: CANCELLED TODAY: Baby Storytime
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 11:00am
Location: Community Room
Categories: Cancelled, Children's Events, Recurring Events
Description:

Baby Storytime will be cancelled on 5/14 due to a staff training event. See you next week!

Title: Drop-in Tech Help
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Location: Reference Room
Categories: Adult Events, Life Skills, Recurring Events
Description:

Do you need help using your computer, tablet, or smartphone? Did you run into a sticky software problem? Do you want to learn how to use a new piece of technology?

Come to a drop-in tech help session! Bring your device, or use one of the library's computers, to have your questions answered by a knowledgeable volunteer.

Title: Teen Gaming Lounge
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: Children's Department
Categories: Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

Every Tuesday, teens ages 12+ are invited to play our Nintendo Switch in the YA Room! We'll have enough controllers for 8 players at a time. Challenge your friends to a Mario Kart race, try out new games, and meet fellow gamers!

This program is for teens only; we have a separate game time for players under the age of 12.

Title: Bike Repair Clinic with Bikes for All
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Library Grounds
Categories: Adult Events, One-Time Events, Teen Events
Description:

Volunteer mechanics from Bikes for All will be set up on the Library Lawn as part of Bike to Work Week festivities (May 12th-18th) celebrating National Bike Month!

Mechanics will be available to share information about the Bikes for All program, offer free minor fixes and adjustments to your bike, answer questions about how your bike works, as well as offer fix-a-flat demos and instruction. They'll have wheels on hand for you to practice with if you want to get your hands dirty!

This program is offered in partnership with Bikes for All (a program run by the Friends of Northampton Trails). 

Title: AEIOUkes Guided Session with Joe Blumenthal
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Adult Events, Music, Recurring Events
Title: Family History help
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Time: 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Presenter: Genealogy at Forbes Library
Categories: Adult Events, Local History, Recurring Events
Description:

Are you curious about how to get started on a family tree, or how to use the census, vital records, and family mementos to research your family's history? Book a one-on-one appointment with Brian Tabor, former Forbes circulation manager and genealogist, and learn how to use the library's genealogy resources such as Ancestry, Heritage Quest and American Ancestors databases. Email archives@forbeslibrary.org to book an appointment with Brian. 

Family History help is offered the 2nd week of the month in the Bak Study Room on:

Tuesdays 6-7pm and Wednesdays 10:30-12

The Hampshire Room for Local History is also open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 10-2 for appointments and drop in research.  

Title: VIRTUAL: Poetry Discussion: Eleanor Wilner
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Time: 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Categories: Adult Events, Poetry, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

Join us this Tuesday for a discussion of the poetry of Eleanor Wilner: 


Zoom meeting link

Meeting ID: 896 9249 9767
Passcode: 254365


This weekly poetry discussion group is open to everyone including regulars and drop-ins. All voices are honored: first-time poetry readers and life-long devotees. 

Each week, the group convenes to discuss the work of a particular poet, usually contemporary, and sometimes one reading in the area.  No prior reading or preparation required. Email hfaerstein AT aol.com to join the weekly mailing list.

Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: VIRTUAL ONLY - The Writing Room
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Time: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Presenter: Forbes Library
Categories: Adult Events, Recurring Events, Virtual, Writing
Description:

On Wednesdays, the Writing Room meets virtually. In-person meetings have resumed for Saturday sessions.

On these mornings we will meet via videoconference at our regular time: 9:30-12:30, using the exact same structure as we would if we were gathered around the table in the Watson Room at Forbes. The only difference will be that we will be connecting by videoconference, rather than face-to-face.

Here's all you need to join the Writing Room via Videoconference:

  • Join us in the Virtual Writing Room on Zoom.  
  • I will come online 15 minutes before our starting time (at 9:15) to answer any questions you might have. 
  • You will have the option to have your camera off or on, so you can join however you feel most comfortable.
  • The sessions will NOT be recorded, and you have the option to be visible or not, so your privacy will be preserved just as it would if we were meeting at the library.

How the Writing Room Works: each session opens at 9:30 sharp with brief hellos, followed by the pleasure of getting work done in the company of others. At 11:45 we check in about how the work went and make announcements. At (roughly) 12, anyone who wishes to read for the group does briefly, without critique or spoken response. We're done by 12:30.

Writers are welcome to come for all or part of the session. No need to register in advance. 

