Lenox Library Association » At the Library

Distinguished Lectures, Fifth Season

Sharon — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:36:41 +0000

The Distinguished Lecture Series is back, with a wonderful roster of speakers, thanks to the efforts of Jeremy Yudkin.

Did you ever want to speak to the mayor of Pittsfield, the head of The Clark, or the manager of the Berkshire Eagle? Please come join these and other conversations, one Sunday a month at 4:00 at the library.

All lectures are free, thanks to support from Shear Design, LSTA funds through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, and from donations from community members like you.

This Sunday, our first lecturer is Byam Stevens, Artistic Director of the Chester Theatre Company. He will be speaking on “The Fabulous Invalid, or the Truth about Theatrical Symptomology.” What is “theatrical symptomology?” Come and find out!

An Evening At Hogwarts!

The Lenox Library — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:50:11 +0000

The Lenox Library will magically transform itself into Hogwarts on the evening of Thursday, July 14th, just prior to the release of part two of the final Harry Potter film. Our local Quidditch team will give a brief demonstration of the sport, snowy owls will be present to greet visitors, an original shadow puppet play will be presented and a tour of Hogwarts will be offered. Admission will be charged and Honeydukes candy will be available for purchase. All proceeds will help sponsor future library youth programs. If interested, please send your owl post to dcuthbert@lenoxlib.org (Muggles may call 637-0197 ext. 106).

We heard…George play on the Fortepiano…

Amy — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 20:27:01 +0000

“We…heard George play on the Fortepiano at W^m, came home safe after an agreeable day.”

-Memorandum of Mary Parmalee Walker, May 27^th, 1829.

The ‘fortepiano’ that George Walker played was purchased that year for his sister Lucy, by their father, the Honorable William Perrin Walker (1778-1858). William Perrin Walker succeeded his father, the Hon. William Walker, as Judge of Probate Court, in the shire town of Lenox, in 1824. The ten-year diary of William Walker’s second wife, Mary Parmalee Walker (or Memorandum, as she called it), is now part of the Special Collections of the Lenox Library.

Home for Mary and her husband was a farmhouse purchased from Captain Gray in 1778 on what is now Old Stockbridge Road, between Elm Court and Winden Hill. In 1804, a colonial style village home was built where William Perrin Walker and his family lived.

Lucy’s square pianoforte, purchased for $220 in 1829, was the first piano to be brought to Lenox. The manufacture’s label reads: “Patent made by John Kearsing from London for John J. Rickers, 187 Broadway, N. York.” Her granddaughter, Catherine Bowditch Codman of Boston, felt that the instrument should make a home in the old courthouse where her ancestors served so faithfully. It is located in the hallway to the Dome Room, right below the Damon architectural drawings for the courthouse.

Civil War books on display

Amy — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 20:03:15 +0000

The Lenox Library had existed for only five years at the start of the War of Rebellion in 1861. Therefore it should come as no surprise that the Library’s Special Collections Room contains numerous contemporary accounts of what we now call the Civil War. These holdings are on display in the 19th century bibliotheque in the Dome Room.

Selected for display in addition to the 150 year old ‘current affair’ items is the 10 volume “Photographic History of the Civil War” edited by Francis Trevelyan Miller. It also includes “The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War” narrated by Bruce Catton, as well as his Centennial of the Civil War trilogy.

The 16th Annual Lenox Library/Stockbridge Library Golf Challenge!

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:13:09 +0000

Golf, Raffle & Online Auction, all to Support 2 Great Libraries!

We’re back, after a brief hiatus, the 16th Annual (almost) Golf Challenge is taking place, June 28, 2011 at the Stockbridge Golf Club, 12:30 Tee Time. View the invitation and response card. For more information or to register to play, please call 413-637-2630.

This year we have a great list of prizes in our golf raffle! Raffle tickets are $5.00 each or $25 for a book of six. Raffle tickets can be purchased at the Lenox Library or Stockbridge Library.

Here is just a quick look at what you could win:

Two night Rest and Renewal package at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health
Golf outing for four at the Stockbridge Golf Club
Lunch and wine! for four at Blantyre
50 minute Massage, Manicure and Pedicure at Seven salon.spa
Grill Out! Gas grill courtesy of Ray Murray, Inc.
Comfy office chair donated by W.B. Mason with a coffee sampler from Barrington Coffee Roasting Co. to keep you motivated!
Three month membership to Lenox Fitness Center and Day Spa
Two chances to win a kayak rental from the Arcadian Shop!
A gardener’s delight – wheelbarrow donated by Lee Hardware filled with perennials and gardening tools donated by Windy Hill Farm
$200 gift certificate to The Bookstore
Basket of goodies from Shear Design
Gift certificate to Pine Cone Hill

Thank you to all our 2011 Golf Sponsors!

