Press Release

Simmons, Hampshire Colleges host Massachusetts Center for the Books
Colleges Join Forces to Help Promote Books and Reading Across the Commonwealth

BOSTON (Feb 25, 2003) - Simmons College in Boston and Hampshire College in Amherst have joined forces to host the Massachusetts Center for the Book, to help promote and celebrate books, reading and libraries across the Commonwealth.

The new institutional hosts for the state Center for the Book will work with Center affiliates across the state to plan and execute a number of creative programs aimed at promoting books and book arts that hold a special place in Massachusetts literary culture and history.

Affiliate members of the state Center, in addition to Simmons and Hampshire colleges, are the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Public Library, the Five Colleges Inc., the Mass. Board of Library Commissioners, and the Mass. Foundation for the Humanities.

The Center will base its literary and library programming in the offices of the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences in Boston - the largest library school in New England. It will locate the Massachusetts Book Awards program and related reading promotion activities at Hampshire College, which is also home to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and the National Yiddish Book Center.

"We expect the resources of these two campuses to help tremendously in our efforts to expand the circle of committed readers in the Commonwealth and to foster an appreciation for the past, present and future of the book and book arts in Massachusetts," said Sharon Shaloo, the state Center's executive director. "I can't think of two better institutions to help us in our next stage of development."

The Center for the Book is a program begun by the Library of Congress in 1977 to promote books, reading, libraries and literacy. The Center has 51 state-affiliated centers around the country, which use themes established by the Library of Congress to develop programs and activities celebrating their states' own book cultures and literary heritage.

Massachusetts programs include "Mother Goose Asks Why," for preschool children to learn about the commonality of reading and scientific investigation; "Letters about Literature," which honors school-age children who write letters to their favorite authors; and the Massachusetts Book Awards, an annual recognition of some of the most outstanding books written by Massachusetts authors or published on Massachusetts themes.

The state Center's newest endeavor, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2003, is a statewide Literary Map, a map highlighting the home sites, monuments, gravesites and historical monuments of the plethora of famous Massachusetts authors. An online version will also be developed.

For further information, go to www.massbook.org or call the Center at 617-521-2719 in Boston or 413-559-5482 in Amherst.

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