Friends of Great Barrington Libraries

06/15/2026

Please join us Saturday June 27th from 4:00 – 6:00 PM for readings by poets Norman Fischer and Ted Pearson.

Come for great readings and good company, along with drinks and food provided by the Friends of Great Barrington Libraries.

Norman Fischer is a poet, author, graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a senior American Zen Buddhist priest. A resident of the Bay Area, he has been publishing since the late 1970’s, including more than thirty titles of poetry and prose. His most recent poetry titles are Through a Window, There Was A Clattering As…, Nature, and Men in Suits. Chax Press will bring out his collection PoEM in early 2027. Chax also is publisher of his Selected Poems 1980-2013.

Ted Pearson, born and raised in Palo Alto, is a seventh-generation Californian. In a career spanning six decades, Ted has published thirty-two books of poetry, most recently Epistrophy and Trilogy. He co-authored The Grand Piano, a ten-volume experiment in collective autobiography; co-edited Bobweaving Detroit: The Selected Poems of Murray Jackson, and edited Epilogue, a posthumous collection of Craig Watson’s last poems. His work has appeared in Canada, England, France, Spain, and India. He currently lives in Northampton, MA.

06/01/2026

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

It’s time to start our warm weather book sales in front of the Mason Library.

We need volunteers to be nearby to cover the books on days where rain is possible.

Job description:
1. Sign up for a 1-2 hour shift on days when rain is a possibility.
2. Stay downtown, near(ish) the library.
3. If it starts to rain, cover the book carts with a tarp.

Benefits:
Hang out on the Adirondack chairs and read or watch the world go by.
Talk with other book lovers, locals, second homeowners, and tourists.
Listen to people tell you how much they love libraries.

If interested call or stop by the Mason Library (413-528-2403) and sign up to volunteer.

06/01/2026

06/01/2026

Mahjong at the Mason Library.
FREE
Keep reading to see how you can register and play.

Is Mahjong the new pickleball? We’ll get a chance to test that theory at a free, introductory series for beginners and beyond which starts Thursday, June 4 in the Community Room at Mason Library in Great Barrington.

The tables, sets and cards for American Mahjong have been donated by Friends of the GB Libraries in order to make the fast growing, albeit ancient, game available to all.

Participants are encouraged to sign up at the circulation desk or online at the library website: gblibraries.org

The series will run every Thursday in June from 4:30 to about 6:30. Mason Library, 231 Main St., Great Barrington, 413-528-2403.

The Friends of GB Libraries present a beginner-friendly Mahjong series. Join us in the Mason Community Room from 4:30-6:30 pm every Thursday, starting June 4th, for an introduction to American Mahjong. Feel free to bring your own covered drink. This program is free, but seats are limited, so please....

05/26/2026

FREE POETRY READING AT MASON LIBRARY
Great Barrington

4-6 PM on Saturday, May 30th
Wine, cider and snacks will be served.

EVERYTHING IS FREE. EVERYONE IS WELCOME.

Poetry readings by Fiona Templeton and Amie Zimmerman

The OtherWords series is sponsored by the Friends of Great Barrington Libraries and the Board of Library Trustees.

Fiona Templeton is a poet, performance maker and director. Her books include the 6-play epic The Medead; the installation text Cells of Release; You-The City, an intimate Manhattanwide play for an audience of one; and Elements of Performance Art. She is artistic director of The Relationship, which also ran the 10-year program The Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Performance Writers. Templeton was born in Scotland and lives in New York City.

Amie Zimmerman is from Portland, Oregon. Her work has been published in Annulet, Denver Quarterly, Protean, and Lana Turner, among other journals. She is author of four chapbooks, including 31 Days/The Self and a debut full length collection, False Spring. Alongside Hajar Hussaini and Matthew Klane, Amie co-curates poetry reading series Salon Salvage in Troy, NY.

05/03/2026

This month’s themed book sale:
Coffee Table Books and Bio/Memoirs.

04/21/2026

FREE POETRY READING AT MASON LIBRARY
Great Barrington

4-6 PM on Saturday, April 25th
Wine, cider and snacks will be served.

EVERYTHING IS FREE. EVERYONE IS WELCOME.

Poetry readings by Kate Colby and Ann Lauterbach

The OtherWords series is sponsored by the Friends of Great Barrington Libraries and the Board of Library Trustees.

Kate Colby’s most recent book is Paradoxx, published last year. It was listed as one of the five most notable of 2025 by Literary Hub, as well as one of CLMP Members’ Most Celebrated Books of the year. She has received awards and fellowships from the Poetry Society of America and the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University, where she was a fellow in 2018. She is also a founding board member of the Gloucester Writers Center. Her work has recently appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Conjunctions, Harper’s, Lana Turner, Literary Hub, The Nation, The Paris Review and Poetry.

Ann Lauterbach is the author of eleven poetry collections, several chapbooks and three works of prose, including The Night Sky: Writings on the Poetics of Experience. Her Or to Begin Again was nominated for a National Book Award. Her most recent book Door (2023), was a finalist for the International Griffin Poetry Prize. She’s received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and the New York Council of the Arts. She was co-chair of Writing in Bard College’s MFA program from 1992 to 2020, where she continues to teach as the David and Ruth Schwab Professor of Languages and Literature.