The Friends is a volunteer 501 (c)(3) organization that raises funds to provide and enrich adult and children’s programming, enhance the physical space and gardens of the library, and promote awareness of library events and services.
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2025 West Roxbury Reads Speakers Announced!
West Roxbury Reads (WRR) is a signature activity of the Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library. Held in the spring, this biennial event brings together residents of West Roxbury and beyond in celebration of a community-wide topic. This year’s theme is CLIMATE SOLUTIONS.
The first two speakers in the series will look at micro-solutions, things that individuals and communities can do without the government. Their talks will be at the Lyndon Pilot School at 20 Mt. Vernon St, West Roxbury, and doors will open at 6 p.m. with the presentations beginning at 6:30 p.m. Speakers later in the year will discuss what organizations, activists, and businesses are doing to address the current climate crisis.
West Roxbury Reads: Author Talk, Douglas W. Tallamy, PhD
April 7, 2025
Doors open at 6p.m., Talk begins at 6:30 p.m.
Lyndon Pilot School
The first speaker in the series will be entomologist and wildlife ecologist Douglas W. Tallamy, speaking at the auditorium of the Lyndon Pilot school, adjacent to the West Roxbury library at 20 Mt. Vernon Street. Tallamy’s 2019 book, “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard” was chosen by the Friends of the West Roxbury Library to anchor the West Roxbury Reads series. Doors to the auditorium will open at 6 p.m. with the presentation beginning at 6:30 p.m. All Friends events are free and open to the public.
Tallamy’s research at the University of Delaware focuses on understanding how insects interact with plants, birds, and animals to determine biodiversity of animal communities. The winner of a number of garden club and horticultural awards, he received the 2008 silver medal from the Garden Writers’ Association for his first book, “Bringing Nature Home” dubbed “the it book” in certain gardening circles, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In his most recent book, “The Nature of Oaks” (Timber Press 2021), Tallamy stresses the foundational role of the Oak species in sustaining the complex web of above ground wildlife, but also the climate preservation value of its huge root system, champions of carbon sequestration, soil stabilization, and watershed management.
Tallamy co-founded the Homegrown National Park movement in 2021 to educate people about simple steps they can take to rebuild biodiversity where they are, by planting native species, removing invasive plants, and reducing the size of lawns, which play a limited role in nurturing insects while using copious water. Currently Homegrown National Parks has about 60,000 members who Tallamy reports are restoring about 100,000 acres of the U.S. “Our parks, preserves, and remaining wetland—no matter how grand in scale,” Tallamy says, “are too small and separated from one another to sustain the native trees, plants, insects and animals on which our ecosystem relies.”
West Roxbury Reads: Author Talk, Barbara Murphy, MS
April 14, 2025
Doors open at 6p.m., Talk begins at 6:30 p.m.
Lyndon Pilot School
Barbara Murphy, program director for Habitat for All at the Valentine Farm Conservation Center, will discuss how, under her direction, a small group of volunteers with no budget and lots of sweat equity converted an old pumpkin patch into a conservation and learning center that attracts more than 10,000 visitors a year. Murphy will present a talk and slide show chronicling this evolution, April 14 at 6:30 pm. Murphy’s presentation will also be at the Lyndon school auditorium.
Holding a master’s degree in plant and soil science, Murphy had for decades taught the master gardener course at the UMaine Cooperative Extension where she was assistant professor. There she also established the Mainer Harvest for Hunger program and coordinated its food donation system. With her husband Mike she’d also owned a rare plant nursery for a decade.
When Murphy joined Mahoosuc Land Trust in 2017, the 150-acre former Valentine farm was much smaller than the total 10,000 acres the Bethel, Maine-based Mahoosuc Land Trust held under conservation. Murphy, who had been hired to raise funds and visibility as the trust’s development director, thought that was a mistake. “I truly believe that gardeners and gardening can play a significant role in establishing needed green space and habitat, changing hearts and minds about the urgent need to address climate issues,” she says.
She began her horticultural scheme slowly. In 2018 she planted 300 linear feet of eye-catching Tithonia “Torch” or Mexican sunflower in the center field of the Valentine land to signal to drivers and bikers on the adjacent road that “something was afoot at Valentine Farm.” Dubbed “Pollinator Alley” it continues to play an important role for close-up observation of Monarchs, other butterflies, and bees, and educational signing about other insects likely to visit. The “Pollinator Alley” began to attract visitors from the road and hikers and dog walkers using the trails. The next year, she sited the first “Pollinator Garden” in 200 sq. ft. of the farm’s former squash and pumpkin field. Ten volunteers labored on the small weedy site under the hot May sun. There was, at that point, very poor soil, no irrigation nor onsite public water.
