Delicious Books, Savory and Sweet
The Edible Book is coming! On Sunday, April 10, the beloved annual "funraiser" for the Friends of Forbes Library gets served at the Florence Civic Center, from 2 pm to 4 pm. Folks can submit literary creations of all kinds, from salads to entrees to desserts. To enter a comestible book, fill out a registration form, available at the Edible Book display in the Forbes Library lobby or online. It costs $10 to enter, and only $5 to simply attend. Some create. Some attend. Everyone eats!
A scene from last year's Edible Book event.
The Building of I-91 Set as Program
For Friends Annual Meeting
The building of Interstate 91, from New Haven to the Canadian border, had an enormous economic, social and physical impact on the Pioneer Valley. Barry Deitz, a Bernardston resident, has studied the effects of the interstate on our area and will present an audiovisual program at the annual meeting of the Friends of Forbes Library, Wednesday, April 6, at 7 pm in the Coolidge Museum. An editor, filmmaker and writer, Deitz moved to the Pioneer Valley in 2013 and is active in community theater, documentary filmmaking and local history. The program, free and open to the public, follows the Friends' annual meeting at 6:30 pm.
Two Museums Added to Free Pass List 
Forbes Library’s 2016 allotment of discount passes to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has arrived. Library patrons now may also borrow passes to the Worcester Art Museum and the New Britain Museum of American Art. WAM, as the Worcester museum is known, is the second largest art museum in New England, after the MFA in Boston. It was the first institution to move an entire medieval building from Europe and install it in the U.S. The New Britain Museum in Connecticut has, in its permanent collection, colonial portraits as well as works from the Hudson River School, the American Impressionists and the Ash Can School. The museum pass program is funded by the Friends of Forbes Library.
The New Britain Museum of American Art
Mikki Michon Leaves Friends Board
After 15 Years of Service
Mikki Michon is leaving the Friends of Forbes Library board after 15 years. For much of that time she served as secretary. At the March 1 board meeting, she was feted with a delicious chocolate cake. Ms. Michon will be missed, and the board warmly thanks her for her many contributions.
Friends Offer Matching Grant
For Valley Gives Day
Valley Gives Day skipped 2015 for a major calibration, and we missed it big time. But it returns this year on May 3. The 24-hour online giving event encourages philanthropy among residents of the Pioneer Valley, and donors have been especially generous in years past in contributing to Forbes Library at valleygivesday.org. This year the Friends group is offering a matching grant, so your giving dollars will be doubled! "Our community is always so generous on Valley Gives Day," said Lisa Downing, Forbes assistant director, "and this year all donations up to $6,000 will be doubled by a challenge grant from the Friends to support  programs, lectures, movies and concerts for patrons of all ages." 
Trustees Welcome New Board Members
Katy Wight and Elaine Reall, the two new Forbes trustees elected in November, were seated in January. The trustees then reelected Russell Carrier president and chose Marjorie Hess to be vice president. This year's Trustees Award will go to the two board members who gave up their posts, Peter Rowe and Bonnie Burnham, in a special ceremony in the Coolidge Museum on April 30 at 2 pm.
From left to right, standing: Lisa Downing, assistant director, Katy Wight, Russell Carrier, Elizabeth Sheirer, Joseph Twarog; sitting: Elaine Reall, Marjorie Hess, Scott Morin, and Janet Moulding, director.