The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Wellesley book news: Couple takes part in Nantucket Book Fair; Journalists coming to town to tout books

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Our roundup of Wellesley, Mass., book news:

Wellesley couple takes part in Nantucket Book Fair

Wellesley’s Jane Pirozzolo introduced her second mystery novel “Island Justice,” about a racially charged murder that takes place on Nantucket one cold January night. Writing under pen name JP Lathrop, her new novel reprises detective Quinn Callahan and other characters from her earlier mystery, “The Key West Affair.”

Pirozzolo’s husband, Dick Pirozzolo, co-author of “Escape from Saigon,” also took part in the event, which featured best-selling authors like Dave Barry, Alice Hoffman, and James McBride.

Meanwhile, no rest for Jane: She’s working on a third book that takes place on the South Shore.

Jane Pirozzolo (pseudonym J. P. Lathrop
Jane Pirozzolo (aka, J. P. Lathrop) and Dick Pirozzolo at Nantucket Book Fair

Journalists coming to town to tout books

In-person author visits are back, and Wellesley Books has a couple coming up at 82 Central St.

Sportswriter Sean McAdam will discuss “The Franchise: Boston Red Sox: A Curated History of the Sox” on Tuesday, July 19 at 7pm. Hope he curates out that awful ALCS Game 7 at Yankee Stadium from 2003.

This is a ticketed event ($5, which can go toward purchase of the book).

Reporter Jen Maxfield will visit on Thursday, July 28 at 7pm to discuss “More After the Break.” This is a free event, but you’re asked to RSVP.

No word yet on whether Swellesley Report editors are plotting a book. We can’t get them to call us back.

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Linden Square, Wellesley
EXPLO, Wellesley
Wellesley Hills Junior Women's Club

Little Free Libraries in Wellesley

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If you’re in pursuit of free books, there are probably some within walking distance of you, nestled inside of a Little Free Library. Little Free Libraries are small wooden boxes, painted or otherwise decorated, and filled with free reading material. Anyone can take books out of the library, at any time of day, and either return them at their leisure or hold on to them indefinitely.

Little Free Library Wellesley 309 Washington Street
Little Free Library at UU Wellesley Hills, 309 Washington Street, Wellesley.

Despite what you may think, these little libraries don’t grow out of the earth, spawned by Wellesley citizens’ love for literature and accessible reading. Little Free Library is a non-profit organization who’s goal is to spread accessibility to reading for people all over the world. The accessibility to their Libraries is part of their effort to remove barriers, such as the difficulty in finding transportation to a library, or financial barriers to owning books.

Beyond concerns about accessibility, Little Free Libraries aim to make reading easy and exciting. If you go around to the various LFLs in town you might notice that they tend to cluster around elementary schools.

Little Free Library, Pickerel Road, Wellesley

You might be wondering just how Little Free Libraries come into existence; luckily, The Swellesley Report has had first-hand experience in setting one up. By contacting the LFL organization we were able to have one of their libraries delivered to us, unpainted and in separate pieces. From there it was a simple matter of hiring an artistically inclined friend to add some art to the sides, putting the pieces together, and getting permission from the town to install it. The Swellesely Little Free Library now resides on Barton Road, stocked with books for the taking. Ours is certainly not the only one in town, and we have done our best to hunt down and take pictures of as many as we could find, which you can check out on our Little Free Library page.

little free library barton road
The Swellesley Report’s Little Free Library at Barton Road, Wellesley

 

Page Waterman, Wellesley
London Harness, Wellesley
Wellesley Lacrosse

Spring is here, and so is the Friends of the Wellesley Free Library Book Sale

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After two years, the Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries is thrilled to once again hold the annual spring book sale. This is a long-awaited moment for the community and patrons who depend on the spring sale to stock up for the summer. One of the librarians told us that a patron, upon seeing the book sale sign, let out a loud, “Yeah,” coupled with a  vigorous fist pump.

We concur.

Wellesley Free Library
Photo: Barbara Marx, president, Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries

LOCATION: Wakelin Room, Wellesley Free Library, 530 Washington St.
MEMBER PREVIEW NIGHT: Thursday, April 28, 5pm-9pm
PUBLIC SALE: Friday, April 29, 9am-6pm
Saturday, April 30, 9am-5pm
BAG SALE ($10/bag): Sunday, May 1, 1pm-5pm

If you’re not already a member of the Friends, join at the door or on the Friends website.

Masks will be available at the entrance for patrons’ comfort.

Taste of Wellesley, Rotary Club
Deland, Gibson, Wellesley

Wellesley community book read: “Caste,” by Isabel Wilkerson

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Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste
Photo credit: Joe Henson

The Office of Equity and Inclusion of the Wellesley Public Schools, in partnership with other community organizations, will hold a community book read event online on Thur., Mar. 10, 2022, 6:15-7:30pm. During the webinar, author Isabel Wilkerson will speak to the community about her book, Caste. On hand to facilitate will be Dr. Regine Michelle Jean-Charles, Director of Northeastern University’s Department of Africana Studies, and Dean’s Professor of Culture and Social Justice, and Professor of Africana Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Participation is limited to the first 500 registered participants; here is a link to register.

EVENT: Community book read of Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
DATE: Thur., Mar. 10, 2022
TIME: 6:15-7:30pm
LOCATION: Virtual event

Rick Cram, leader

Wellesley’s newest Little Free Library opens at Barton Road Community Center

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We hope Barton Road residents and visitors will enjoy the new Little Free Library located at the Wellesley development’s community center. It sits alongside an older Little Free Library—can’t have too many books!

little free library barton roadThe Swellesley Report secured a Wellesley Cultural Council grant to purchase the Little Free Library kit a couple of years back, but the pandemic delayed its installation.

Wellesley High grads Carter Gill and Duncan Brown joined forces to assemble the library, and the very artistic Carter painted it.

We thank Wellesley Housing Authority and its facilities team for picking up the library from our home and installing it at the community center.

We’d love for the library to feature books from local authors, so feel free to reach out to us (theswellesleyreport@gmail.com) or add books to the box yourself.

little free library barton road

There was already a good collection in the box, including a fine looking kid’s book about a shy kitten, and a Marie Kondo book about keeping things tidy—hoping that will provide inspiration for keeping the library from getting messy.

Wellesley Fells Branch Library’s garden looking good

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Trees are dumping their leaves and plants are packing it up for winter, but the year-round garden at Wellesley’s Fells Branch library at 308 Weston Rd., just keeps looking better and better.

Additions to the Fells Branch garden haven’t received as much fanfare as recent changes at the Wellesley Free Library’s main branch but if you haven’t been by lately, it’s worth a look.

The garden includes a handful of benches that surround the burbling fountain, plus new woody hut and chair structures via Frank Hamm, the designer known locally for Weezie’s Garden at Elm Bank Reservation. The nice thing here is that you can check out this garden for free, whereas you need to pay now to visit Weezie’s.

The library garden features a couple of musical sculptures as well that kids can bang on.

Between the garden’s transformation and the library’s indoor makeover from 2018, the Fells Branch has a whole new look. Library hours are 10am-5pm Tuesday-Saturday, though the garden’s always open during the day.

The Wellesley Free Library Foundation and Wellesley Garden Study Group have supported the garden project.

fells branch library garden

fells branch library garden

fells branch library garden

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com