By JENNA CARERI
The Jones Library’s third annual Samuel Minot Jones Awards for Literary Achievement have been awarded to author Polly Longsworth and Yiddish Book Center founder Aaron Lansky.
Longsworth, 82, will be honored for local literary achievement, for her writings on the life of Emily Dickinson.
Lansky, 60, will receive the award for his contribution to Amherst’s literary culture and for his dedication to saving and promoting Yiddish literature.
The recipients will receive their awards at a ceremony April 28 at Amherst College.
The award winners were chosen by a nominating committee of library trustees. The Sammys, named for the Amherst library’s namesake and first benefactor, celebrate outstanding work in the town’s literary scene and support the library’s collections.
The award was created, in part, to re-energize the library’s outreach into the community and its presence in the community, says library director Sharon Sharry. “It’s for the community to get together and celebrate books and reading and the community.”
Longsworth has dedicated her career to researching Emily Dickinson’s life and understanding her poetry. She also helped create the Emily Dickinson Museum in downtown Amherst.
Her books include “The World of Emily Dickinson” and “Austin and Mabel,” which was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year when it was published in 1984.
“I am thrilled and honored,” Longsworth said in a phone interview. “It gives me a chance to talk a little bit about my favorite subjects which are books, libraries, Emily Dickinson and writing.”
Longsworth received a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1955. She says this award is especially meaningful because it comes late in her career.
“At this point it seems like a nice crowning award,” she said. “It’s good to know there is still an audience interested in hearing about Emily.”
She says it encourages her to work more quickly on the new Emily Dickinson book she is writing. And the recognition is even nicer because of her fellow recipient, she says.
“I’m excited to be receiving the award with Aaron Lansky, who is someone I’ve long admired, a guy who has shaped a whole culture,” she said.
Lansky founded the Yiddish Book Center at Hampshire College in 1980 to protect declining Yiddish literature. He and his volunteers have saved more than one million Yiddish books from across the country, according to information provided by the center.
In 2014, the book center received a National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for significant contributions to the community.
“It’s tremendously gratifying. It’s really very exciting,” Lansky said in a phone interview last week. “Having local recognition is always very exciting, and particularly from the Jones Library.”
Lansky says the award promotes Amherst as an important part of the Yiddish community and supports the book center’s mission.
“It spreads the word and brings even more people into the building,” Lansky said. “You don’t have to be Jewish to come and visit here or to really enjoy the exhibitions.”
Sharry, the library director, says she wants the recipients to know how valuable their work is, even beyond Amherst.
“I hope that it means to them that they are being recognized by the Jones Library for their incredible body of work and what their body of work brings to not just Amherst but the Pioneer Valley,” she said.
The recipients will receive their awards at The Sammys gala April 28 at 6 p.m. at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College.
Tickets cost for $50, $100, $150 and $200, and can be purchased at the Jones Library, at 43 Amity St. in Amherst, or at www.joneslibrary.org/sammys. All proceeds from the event will go toward buying new library materials.
