Clapp Memorial Library

Artober 2021
2021-10-16 08:00 - 17:00, 2021-10-17 08:00 - 17:00, 2021-10-18 08:00 - 17:00, 2021-10-19 08:00 - 17:00, 2021-10-20 08:00 - 17:00, 2021-10-21 08:00 - 17:00, 2021-10-22 08:00 - 17:00, 2021-10-23 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) and 8 more dates | Virtual, MA
Daily art prompts all through October.
Artober is here! Artober is a month-long program that encourages artists of all levels to create something once a day in the medium of your choice during the month of October based on our daily art prompts.
Share your art on Instagram/Facebook with the hashtag #cmlartober2021 and tagging us @clapplibrary. You can also email us at clapp@cwmars.org and we’ll share your creations!
Looking for more inspiration? Don’t forget to check out CreativeBug for projects and classes.

Bedtime Story Time
2021-10-17 19:30 - 20:00, 2021-10-24 19:30 - 20:00 | Virtual, MA
Put on your pajamas and get cozy for a bedtime story, read to you by Ms Jennifer at the Clapp Memorial Library. These events are geared towards students at Cold Spring and Swift River schools as part of their Read-A-Thon. A link will be posted for families to join through Zoom. Jennifer will begin letting people “in” around 7:25 pm. Once Jennifer has started reading, she may not see to let families join, so please be on time.
Link for 10/24:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/96143789783?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 961 4378 9783
Passcode: [REDACTED]
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,96143789783#,,,,*[REDACTED]# US (Chicago)
+19292056099,,96143789783#,,,,*[REDACTED]# US (New York)
Dial by your location
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
Meeting ID: 961 4378 9783
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Monday Firststeps Storytime (Fall 2021)
2021-10-18 10:00 - 11:00, 2021-10-25 10:00 - 11:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
10:00-10:45 AM, Mondays, Sept 13th, 20th, 27th, & Oct 4th, 18th, 25th
Firststeps is for ages 0 – 24 months and begins @ 10:00 AM. Registration is required. Our storytimes feature age-appropriate stories, songs, finger plays and art activities.
Program will take place on the Library lawn, families need to bring chairs/blankets and water, sunscreen, and bug repellant are suggested. Masks are not required, but caregivers are responsible for helping children maintain social distance. No pets.
Registration open until all slots are filled – just sign up through Beanstack and Jennifer Whitehead, Children’s Librarian, will be in touch!
When the Belchertown Public Schools have a delay or closure due to the weather, story times are canceled.

Tuesday Storytime (Fall 2021)
2021-10-19 10:00 - 11:00, 2021-10-26 10:00 - 11:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
10:00-10:45 am, Tuesdays, Sept 14th, 21st, 28th, & Oct 5th, 19th, 26th.
Toddlertime is for 2 year olds and begins @ 10:00 AM. Registration is required. Our storytimes feature age-appropriate stories, songs, finger plays and art activities.
Program will take place on the Library lawn, families need to bring chairs/blankets and water, sunscreen, and bug repellant are suggested. Masks are not required, but caregivers are responsible for helping children maintain social distance. No pets.
Registration open until all slots are filled – just sign up through Beanstack and Jennifer Whitehead, Children’s Librarian, will be in touch!
When the Belchertown Public Schools have a delay or closure due to the weather, story times are canceled.

Thursday Preschool (Fall 2021)
2021-10-21 10:00 - 11:00, 2021-10-28 10:00 - 11:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
10:00-11:00 am, Thursdays, Sept 16th, 23rd, 30th, & Oct 7th, 21st, 28th
Preschool Storytime is for 3-6 year olds and begins @ 9:00 AM. Registration is required. Our storytimes feature age-appropriate stories, songs, finger plays and art activities.
Program will take place on the Library lawn, families need to bring chairs/blankets and water, sunscreen, and bug repellant are suggested. Masks are not required, but caregivers are responsible for helping children maintain social distance. No pets.
Registration open until all slots are filled – just sign up through Beanstack and Jennifer Whitehead, Children’s Librarian, will be in touch!
When the Belchertown Public Schools have a delay or closure due to the weather, story times are canceled.

