Williamstown's Public Library Celebrates 150 Years With Open House

03:23PM / Tuesday, March 05, 2024Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The public is invited to celebrate at a 150th Anniversary Open House at the Milne Library, 1095 Main Street in Williamstown on Saturday, March 9, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Attendees can visit with library staff, volunteers, trustees, and Friends.

Trio Café Budapest will entertain with music and Davis Bates, award winning singer and storyteller, will present two programs of participatory folk songs and stories for all ages at 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.

Robin Brickman, nationally known illustrator and school workshop leader, will present two one-hour bookmark-making workshops for children (ages 5 and up) at 11:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.

There will be cupcakes and lemonade from M & J's Taste of Home Events and Catering.

There will also be free drawings for a variety of prizes.

Other celebrations will occur throughout the year. The list of events can be found on the library's website: www.milnelibrary.org.

The Williamstown Public Library's 150th anniversary open house is made possible through funding by Trustees and Friends of the Milne Public Library.

In 1874, the citizens of Williamstown voted to establish a public library, supported by funds collected from dog licenses. From its beginnings in a corner of Cole's General Store on Water Street, the Milne Public Library now boasts a collection of 53,500 books, 6,700 card holders, and a circulation of over 100,000 last year.

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Williamstown CPC Again Sees More Requests than Funds Available

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:04AM / Monday, January 19, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Community Preservation Committee will meet on Tuesday to begin considering grant applications for the fiscal year 2027 funding cycle.

As has been the case in recent years, the total of the requests before the committee far exceed the amount of Community Preservation Act funds the town anticipates for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

Nine applications totaling $1,003,434 are on the table for the committee's perusal. The committee previously has discussed a limit of $624,000 in available funds for this funding cycle, about 62 percent of the total sought.

Over the next few weeks, the CPC will decide the eligibility of the applicants under the CPA and make recommendations to May's annual town meeting, which approves the allocations. Only once since the town accepted the provisions of the 2000 act have meeting members rejected a grant put forward by the committee.

The nine applications for FY27, in descending order of magnitude, are:

• Purple Valley Trails (in conjunction with the town): $366,911 to build a new skate park on Stetson Road (49 percent of project cost).

• Town of Williamstown: $250,000 in FY 27 (with a promise of an additional $250,000 in FY28) to support the renovation of Broad Brook Park (total project cost still unknown).

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