Please see Sophie on the Mezzanine level.

Dharma Gentle is a weekly yoga class.  No yoga experience is required, but participants must be able to get up and down from the floor independently. Drop-ins are welcome. Please bring a yoga mat, blanket and blocks with you. 
This gentle, yoga class is appropriate for all who wish to add the healing qualities of yoga to their lives. We move the body through the classical poses very slowly, gently and conscientiously. Rests are taken between poses as the body moves towards inner introspection on a physical and meditative level. This class is highly beneficial for those who are ready to return to physical activity after an illness or injury, or for those who have not moved much in a long time. Everyone will leave feeling refreshed and relaxed.

Your teacher, Vickie Healy is a registered Dharma Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance Certification. She is a Registered Nurse with over 35 years of nursing experience.  Vickie believes that practicing yoga is a powerful way to increase health and longevity.

The Dharma Gentle Class was designed by Sri Dharma Mittra who founded one of the early independent schools of Yoga in New York City in 1975.  He is the author of the world-renowned masterpiece, The Master Yoga Chart of 908 Postures.  For more information about Dharma Yoga go to http://www.dharmayogacenter.com.

This course is free of charge.  Nominal donations of up to $5 accepted.

Contact: Vickie Healy, RN, BSN, RYT at Vickie@VickieHealyRN.com

Every Wednesday and Saturday from 9:30 am-12:30 pm in the Watson Room, join fellow writers for companionable writing time. The Writing Room is ongoing throughout the year.

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. Some writers work in other parts of the library, then join us at 11:45 to 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.

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.

This is a special pirate-themed Toddler Time, in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2018!

Stories, song, puppets, bubbles! Come have fun with other toddlers and caregivers.

Participants must register by calling the Greenfield Career Center: 413-774-4361.

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

Do you need a little help using a computer? Are you having trouble getting started? Did you run into a sticky problem? Do you want to get an email account? Are you looking for a better way to format a document?

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

Writers of picture books, middle grade and YA meet to read and receive feedback about their work-in-progress from the group, facilitated by leaders following the SCBWI guidelines. You don’t have to be a member of SCBWI to participate.

Join us in the Coolidge Museum to learn songs for the large community sing on September 23rd. Led by local musician Tom Mahnken. Free and open to the public. Come relax with friends and enjoy singing for an hour.  Copies of the lyrics will be provided.

This month's book discussion will be about How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill. 

Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars" -- and thus preserve Western culture while Europe was being overrun by barbarians. 

In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization -- copying manuscripts of Greek and Latin writers, both pagan and Christian, while libraries and learning on the continent were forever lost -- they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. 

As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.

Read the best Ireland has to offer!  From the land of great story-tellers, we will be reading famous and lesser-known Irish authors, including contemporary and classic writers of fiction, non-fiction, and plays.  We will discuss style, sense of place, history, psychology, culture, and the Diaspora.  If you are interested in great writing, this is a group you will enjoy being a part of.  Upcoming authors include Edna O’Brien, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Donal Ryan, Colum McCann.  Come for the books, stay for the craic! Meetings are held on the second floor at the gallery tables. 

Learn how to prepare for your interviews and position yourself as a qualified candidate. Tips on dress and how to respond to interviewers will be offered. We will also review commonly asked questions such as “Why should we hire you?” Come with challenging questions you’ve encountered, and be prepared to participate and answer other questions. A handout of questions to ask prospect employers will be provided.

Participants must register by calling the Greenfield Career Center: 413-774-4361.

Cookies with a Curator 

Informal Conversation and show and tell from the Forbes Library's Collection

Third Thursdays at 3pm in the Coolidge Museum 

Join us as this monthly series kicks off a year long celebration of the 125th anniversary of Forbes Library! September 2018-October 2019 topics will feature materials from the collections focusing on the construction and history of the building, staff, trustees, donors and our community.  

September's talk will be by Local History Librarian Elise Bernier-Feeley on the architecture and construction of Forbes Library.  Learn more about Architect William C. Brockelsby's life, career and buildings.  

Join us for our September meeting, and help choose October's book! In September, we'll be discussing My Plan Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. 

Stories, song, puppets, bubbles! Come have fun with other toddlers and caregivers.

This month's discussion will be about Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado.

In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.

A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella “Especially Heinous,” Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naïvely assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgängers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.

Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.

The Afternoon Book Discussion group meets on the 3rd Friday of the month in the Watson Room for a casual hour long discussion. The reading selections are mostly fiction choices with a sprinkling of non-fiction, young adult, and classics with an emphasis on books appealing to an ecclectic taste as well as those with interesting points of discussion.  Pre-registration is not required and drop-ins are welcome. Tea and light refreshments are served. 

Copies of the discussion book are available in the library to check out at the circulation desk. 

Do you need a little help using a computer? Are you having trouble getting started? Did you run into a sticky problem? Do you want to get an email account? Are you looking for a better way to format a document?