NaNoWriMo Information Session
2021-10-25 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual, MA
Calling all young writers, poets, playwrights, and novelists! The Clapp Memorial Library will once again host virtual writing programs, or “Teen Write Nights,” for teens in grades 7-12 throughout the month of November. This program celebrating National Novel Writing Month is a great opportunity for teen writers to get feedback, build community, participate in writing exercises and grow their word count. There will be a virtual Information Session for interested teens on Monday, October 25th, from 7:00-8:00PM. Young writers should e-mail clapplibrarytab@gmail.com for more information about the program and to register. Teens must register to receive the link to the virtual program.

Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club (Virtual)
2021-10-26 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual, MA
A monthly book group for lovers of high fantasy, hard science fiction, fable, far future, and all of the speculative fiction options. We are currently meeting virtually on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 6PM.
Upcoming Meetings:

July 26th – Light from Uncommon Stars – Ryka Aoki
August 23rd – A Memory Called Empire – Arkady Martine

To sign-up or ask questions email Tegan at tmannino@cwmars.org.

Spooky Craft
2021-10-27 16:30 - 17:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Join the Clapp Memorial Library, led by one of our Teen Advisory Board members and the Head of Youth Services, for some creative, spooky fun. Students ages 7 to 12 years will need to pick up a bag of materials at the CML between Monday, 10/18 and Tuesday, 10/26. We will all meet virtually on Wednesday the 27th at 4:30 pm to work together on crafts. Students must be available for both dates.
The only supplies students will need at home are; a black pen, scissors, glue, a small paint brush and fork (optional). (Please let us know if there is a supply you do not have).
Registration is required and will be on a first come, first serve. To register, send an email to Jennifer Whitehead, jwhitehead@cwmars.org with Spooky Craft in the subject. Include the student’s name, age, and phone number.

Massachusetts Must Read Authors - Noe Alvarez ('Spirit Run')
2021-10-27 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual, MA
On Wednesday, October 27 at 7pm, The Clapp Memorial Library is joining the Tewksbury Public Library in hosting author Noe Alvarez for a presentation on his latest book, Spirit Run: A 6000-Mile Marathon Through North America’s Stolen Land, hosted through Zoom. Spirit Run was a named a MUST READ BOOK in the Massachusetts Center of the Book’s Mass Book Awards.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
About The Book: Noe Álvarez, the son of working-class Mexican immigrants, fled a life of labor in fruit-packing plants to run a four-month-long Indigenous marathon from Canada to Guatemala that pushed him to his limits. He’ll discuss his harrowing journey — overcoming hunger, thirst, and fear, as well as the dangers he encountered, including stone-throwing motorists and a mountain lion. Alvarez will also share his reimagining of North America and his place in it, exploring Indigenous and working-class humanity in a capitalist society where oil extraction, deforestation, and substance abuse wreck communities.
About The Author: Noe Alvarez holds degrees in philosophy and creative writing from Whitman College and Emerson College, respectively. Alvarez studied conflict analysis, peacemaking, and conflict resolution at American University and in Northern Ireland, received a fellowship at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, and researched U.S. drug policy, military aid, and human rights issues in Colombia’s Putumayo jungles. He lives in Boston, where, until recently, he worked as a security officer at one of the nation’s oldest libraries, the Boston Athenæum. Learn more about Alvarez HERE.

