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Unique (and musical) Volunteer Opportunity

Attention anyone interested in music or planning events!

The Chelmsford Farmer’s Market is looking for one or more volunteers to serve as Music Director, to bring music and entertainment to the Thursday afternoon Farmer’s Markets in Chelmsford center.

A shade tent, small sound system (the size of a suitcase and very light), and microphone are available; the volunteer(s) will be in charge of lining up the musical talent and setting up the equipment.

Volunteers will coordinate with the Open Space Stewards, so if you are interested or have any questions, please call Phil Stanway at (978) 273-1474.

More Volunteer Opportunities
By the way, this and many other volunteer opportunities are listed at ChelmsfordVolunteers.org – check it out for opportunities to help out and contribute to the organizations that serve the Chelmsford area.

New Resources Available at the Library

Through the library, Chelmsford residents now have access to a few new research and reference databases, and one new museum pass:

New Museum Pass
Thanks to the Chelmsford Friends of the Library we now have a new pass to the American Textile History Museum in Lowell. The American Textile History Museum tells America’s story through the art, history, and science of textiles. The pass admits two adults and two children to the museum, and all 17 of our museum passes can be reserved through our website.

New Research Databases

• Safari Computer Ebooks – Online collection of over 3,000 computer and technical ebooks, covering programming, design, desktop publishing, ecommerce, online business, hardware and more, from publishers such as O’Reilly, Wiley, Pretence Hall, and many more.
• Encyclopedia of American Immigration – Online access to Salem Press’ Encyclopedia of American Immigration, covering the various cultures and significant individuals that immigrated to the US, and their impact after arriving. The Salem History database also searches Great Lives from History: Inventors and Inventions.
• Great Lives from History: Inventors and Inventions – Online access to Salem Press’ Great Lives from History: Inventors and Inventions, offering in-depth biographical essays on important men and women inventors of all time, from around the world. The Salem History database also searches Encyclopedia of American Immigration.

For help reserving any of our museum passes or using any of our online resources, please contact the Reference Desk at askus@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x211.

Boy Scouts Library Service Project

Local Boy Scouts took on the major task of weeding, pruning, gardening and general cleaning up around the Dutton House (a.k.a “the yellow house”) next to the Main Library.

Led by Scout Master Dale Gallaher and assisted by the Library custodial staff, the 20 Scouts volunteered an entire day, doing a tremendous amount of work. This volunteer projects helps their mission as scouts, as well as helps the Library economize our groundskeeping budget.

Listed alphabetically, the Scouts are Jason Adams, Andrew Baker, Tyler Carmolli, Peter Cassels, Tim Cassels, Phil Danek, Jacob Davis, Steven Demeo, Joshua Depasacreta, Sam Freeman, Jacob Kaminsky, Cameron Kaminsky, Eric Merrill, Joey Rossano, Ben Rossano, Zach Shepherd, Zachary Straeffer, Eric Williams, Brian Wilson, Todd Wilson, and Scout Master Dale Gallaher

Library Trustees Open House 2010

On Wednesday, June 16th, 2010, the Trustees of the Chelmsford Public Library held an Open House at the Adams Library as a way of talking with patrons, hearing concerns or comments, and answering any questions they might have.

In the course of informal conversations, two main themes arose:

1. The threatened (but averted) loss of certification for the Chelmsford Library
2. Loss of Sunday hours

Please read the full notes from the Open House – and in case you missed it, there was an Open House at the MacKay Branch in May.

If you have comments or questions, you can contact the Trustees directly or Becky Herrmann, Library Director, at bherrmann@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x101.

Changes to Massachusetts Libraries and Requesting Items

Requesting items from the library is changing a little.

On July 1st, 2010, Massachusetts Library Regions (which facilitates lending books between libraries throughout the Commonwealth) will be condensed from six regions to one. This will cause two impacts to patrons of the Chelmsford Library, which is summarized in the official wording from the MVLC:

Due to the 28% cut in state tax support for Massachusetts libraries, materials delivered to you from other Massachusetts libraries may experience a delay, or materials obtained from libraries outside of Massachusetts may be assessed a charge by your local library, as of July 1, 2010.

1. Because delivery centers, routes, and regional staff are changing, items requested from outside the MVLC may take longer to arrive. We’re not sure what the impact will be, but we do expect delays as the new system is put in place.
2. Chelmsford residents will not pay any fees to request items through the Chelmsford Library. However, non-residents will be charged $5.00 for any item that cannot be requested through the MVLC or state-wide Virtual Catalog. Any patron who fails to pick up an out-of-system item may lose the ability to place ILL requests. Also, any patron who returns an out-of-system item late may be charged an overdue fine (depending on the loaning library)

For more information on the regional restructuring, please see the Regional Transition Planning Committee Final Report and a Massachusetts Library System fact sheet [pdf] issued by the Patrick Administration and the Board of Library Commissioners.

If you are interested in requesting an item, please follow the steps below, or review our Interlibrary Loan/Network Transfer Policy.

1. Search the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium catalog
You can search for and request items by starting at http://catalog.chelmsfordlibrary.org (you’ll need your library card barcode and PIN) – instructions for requesting items online

2. Search the state-wide Virtual Catalog
If the item you’re looking for isn’t in the MVLC system, click the Virtual Catalog link at the top of the MVLC catalog page (you’ll need your library card barcode)

3. Request an item through library staff
If you can’t find the item on your own, library staff can search outside the state for the item and request it on your behalf. Non-Chelmsford residents will be charged $5.00 (non-refundable) for this service, so check with your home library to see if they will request it free.