the ginny fund

Ginny Sheldon

We lost one of the most dedicated people in our community when Ginny Sheldon passed away in 2024.

Ginny was a volunteer extraordinaire with decades of thoughtful and effective service to the community and in particular to the Friends of the Milne Library. She was one of the founders of Chapter Two Books and the manager of the book donation and distribution center at the library. There wasn't a single part of our organization that she didn't touch. We truly mourn her loss and we will for a long time.

Following the loss of our dear friend Ginny, the Friends board voted to match the generous outpouring of memorial gifts from friends near and far, to establish a fund of $15,000. The Ginny Fund, as it has been named, received applications for grants to individuals and organizations that support programs and services that benefit the Northern Berkshire community in the areas of literacy, civic mindedness, and access to mental health resources.

Recipients of the Ginny Fund

Arts in Recovery, an arts-based youth suicide prevention program: to fund various North Berkshire County outreach programs, including a pilot pre-teen program beginning this summer
BART Charter Public School: for an immersive, overnight experiential journey to Plimoth Patuxet Museums and Salem for 9th-grade history students to bridge the gap between historical theory and civic action
Berkshire Nursing Families: to fund a year of free, weekly sessions where postpartum parents can access peer connection, infant feeding guidance, and perinatal mental health support
Community Access to the Arts: to help establish the Ginny Sheldon Collection, a library by, for, and about people with disabilities and the arts.
Williamstown Elementary School: to purchase two sets of award-winning, middle-grade novels for the fifth-grade classrooms -- Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson and Front Desk, by Kelly Yang
Greenagers at Many Forks Farm: to hire local experts to work with older teens on skills training while completing a community project
Images Cinema: to support Civic Cinema, a film-and-discussion series that pairs documentary screenings with conversations about civic participation and democratic institutions
Love of T, a peer-support suicide prevention program: to expand access to drop-in support groups and outreach programs throughout North Berkshire County
MCLA: to take creative writing students to the New York Public Library and the Morgan Library and Museum. In preparation for this capstone experience, students will read The Personal Librarian, a best-selling novel based on the life of Belle da Costa Greene.
Williamstown Farmers Market: to provide a monthly free story tent at the market during their summer season, reading aloud farming and agriculture-related children’s books

We are grateful for the opportunity to shine a light on a few individuals and organizations who work tirelessly every day, as did our beloved Ginny, to make our world a little better.