In honor of this year’s Independence Day, Chelmsford Town Offices - including the Library - will be closed on Friday, July 3rd. The Library will also be closed on Saturday, July 4th.

A complete list of Fourth of July events are listed on the Town’s website [pdf] and below.

There will be no fireworks display in Chelmsford.

Friday, July 3
5-11 PM - Country Fair (Center Common)
5:30 PM - Dance Unlimited (Center Common)
6 PM - Air Balloons (rear of Center Fire Station)
6-8 PM - Kiddies Train Rides (rear of Center Fire Station)
6-10 PM - Art Festival (Old Town Hall Community Center)
6:30 PM - Suburbanette Twirlers (Center Common)
7-9 PM - Chelmsford Community Band (Center Common)
9-11 PM - “The Meanies” (Center Common)

Saturday, July 4
7-10 AM Coffee Shop (Universalist Church)
8 AM - 3 PM - Country Fair (Center Common)
8:30 AM - Flag Raising (Center Common Flag Pole)
9:30 AM - 1:00 PM - Art Festival (Old Town Hall Community Center)
9:30 AM - Annual John Carson 2 Mile Road Race
10 AM - 42nd Annual Fourth of July Parade

Be sure to look for the Library float - our theme this year is based on the 2009 One Book Chelmsford, Three Cups of Tea.

The library now has passes to the New England Quilt Museum!

Our pass admits 4 people free of charge to the museum, which is located at 18 Shattuck Street in Lowell (map and directions).

All of our museum passes are provided by Friends of the Library. They can be reserved through our museum pass webpage or by calling the Reference Desk at 978-256-5521 x211.

This summer, we’re encouraging adults to rediscover the pleasure and magic of reading!

Join the library’s staff for brown bag lunch series called “Now… It’s Your Turn.” While this program is aimed at baby boomers - you’ve worked hard, and now it’s time to relax and enjoy yourself - it is open to everyone.

The lunch series will be at noon by the library’s fireplace, and will feature book talks on both current and classic titles you can add to your summer reading list.

If you’re looking for reading suggestions, check out the latest series bibliography or visit the library’s Reading Room web page. Then, come to one of the lunches and enjoy talking about what you’re reading.

For more information, visit the “Now… It’s Your Turn webpage,” or contact Mayleen Kelley (mkelley@mvlc.org) or Becky Herrmann (bherrmann@mvlc.org) at 978-256-5521.

Chelmsford’s 2009 Summer Reading program is here!

This year’s program has been tailored to fit with the 2009 One Book Chelmsford, Three Cups of Tea and author Greg Mortenson’s picture book edition, Listen to the Wind. There are many aspects to this year’s Summer Reading program, but the two main themes are collecting Pennies for Peace and outdoor adventures.

1. Everyone is encouraged to keep track of the time you spend reading, and for every 5 hours of reading, the Friends of the Library will contribute 100 pennies for peace. Our goal is to donate $500 by the end of the summer to Greg Mortenson’s foundation for building schools
2. Enjoy hiking through Chelmsford! Chelmsford has many open spaces and trails, and hiking and exploring our community is a great way to start your own trek towards K2 like Greg Mortenson. The summer challenge for children is to hike 5 miles and record your adventures in your passbooks

For reading logs, hiking passbooks, book suggestions and links to trail maps of Chelmsford, visit the Summer Reading webpage or stop by the Children’s Room.

We’ve made some changed to the education-related resources at the library:

• New Section for EDU Books
  To make college directories and test study guides easier to find, we pulled them out of the normal non-fiction shelves and places them in a special section. These new shelves are located by the Teen Services Desk on the lower level, and are marked in the catalog by the call numbers EDU.

  Also on these shelves you will find financial aid information, FAFSA forms and worksheets, and college catalogs.

• New database: Testing & Education Reference Center
  This database replaces the Learning Express Library, and offers high school, college information, tools, practice tests and study guides, as well as application builders, and profiles of colleges.

  This database is also create for career and employment research. It has many practice test for career and proficiency exams, an online resume builder, a career research library, self-assessment test, and much more.

  The Testing & Education Reference Center, can be used from home or in the library - to get started, visit http://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org/reference/databases_alpha.html#TERC

For help with these education resources, please contact the Reference Desk at askus@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x211.