Ashland Library Friends Win Award for Courageous Conversations

The Friends of the Ashland Public Library recently won first place in the 2017 Donna Forand Fantastic Friends Award for Ashland’s “Courageous Conversations,” an event to address separate incidences of hateful graffiti last spring. The award netted $300 for the Friends and $200 for the library.
The award was given to the Ashland Friends by the Massachusetts Friends of Libraries (MFOL) at their annual meeting on Oct. 21 in Chicopee, Mass. A group that supports library friends’ group statewide, MFOL recognizes the library friends’ group that initiates a substantive collaborative and creative activity – not a traditional Friends activity, such as a book sale. The activity has to make a positive and timely impact on the entire community.
Runners up for this year’s award were Friends’ groups from Arlington, Northampton and Sandwich, Mass.
The Ashland Friends initiated townwide “Courageous Conversations” in May as a response to separate incidences of hateful graffiti, one at Ashland Middle School, followed by one at Ashland High School. To ensure wide community participation, the Friends invited several other community groups (Engage Ashland, Decisions at Every Turn, the Metrowest Y, the Ashland Public Schools, the Ashland Police Department and the town of Ashland) to help sponsor and promote the event held in the high school cafeteria.
The purpose of the event was to help the community work together for an inclusive and respectful Ashland. Participants had a chance to hear from their neighbors, voice their thoughts and come together to identify ways to celebrate diversity. High school students and adults were paired as co-facilitators for small group round-table discussions. The Friends had a table display of books with titles and content participants could consider borrowing from the library to supplement the discussion. Over 90 people attended the May event.
Based on favorable responses, the Ashland Friends decided to make “Courageous Conversations” into a series. One event was held on Oct. 4, the “Wonder Book Talk” based on Wonder by R.J. Palacio and another event was held on Oct. 24, featuring speaker Jamele Adams, Dean of Students at Brandeis University. The topic was Love, Inclusion and Trust.