Panel Discussion With All 2021 Agatha Award Nominees For Best First Novel
2021-11-03 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual, MA
On Wednesday, November 3 at 7pm, the Clapp Memorial Library is joining the Tewksbury Public Library in hosting an all-star panel discussion featuring all five nominees for this year’s Agatha Award for Best First Mystery Novel — Esme Addison (A Spell For Trouble); Tina deBellegarde (Winter Witness); Mary Keliikoa (Derailed); Erica Ruth Neubauer (Murder At The Mena House); and Laura Jensen Walker (Murder Most Sweet) via Zoom. Author Catriona McPherson will serve as moderator.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
About The Authors:
Ever since Esme Addison discovered Nancy Drew, she’s wanted to solve mysteries. As a mystery author, she’s finally found a way to make that dream come true. Esme lives on the North Carolina coast with her family. When she’s not writing or dreaming up new mysteries for her sleuths to stumble upon, you can find her dancing her calories away in Zumba, patronizing her local bookstores or visiting the beach, the mountains and all historical sites in between. Learn more about Esme HERE.
Tina deBellegarde’s debut novel, Winter Witness, was nominated for an Agatha Award, a Silver Falchion Award and a Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem Award. Tina also writes short stories and flash fiction. Her story “Tokyo Stranger” appears alongside celebrated authors in the Mystery Writers of America anthology When a Stranger Comes to Town edited by Michael Koryta. Tina’s short fiction also appears in the last two editions of The Best New England Crime Stories. She is the secretary of her local chapter of Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Mystery Writers of America, and Writers in Kyoto. Tina lives in Catskill, New York with her husband Denis where they harvest shiitake mushrooms and tend to their beehives. She travels to Kyoto, Japan regularly to visit her son Alessandro. Learn more about Tina HERE.
Mary Keliikoa is the author of the Shamus finalist and Lefty, Agatha and Anthony award nominated PI Kelly Pruett mystery series and the upcoming Misty Pines mystery series featuring Portland homicide detective turned small town sheriff slated for release in September 2022. Her short stories have appeared in Woman’s World and in the anthology Peace, Love and Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Music of the ‘60s. She is the Vice President of her local Sisters in Crime, and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, as well as Private Eye Writers of America. In addition, she volunteers her time as a Pitch Wars mentor. A Pacific Northwest native, she spent a part of her life working around lawyers. Combining her love of legal and books, she creates a twisting mystery where justice prevails. When not in Washington, you can find Mary on the beach in Hawaii where she and her husband recharge. But even under the palm trees and blazing sun, she’s plotting her next murder—novel that is. Learn more about Mary HERE.
Erica Ruth Neubauer, author of Murder at the Mena House, spent eleven years in the military, nearly two as a Maryland police officer and one as a high school English teacher before finding her way as a writer. She has been a reviewer of mysteries and crime fiction for publications such as Publishers Weekly and Mystery Scene Magazine for several years, and she’s a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Erica Ruth lives in Milwaukee, WI. Learn more about Erica HERE.
Agatha-nominated Laura Jensen Walker has loved mysteries since she read Trixie Belden in the fourth grade. A former reporter and the author of several books, including the Agatha-nominated Murder Most Sweet (her first Bookish Baker mystery) and Hope, Faith, & a Corpse, Laura is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Deadly Delights, her second Bookish Baker mystery, is her third cozy and 20th book. Learn more about Laura HERE.
About The Moderator: National-bestselling and multi-award-winning author Catriona McPherson was born in Scotland and lived there until immigrating to the US in 2010. She writes historical detective stories set in the old country in the 1930s, featuring gently-born lady sleuth, Dandy Gilver. After eight years in the new country, she kicked off the comic Last Ditch Motel series, which takes a wry but affectionate look at California life from the POV of a displaced Scot (where do we get our ideas, eh?). She also writes a strand of contemporary psychological thrillers. The latest of these is A Gingerbread House, which Kirkus called “a disturbing tale of madness and fortitude”. Catriona is a member of MWA, CWA, Society of Authors, and a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime. Learn more about Catriona HERE.

Teen Write Night
2021-11-03 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual, MA
Calling all young writers, poets, playwrights, and novelists!
Teens in grades 7-12 are invited to attend weekly, virtual Teen Write Nights throughout November as part of the library’s annual program for young writers during National Novel Writing Month. This is a great opportunity for teen writers to get feedback, build community, participate in writing exercises, and grow their word count!
Can’t make one of the dates? No problem! Attend as many of our Teen Write Nights as you want! Keep in mind that frequent attendance means more chances to win at our final party in December!
Young writers should e-mail clapplibrarytab@gmail.com for more information about the program and to register.
