Special program May 18

FRIENDS OF HOLYOKE PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENT HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE 

“Stories from My Cousins,” a first -hand account of one family’s remembrances of surviving the Holocaust during the German Occupation of France between 1940 and 1944, will be the subject of a special program on Saturday May 18, at 1:00 PM. The program will be presented by Holyoke resident and Holyoke Public Library long-time Trustee Thomas Schwab and is open to the public free of charge. 

While Mr. Schwab’s father and several other members of the Schwab family moved to the United States in the early 1900s, his father’s five sisters and their families remained in France, several living in Paris or its suburbs until World War II broke out. It was then that in order to survive a series of moves were essential. These moves included abandoning their homes and, in some cases businesses, and moving to other parts of what remained as “free” France. 

While the periods of the German Occupation was one of great difficulty for all French residents, its impact on Jews was “incalculably greater” for a variety of reasons. Mr. Schwab’s story of his family’s  struggles and their survival was assembled as a result of personal visits and accounts from family members who survived the Holocaust, and their recollections of other friends, relatives, and countless acquaintances who did not survive. Mr. Schwab’s account is a remarkable tribute to his family and to the survival of the human spirit. 

The presentation of the Holocaust tribute will be held in the Community Room of the Library on the second floor of Holyoke City Hall, 536 Dwight Street. (Enter by the back door that faces the parking lot; other City Hall doors are locked on weekends.)

Friends in action

The monthly board meeting of the Friends of the Library was held Wednesday March 14 in the Library's temporary home in City Hall.   Active projects in the works include:

• Preparing for The Future Begins Here, May 5, 2013 -- the annual fundraiser hosted at the Holyoke Mall and benefitting three non-profit organizations (including our Library) that provide services to children, our future.  Chair of this year's Library team for FBH is HPLC Board member Susan Carey. Brittney Noble is in charge of the Silent Auction; please contact her if you have items to donate or could help in soliciting fabulous auction items. Table sponsorships (advance reservations for tables of 10; due April 10) are being solicited by Sandy Ward.  Volunteers to staff the auction tables on May 5 will also be needed, as always.
• Recruiting and nominating potential new board members to fill anticipated openings. (One-third of our three-year terms expire each year; elections will be held in June.) Contact Connie Kennedy or Darlene Elias if you would like to serve on the Nominating Committee or have suggestions for people to nominate.
• Improving the workflow of our newsletter production. We seek someone with knowledge of, and access to, Publisher software (or other appropriate software for creating a newsletter).

In addition, Friends are busy helping the Library Campaign Office prepare for a series of April events that will benefit the Library. First and foremost is the special gala on April 4th celebrating the work of photographer Jerome Liebing. Christine Alger, President of the Friends, has helped plan that party. Throughout the month of April there will be many art exhibits in conjunction with, or inspired by, the 1982 Liebling photographs of Holyoke. Sandy Ward has participated in a "Ripple Effect" project involving photos taken by teens at Girls, Inc. Artworks created from the Library's old glass floor panels will be on display as the Glass Block Art Project. See the Holyoke: Points of View website, http://hpov.org/ for a complete list of exhibits and more information about each.

Christine Alger, Tim Damon, and Sandy Ward will be hosting tours of the library construction site in upcoming months. A new schedule has just been arranged -- now on Wednesday afternoons at 2pm. Contact Debra Vega at the Campaign office (322-5636) if YOU want to sign up for a tour!

Poetry Reading

Come to the Library at City Hall this Saturday, March 9th, at 11:00 am to hear poet Nancy Denig read selections of her poems.

Friends member Dan Fitzgerald invited her and will introduce her.

Critic Jendi Reiter has commented that reading Nancy Denig’s poetry is “like uncovering a treasure trove of snapshots boxed in the attic – fleeting images that make us conscious of the great arc of time, and of ourselves as small but precious points on that wheel.”

Nancy Watkins Denig is a Massachusetts native who returned to Western Massachusetts in 1992, after intervening years in Chicago, Germany, and metropolitan DC. 

She began writing poetry in midlife, inspired by her life-long love of the arts, her career as a landscape architect and, not least, by depths of her experience as family, lover, friend and fellow-traveler.

At the Library March 9, she will read a selection of recent poems, as well as excerpts from her published collections - Distaff Diaries, A Memoir in Verse and Suites.

Join us!   We'll be in the Library meeting room.