In 2020 , Murphy and her volunteers opened the garden to the public, expanding it to 2,000 sq. ft. by the end of 2021. That year the garden became a Monarch Way Station with volunteers tagging monarchs as part of their citizen science program, Monarch Watch. That August was also the garden’s first major event, the Monarch Festival, with more than 300 people attending. Murphy calls 2022 “the turning point.” With board support and donor funding, she and her volunteers expanded the garden’s path network, connected to town water, installed irrigation and built a shaded information structure with a detailed “reference library” showcasing native plants visitors might see in the garden and wish to incorporate in their own yards. The garden also underwent a name change, becoming the Habitat for All Garden, reflecting the four missions of the garden: habitat for birds and pollinators; food production; human sanctuary; and exploration/discovery. “We felt that to change minds and encourage everyone to participate, we needed the garden to reflect human as well as pollinator needs,” Murphy explains.
Author Talk: Susan Wilson presents Women and Children First – The Trailblazing Life of Susan Dimock, M.D.
Sat, March 22 @ 1 p.m.
Community Room
Dr. Dimock—the subject of historian Susan Wilson’s new biography—is the namesake of Roxbury’s Dimock Street and Dimock Center. To her contemporaries in Boston of the 1870s, Susan Dimock was well known as a strong, selfless innovator in American medicine—one of the first group of female physicians to provide the unique professional health care needed by women, and one of the most respected and beloved surgeons in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Born and raised in the slaveholding South, she escaped from the ravages of Civil War, fled North during wartime, intersected with the Underground Railroad, connected with Dr. Marie Zakrzewska at the innovative New England Hospital for Women and Children, studied medicine in Zurich and Vienna, and returned to Boston where she ran the women’s hospital, executed complex surgeries, and molded America’s first real training school for nurses.
Take the 2025 Member Survey
We want to hear from you! As the Friends celebrate their 50th Anniversary, we’re turning to our dedicated members for advice and feedback. Just as we were at our founding, we remain committed to our mission of enriching adult and children’s programming, enhancing the physical space and gardens of the library, and promoting awareness of library events and services. Please take a moment to answer our 2025 Member Survey so that we may continue your favorite programs and find more ways to enrich our community.
Not a member? Learn how to get involved for just $10/year. All are welcome!
Packed House for Rosalita’s Puppets
On Saturday, more than 100 people gathered in the Community Room of the West Roxbury Branch Library for a performance of “Jill & the Beanstalk” by local marionette troop Rosalita’s Puppets.
The interactive performance had the children in the audience laughing, shouting, and guessing what plot twist would come next. The event was sponsored by the Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library and was free for the community to attend.
Lasting approximately 45 minutes, the performance included songs, half a dozen characters, and a variety of sets. The event was organized by the branch’s children’s librarian, Ms. Annette, who also hosts weekly story times and “crafternoons” for our library’s littlest patrons.
These types of events and supplemental programs are made possible through the generosity and dues of our Friends members. Please consider joining the Friends here, or attending our upcoming Used Book Sale fundraiser on Feb. 8 & 10 so we can continue to enhance the branch’s services.
We Need Your Unwanted Books
Is your New Year’s Resolution to declutter and get organized? We can help!
The Friends are collecting donations of unwanted books in preparation for the February 8th Used Book Sale. Specifically, we’re looking for Children’s titles, Young Adult, Fiction, Mystery, Romance and assorted nonfiction, including textbooks less than five years old. Additionally, we also accept CDs, DVDs, and antique literary collections.
Simply leave your donations in the library’s lobby under the stairs across from the Circulation Desk, and your materials will be processed and resold for $1 to help fund new programs and resources for our branch!
The Friends are a 501(c)(3) charity; all donations are fully tax deductible. The next book sale will be held Saturday, Feb. 8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 10 from noon to 7:30 p.m. Let us know you’re coming on Facebook or Eventbrite.
An End of Year Message to Our Members
Dear Neighbors,
As our 50th year in support of the West Roxbury Branch Library draws to a close, we can look back on all that has been accomplished with delight and optimism for the future. As you know, we exist to strengthen and expand the Library’s value to its patrons and, in doing so, to make its resources more attractive and available to the diverse community that Librarian Sheila Scott and her talented staff serve in so many creative and productive ways.
All of us have acquired the practical strategies of Covid avoidance, and the results are measured by the growing number of visitors to the Library; the increasing number of eager buyers at this year’s book sales; the enthusiastic participants in this year’s thirty-fifth annual Poetry Contest; our special lecture programs featuring noted authors and journalists; and our annual Meet and Greet open house. We’re honored to welcome so many new faces to our extended family though these efforts.
The Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library is a volunteer organization. Our income from the sale of used books donated to us by so many individuals brings us revenue that enables the Friends to augment the Library’s limited resources in the pursuit of broader awareness that the library is not merely books on shelves, but a veritable Swiss army knife of educational tools designed to stimulate and enrich curious minds of all ages.
We welcome your continued participation and support as we embark on our next half-century of service to our wonderful friends from West Roxbury and beyond.
Our board evolves from year to year, as long-serving members step back and new arrivals enrich our activities with their own ideas and talents. We urge those of you who already support us in spirit to consider the board as a worthy platform for your creative energies.
Sincerely,
Andrea & Bob
Co-Chairs
Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library
Low Temps, High Spirits at Holiday Market
Saturday evening was the perfect time to celebrate the season with fellow book lovers. It was the West Roxbury Main Streets Holiday Market at the Rockland Trust Lot, and the Friends joined dozens of other vendors, hosting a booth that stayed busy with holiday visitors and library lovers.
Despite the frigid temps, the community came out in droves and the littlest book lovers enjoyed collecting their goodie bags from the Friends, which were stuffed with chocolates, stickers, branded pencils, and bookmarks.
Many visitors to the Friends’ booth expressed their appreciation for the library, its free resources, knowledgeable staff, and busy programming, especially activities for children and toddlers. Neighbors agreed that it was the cornerstone of the local community.
We’re also very grateful to everyone who did their last-minute holiday shopping at our mini mobile book sale where we raised about $120 dollars. Those who bought at least five books received a free tote bag.
The best news? Several new members joined the Friends, including one lifetime member!
If you missed us at the holiday market but would still like to join for the New Year, please click here to learn more about becoming a Friend of the West Roxbury Branch Library.
It was truly a festive event, only made possible by the organizers, West Roxbury Main Street, and our wonderful member volunteers! Thank you to everyone who donated your time and talents to our first appearance at the Holiday Market.
As we head into 2025, we’re still seeking a few more volunteers for the annual Poetry Contest, which takes place in May. Committee meetings will begin in January. If interested, contact Jan: jekriz964@comcast.net.
Final Authors Talk Closes Year with Mysteries
The Friends extends a heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent Mystery Authors Stroll!
The evening was a great opportunity to connect with fellow book lovers, delve into the art of crafting compelling mysteries, and meet five truly talented authors—Leslie Meier, Frances McNamara, Dale Phillips, John Nardizzi, and Leslie Wheeler.
Their insights into the world of suspense, plot twists, and the intricacies of character development made for an engaging and thought-provoking session.
Despite the rainy weather, there were approximately 40 members in attendance. If you missed the event but are interested in learning more about the talented authors, their novels are available for purchase via Rozzie Bound Co-op.
To read Phillips’ blog post about the evening, please click here. 
We look forward to more author events in the new year and hope to see you all again soon!
If you have suggestions for future programming for 2025, please send them to FriendsoftheWestRoxburyLibrary@gmail.com.
This Giving Tuesday, Give the Gift of Time
The Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library is seeking volunteers for two upcoming community events.
The engagement of our members is critical to the Friends and the vitality of our branch. When you volunteer at a Friends event, you give back to our community in the best and most direct way…plus it’s fun!
Below is more information about the opportunities; no prior experience needed.
West Roxbury Holiday Market: The Friends will have a booth at the annual holiday market in the Rockland Trust Parking Lot (1920 Centre St). Volunteers are needed to help set up the 10×10 stall, which consists of a folding table, books, and giveaways for children. Additional members are needed to man the booth and engage with guests. Set up is 2:30-3:45pm on Dec 14, and the market runs from 4-8pm that day. If interested, contact Blair: Blair.hammond85@icloud.com
Annual Poetry Contest: Members are invited to join the poetry committee whose marquee event is its poetry contest in the spring. In addition to selecting the 2025 contest theme, the committee publicizes the contest, collects the entries, notifies the winners, and plans the awards ceremony. This year’s ceremony will be held on May 5, 2025. Committee meetings to select this year’s theme and finalize a timeline will begin (via zoom) the second week of January. If interested, contact Jan: jekriz964@comcast.net
We hope you consider giving your time to these wonderful opportunities. Your support is what makes the Friends so special!
Join Our Next Event – Mystery Writers Panel
Monday, December 9, doors at 5p.m. & panel at 5:30p.m.
Community Room in West Roxbury Branch Library
Mystery writers Leslie Meier, Frances McNamara, Dale Phillips, and John Nardizzi will join Leslie Wheeler, of Sisters in Crime-New England, for a panel discussion followed by a book stroll where copies of the author’s works can be signed.