Title: Family History help
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Time: 10:30am - 12:00pm
Presenter: Genealogy at Forbes Library
Categories: Adult Events, Local History, Recurring Events
Description:

Are you curious about how to get started on a family tree, or how to use the census, vital records, and family mementos to research your family's history? Book a one-on-one appointment with Brian Tabor, former Forbes circulation manager and genealogist, and learn how to use the library's genealogy resources such as Ancestry, Heritage Quest and American Ancestors databases. Email archives@forbeslibrary.org to book an appointment with Brian. 

Family History help is offered the 2nd week of the month in the Bak Study Room on:

Tuesdays 6-7pm and Wednesdays 10:30-12

The Hampshire Room for Local History is also open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 10-2 for appointments and drop in research.  

Title: Drop-in Chess
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Time: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Presenter: Forbes Library
Location: Mezzanine
Categories: Adult Events, Games & Gaming, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

Drop in for part or all of these casual chess meets, every Wednesday from 1-3pm on the mezzanine. All experience levels welcome. Please bring your own set if you have one. 

Title: Job Readiness Workshop: Building Your Credit & Dealing with Debt
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Time: 1:00pm - 2:15pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Adult Events, MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

Experts from the Consumer Protection Unit at the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office explain how you can build credit and improve your credit score. They will also provide tips on dealing with debt and the debt collectors.

Register by calling the Greenfield office at 800-457-2603 or 413-774-4361, or sign in to JobQuest, by Wednesday morning. This will be a “hybrid” workshop, so choose the virtual or in-person option. Walk-ins are also welcome. Instructions on how to join the webinar virtually will be provided separately by email.

Title: Far Out Film Discussion : Punch-Drunk Love
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Adult Events, Film, One-Time Events, Recurring Events
Description:

Far Out Film Discussion functions like a book club - watch the film on your own and gather on the first and third Wednesdays to discuss.

 

We will meet in the Community room on Wednesday May 15th at 6:30 to talk about the 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love by American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.

 

 

The movie can be streamed for free on Kanopy using your Forbes library card or your Boston Public Library e-card.

Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002) Film (Kanopy 1hr 35m) https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/13808102

We will also have DVD copies of the film in the Arts and Music department. 

Title: HYBRID: Nature and Environment Book Club: Fen, Bog and Swamp
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Presenter: Hilary Caws-Elwitt
Location: Watson Room
Categories: Adult Events, Book Discussions, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

Please contact facilitator Hilary Caws-Elwitt for updated meeting info.

 

The Nature and Environment Book Club is devoted to the best of nature writing and environmental reporting with discussions on the second Wednesday of each month. Readers and writers interested in books ranging from such classics as Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek to topical reportage like Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction will want to join the conversation.

 

This month's book is Fen, Bog and Swamp by Annie Proulx.

Get a copy from the library by placing a hold.

About the book:

A lifelong acolyte of the natural world, Annie Proulx brings her witness and research to the subject of wetlands and the vitally important role they play in preserving the environment-by storing the carbon emissions that accelerate climate change. Fens, bogs, swamps, and marine estuaries are crucial to the earth's survival, and in four illuminating parts, Proulx documents their systemic destruction in pursuit of profit. In a vivid and revelatory journey through history, Proulx describes the fens of 16th-century England, Canada's Hudson Bay lowlands, Russia's Great Vasyugan Mire, and America's Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. She introduces the early explorers who launched the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and writes of the diseases spawned in the wetlands-the Ague, malaria, Marsh Fever. A sobering look at the degradation of wetlands over centuries and the serious ecological consequences, this is "an unforgettable and unflinching tour of past and present, fixed on a subject that could not be more important." (Bill McKibben)

 

Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Thursday, May 16, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: Preschool Storytime!
Date: Thursday, May 16, 2024
Time: 10:30am - 11:30am
Presenter: Sarah Johnson
Location: Community Room
Categories: Children's Events, Recurring Events
Description:

Join us for books, songs, and puppets and participate in an open-ended art activity designed to encourage creativity! Great for ages 3-5. 

Title: Magic the Gathering Club for Tweens & Teens
Date: Thursday, May 16, 2024
Time: 3:45pm - 4:45pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Children's Events, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

Join us for a casual meetup for tweens & teens interested in the tabletop card game Magic: The Gathering

Curious about learning how to play? Know how it works but looking for other players? All are welcome! 

Bring your own decks to use if you have them, or if you don't have any cards - that's ok - Forbes will provide cards to use at the library! 

