Book Kits Designed to Get North Adams Reading

By Melanie Rancourt
Special to iBerkshires
02:27PM / Tuesday, December 30, 2008

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Young workers at the Eclipse Mill in 1911, taken by Lewis Hine. (LOC)

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — In an effort to bring the community closer together through reading, the public school system and the North Adams Public Library have collaborated and completed a project called Berkshire Reads. 

The North Adams Reads Committee consists of school staff and Marion Grillon, children's librarian at the library. 

"One of our goals in this project was for our community to have a common reading experience," said Susan Beauchamp, parent coordinator of the LINCS Parent Center for the North Adams Public Schools. 

"Instead of one book, as typically used in community-reads projects, ours became the topic 'Building Community Through Local History and the Arts — A Snapshot of North Adams,' which focuses on North Adams history," Beauchamp said. "We are exploring the stories of the past to see how our community became what it is today." 

The selection of reading materials chosen to be included in the project are a small collection of books, all of which explore local history, which are compiled into a kit. The kits also contain supporting materials and connected programs that will help children of all ages better understand the topic of immigration, reflecting the many different nationalities that settled in the city. 

Each kit contains three main books geared to different age groups. 

Lewis Hine/Library of Congress  Child labor was common at the turn of the last century. These boys worked at the Eclipse Mill on Union Street, now occupied by high-end condominiums. Check out the young tough smoking a pipe.

The first book, "Counting on Grace" by Elizabeth Winthrop of Williamstown, is the story of a young girl in nearby Pownal, Vt., who had to leave school in 1910 to work on the looms in a mill with her mother. This book's age range is 8 to 12. 

The second book, also written by Winthrop, is titled "Dear Mr. President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Letters from a Mill Town Girl." The story is about a 12-year-old North Adams girl named Emma who lives through the Great Depression and is the daughter of Italian immigrants. Worried about her family, she writes to President Roosevelt to ask him why things are so difficult for everyone. This book's age range is 9 to 11. 

The third book, "Forbidden Friendship" by Judith Eichler Weber, is about Molly, a young Massachusetts girl in the 1870s who befriends one of the Chinese workers brought in to replace striking employees at her father's shoe factory. It is based on real chapter in the city's history. This book's age range is 9 to 12. 

"The other books in the kit help to explore the topics introduced in these books, such as immigration, family history, child labor, mill work and North Adams history," Beauchamp said. "Each book in itself is fascinating, such as 'Stories From Our Hills' by Jean Jarvie." 

There are seven other books in the kit, each having a lesson plan and activity to go along with it that can be used by teachers or families. The Berkshire Reads Committee will be adding books and resourses to the kits throughout this project. 

The Berkshire Reads kits are currently available for lending at each school in North Adams for teachers. There is also one at the LINCS Parent Center available to parents, one at the North Adams Public Library for the entire community and, eventually, there will be one available at the Museum of History and Science and the Visitors Center at the Western Gateway Heritage State Park. The entire kit or individual books can be borrowed. 

"In the future, the Berkshire Reads Committee is hoping to offer a beginning genealogy workshop," Beauchamp said. "We would like to have book discussions, and we hope folks in the schools may choose this project to do some type of service-learning project on. We would like families to visit the Museum of History and Science and the Visitors Center in Heritage State Park and to begin to learn about our local history."
 
The project will run through April 2009, with community- and school-based events taking place throughout the coming months. 

Funding for this program was provided by The James and Robert Hardman Fund for North Adams, and the Gateway Fund, both administered by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Papyri Books is offering a 10 percent discount on the three main books, dependent on book availability. Mention North Adams Reads to receive the discount.

Beauchamp said the committee welcomes and encourages community organizations to offer programs based on the project. For more information, or to leave a message for the North Adams Reads Committee, contact the LINCS Parent Center at 664-7512 or e-mail northadamsreads@yahoo.com.

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