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Around Amherst: Reader to Reader sending 7,000 kids’ books to Springfield schools By SCOTT MERZBACH AMHERST — A global literacy organization based in Amherst is donating more than 7,000 new children’s books to Springfield’s public schools. The books, from Reader to Reader and with a value of over $70,000, were provided by American Girl Publishing. “We are very excited to be able to make a donation of this magnitude,” Reader to Reader founder David Mazor said in a statement. “With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting children in school time, it is all the more important to get boo...

Around Amherst: Businesses get boost from state Winter Pivot grants By SCOTT MERZBACH AMHERST — Several local businesses recently received $500 grants, matched with an additional $500 from other sources, that could help sustain them through the remaining winter months as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Using an earmark secured in the state budget by Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and administered through the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, 18 businesses in Amherst, Hadley, Sunderland and Belchertown are getting financial support, according to an announc...