This program is for ages 10+ and meeting biweekly, Thursdays from 3:45-4:45 pm in the Community Room. Questions? Email jvrysen@forbeslibrary.org

 

Title: CPUSA Regular Meeting
Date: Thursday, May 16, 2024
Time: 6:00pm - 7:45pm
Location: Watson Room
Categories: Adult Events, Community-Led Programs, Recurring Events
Description:

Western Massachusetts Communist Party USA club regular meeting. Come learn about socialist organizing in the Valley and beyond!

Organized by Communist Party USA.

Title: Northampton Literary Society Writing Meet-Up
Date: Thursday, May 16, 2024
Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Adult Events, Community-Led Programs, Recurring Events, Writing
Description:

Join us down in the Forbes Library Community Room on Thursday nights for some lite socializing, low-stakes sharing, and informal critique - as well as some time writing, of course! We warmly welcome writers of all genres and levels of experience.

We will start every meeting with a friendly check in, followed by a 15-20 minute writing prompt. After an optional share out, you are welcome to hang out and work on whatever you’ve got - flesh out the prompt, work on your novel, maybe get crafty with some visual poetry or collage.

This is an inclusive, expansive creative space. If you have a cool idea, bring it and share - we welcome collaborators with open arms! We also understand that one's capacity and enthusiasm for participation fluctuates - come when you can, and stay as long as you like. Absolutely no sweat if you can't make it - we look forward to seeing you next time you're here. We are also working toward online accessibility - contact noholitsociety@gmail.com for info on accessing our prompts online!


 Let’s get together, get some good work done, and enjoy each other's company!

Optional pre-registration is through Eventbrite, where you’ll find info on our open mics and other events as well. Updates are also on Instagram @noholitsociety 

About us:

Northampton Literary Society is a vibrant and supportive community of readers, writers, and artists of all kinds. We are always seeking and offering opportunities for creative expansion and collaboration. Let's make meaningful connections and grow our writing community!

Sign up for our mailing list to get our monthly newsletter featuring local literary news, events, and featured writing from our members each month!

Title: The Ukulele and You: Level Up! with Don Rovero
Date: Thursday, May 16, 2024
Time: 6:30pm - 7:50pm
Location: Coolidge Museum
Categories: Adult Events, Life Skills, Music, Recurring Events
Description:

Have you been playing the ukulele, guitar or another chord instrument for a while and feel stuck? Are you ready to move beyond strumming and learn to develop more interesting musical accompaniment? Come join us for some fun and musical growth. This workshop is aimed at the player who knows at least a few chords, and has started learning songs. We will explore different strumming and fingerpicking approaches, and learn about the popular chord progressions that make up many of our favorite songs. Join us for all three sessions, or just drop in when you can! Donations towards Forbes Library programming are encouraged. (80 minutes)
Thursdays May 2, 16, and 30

Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Friday, May 17, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: Toddler Storytime
Date: Friday, May 17, 2024
Time: 10:30am - 11:00am
Location: Community Room
Categories: Children's Events, Recurring Events
Description:

Join us for Toddler Storytime every Friday morning! We will sing songs, read stories, and have fun. This event is best suited for 1.5-3-year-olds and their caregivers. 

Title: HYBRID: Afternoon Book Discussion: The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters
Date: Friday, May 17, 2024
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: Watson Room
Categories: Adult Events, Book Discussions, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

This month's book is The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal. You can request a copy of the book from the library catalog

About the book: 

The British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters--Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirnia--were never close and barely got along growing up, and now as adults, have grown even further apart. Rajni, a school principal is a stickler for order. Jezmeen, a thirty-year-old struggling actress, fears her big break may never come. Shirina, the peacemaking "good" sister married into wealth and enjoys a picture-perfect life. On her deathbed, their mother voices one last wish: that her daughters will make a pilgrimage together to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to carry out her final rites. After a trip to India with her mother long ago, Rajni vowed never to return. But she's always been a dutiful daughter, and cannot, even now, refuse her mother's request. Jezmeen has just been publicly fired from her television job, so the trip to India is a welcome break to help her pick up the pieces of her broken career. Shirina's in-laws are pushing her to make a pivotal decision about her married life; time away will help her decide whether to meekly obey, or to bravely stand up for herself for the first time. Arriving in India, these sisters will make unexpected discoveries about themselves, their mother, and their lives--and learn the real story behind the trip Rajni took with their Mother long ago--a momentous journey that resulted in Mum never being able to return to India again.

This is a hyrbid meeting -- so you can either join us on Zoom or in the Watson Room this month!

