[Libri] new home(s) for Massachusetts Center for the Book

[der Geist, der stets verneint]

Hampshire College

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2003
Contact:  Elaine Thomas, Director of Communications, 413-559-5482,
ethomas at hampshire.edu
At Simmons College, Diane Millikan, 617-521-2364
For Hampshire College Center for the Book, Associate Professor of History
Jim Wald, 413-559-5592

HAMPSHIRE, SIMMONS COLLEGES HOST MASS. CENTER FOR THE BOOK
Colleges Join Forces to Help Promote Books and Reading Across the
Commonwealth

AMHERST, MASS.‹Hampshire College in Amherst and Simmons College in Boston
have joined forces to host the Massachusetts Center for the Book, to help
promote and celebrate books, reading and libraries across the Commonwealth.

The new institutional hosts for the state Center for the Book will work with
Center affiliates across the state to plan and execute a number of creative
programs aimed at promoting books and book arts that hold a special place in
Massachusetts literary culture and history.

Affiliate members of the state Center, in addition to Hampshire and Simmons
colleges, are Five Colleges Inc., the American Antiquarian Society, the
Boston Public Library, the Mass. Board of Library Commissioners and the
Mass. Foundation for the Humanities.

The Center will base its Massachusetts Book Awards program and related
reading promotion activities at Hampshire College, which is also home to the
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and the National Yiddish Book Center.
There is also a Hampshire College Center for the Book at the college, a
faculty-run program that crosses disciplinary boundaries, focuses on
technology and text, and celebrates books as art.

The state Center will house its literary and library programming in the
offices of the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences
in Boston‹the largest library school in New England.

"We expect the resources of these two campuses to help tremendously in our
efforts to expand the circle of committed readers in the Commonwealth and to
foster an appreciation for the past, present and future of the book and book
arts in Massachusetts," said Sharon Shaloo, the state Center¹s executive
director.  "I can¹t think of two better institutions to help us in our next
stage of development."

The Center for the Book is a program begun by the Library of Congress in
1977 to promote books, reading, libraries and literacy.  The Center has 51
state-affiliated centers around the country, which use themes established by
the Library of Congress to develop programs and activities celebrating their
states¹ own book cultures and literary heritage.

Massachusetts programs include "Mother Goose Asks Why," for preschool
children to learn about the commonality of reading and scientific
investigation; "Letters about Literature," which honors school-age children
who write letters to their favorite authors; and the Massachusetts Book
Awards, an annual recognition of some of the most outstanding books written
by Massachusetts authors or published on Massachusetts themes.

The state Center¹s newest endeavor, scheduled for completion in the fall of
2003, is a statewide Literary Map, a map highlighting the home sites,
monuments, gravesites and historical monuments of the plethora of famous
Massachusetts authors.  An online version will also be developed.

For further information, go to www.massbook.org, or call the Center at
413-559-5678 in Amherst or 617-521-2719 in Boston.


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                    Bevor Dada da war, war Dada da.

James Wald                                   Hampshire College
Associate Professor of History      School of Social Science
Director,                                       G-15 Franklin Patterson Hall
Center for the Book                       Amherst, MA  01002-5001 USA


               "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
                Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." (Marx)