Berkshire Athenaeum's Employee Earns Mass History Alliance Award

08:13AM / Wednesday, June 15, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Massachusetts History Alliance has awarded Ann- Marie Harris, a longtime staffer in the Berkshire Athenaeum's Local History Department, with its STAR Award.

The Mass History Alliance, which recognizes excellence in local and public history in Massachusetts, designates the award to specifically honor a "long-term commitment, outstanding work with concrete results, exemplary innovation, local leadership for change, and contributions to equity and justice," according to a press release.

Harris, who has been a full-time staff member since 2003, received the award at the organization's conference held in June.

During her tenure, Harris has become a partner of the Berkshire Family History Association, including welcoming volunteers and over 80,000 rolls of microfilm during the library's integration of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) archives.

Library Director Alex Reczkowski said the award was a fitting recognition for Harris' comprehensive service.

"Ann-Marie's expertise is far-reaching. She has long been an expert on digital microfilm machines, even serving as an early tester for ScanPro, an industry leader," said Reczkowski, of Harris, who's also a lifelong resident of Pittsfield. "Her passion for sharing what she knows has shown in her coordination of annual third grade classroom visits to the library and previous service on the district board of the Boy Scouts of America. Her service continues as a current member of the Pittsfield Historical Commission. The Athenaeum is proud to have their 'STAR' recognized."

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Pittsfield Wants People to Know Where Free Public Wifi Is

By Brittany PolitoiBerkhshires Staff
04:46AM / Friday, September 18, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants it to be clear where people can connect to free public wifi— which expands beyond downtown.

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission approved "Free Wifi" signage at The Common, Riverway Park, and Durant Park. Community members can access the internet without charge in these locations, as well as in downtown areas.

Two years ago, Pittsfield received a $99,972 Digital Equity Implementation Grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. This allowed the city to take a comprehensive look at digital equity and determine where to focus attention.

"That was a lengthy process that we worked on, and there was a lot of public input. We did some surveying. We met with a lot of focus groups; [Berkshire Regional Planning Commission] was the group that spearheaded that for us, and one of the things that came up was the lack of accessible wifi," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds reported. "Particularly in the westside."

Throughout this process, residents also wanted to see connectivity at the nearby Westside Riverway Park.

In 2023, Pittsfield was selected to participate in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program launched by the state and MBI, focused on ensuring residents can use the internet to conduct day-to-day activities. A digital equity plan also qualifies Pittsfield for additional grant funding.

Around 16,000 city households qualified for the Federal Communications Commission's affordable internet program that ended in 2024.

Dodds said adding Wi-FI and signage to Durant and Riverway Parks is a small piece of the larger digital equity project. Signage is already downtown, and the city plans to hire the same designer for the expanded wayfinding so it is cohesive.

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