 

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Title: HYBRID: Social Justice Book Group: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Date: Friday, May 17, 2024
Time: 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Location: Watson Room
Categories: Adult Events, Book Discussions, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

This month we will discuss: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriett A. Jacobs. 

 You can request this title from our catalog. 

About the book:

The true story of an individual's struggle for self-identity, self-preservation, and freedom, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl remains among the few extant slave narratives written by a woman. This autobiographical account chronicles the remarkable odyssey of Harriet Jacobs (1813–1897) whose dauntless spirit and faith carried her from a life of servitude and degradation in North Carolina to liberty and reunion with her children in the North.
Written and published in 1861 after Jacobs' harrowing escape from a vile and predatory master, the memoir delivers a powerful and unflinching portrayal of the abuses and hypocrisy of the master-slave relationship. Jacobs writes frankly of the horrors she suffered as a slave, her eventual escape after several unsuccessful attempts, and her seven years in self-imposed exile, hiding in a coffin-like "garret" attached to her grandmother's porch.
A rare firsthand account of a courageous woman's determination and endurance, this inspirational story also represents a valuable historical record of the continuing battle for freedom and the preservation of family.


We strive to learn more about the world outside our own bubbles. We read both nonfiction and fiction on timely topics and in our discussions try to challenge our own assumptions without judging one another.


Join us on Zoom! 

We will be hosting a hybrid meeting, so you can also attend in person in the Watson Room at Forbes. 


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Passcode: 340325
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Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: Crocheting and Knitting Group
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Mezzanine
Categories: Adult Events, Arts and Crafts, Recurring Events
Title: Ukulele Strum Group
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm
Presenter: Ukulele Strum Group
Location: Coolidge Museum
Categories: Adult Events, Community-Led Programs, Music, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

Ukulele Strum Group is a community ukulele club, part of the larger Pioneer Valley Ukulele Community (Meetup). We meet weekly at Forbes Library in Northampton to sing and play together just for the fun and joy of it, but also to improve our skills. We are ukulele enthusiasts of all levels of playing experience, including beginners. And we always welcome new members to play, sing, or just watch and listen.

Find out more about our group on our Meet-Up page

 

 

 

 

Title: VIRTUAL ONLY: Romance Book Discussion
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 11:00am
Categories: Adult Events, Book Discussions, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

Get your Happily Ever After fix from the [Springfield City Library] Romance Book Club!

ONLINE via Zoom Saturdays once a month | 10:00-11:00 AM | Adults

Join us for the Romance Book Club!

We read as many romance genres as we can, sharing our thoughts and expanding our romance reading experience. As long as it has a Happily Ever After, it’s fair game.

Each month we choose the book for the following month.

For more information, this month's pick, and to register (optional), visit our friends at Springfield City Library

Future dates:
June 1
July 13
August 10
September 7
October 5
November 2
December 14

Title: The Writing Room
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: 10:30am - 1:30pm
Presenter: Forbes Library
Location: Watson Room
Categories: Adult Events, Recurring Events, Writing
Description:

**THIS IS OUR FINAL SATURDAY MEETING BEFORE SUMMER RECESS. JOIN US AGAIN ON SEPTEMBER 14.**

Every Saturday from 10:30 am-1:30 pm in the Watson Room, join fellow writers for companionable writing time. The Writing Room is ongoing throughout the year (except that there are no Saturday sessions during summer). 

How the Writing Room Works: each session opens at 10:30 am sharp with brief hellos, followed by the pleasure of getting work done in the company of others. Some writers work in other parts of the library, then join us at 12:45 pm to check in about how the work went, discuss matters related to writing, and make announcements. At (roughly) 1 pm, anyone who wishes to read for the group does briefly, without critique or spoken response. We're done by 1:30 pm.

There are writing prompts on the table for those who like to use them. There are four-hour parking meters in the back of the lot. Consider bringing a sweater. Writers are welcome to come for all or part of the session.

 

*The Writing Room also meets virtually on Wednesday mornings via Zoom.*

Title: Polypharmacy with Dr. Dhruv Jani
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Adult Events, Mind and Body, One-Time Events
Description:

The goal of this lecture is to discuss the impact of multiple medications on overall health and cognition. Oftentimes we are started on medications and kept on them for many years despite them not being as effective or necessary as we get older.  We hope to emphasize the importance of frequent reviewing of medication lists and monitoring of medication efficacy.

