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Archive for August, 2008
Thursday, August 28th, 2008 - by:
Brian Herzog, Head of Reference
 The Chelmsford Library has a new Librarian for Youth Services, Patricia Horan. Tricia provided a brief biography as a way to introduce herself:
As an undergraduate I studied English and Art History at Rutgers University where I earned my B.A. in 2004. In August of 2005 I completed my M.L.S. at Simmons College with concentrated coursework in programming and collection development for children and young adults. For the past three years I was the Head of Youth Services at the Oliver Wolcott Library in Litchfield, Connecticut. The OWL is a community library in a rural town of approximately 9,000 people. Due to its small staff size I was solely responsible for everything related to youth services and wore several other hats—doing additional work with adults, outreach and technology.
I am thrilled to begin my career as a Youth Services Specialist at the Chelmsford Public Library. After working in a small town, I am excited to work in a large library that serves an expansive and diverse community. The best part of my new position is that I get to spend my mornings working with little ones in the Children’s Room and in the afternoons I’ll be available to work with teens. Working with teens in a library environment was the reason I went to library school and being able to do that on a daily basis is a dream come true.
The Library is very happy to have Tricia as part of the team. Stop by the Children’s Room or Young Adult area to introduce yourself, and give Tricia suggestions for books or programs you’re interested in.
Posted in Childrens, Library Information, Teens | No Comments »
Thursday, August 21st, 2008 - by:
Brian Herzog, Head of Reference
 As many patrons have been finding out, our subscription to the Rosetta Stone Language Learning database runs out at the end of August. Rosetta Stone will no longer be available through libraries, but there are other language resources that are available to you:
Books & Videos
The Chelmsford Library has a large collection of both books and videos to help patrons learn English or other languages. Most books are downstairs, the videos will be upstairs, and they will all be shelved according to the Dewey Decimal System. Here’s the Dewey numbers for some of the popular languages:
420-429 - English
430-438 - German
443-448 - French
453-458 - Italian
463-468 - Spanish
469 - Portuguese
491.73 - Russian
492 - Arabic
495.1 - Chinese
Also, “Early Reader” books are located in the Childrens Room, for those looking to practice or build their English reading skills.
Conversation Circles
Three different conversation circles meet at the library, to give patrons a supportive forum for practicing their English, French or Spanish. These circles are run by library volunteers are are not classes, but instead are groups of learners that meet to help each other improve their language skills.
Please check the Library event calendar for changes or cancellations.
Resources from the Boston Public Library
All residents of Massachusetts are entitled to the resources offered through the Boston Public Library. You can sign up for a library card in person at any of the BPL branches, or get an eCard online to use their online resources.
To learn a language online, the BPL offers the Auralog - Tell Me More database (similar to Rosetta Stone). After creating an account, patrons have access to multimedia activities to learn grammar and vocabulary for both oral and written communication for the German, American English, Dutch, Spanish, Spanish (Latin American), French, and Italian.
languages.
In addition, the BPL offers other online language resources, such as dictionaries and general reference, and also a large collection of books and videos.
Internet Resources
There are many websites designed to aid in learning languages. Some are free and some charge a fee, and offer both individual practice as well as foster social connections to collaborate with other people learning the same language.
Two of the options are Live Mocha and Mango Languages. Live Mocha is a free service for learning a variety of languages, and uses visual tools to teach vocabulary and grammar. There is also an opportunity (which is optional) to connect with other people also learning a language. Mango Languages offers a free introduction, but does charge for extended or advanced lessons. It offers a learning interface based on side-by-side translations, phonetic pronunciation guides, and narrated lessons.
Read a review of popular language learning websites.
For help with any of the resources listed above, please contact the Reference Desk.
Posted in Library Information, Resources | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 15th, 2008 - by:
Brian Herzog, Head of Reference
 In case you haven’t heard, a bike trail is being built through Chelmsford.
The construction in Chelmsford is part of Phase One of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, which will ultimately go through the communities of Lowell, Chelmsford, Westford, Carlisle, Acton, Concord, Sudbury and Framingham. Phase One starts at the Lowell/Chelmsford line near Cross Point, and will follow the old rail line through Chelmsford Center to the the intersection of Routes 27 and 225 in Westford.
Construction information and trail maps are available on the Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail website. They also have planning information for the rest of the trail, and a link to the MassHighway project website which reports on construction status. This Friends group has been working on the trail with State and Local officials for many years, and is always open to new members.
A recent Boston Globe article outlined some of the issues surrounding the trail. There have also been many articles in the Chelmsford Independent and the newspapers of other communities along the line. And to see exactly where the trail will go, there is an interactive map available that overlays the trail route on street maps and aerial photography.
Phase One of the trail is scheduled to be completed in August 2009. Visit the Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail website for more information.
Posted in Current News, Town of Chelmsford | No Comments »
Thursday, August 7th, 2008 - by:
Chris Kupec, Assistant Director
If you had the opportunity to see The Skatalites play at this year’s Lowell Folk Festival, then you know that ska is great, upbeat party music. The library has an excellent collection of ska, and we’ve just expanded our offerings with the following titles (record labels are in parentheses):
Blazing Horns / Tenor in Roots by Tommy McCook (Blood & Fire Limited)
Saxophonist Tommy McCook, who died in 1998, was one of the founders of the Skatalites. This disc actually combines two LP’s from different periods in McCook’s career. He is backed up by the famous session duo of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare on many of the tracks.
Alpha Boys’ School: Music in Education (Trojan)
An interesting compilation of tracks by musicians who attended the school in Kingston, Jamaica, including Don Drummond, Lester Sterling (who is still in the present incarnation of The Skatalites), Rico Rodriguez, and Tommy McCook. The first few cuts are mainstream jazz, while the majority of the selections are ska.
 Studio One Scorcher (Soul Jazz)
Downbeat the Ruler: Killer Instrumentals from Studio One (Heartbeat)
Two very good compilations of ska and reggae. The sound quality on Downbeat the Ruler is surprisingly clean. Be sure to tie down your sub-woofers; the bass is thundering.
Trojan Rude Boy Box Set (Trojan)
Trojan Skinhead Reggae Box Set (Trojan)
More of the inexpensive 3-disc compilations that Trojan is famous for. Rude boy and skinhead reggae were offshoots of ska. Rude boy is considered a form of rocksteady, while skinhead reggae, as its name implies, grew out of the British working-class sometime between the Mods (think Quadrophenia) and punk. The late 70’s saw a revival of sorts with the British bands, Madness, The Selecter, and The Specials. Nowadays, most of us think of skinheads as right-wing xenophobes, but that isn’t always the case. See Wikipedia’s entry on skinheads for more information.
For more ska and rocksteady, try these discs:
This Is Ska! (Music Club)
This Is Ska Too! (Music Club)
Trojan Ska Box Set (Trojan)
Trojan Rocksteady Box Set (Trojan)
Posted in music | No Comments »
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