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

Toby the dog can't read, but he's a great listener! Sign up for a ten-minute reading session on Friday afternoons between 3:30 and 4:30. Sign up in person at the Children's Desk, by calling 587-1010, or by sending an email to sjohnson@forbeslibrary.org. 

Every Wednesday and Saturday from 9:30-12:30 in the Watson Room, join fellow writers for some companionable writing time. The Writing Room is ongoing throughout the year.

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. Some writers work in other parts of the library, then join us at 11:45 to 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. 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.

AEIOUkes is a community ukulele club. We meet regularly to sing together and  to improve our playing,  and we occasionally have opportunities to  play in public.  The group has been meeting for several years and over the past year has expanded to include Saturday morning practices.  We are comprised of ukulele enthusiasts with all levels of playing experience, including beginners, and we always welcome new members to play, sing, or just watch and  listen.

Photo by Dale Ruff.

Landscape paintings in oil and watercolor

details at forbeslibrary.org/gallery

Contributors to WriteAngles Journal, an online publication of WriteAngles, Inc., will read their short, short stories and personal essays.  Everyone attending the reading will be eligible to submit to the fall edition of WriteAnglesJournal (https//writeanglesconference.com/wajournal/).The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Questions? Contact writeanglesjournal@comcast.net

The region's liveliest Spanish conversation group is opening up its fall season and accepting new participants. Relaxed, friendly atmosphere in weekly Saturday sessions at the Forbes Library's Watson Room. Sessions (which start promptly) are from 3-4:30 PM and include conversation, creative writing, storytelling, grammar and small group chats of 2 to 3. Room holds 15 people, with priority given to established participants, who keep returning enthusiastically. 
Since the room door will close at 3:15, we ask people to arrive at 3 pm to avoid interruptions For more info, email silmar7@juno.com or Pat Rector at pat.rector@gmail.com or simply show up at a session and give it a try.

Grupo de conversación español gratis donde se puede mejorar o practicar tu fluidez con la lengua. Es un grupo de inmersión. Por eso, vamos a usar solamente español por la hora y media. Ven para una manera divertida a mejorar tu nivel de español.

Picnic on Forbes Library Lawn in Northampton followed by a sing-along at moonrise. A participatory event.
FREE and open to the entire community. Learn more: forbeslibrary.org/sing

This event is presented by Northampton Senior Services and Forbes Library with support from Historic Northampton, Northampton Senior Services, Northampton Community Arts Trust, A.P.E. Ltd., Northampton Community Music Center, and Smith College. This program is funded in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Please see Sophie on the Mezzanine.

Walk-in assistance; first-come, first-served.

Hampshire County residents only.

Please see Sophie on the Mezzanine (see sign) for assistance.

Storytime with Ellie

Join Ellie for storytime on Monday mornings at 10:30. 

Join us to read books, sing songs, play with puppets and toys, and meet other babies and caregivers! The first 20 minutes are storytime, followed by 40 minutes of free play with toys. For children ages 0-18 months. 

Tong Ren combines western knowledge of anatomy and physiology with the ancient principle of "Chi" or life force energy, to create what many consider to be a powerful new healing modality. The basis of Tong Ren Energy Healing is to access Universal Chi and sending this  healing energy to specific targeted points, depending on the persons condition to break up blockages in the body that cause disease. Removal of these blockages restores the natural flow of nurturing Chi energy which allows the body to return to homeostasis and naturally corrects itself to function properly and heal. Tong Ren calms the mind and is very relaxing.

The facilitator, Ken Alan Hadden has been practicing Tong Ren in the Boston area for over five years, including the Boston Living Center, AIDS Action Committee and the Carson Center in Ware, MA.

He is also a Board Member of the Oriental Culture Institute Healing Research Foundation (OCIHRF) in Quincy, MA, a non-profit organization established for education, research and the advancement of Tong Ren Healing worldwide with the intention of developing safe and more cost effective health care.

This class is free of charge.  Nominal donations of up to $10 accepted.

For more information please visit:www.amazinghealings.org

Contact: Ken kahadden@aol.com

Please see Sophie on the Mezzanine level.

To quality for this program:                          

• 55 years of age or older
• Unemployed
• Resident of Hampden or Hampshire county
• Income eligible (single $15,175* / $20,575* married)
• Legally able to work in the United States
• Pass a CORI (criminal records check)

What we do:

• We assist you with your search for employment.
• We match you with a community service assignment in a nonprofit agency or a government agency where you develop the skills and confidence you need to compete in today’s job market, while taking training classes at the Career Center or other sites.
• We pay the MA minimum wage of $11.00 per hour for 20 hours a week while you continue to seek unsubsidized employment.SCSEP is a transitional program, not a destination. Think of SCSEP as a bridge from unemployment to a job. If accepted into the program, you will be looking for a job while working on the program. Your goal will be to obtain an unsubsidized job as soon as possible.

