Nina Mankin and Claudia Canale-Parola have known each other since they were born. They’ve been going to the Jones Library for nearly as long.

Their children—now teens and adults—are the third generation of their families to call Amherst home. After their mothers and fathers met and became friends at the University of Illinois, they settled into the Amherst-area community.

Nina, Claudia, and Claudia’s husband, Matt Blumenfeld, met with me to talk about their family gift to the Jones Library Capital Campaign and to encourage others to join together with family and friends to make a naming gift in honor or memory of a loved one. By joining together, their families were able to honor the life-long friendship between the two families and their deep love of the Amherst library system.

“You can see Amherst Cinema from the spot we picked at the library,” says Claudia, thinking about the weekly excursions their mothers would take to the movies. The space they are dedicating to their mothers’ legacy is a cozy bay window seating area in the historic portion of the soon-to-be-renovated Children’s Department.

Claudia’s mother, Thelma Canale-Parola, came to Amherst with a PhD in Italian and became a professor at UMass, later working as an administrator of UMass’s Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC) program. She participated in a book club for over 50 years, and sometimes made multiple trips per week to Amherst’s libraries.

Nina’s mother, Carol Mankin, was an accomplished writer and editor whose final work was as one of the editors for American Academic Encyclopedia. She also served as a volunteer for the Jones Library’s English as a Second Language (ESL) tutoring program. Carol and Thelma’s friendship and love of all Amherst had to offer extended through decades, and has carried on through their children and grandchildren.

“Our moms were really different, and they really loved each other. They had different sets of friends, different ways of moving through the world. But similar values and senses of humor. Their love of stories and of narrative has deeply affected both of our families. Claudia and I give each other book recommendations. Both our families moved back to Amherst because we wanted to raise our families here, and the library and schools were a huge part of that,” says Nina.

Claudia and Nina both fondly recall social studies projects for their class with Jordi Herold (later founder of the Iron Horse Music Hall) at Amherst Regional Middle School. Claudia spent hours at the Jones Library Special Collections researching the historic Ithmar Conkey House on Main Street in Amherst, which was part of her inspiration in eventually becoming a librarian. Years later, Claudia brought her own children to the Jones Library, only to find that the same children’s librarian from her childhood was still working there.

“We all brought our kids there for programs,” says Nina. “Lots of weekends of Lego in the room downstairs, as well as movies. The train table in the children’s room was a great training place for kids to learn how to take turns because they all wanted their turn with the trains!”

Although they feel a little nostalgic about the old Jones Library, they know that it has been in dire need of repairs, renovations, and an expansion to meet the needs of a changing community. Nina says, “I was immediately distressed at the state the library was in when I came back. I would recommend anyone who hasn’t been to Greenfield and Holyoke to see what happens when a project like this comes into a community—it’s transformative.”

Matt also knows first-hand the impact an improved library building has on a community—he has shepherded dozens of libraries through such projects in Massachusetts and beyond. He and Claudia have been involved with the Jones Library building project and Capital Campaign since 2014 as consultants, and now as volunteers and donors.

“Libraries are foundational to democracy,” says Matt. “Our two families are a real reflection of diversity in America. We have a multi-ethnic family, we have family members with disabilities, some who are Christian, Jewish, Indian, gender diverse...This is what we celebrate in Amherst, and the public library is the best place to see that diversity.”

It is the far-reaching effects of the Jones Library building project that brings their families together in making a gift—not just locally, but at a distance and over time. Nina is happy to think that she'll be able to bring her grand-niece from New Jersey to the new Children's Department and share stories there in the same place where she and her son also experienced the pleasure of storytelling. Doing that in a spot named for her mother and Thelma gives her particular joy.

“Beyond the Children’s Room, I am particularly interested in the teen room…I’m just so excited that my kid gets to experience this—he’ll be 15 when the Jones reopens. He’s really looking for autonomy, and that’s a place he can find it in a safe environment. Our families have been in this community for over six decades, and it’s amazing to see this come to fruition.”

Matt encourages anyone with an interest in the library and the Amherst community to make a gift and name a space in the future Jones Library, as their families have done. Claudia adds, “the library is one of the few institutions that serves every member of our community, and where everything is open to everybody. That’s an important thing to support.”

“Thelma and Carole would be SO happy about this,” says Matt.

This family gift was made by Claudia, Matt and Nina as well as by Claudia’s brother Daniel Canale-Parola, his wife, Marina Viola, Nina‘s brother Eric Mankin and Eric’s wife, Carol Yun.

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‍We invite anyone interested in supporting the Jones Library renovation and expansion to make a donation, of any amount, today at joneslibrarycapitalcampaign.org/donate. If you are interested in making a gift to name a space in the library, please contact Lisa DeGrace (Director of Development) at info@joneslibrarycapitalcampaign.org.