(Enter the City Hall via the entrance at the back parking lot; come up the elevator to the 2nd floor.  The meeting room is accessible from a hallway that runs from the Library's lobby to the Children's area,)

Construction Progress!

Much progress is being made at the Library construction site. Friends President Christine Alger took a tour in January and gave an enthusiastic report at the Friends Board meeting on February 13. Board members Connie Kennedy and Sandy Ward joined a tour on February 19 and captured these photos.

Tom Ryan of D.A. Sullivan & Sons (the Owners Project Managers, or O.P.M., for this huge construction project) led each tour.  Library Director María Pagán helped explain what would be where in the finished library.

Two spaces of particular interest to the Friends are now visible. The Children's Story-Telling Area, for which the Friends have pledged $100,000, is now well-defined on the second floor of the addition.

Here is the view from inside the Story-Telling area.

The wall outside the Story-Telling area was being painted as we walked by. It is at the south end of the very large new Children's Room. This photo illustrates a point made by our tour guide on February 19: the project now includes a mix of rough construction and fine finishing, a variety of different types of work going on simultaneously.

Connie in the Friends office space

We were delighted to see the room that will become the Friends office. The Friends organization will at last have a real place to store files, work on projects, and have meetings of committees or small groups.

Our room is in the basement, or "Lower Level," which has been remarkably transformed from the odd mix of different levels and spaces that used to be under the 1902 building. This Lower Level also includes library staff work areas, the Director's Office, and a large room for compact shelving to hold archival collections.

In the photo at left, Sandy is standing on the 1902 main floor level near where new stairways (connecting all levels, old and new) will be constructed. Behind her is the Children's Room (above) and new main floor/entrance area (below).

Because the Library's new entrance faces Chestnut Street, a new address has been assigned: 250 Chestnut Street.

Friendly workmen greeted us, including this proud Friend of the Library who had just finished cleaning the hallway before we walked through.

If you would like to join one of the tours, which are scheduled every few weeks on Tuesday afternoons, please contact the Library Campaign office (Matt Blumenfeld or Debra Vega) at 413-322-5636.

Hard hats are provided. Tour groups are limited in size to avoid disrupting the on-going work.

Glass block publicity: ABC 40, MassLive

Samples of the glass floor panels from the Library's stack wing are on display on the 2nd floor of City Hall. A TV camera team from abc40-WGGY came Monday January 14th to interview members of HPL's Glass Block Committee about a new initiative for creative re-use of selected glass blocks.  The 6 o'clock evening news included this report:

Holyoke Public Library announces art competition

Monday morning MassLive posted an excellent article by Mike Plaisance:

Holyoke Public Library glass floor panels offered as catalyst to community art event

Deadline for submission of proposals in January 31.  Entry forms and details are now available on the Library's website, both on the home page and on a new page that includes links to history of the old stacks.

Some glass blocks are also FOR SALE to the public. Friends of the Library receive a 20% discount.  One size category has sold out, but others remain in stock.  Contact María Pagán to order.

2012 Progress towards new Library

As 2012 ends, let's look back at the past twelve months of progress in constructing Holyoke's Library of the future.   See this photo gallery documenting the construction:

Library Construction Photos
(Click the Slideshow button, upper right, to watch the images flip by)

Construction started in earnest in mid-January 2012. Now, less than twelve months later, the building project is 60% complete -- on budget and on schedule for an opening in fall 2013. That is something to CELEBRATE!     Happy New Year!

The gallery includes some videos created with images from a time-lapse camera stationed on the Masonic Lodge roof, across Chestnut Street. You'll have to stop the slide show to see the videos.

Ornament selling well!

The new ornament featuring a City Hall stained glass window is selling well. Many stores and locations are assisting us with the sales. In Holyoke, you can purchase ornaments at The Cottage, LaJustice Printing, DE Bourque Auto Repair, Highland Hardware, Pizza D'Action, as well as at the Library and the Mayor's Office in City Hall. In South Hadley, visit The Odyssey Bookshop.

Today, Tuesday Dec 18, 5:00 -7:00 pm, we will be selling both new and older ornaments at the special Raffle event and celebration at Gateway City Arts, 92 Race Street, Holyoke.  All proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Holyoke Public Library’s expansion and renovation project. The raffle drawing (for 3-yr lease of 2013 Hyundai Elantra,  ski vacation, and Barnes and Noble gift basket) will take place at 6:30pm. Come enjoy beer tasting and live music before the drawing.