GREENFIELD — With its annual Spring Poetry Walk, the Greenfield Public Library offers residents and visitors a chance to not only enjoy pieces of literature, but to explore Main Street and local businesses along the way.

Throughout National Poetry Month in April, 10 poems by local creatives will be on display in Main Street storefronts. Seven of these poems were written by finalists from the annual Poet’s Seat Poetry Contest, which is organized by the Friends of the Greenfield Public Library.

“It helps our downtown,” Greenfield Public Library Information Services Assistant Pamela McBride said of the poetry walk. “You might be stopping to look in a window you normally pass by.”

The library has been holding poetry walks since 2019, typically organizing three or four each year. McBride said the idea has received a lot of support from local businesses, and the poetry walks have created an opportunity for the Greenfield community to come together over a common interest in poetry.

“It’s a labor of love for the library staff,” McBride said.

With such a high number of poets and writers in the Pioneer Valley, McBride said celebrating them feels particularly important for the library.

“It’s music to the soul,” McBride said of poetry.

A Spring Poetry Walk map can be picked up at the library or downloaded at bit.ly/436aUsD. There will also be a posted map at each of the Main Street storefronts.

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