Tuesday, May 8, 2012

MLA Raffles Treats From the West


The Western MA Library Advocates (WMLA) donated a basket for the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) raffle. Contents of the basket were donated by generous western Massachusetts businesses and institutions and members of the WMLA Board. We hope it will raise lots of money for MLA. Buy chances (votes) at the conference to support your favorite basket.

FOOD & DRINK
Ale – 1 Bottle “Red Giant” – Element Brewing Co., Millers Falls, MA
Coffee (12oz ), Barrington “Berkshire Blend” , Lee, MA
Candy – 2 pkgs Berkshire Bark, “white lightening” & “mocha buzz”, Sheffield, MA
Cookies – 1 pkg. Coconut Madaroons, Klara’s Gourmet Cookies, Lee, MA
Jam/Jelly – 1 Jar Mother’s “Cranbery Cider Jelly”, Shelburne, MA
1 Jar - Tortured Orchard “Sweet Apple Blush”, No. Egremont, MA
Maple Syrup (1 qrt) – Cobble Mountain Sugar House, Blandford, MA
Relish – 1 Jar Mother’s “Sweet Red Pepper”, Shelburne Falls, MA
Seasonings – 1 Bottle Chubby’s BarBQ Sauce Greenfield, MA
1 Bottle Chubby’s Blackeing Spice
Wine - 1 Bottle, “Splash of White”, Les Trois Emme Vineyard & Winery, New Marlborough, MA

PASSES & TICKETS
Arts Festival – 2 Paradise City Arts Festival, Northampton, MA
Museum Pass – Family 4 Pack Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA
Museum Tickets – 2 MASS MOCA, North Adams. Ma
2 Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
Theater – 2 Majestic Theater, West Springfield, MA

SUNDRIES
Books - Bill Danielson, “Speaking of Nature”
Pioneer Valley Guide Book w/ Coupon Booklet
Candles - 1 Tumbler “Frosted Cake”, Kringle Candle, Bernardston, MA
2 Votives
1 100 HR+ Pure Radiance, “Beachfront”, Yankee Candle, So. Deerfield, MA
LED Flashlight (Rechargeable, w/USB wire) – UMASS, Amherst, MA
Necklace – 17” Vermeil Bead, by Jan Resnick, So. Hadley, MA
Travel Mug – 1 Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
1 Westfield State University, Westfield, MA
T-Shirt - Stockbridge Public Library Centennial, Stockbridge, MA

+++ 4 Cloth Napkins & Surprise Package+++


Hampshire Council of Governments and UMass Amherst Libraries Honor County's 350th

Limited Edition Prints will be available for sale at Northampton's Art Night Out on Friday, May 11 

 

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (April 12, 2012) – The Hampshire Council of Governments and UMass Amherst Libraries recently selected 44 historic documents to reproduce and offer for sale as a cooperative fundraising effort and to commemorate the 350th Anniversary of Hampshire County. The reproductions were selected from the collection of dockets, session books, maps, and other paper records dealing with Hampshire County business from as early as 1677 that the Council transferred to UMass Amherst Libraries last year.

Proceeds from the sale of limited edition prints during the summer months of Arts Night Out in Northampton will benefit the Old Hampshire County Courthouse renovation project and the continued digitization of the collection at UMass Amherst Libraries. The reproductions include an indictment for witchcraft in 1683 and lists of licensees for selling spirituous liquors to a copy of a Shay’s Rebellion broadside. Rare maps of area towns are also part of the limited edition offering, most dating to the mid-1800s.

The Libraries received the historic collection, which has been valued at $206,000, from Hampshire Council last year. “We wanted to allow for the permanent preservation of our valuable history in a manner that would keep the records in the public domain and in a format that will permit easy access,” says Todd Ford, Executive Director of the Council.

Rob Cox, head of Special Collections and University Archives at UMass Amherst, calls the collection “a historic treasure of western Massachusetts… an acquisition that expands our services and resources to scholars in legal studies, genealogists, landscape and regional planners, developers, and engineers.”

The records are securely housed in the Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives offices on the 25th floor of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Many are available for view online, and all are available for use on site by appointment.

The reproduction prints will be framed by local framers and will be part of a summer-long silent auction. A limited number of additional prints will be available for sale on an ongoing basis through the Arts Night Out Gallery in the Old Hampshire County Courthouse.

Contact: Todd Ford, Executive Director, 413-584-1300 x 121, tford@hampshirecog.org
Carol Connare, Director of Library Development and Communication, 413-545-0995, cconnare@library.umass.edu