A Look Back: July 10

50 Years Ago

■Controversy is growing over which direction Forbes Library should take as its head librarian is leaving. Should it concentrate on building the book collection that formed its highly regarded reputation, or should it expand the non-print media collection that it has been experimenting with lately?

■Ralph J. Levy, Jr., President of Harry Daniel’s Inc., will serve as general campaign chairman for the fall United Way drive, it was announced today by Robert F. Martin, president of the fund’s board of directors. Levy has been very active in the local community and served as a director of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce for nine years, and as chairman of the Downtown Merchants Association for three years.

25 Years Ago

■Wet weather conditions this spring and summer have been ideal for breeding mosquitoes, creating, from a human perspective, one of the nastiest seasons in recent memory, officials say. “I’ve never seen them this bad,” said Mary Shanley-Koeber, director of Arcadia Sanctuary.

■With its $1.5 million addition due to open in September, administrators at the Hampshire Regional YMCA have sought a consultant’s help in figuring how best to staff the expanded facility. Peter Smith, a national YMCA consultant from the organization’s eastern regional headquarters, spent two days in Northampton last week interviewing employees who will be affected by the changes.

10 Years Ago

■With the $2.5 million city tax override passed last month, the Northampton Police Department is preparing to hire new beat officers. The override, approved by voters June 25, allows the police department to restore four open positions, according to Chief Russell Sienkiewicz.

■After two successful eating tours of Northampton since May, Pioneer Valley Dishcrawl will explore Easthampton’s culinary hot spots this month. Pioneer Valley Dishcrawl is the local chapter of the national business Dishcrawl, which holds events that are akin to pub crawls for foodies.

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