About the presenter: Dr. Dhruv Jani is committed to providing comprehensive care that addresses the unique healthcare needs of elderly individuals. He is deeply passionate about improving the quality of life for elderly individuals and committed to sharing knowledge, tools, and resources to assist this community in navigating the delicate process of aging with dignity and respect.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2014 from the University of Connecticut and his medical degree in 2019 from the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Jani completed his family medicine residency at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, where he gained a greater appreciation of the nuances of elder care and developed skills in managing a multitude of complex and chronic health conditions that require specialized care. In 2023, Dr. Jani completed a fellowship in geriatric medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital. During his fellowship, he specialized in dementia care, caring for patients with functional dependencies, and working with patients within their overall goals of care.

Dr. Jani is an active member of the American Medical Association, the American Osteopathic Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Geriatrics Society.


This program is presented in partnership with the Pioneer Valley Memory Care Initiative.

Title: VIRTUAL: Spanish Conversation Group
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Presenter: Forbes Library
Categories: Adult Events, Community-Led Programs, Language, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

This is an inviting program for learning in a friendly and
relaxed atmosphere through weekly Zoom sessions.
Sessions (which start promptly) are from 3-4:30 PM and include advanced conversation and text anaylsis.
Electronic devises are not permited during the classes.
For more information and zoom link, email Silvia at garabato.m7@gmail.com


Este es un programa diseñado para practicar y mejorar el idioma usando distintos temas de comunicación,
como literatura, análisis y conversación.
Es un grupo de inmersión y por esta razón sólo se habla en españnol, sin la ayuda de ningún aparato
electrónico durante el tiempo de clase.

Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Monday, May 20, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: Career Center Registration & Job Search Assistance
Date: Monday, May 20, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Location: Mezzanine
Categories: Adult Events, MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center, Recurring Events
Description:

Please see Annemarie for Career Center registration, job search assistance, UI and other available services on the Mezzanine. 

Title: LEGO Club!
Date: Monday, May 20, 2024
Time: 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Children's Events, Recurring Events
Description:

We've got bricks, baseplates and minifigs--now all we need is you! Join us for LEGO Club Mondays at 3:30 in the Forbes Library Community Room. Pick a design challenge out of the bowl or simply build a creation of your own choosing. This program is great for ages 4+.

Title: HYBRID: Great Books Discussion: The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Date: Monday, May 20, 2024
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Presenter: Hilary Caws-Elwitt
Location: Community Room
Categories: Adult Events, Book Discussions, Recurring Events, Virtual
Description:

Please contact facilitator Hilary Caws-Elwitt for updated meeting info.

This month's selection is The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson.  

Place a hold on The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. 

About the book: 

 

The Great Books discussion is structured so that the evening’s selected reading is discussed in a think tank environment with the intention of gaining insight from other readers that one would not have by reading alone. The seminar facilitator asks questions of the participants about the reading selection and helps the discussion stay focused. Our main goal is to have fun and take many interpretations from the group in order to enjoy a greater understanding of a selected reading.

Discussions are open to everyone and free of charge.  For a list of past and future discussion books and to contact the group visit, http://mail.salticid.com/mailman/listinfo/forbes_great_books_salticid.com.

About the facilitator:

Hilary Caws-Elwitt has her BA in English & American Literature from Harvard, MLS from University of Arizona, and ran Susquehanna County Reads for its first 4 years. But mostly she loves reading and discussing the books!

Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: Baby Storytime
Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 11:00am
Location: Community Room
Categories: Children's Events, Recurring Events
Description:

Join us for stories, songs, and puppets! We'll do a 20-minute storytime together, then we'll put out toys for free play and social time until 11. For babies under 18 months and their caregivers.

Title: Drop-in Tech Help
Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Location: Reference Room
Categories: Adult Events, Life Skills, Recurring Events
Description:

Do you need help using your computer, tablet, or smartphone? Did you run into a sticky software problem? Do you want to learn how to use a new piece of technology?

Come to a drop-in tech help session! Bring your device, or use one of the library's computers, to have your questions answered by a knowledgeable volunteer.

