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"Friends" bring best-selling author Michael Buckley to Horsham

      It takes pretty good friends to set up bus trips to Broadway or arrange gatherings with interesting authors. And if those people also give you money and equipment to do your job, then you might call them great friends.

              Or, call them "Friends of the Horsham Library", a group of friends who became a force in establishing the Horsham Township Library a little more than three years ago.

            But their work didn't end there. "The Friends" have stayed busy with fund-raising and community events since then. On Dec. 11, in conjunction with the Hatboro-Horsham School District, they hosted a day with Michael Buckley, author of “The Sisters Grimm,” a series for children that includes a New York Times Best-Seller.

             In the morning, Buckley was at Keith Valley Middle School for three assemblies, speaking to about 450 of the district’s fourth, fifth and sixth graders. After lunch with educators, he led an afternoon writing workshop at the library for about 35 selected students. Then he joined community leaders and members of "The Friends of the Horsham Library" for dinner at the library, recharging his batteries for a reception and book-signing at the Horsham Township Library, 435 Babylon Road, Horsham which drew more than 125 people. 

            Mary Dare, president of "The Friends of the Horsham Library", said this was the first time the group had set up this type of happening. They approached Buckley, a New Yorker, on the recommendation of the children’s librarian at the Horsham facility. “He’s reachable,” Dare said. “It’s so tough to get many of these authors. And he agreed to do all the events. I’ve heard that he’s well-spoken, an easy kind of a person.”

            At the assemblies, she said, he shared with students how he got started, how to go about writing, and how the books themselves were conceived. Buckley, who worked for 10 years as a producer of children's television, ventured into writing for young people with his "Sisters Grimm" series,  on Amulet Books, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams Inc. The five novels are about two sleuthing sisters who move in with their grandmother in Ferryport Landing, which is populated by former fairy tale and fantasy characters living modern lives. Mysteries ensue.

            The Friends have held other book signings, Dare said, though the authors were not as well-known. Signings are just one type of activity the group has organized to "fund the wish list of the library," as Dare put it, and to bring together a community that once had to go to Upper Dublin, Hatboro, and Warminster to use a public library. "The Friends" group is trying to partner with as many organizations in town as we can," she said.

            There have been trips to see "Beauty and the Beast" and "Wicked" on Broadway. In the works are excursions to Washington, D.C., at cherry blossom time in the spring and to the National Aquarium in Baltimore (June 21, 2008).

            Locally, "The Friends" teamed up with Barnes & Noble in Montgomeryville for a voucher program on Dec. 7 to benefit the library. They are planning an Earth Day celebration in April, with related events throughout the month, including presentations by professional chefs and cooking sessions.

            Besides Dare, officers of "The Friends" are Estelle Price, vice president; Pat Kohler, secretary; Margaret Lotter, treasurer; and Cliff Raymond, membership chairman. The group also has 15 directors, and welcomes new members. For additional information, visit it on the Web at http://htl.mclinc.org/FriendsofLibrary.html.

            For additional information about "The Friends" program, contact Dare at 215-674-9590.

ADVICE FROM THE AUTHOR (right)…Area students get some advice on writing a novel from Michael Buckley, author of The Sisters Grimm, a mystery series for children that includes a New York Times best-seller. Buckley conducted a writing workshop for some 40 students at the Horsham Township Library as part of a visit Dec. 11 to the Hatboro-Horsham School District sponsored by "The Friends of the Horsham Library". Buckley also spoke to students and educators in the district, had dinner with community leaders, and attracted more than 125 people to an address and book-signing that evening at the library.

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