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.



Wednesday, June 24, 2009

SCHOOL'S OUT
PIZZA & MOVIE PARTY
FRIDAY, JUNE 26TH
PIZZA AT 8:30
MOVIE AT 9:00
WE WILL BE SHOWING
Product Details
INKHEART
THIS MOVIE IS RATED PG AND
IS 106 MINUTES LONG

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Book Club Selection for July

"The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal"

by
Lily Koppel


The book club will be meeting on Tuesday, July 7th at 3 pm to discuss this book

Saturday, May 30, 2009

New Movies for June

BEAUTY SHOP
BIG RIG
BLACK DOG
THE COLOR OF FREEDOM
THE COMMITMENTS
DOUBT
FEAST OF LOVE
FEVER PITCH
FIVE DAYS
FLAWLESS
GIRLS ROCK!
HIGHWAYMEN
HOG HEAVEN RIVER RUN WILD
HOOSIERS
I DON'T BUY KISSES ANYMORE
KLEPTO
LUCKY NUMBERS
MARLEY & ME
PERSONAL EFFECTS
PERSONAL SERGEANT
REGARDING HENRY
SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM SEASON ONE
SECRET LIFE OF BEES
SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE
ST. PETER
STUCK ON YOU
THREE AMIGOS!
THREE BAD MEN
THE TIGER & THE SNOW
THE TOMMY KNOCKERS
TWILIGHT
WESLEY CASH

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Summer Hours

Our hours have changed
We are now open


TUESDAY 1 PM - 7 PM

THURSDAY 1 PM - 7 PM

SATURDAY 9:30AM-3:30PM

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Book Club Selection for June

"The Persian Pickle Club"
by Sandra Dallas
is the book chosen for the next discussion
which will take place on
TUESDAY, JUNE 2 at 3 pm

New Movies Added in May

13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING
AUSTRALIA
BARACK OBAMA
THE BARBIE DIARIES
BIRD BY BIRD WITH ANNIE
DARK MATTERS
FLASH OF GENIUS
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
THE LONGSHOTS
PINGU SOUTHPOLE ADVENTURES
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
ROOM
WILLOW
A WOMAN CALLED GOLDA

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Video Games Added to Our Collection

PlayStation 2
Avatar The Last Airbender
Eragon
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
The Legend of Spyro The Eternal Night
NCAA Football 06
NFL - Madden 2005
NFL Madden 05
Superman Returns

PlayStation 3
2KSports Major League Baseball
SONIC The Hedgehog

Wii
Agatha Christie And Then There Were None
Barbie Horse Adventures Riding Camp
NFL - Madden 07
Safecracker- The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure

XBOX 360
Namco Museum Virtual Arcade
The Simpsons Game
Ultimate Alliance

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Eclectic Book Club

The Book Club has chosen to read
"Sarah's Key"
by Tatiana de Rosnay
for the next discussion
which will take place on Tuesday, May 5th at 3 pm

Thursday, March 26, 2009

New Movies Added to Our Collection

THE AIR I BREATHE
ANDRE
BARBIE & THE MAGIC PEGASUS
BARBIE PRESENTS THUMBELINA
BATTLE IN SEATTLE
BOLT
BURN AFTER READING
THE DUCHESS
EAGLE EYE
EASTERN PROMISES
THE EXPRESS-THE ERNIE DAVIS STORY
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
HAPPILY EVER AFTER FAIRY TALES FOR EVERY CHILD
I AM NOT A TARGET!
INTERNET SAFETY: THE SAFE SIDE
MAMMA MIA!
THE MATRIX
THE NAMESAKE
NIGHT AT RODANTHE
RELIGULOUS
RESURRECTING THE CHAMP
RIGHTEOUS KILL
SAFE FROM HARM
SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK!
SPACE CHIMPS
THEN SHE FOUND ME
TROPIC THUNDER
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
W
WAR, INC.
THE WOMEN
THE X FILES : I WANT TO BELIEVE
YOGA FOR STRESS RELIEF

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Becket Washington Community Bulletin Board

BECKET-WASHINGTON COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD


We are pleased to announce that as part of the effort to support the exciting plans that came out of the economic summit, a Becket-Washington online bulletin board is up and running!  The purpose of this website is to create a cohesive source of community information, events, resources, and projects.  Here you will find a calendar of community events, posts about community initiatives, a listing of local businesses…and more to come!  If you have events to add, a local business to list, an announcement to post, or an update on a community initiative, please e-mail: BWCommunity@gmail.com. This is a work in progress--suggestions are welcome.  We look forward to building this website into a central means for residents to find and offer help during these difficult times, to build toward a strong and abundant future for Becket and Washington, and simply to find easily accessible ways of enjoying our rich and wonderful community!



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