Title: Monthly Family Game Time with Northampton Public School's Early Childhood Center
Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Time: 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Presenter: Ashley Miller
Location: Community Room
Categories: Children's Events, Recurring Events
Description:

Drop in to play games and meet other families! Enjoy collaborative games like Snug as a Bug and Busy Town, as well as turn-taking games like Spot It!Hiss, and Zingo. Games are a great way to build communication skills, problem-solving, and brain development. It's also an enjoyable way to promote family time. This Monthly Family Game Time is geared toward families with children ages 3-8 years old. We'll get together on Tuesday from 4-5 pm on the following dates:

Feb. 27
March 19
April 23
May 21

This event is hosted by the NPS's Early Childhood Center. Questions?: email Ashley Miller at AsMiller@northampton-k12.us

Title: Teen Gaming Lounge
Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: Children's Department
Categories: Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

Every Tuesday, teens ages 12+ are invited to play our Nintendo Switch in the YA Room! We'll have enough controllers for 8 players at a time. Challenge your friends to a Mario Kart race, try out new games, and meet fellow gamers!

This program is for teens only; we have a separate game time for players under the age of 12.

Title: Asian American Representation in Literature: An Author Talk with Rebecca F. Kuang
Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Presenter: Library Speakers Consortium
Categories: Adult Events, Author Events, One-Time Events, Virtual
Description:

Please register to attend this virtual author talk.

We welcome you to register for a thrilling conversation with Rebecca F. Kuang (R.F. Kuang) as she chats with us about her New York Times bestselling novel, YellowfaceYellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media.

In Yellowface, authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree. But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

White lies, dark humor, and deadly consequences await within the pages of Yellowface. With its totally immersive first-person voice, Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable. 

About the Author: Rebecca F. Kuang is the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, and Yellowface. A Marshall Scholar, she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies diaspora, contemporary Chinese literature, and Asian American literature.


This program is presented by the Library Speakers Consortium.

Title: JFK Middle School Student Art Show
Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Time: All Day Event
Location: Hosmer Gallery
Categories: Adult Events, Exhibits, Recurring Events, Teen Events
Description:

The JFK Student Art Show

May 2-30, 2024

Reception: Friday May 10, 5-7 PM

We invite you to a special exhibit featuring a variety of pieces created by JFK Middle School 6th through 8th grade art students. Over 400 expressive works in ceramic, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and design will be showcased!

Title: HYBRID: Forbes Library Accessibility Advisory Board
Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Time: 4:00am - 5:00pm
Location: Director's Office
Categories: Disability and Accessibility, Recurring Events, Virtual
Registration: Registration is required for this event.
Description:

The Forbes Library Accessibility Advisory Board is made up of local disability and accessibility experts and community members with disabilities. Anyone with an interest in the accessibility of library services and events is encouraged to attend. The purpose of this board is to provide feedback to library staff with regards to programs, services and collections from the perspective of accessibility and the interests of people with disabilities.

This is a hybrid meeting. You can join us in the library or online using Zoom. Live captioning will be available. Please be in touch to request any accommodations.

If you wish to join us online, please register to receive the meeting link and password, which will be sent out two hours before the event begins. This helps keep our meeting free from trolls. No registration is required to join us in person.

Agenda to come.

Title: VIRTUAL ONLY - The Writing Room
Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Time: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Presenter: Forbes Library
Categories: Adult Events, Recurring Events, Virtual, Writing
Description:

On Wednesdays, the Writing Room meets virtually. In-person meetings have resumed for Saturday sessions.

On these mornings we will meet via videoconference at our regular time: 9:30-12:30, using the exact same structure as we would if we were gathered around the table in the Watson Room at Forbes. The only difference will be that we will be connecting by videoconference, rather than face-to-face.

Here's all you need to join the Writing Room via Videoconference:

  • Join us in the Virtual Writing Room on Zoom.  
  • I will come online 15 minutes before our starting time (at 9:15) to answer any questions you might have. 
  • You will have the option to have your camera off or on, so you can join however you feel most comfortable.
  • The sessions will NOT be recorded, and you have the option to be visible or not, so your privacy will be preserved just as it would if we were meeting at the library.

How the Writing Room Works: each session opens at 9:30 sharp with brief hellos, followed by the pleasure of getting work done in the company of others. At 11:45 we check in about how the work went and make announcements. At (roughly) 12, anyone who wishes to read for the group does briefly, without critique or spoken response. We're done by 12:30.

Writers are welcome to come for all or part of the session. No need to register in advance. 

Title: Networking
Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Community Room
Categories: Adult Events, Community-Led Programs, One-Time Events
Description:

This group meet is intended for moms who dream big. Here's our chance to talk, laugh, grow, unwind, and possibly grow a team for your biggest dreams.Children are welcome to attend. Fun arts and crafts and a baby section will be available. 

Email kelsdwight@gmail.com to reserve your spot.