The Children’s Books Collaborative for Peace, Justice and Environment has been generously funded by the Markham-Nathan Fund for Social Justice, the Greenfield Savings Bank, and New England War Tax Resistance.
2022
In 2020 and 2021 libraries could not hold public programs with children during the Covid pandemic. In 2022 Traprock’s Children’s Book Collaborative partnered with the Family Support program at Montague Catholic Social Ministries (MCSM). In their Love2Grow program, parents and children meet weekly for an hour of reading children’s books together. With our grant they could buy a book for each family, each month, building a library for reading at home. See photos and more on the program, from MCSM, here. Given the success of the program, we will partner together again in 2023.
2019
In 2019 the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice partnered with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in Sierra Leone. This marks the first time that Traprock’s book collaboration program reached beyond the local area, indeed beyond the ocean to another continent.
Click here to read more about the collaboration and about some of the history of Sierra Leone.
Read the Recorder article here.
2018
In 2018 the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice partnered with the Montague Libraries and awarded the libraries $1,000 to purchase fiction and nonfiction books for children on subjects including world peace, empathy, friendship, diversity, tolerance, community, and humans’ place in the natural environment. Our partnership agreement also included the library sponsoring five community events using selected books from the collection.
The Montague libraries purchased nearly 100 books for children ranging in age from early childhood to young teens and displayed them in the library.
Click here to see a list of the books.
Children’s librarian Angela Rovatti-Leonard has held 3 creative events in summer and fall 2018, using books with art and craft activities and music. The art and crafts have been displayed in numerous community venues. She has planned a family book reading event near Earth Day and a youth-led book and film event for spring 2019.
Click here to read a brief summary of events.
Read the Recorder article here.
2017
Learning peace, justice through children’s books at Orange libraries
The Traprock Center for Peace and Justice in Greenfield awarded $1,000 to the Friends of the Orange Public Libraries this summer to purchase fiction and nonfiction books for children on subjects including world peace, empathy, friendship, diversity, tolerance, community, and humans’ place in the natural environment.
The Orange Public Libraries purchased nearly 100 books for children ranging in age from early childhood to young teens. Children’s librarian Jason Sullivan-Flynn described the selection as an eclectic mix of fiction titles that address children’s emotional and social growth, nature poetry, and non-fiction books on topics ranging from hard science on the environment to biographies of children and adults who have advanced human and civil rights.
The books will be on display at the Wheeler Memorial Library, and the Moore-Leland Library in North Orange beginning on Sept. 23.
Greenfield Recorder Sept 21, 2017: Orange libraries use $1K gift to buy children’s books
Kite-making Workshop
On Sept. 23, the library hosted a kite-making workshop for children 5 and older and their families at the Wheeler Memorial Library. The workshop began with Sullivan-Flynn reading one of the books purchased with the Traprock Center’s gift, Bruce Edward Hall’s “Henry and the Kite Dragon.” The workshop was made possible by the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice and was free and open to the public.
2016
Children at heart of this collection
GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Public Library will release a new collection of children’s books centered around themes of peace, social justice and nature during an event Saturday afternoon.
At least 60 books were purchased with a gift of $1,000 from the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice. Chosen by the library staff, the books include works of fiction and nonfiction on a variety of subjects — world peace, empathy, community, girls’ empowerment, welcoming immigrants and the natural environment. The event, which will include readings from some of the books, will take place from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Levanway Meeting Room.
“We welcome parents with children, teachers, young teenagers to come to this, enjoy the reading, see the books and bring their library card,” said Patricia Hynes, director of the Traprock Center. “One thing we hope is that teachers in the local school systems will become aware of this book collection, as well, so they can draw from it to do readings in the classroom or have children do readings in the classroom so that it will reach a much wider audience.”
Hynes said the Traprock Center reached out to the Greenfield library to collaborate on the project because it’s the largest town in Franklin County and, therefore, has the widest reach, but said the center hopes to work with other towns in the future.
“We know the library is very well used and loved,” she said.
Saturday’s event was also planned in celebration of International Peace Day, taking place Sept. 21.
Children’s Librarian Kay Lyons, who will be reading from several of the books, said the collection is meaningful to children as well as the adults who want to promote those themes of peace, justice and nature.
“It was really important to us to make these books fascinating to kids and interesting stories,” she said. “As well as conveying the themes of friendship and empathy, and we also wanted to include the environment.”
Hynes agreed, saying, “These are not didactic books, they are books that speak to the senses, to the heart — that challenge — so they would be the most engaging children’s books.”
This article originally appeared:
Greenfield Recorder: Children at heart of this collection
By AVIVA LUTTRELL
Recorder Staff
Thursday, September 15, 2016