by Kathy Keyes
On Thursday, October 22, 2015, the 11th annual Literary Gala, “Where Stories Begin,” will be held at Lombardo’s, 6 Billings Road, Randolph, MA, benefiting the Milton Public Library. The gala is hosted by the Milton Library Foundation and chaired by President-Elect Stacey Cornforth. The keynote speaker will be noted author Alice Hoffman. Information on sponsorship and ticket sales will be announced soon.
Hoffman, who has just released the young adult novel, Nightbird, has published a total of twenty-three novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults. This summer, Hoffman will release her latest novel, The Marriage of Opposites, set in the 19th Century on a paradisiacal island in the West Indies.
Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, centers on a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Hoffman’s advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Blackbird House is a book of stories centering on an old farm on Cape Cod. Hoffman’s recent books include Aquamarine and Indigo, novels for pre-teens, and The New York Times bestsellers The River King, Blue Diary, The Probable Future, and The Ice Queen. Green Angel, a post-apocalyptic fairy tale about loss and love, was published by Scholastic and The Foretelling, a book about an Amazon girl in the Bronze Age, was published by Little Brown. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year. Her most recent novels include The Third Angel, The Story Sisters, the teen novel, Green Witch, a sequel to her popular post-apocalyptic fairy tale, Green Angel. The Red Garden, published in 2011, is a collection of linked fictions about a small town in Massachusetts where a garden holds the secrets of many lives.
Your participation in this event will contribute to the Foundation’s financial support of the Milton Public Library.
“In the past, funds have been used to introduce new databases and online services for library users. These include research databases to support life-long learning as well as eResources, such as downloadable music and ebooks,” said William Adamczyk, the Milton Library Director. Funds have also been used to boost the Overdrive Advantage collection which provides eBooks specifically for Milton patrons. Twenty percent of eBook circulation comes from this collection currently.
“This is a great example of how a public/private partnership can bring improved and expanded services and resources to the residents of Milton,” he added. The elected Milton Library Trustees manage the library budget.
Funds raised by the Milton Library Foundation will also go toward a new and improved website for the Milton Public Library.
For more information and updates, follow the Milton Library Foundation on Twitter: @MLFoundationMA or Facebook