Titles will be available for purchase via Rozzie Bound Co-op.
Friends Turns 50 with Community Meet & Greet Celebration
A capacity crowd celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library at the second-annual Meet & Greet, hosted by the Friends, at the library. Community members of all ages, elected officials, past board members, and new members were in attendance. In addition to the community celebration, Councilor Ben Weber shared an official resolution to congratulate the organization and its members.
“Celebrating 50 years of fostering an appreciation for the value of learning; promoting a love of books and reading; and supporting access to educational, cultural, and social opportunities for members of the West Roxbury community,” read the City of Boston’s resolution.
The West Roxbury Branch Library has traditionally had the highest circulation of any branch in the Boston Public Library system, aside from the central downtown branch.
The Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library was created in 1974 when Fred Kerrick and Alice Hennessey convened a small group of library lovers to discuss ways to help the branch. The Friends worked closely with library staff and helped with children’s story hours and other special programs.
At that time, the facility only consisted of the older, single-story building and was bursting at the seams. After years of effort from the Friends and city, the addition that includes the Circulation Desk and the Children’s and Community Rooms was dedicated on September 24, 1989.
With the expansion of the library, services have flourished. Today the Friends programs include: an annual Poetry Contest, a Book Discussion Group, the West Roxbury Reads (WRR) initiative, and a Summer Reading Program for school-age children. Membership dues also pay for passes to Boston museums and the Franklin Park Zoo and subscriptions to an assortment of magazines and newspapers.
To read our full history, click here.
Introducing Our New Poetry Contest Judge
We are pleased and honored to have Anne Elezabeth Pluto take on the role of selecting award winners for the 2025 Poetry Contest for all ages.
The Friends’ annual Poetry Contest is a community-wide event held each spring for more than 35 years.
Anne is Professor of Literature and Theatre at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. She is an alumna of Shakespeare & Company and was a member of the Worcester Shakespeare Company 2011 – 2016. She was a member of the Boston small press scene in the late 1980s and is one of the founders and editors at Nixes Mate Review and Nixes Mate Books. She has two full-length collections: The Deepest Part of Dark, Unlikely Stories Press, NOLA (2020), and How Many Miles to Babylon?, Lily Books, (2023).
The 36th annual poetry contest will get underway in late January of 2025 with the announcement of this year’s theme. Poets will have approximately 6 weeks to submit their entries and the awards ceremony will take place in early May, where each wining poem will be red aloud for the public.
Submissions may be entered by hand at the library, via email, or mailed directly to the Friends. Watch this website for more details about the contest.
Friends Author Named Among Prestigious 2024 MacArthur Fellows
Congratulations to Jason Reynolds! Recently Reynolds was named a 2024 MacArthur Fellow along with 22 other “genius grant” recipients, becoming the first Friends’ author to earn the prestigious honor. The children’s author was awarded a Lois Lowry Award for Young Adult Authors from the Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library in 2016 and visited the branch to discuss his work.
Today, Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including Look Both Ways, All American Boys, Long Way Down, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi).
In addition to being named a MacArthur fellow, Reynolds has been the recipient of a Newbery Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honors. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program, and lives in Washington, D.C.
Other past recipients of the Friends’ grant include, Katie Bayerl, author of A Psalm for Lost Girls, and Karen McManus, author of One of Us Is Lying.
As a member of the Friends, your support and engagement strengthens our branch’s role in the West Roxbury community and the broader literary culture of our country. Thank you for your continued commitment and congratulations to Jason Reynolds!
Thank you for shopping the Used Book Sale!
The community came out in droves to support the recent West Roxbury branch library Used Book Sale! On the first day alone, we surpassed previous sales by about 25 percent. As a reminder, every dollar raised during Friends programs is reinvested back into the branch to fund community events, children’s activities, and provide supplies that exceed the city’s allocated budget. In addition to strong sales, we also welcomed several new members to the Friends.
If you’re also interested in becoming a Friend of the West Roxbury Branch Library, please click here.
36th Annual Poetry Contest
May 5, 2025
Community Room in West Roxbury Library
The Friends’ annual Poetry Contest is a community-wide event held each spring for more than 35 years. Once the year’s theme is announced, local poets of all ages may enter their work into the competition. Winners are then invited to a ceremony at the West Roxbury Branch Library where each winning poem is read aloud. This year’s judge will be Anne Elezabeth Pluto. Stay tuned for details here.
Upcoming in 2025
Spring Used Book Sale
ReadBoston’s Storymobile
Much more…
President Obama extends support for American librarians in open letter.
Read his letter as posted on the American Library Association website: President Obama Extends Support to American Librarians in an Open Letter | News and Press Center (ala.org)