Description

Our November selection is "The Serviceberry" by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Copies of the book are available at both library buildings for check out. For more information, call the Reference Desk.

About the book, from www.goodreads.com: 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
As Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests Serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the Serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of interconnectedness and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, rather than accumulation, where wealth and security come from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”
As Elizabeth Gilbert writes, Robin Wall Kimmerer is “a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world.” The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times and a reminder that “Hoarding won’t save us. . . . All flourishing is mutual.”

Manchester Public Library

1041 Main Street, Manchester, CT 06040
Nov 16, 2026
6:30 PM EST to 7:30 PM EST
Originally posted by Manchester Public Library via Locable

Manchester Public Library

1041 Main Street
Manchester, CT 06040
860-643-2471
manchesterct.gov/library

Mon
9:00am–9:00pm
Tue
9:00am–9:00pm
Wed
9:00am–9:00pm
Thu
9:00am–9:00pm
Fri
9:00am–5:00pm
Sat
9:00am–5:00pm