Brightwood Branch Library

Hours:
Tuesday: 10 am - 5 pm
Thursday: 1 pm - 8 pm
Friday: 9 am - 1 pm

Opened in 1998

359 Plainfield Street
Springfield, MA 01107
413-263-6805

Manager: Reggie Wilson
Assistant Manager: Patti D'Amario

The beautiful Brightwood Branch Library is located in the heart of the Brightwood section of Springfield. The library is situated in the Chestnut Accelerated Middle School building across the street from the Benjamin Ramos Health Center.

Through its Collections and Services, the Brightwood Branch Library provides for the informational, educational, and leisure needs of the community.

Do you know how the Brightwood area got its name? Josiah Gilbert Holland (born in Belchertown, MA in 1819), doctor, author, poet, and early editor of The Springfield Republican , wrote his second narrative poem titled "Kathrina," in 1867 while staying at his new home in the north end of Springfield. He called his beautiful home ("painted a glowing Venetian red") Brightwood, and the name was soon applied to the whole section of the city. Interestingly J.G. Holland married Elizabeth Chapin, a good friend of Amherst poet Emily Dickinson. Mr. Holland died in New York City in 1881 and is buried in the Springfield Cemetery; his bronze profile wrought by Augustus Saint-Gaudens adorns his cemetery monument.

Brightwood exterior

Go Green at Your Library!

2010 Summer Reading Club

It's time to sign up for Springfield City Library's Summer Reading Club and take advantage of all the library offers, for free. This year's theme, “Go Green at Your Library!” is timely indeed, since Springfield was recently named a “green community.” It's appropriate to borrow instead of buy, saving money and trees! Signing up is simple -- just stop in to any of our library branches and fill out a registration sheet. For more information on our three clubs, click here:

A magic show performed by Norman Ng is an exciting fusion of magic, comedy, and audience participation! To mark the end of Springfield City Library's Summer Reading Club, families will have many chances to watch Norman give "...one of the most unique shows around," according to Western Oregon University. In fact, Norman was just nominated for two awards by Campus Activities Magazine, for 2010's "Best Male Performer" and "Best Novelty Live Act." His show features amazing magic, hilarious comedy and lots of hands-on fun! The Friends of the Springfield Library generously provide funding for these programs. For additional information please contact Jean Canosa Albano at 263-6828, x291.

To promote neighborhood culture and development, the library makes its community room available for educational, social service, and other organizations. The library also hosts community events such as musical performances, puppet shows, readings by authors, and exhibitions by illustrators and other artists. Click here for Meeting Room policy.

The Library is launching an online customer satisfaction survey and is ready for your input. Click here to comment on our collections, policies, programming, services, staff, and more. To take the survey in Spanish click here .