You make this event possible!

Now at the Library: access to the Historic Boston Globe

Amy — Thu, 12 May 2011 16:57:13 +0000

In addition to the reestablishment of Ancestry.com at the Library, we have also purchased an online subscription to the Historic Boston Globe 1872-1979. Even better, our licensing agreement for this database allows us to provide remote access for those who possess a Lenox Library card.

Examples of local interest to be found include news of the Berkshire Symphonic Festival and Music Inn, Gilded Age happenings, and the occasional controversy such as the attempt to build a state prison at the current Kripalu site.

Did you know that in 1945, Lenox put in a bid for the building of the United Nations Headquarters? The application, penned by the Lenox Board of Selectmen, invited the new organization “to the lovely little New England community so aptly called the “Gem of the Hills.”

To connect to this resource, please see our Reference Tools on our website.

Screening and Discussion with Jean Kilbourne May 12 at 7:00 p.m.

admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:05:27 +0000

The Lenox Library will host a screening of Killing Us Softly 4 followed by a question and answer period with creator, Jean Kilbourne. This event is a fundraiser. Reservations are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Reservations can be made by calling 413-637-2630.

This fast-paced and entertaining film, known around the world, deals with a serious topic — gender representation in advertising. According to the film critic for The Boston Globe, “With skill, humor and acuteness, Kilbourne encourages action against these society-weakening images.”

The film’s creator, Jean Kilbourne, is the author of the award-winning books Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexual-ized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids. The prize-winning films based on her lectures in-clude Killing Us Softly, Spin the Bottle, and Slim Hopes. She holds an honorary position as Senior Scholar at the Wellesley Centers for Women.

Discussion will follow the 45-minute film.

This event is a fundraiser for The Lenox Library’s staff and services in memory of Helen Perry.

VACATION WEEK FAMILY EVENT!

The Lenox Library — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:49:01 +0000

VACATION WEEK FAMILY EVENT!

Fun with Science – FOSSILS AND DINOSAURS

On Wednesday, April 20^th at 11:00 a.m., intrepid fossil hunter, Paulette Morin, will introduce children, ages 4 to 12, to the wonders of our prehistoric past and dinosaurs. Families will learn what wonders lurk beneath the soil and in the rock ledges of our region. Hundreds of fossil specimens will be on hand to examine. This program is free to the public and no registration is required. Library doors open at 11:00 a.m. For more information, email Ms. Debby at dcuthbert@lenoxlib.org or call 637-0197 ext. 105.

Spring Tonic! March 26 12:00-4:00 pm

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:44:20 +0000

Celebrating All Things Locally Grown

Includes an indoor markers market, music, free samples, sign ups for farm shares, drawing for a farm products gift basket and more!

Event Schedule
12:00 Amy Cotler, author of The Locavore Way
12:30 Story time
1:00 Bluegrass with Andy Gordon and Paul Rice
2:00 Shoemaker’s Band

Participating farms and vendors:
Berkshire Mountain Bakery, Leahey Farm, Berkshire Wildflower Honey, Lenox Athenaeum, Amy Cotler, Lincoln’s Loft, Cricket Creek Farm, Solid Rock Farm CSA, Goo Goo Gourmet, Windy Ridge Farm CSA

This event is free and open to the public and is sponsored in part by a grant from The Green Pastures Fund of theBerkshire Taconic Community Foundation.

For further information, please call The Lenox Library at (413) 637-2630 or email shawkes@lenoxlib.org.

LEGO BUILD-A-THON! Saturday, March 19, 9:30am to 11:00am Pre-registration required!

Ms. Debby — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Fourth Annual Lego Build-a-thon with a Zipline Twist!

The Lenox Library Association Youth Department is holding its fourth annual LEGO Build-a-Thon on Saturday, March 19 from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. Junior engineers, ages 5 to 14, may register at the youth desk or by calling 637-0197 ext. 105. All participants must bring their own Legos. Construction starts promptly at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 10:15. A zipline demonstration will be held from 10: 15 to 10:45. Lego designs should be original, built from scratch in the library and capable of operating on a fishing line. Lego prizes will be awarded to all participants.