If you are interested in becoming a participant, please call us at (413)-787-6124.

*some types of income may be either exempt or discounted in calculating eligibility.

Please see Sophie on the Mezzanine level to check in.

For afternoon appointments, please call the Greenfield Career Center: 413-774-4361, by Thursday of the preceding week.

The Teen Arts Program presents Paper Airplanes and Pizza! Materials provided. This is a teens only event.

An opportunity for new and experienced investors to meet, learn and discuss the stock market. Using the easy to read and understand book Invest to Win by Gordon Scott and bestselling author Toni Turner, we discuss topics that include: mutual fund and individual stock selection in a 401k, IRA or non-retirment account, locating top performing sectors and evaluating current market conditions using the book's market mood signals.  Our members range from long term investors to short term traders.

All concepts discussed can be accessed online through a number of free, easy to use websites like Yahoo! Finance & FreeStockCharts.com

Possible new members, who have not read the book in advance, are welcome to join any meeting as an observer.  The group is run at the pace of regular attendees who all have a familiarity with the stock market and the concepts in Invest to Win.  Until new members have read the book it may take a meeting or two to follow topics discussed and actively participate.

Led by Andrew Leonard, a resident of Florence, who has been mentored by Invest to Win co-author Gordon Scott. For more information and/or to RSVP before attending please contact Andrew at: andrewleonard.invest2win@gmail.com

Far Out Film Discussion is formatted like a book club: check out the film, watch it at home, and attend the meeting to discuss it.

(We will not be screening the film at the program.)

Our next movie is the 2005 psychological thriller Caché, written and directed by Michael Haneke.

View the trailer here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJh64JgWdmQ

Copies of the film will be available in the Reference Dept. and the Arts and Music Dept.

Join us in the Community Room on Monday September 24th at 7:00pm to discuss the film!

We will discuss the work of poet Ada Limon is giving a reading at Smith College on Spetember 25th.

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. 

Every Monday, the group convenes to discuss the work of a particular poet, usually contemporary, and sometimes one reading in the area. Copies of the poems are provided for each participant.  No prior reading or preparation required.

We'll have all the forms and information you need to register to vote plus info about early voting in the upcoming midterm elections. Staff from the City of Northampton will be present to answer questions. You may submit an application to register or pre-register to vote in Massachusetts if:

• a citizen of the United States,
• 16 years or older, 
• and not currently incarcerated due to a felony conviction.

Swing by the library lobby to make your voice heard in the next election. 

A storytime for the preschool set! Enjoy books, songs, puppets and props, and an open-ended art activity designed to encourage exploration and creativity! For children ages 3-5.

Drop-in Computer Help is cancelled today, September 25th.

Weekly gathering to study the Ancient Greek Language with retired professor, Nicolas Gross. Study based on Athenaze Book 1 [2nd edition] (eds.) Maurice Balme  & Gilbert Lawall (ISBN 0-19-514956-4.) For more information contact nicolaspgross at gmail.com

Come enjoy a fun afternoon playing with LEGOs! For ages 5 and up.

Please see Sophie on the Mezzanine level.

Dharma Gentle is a weekly yoga class.  No yoga experience is required, but participants must be able to get up and down from the floor independently. Drop-ins are welcome. Please bring a yoga mat, blanket and blocks with you. 
This gentle, yoga class is appropriate for all who wish to add the healing qualities of yoga to their lives. We move the body through the classical poses very slowly, gently and conscientiously. Rests are taken between poses as the body moves towards inner introspection on a physical and meditative level. This class is highly beneficial for those who are ready to return to physical activity after an illness or injury, or for those who have not moved much in a long time. Everyone will leave feeling refreshed and relaxed.

Your teacher, Vickie Healy is a registered Dharma Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance Certification. She is a Registered Nurse with over 35 years of nursing experience.  Vickie believes that practicing yoga is a powerful way to increase health and longevity.

The Dharma Gentle Class was designed by Sri Dharma Mittra who founded one of the early independent schools of Yoga in New York City in 1975.  He is the author of the world-renowned masterpiece, The Master Yoga Chart of 908 Postures.  For more information about Dharma Yoga go to http://www.dharmayogacenter.com.

This course is free of charge.  Nominal donations of up to $5 accepted.

Contact: Vickie Healy, RN, BSN, RYT at Vickie@VickieHealyRN.com

Every Wednesday and Saturday from 9:30 am-12:30 pm in the Watson Room, join fellow writers for companionable writing time. The Writing Room is ongoing throughout the year.

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. Some writers work in other parts of the library, then join us at 11:45 to 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.

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.

Stories, song, puppets, bubbles! Come have fun with other toddlers and caregivers.

Participants must register by calling the Greenfield Career Center: 413-774-4361.

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

Do you need a little help using a computer? Are you having trouble getting started? Did you run into a sticky problem? Do you want to get an email account? Are you looking for a better way to format a document?

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