NEWS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                          DATE: 09/11/06

CONTACT: LESLIE SCHALER, COMMUNICATIONS ASST., (413) 545-0162

UMass Amherst Libraries Host
Eighth Annual Donor Appreciation Reception

~ Guest speaker – Author Heidi Stemple ~

Amherst, MA – On October 8, 2006, from 2:00-4:00 p.m., the Friends of the UMass Amherst Libraries will host the Eighth Annual Donor Appreciation Reception.  Held in Memorial Hall at UMass Amherst, this event recognizes Library donors and is free and open to the public.  The program begins at 2:45 p.m.  Families and children are invited to attend.

The keynote speaker will be Heidi Stemple, author of books and poetry for children and adults.  Heidi Stemple’s short stories and poetry have appeared in a number of magazines, anthologies, and journals.  She is the co-author of several books with her mother, Jane Yolen, including Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers & Eaters; Meet the Monsters; Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories; One If By Land: A Massachusetts Number Book; Dear Mother, Dear Daughter: Poems for Young People; and three Unsolved Mysteries from History — The Mary Celeste; Roanoke: The Lost Colony; and the Salem Witch Trials.

As part of the program, Vincent Ilardi, Professor Emeritus of History will be honored with the 2006 Siegfried Feller Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. This award, established in 1998, is given annually to an individual who has made outstanding volunteer contributions to create awareness and build support for the UMass Amherst Libraries. 

Vincent Ilardi taught in the UMass Amherst History Department from 1957 to 1995.  A long time library advocate, he was a member of both the Faculty Senate Research Library Council and Research Council, and the Friends of the Library Board of Trustees.  He served on the Yale faculty as research scholar, visiting professor, and adjunct professor from 1990 to 2001.  In November, Professor Ilardi will be awarded the 2006 John Frederick Lewis Award by the American Philosophical Society for his forthcoming book Renaissance Vision from Spectacles to Telescopes.

Heidi Stemple will sign books after the program and the Jeffery Amherst Bookshop will donate a portion of book sale proceeds to the UMass Amherst Libraries.  UMass Catering will provide refreshments.

RSVPs are requested by October 2, to Susan McBride at (413) 545-3974 or friends@library.umass.edu.