WELCOME TO THE BECKET ATHENAEUM


In 1887 a small group of people from Becket met "to maintain a library, reading room, and to promote education, temperance, morality, good citizenship and the general welfare". The incorporation papers were signed by the secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on March 8, 1888, establishing the Becket Athenaeum, Inc. A board of trustees has governed the Athenaeum since that time.
About this time Miss Blanche Perkins purchased a building used in Becket as a saloon and gave it to the library, "to remove from the community a source of evil and to substitute a fountain of good". However, on November 4, 1927 a tragic flood destroyed a portion of Becket Village and the records of the library from 1888 to 1927 were lost. After this tragedy, Miss Cerelia Snow donated her Pleasant Street home to the library and it remained there until 1965. This building was somewhat isolated from the rest of the town so when the trustees were offered the Becket Grange, formerly the First Congregational Church built in 1849, they hired an architect to redesign the interior so it could be functional as a library. The library remains in this building today and serves the people of both Becket and Washington.

SERVICES

BOOKS

The Becket Athenaeum has a permanent collection of nearly 17,000 fiction and non-fiction books for adults and children. In addition to these books the Western Massachusetts Bookmobile brings materials from their extensive collection every eleven weeks. At this time around 300 books are exchanged providing a variety of fiction and non-fiction for all ages that otherwise the library could not afford to purchase. Books may be checked out for two weeks.

VIDEOS AND AUDIOS

The Athenaeum now owns over 1200 video and DVD’s and has increased purchase of books on tape as well, bringing that total to about 300 items for patrons’ home use. In addition to this when the regional Bookmobile comes the library exchanges around 200 videos and audios from their extensive collection.

INTER-LIBRARY LOAN

A fine feature of the Massachusetts Library System is the Inter Library Loan service. Staff can order patron requests for items the library does not own according to title, author or subject through CWMARS and Western Massachusetts Regional Library System. These items usually take a week or two to arrive through the weekly van delivery from WMRLS and come from numerous libraries throughout the country. Patrons can borrow them for two weeks.

NEW MATERIALS
The staff purchases new books, DVD’s, and audio books every four weeks keeping in mind patron interest and collection needs. The library receives many donations of new books from generous patrons that add to the permanent collection. In 2006 the Athenaeum was awarded memorial funds from various patrons for specific items. There were also two large memorial grants from The Beatty Family and the Elizabeth Wilson Family for children’s books, that helped the library update and enrich a much out dated part of the library’s children’s section.



Thursday, January 21, 2010

Book Club

Please Join
The Becket Athenaeum Book Club
on
Tuesday, February 2nd at 3 pm
to discuss
"Infidel"
by
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Posted by Becket at 6:11 PM 0 comments

Movies Recently Added to Our Collection

Aliens in the Attic
Angels & Demons
Cadillac Records
Columbus Day
Devil's Tomb
Disney Nature Earth
District 9
Dragonball Evolution
Get Smart
The Great Buck Howard
The Hangover
Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Inglorious Bastard
Julie & Julia
Knowing
Night at the Museum 2
Public Enemies
Traitor
Two Lovers
What's Love Got to Do With It
What Love Is






Posted by Becket at 4:25 PM 0 comments

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Board Game Day

PLEASE JOIN US FOR BOARD GAME DAY
ON
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3OTH AT 3 PM

Posted by Becket at 5:41 PM 0 comments

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Family Movie Night

Please Join us on

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15TH
AT 6:00 PM

for the showing of

HARRY POTTER AND THE
HALF- BLOOD PRINCE

This movie is rated PG
and is 135 minutes long
Posted by Becket at 11:03 AM 0 comments

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Book Club

"The Time Traveler's Wife"
by
Audrey Niffenegger

is the book chosen for the next book club discussion
which will be held on

Tuesday, January 5th at 3 pm
Posted by Becket at 12:40 PM 0 comments

Movies Recently Added to Our Collection

17 Again

American Girl

The Code

Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons

The Deal

Dexter: The First Season

Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas/ Horton Hears a Who

Duplicity

Elmo’s World - Happy Holidays

The Grinch

Just Cause

Lakeview Terrace

Land of the Lost

Lights: The Miracle of Chanukah

Meet Dave

My Life in Ruins

Peanuts Holiday Collection

Perfect Holiday

The Proposal

Seven Pounds

Smother

Speed Racer

Steel City

The Wendell Baker Story

The Wizard of Oz

Posted by Becket at 12:33 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

New Books Added to Our Collection

Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
Breathless by Dean Koontz
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safra Foer
Fourfold Path to Healing by Thomas S. Cowan
Fresh Air with Terry Gross by Terry Gross
Good Eats The Early Years by Alton Brown
Half Broke Horses, a True Life Novel by Jeannette Walls
How to Roast a Lamb by Michael Psilakis
Ivy Portfolio How to Invest Like the Top Endowments & Avoid Bear Markets by Mebane Faber
Last Words by George Carlin
Life After Death :The Evidence by Dinesh D'Souza
Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio by David Gardner
NPR Funniest Driveway Moments by Mel Brooks
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Quiet Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas
Viking in the Wheat Field: A Scientists Struggle by Susan Dworkin
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Posted by Becket at 5:12 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Save the Date

Announcing the 10th Annual
Becket Athenaeum Holly Ball




Saturday, December 5th
Tickets: $45 each
This year the Holly Ball will be held at the locally owned Pioneer Grill in Chester. Entertainment will be supplied by local musician Dave Bacon. Space is limited--we recommend reserving early.


Put on your party shoes and join us for fine food, good music, fascinating company, and a fabulous raffle!

Call or e-mail for more information or to make a reservation:
BecketAthenaeum@gmail.com ~ 623-5483
(Please contact the library, not the Pioneer Grill)
Thank You!
Posted by Becket at 6:55 PM 0 comments

Thursday, September 24, 2009

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
7 PM
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS
THIS MOVIE IS RATED PG
AND IS 94 MINUTES LONG
Posted by Becket at 8:39 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 10, 2009

October Book CLub Meeting

"RED BADGE OF COURAGE"
by
Stephen Crane

is the selection for the next book club discussion
which will be held on
Tuesday, October 6th at 3pm
Posted by Becket at 3:11 PM 0 comments
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Story Time with Purr

Story Time with Purr

And Craft Time with Robyn

And Craft Time with Robyn

Boy Scouts from Troop 26 Donating Weekender Bags

Boy Scouts from Troop 26 Donating Weekender Bags