NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Fifty years ago this August, the trustees of the North Adams Public Library discussed creating a "friends" group which could raise funds to meet the library's needs. 

 

Some 80 groups had sprung up across the state to work with their local libraries to purchase much-needed equipment and even raise money for new buildings, they said. Among the library's wish list was a projector and screen for showing films. 

 

Within weeks, nearly a dozen volunteers gathered to formally establish the Friends of the North Adams Library, with their first event a lecture on the library's history by North Adams State College history professor Daniel Connerton.  

 

By November, Doris Loomis Crosier was elected president, and Connerton vice president. Both would remain active in the Friends for many years to come. 

 

In less than two years, the screening equipment had been purchased and the Friends were taking turns showing movies at local nursing homes and delivering books to residents who were homebound during the winter.  

 

The Friends have since raised tens of thousands of dollars to support the library and its programs. Its major annual fundraisers are the book sale, which brought in more than $8,000 last year, and the membership drive.

 

"Our membership campaign is higher because we really pushed for members this year, because libraries and funding are under attack," said President Bonnie Rennell, adding the Friends fund "just about anything." 

 

"When you think of most of the speakers that come, we pay the stipend. We've bought the movie licenses so they can show first-run movies. In the past, we've bought Chromebooks, computers, computer chairs, we do hardware."

 

The Friends also fund a lot of workshops — from stained glass to tote bag printing to a bubble maestro to getting up close to reptiles. 

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey read a proclamation marking the group's 50th anniversary at City Council last week, calling describing its members as "an invaluable asset and partner in preserving and advancing the mission of our library and our wonderful city, they are a shining example of civic pride, community engagement and cultural stewardship." 

 

The Friends held an ice cream social on the lawn of the library on Friday evening, followed by a well-attended talk and book-signing by best-selling author Joyce Maynard at Hotel Downstreet. 

 

Maynard spoke about her life, her challenges, her inspirations and her writing process. She's written fact and fiction; two of her novels, "To Die For" and "Labor Day," were adapted for film. 

 

She was gifted a bright red apron sporting a drawing of the Blackinton Mansion from the Friends and signed copies of her books, personalizing each one. 

 

Maynard, who lives in New Hampshire and California, also attended the ice cream social, chatting with the 60 more attendees and joked that she was so taken with the city she might buy a house here. 

 

She visited two museums the next day (presumably one was Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), then drove home over the Mohawk Trail. 

 

"I'm still a NH girl of course, but this part of Massachusetts is pretty darn beautiful," she wrote on a Facebook post that showed her standing on the library's magnificent staircase. 

 

Note: the Friends annual book sale will be held