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Check Out The Online Newsstand

The library is now offering easy access to the latest articles in popular magazines!

For years patrons have had access to these same magazines, but they've been sort of buried in our subscription databases. Now, there's an "Online Newsstand" that displays magazine covers that lets you click right into that magazine.

Online Newsstand
Click a magazine cover to read the latest featured articles & more.

This is available both on our main website and also on our mobile website - that way, you can have easy access to read magazines while you're on the go. New articles are added as the magazine is published, and you can also scroll to see past issues. There will also be more magazines added soon, too!

If you have any questions about accessing these magazines or any of our databases, please contact the Reference Desk.

Changes to Reference Collection and New Study Rooms

The library will be undergoing a small renovation project starting this week.

One of our most frequent requests from patrons is for additional small study room space - for people to either study quietly on their own, meet with a tutor, or to have a small meeting. The library currently has one room available for this purpose, but in order to respond to this growing need of our patrons, we'll be building three new small study rooms with internet accessibility on the library's lower level.

Building More Study Rooms
Working with the Director of Public Facilities for the town, Gary Persichetti, and utilizing a combination of town employees and paid contractors, we will be able to accomplish the project (renovation and furnishings) at a very modest cost. The Board of Library Trustees have approved this project, funding it with a combination of endowment and state aid money. In difficult financial times, it is particularly gratifying that the library is able to meet user needs without requesting additional municipal funding.

Changes To The Reference Collection
To make space for the new study rooms, we'll be modernizing our approach to our reference collection. There is a growing trend in public libraries to interfile reference titles with the regular circulating collection. We will integrate a large portion of our heavily-used reference materials into the regular library stacks and de-accession titles that are now available via the Internet and in our on-line databases.

With this change, many reference titles will now be available for circulation for one week! This also addresses a growing need of patrons to use library materials in their own homes, instead of in the library. The shorter loan period (one week instead of three weeks) will also mean the material will still spend time on the library shelves, and thus be available when people need it.

Subject Collection Tables and Additional Seating
We will still have a small collection of non-circulating reference books, such as encyclopedias, which will be housed on index tables where some of the reference shelves currently are. We'll also use these index tables to highlight certain subject areas, such as genealogy, career resources, and auto repair, that are sometimes hard to find in the regular circulating collection. Also, these additional tables will increase the seating space for wireless access, a service need that has greatly increased in the last year. We'll be moving things around for the next few months to accommodate both the renovation and the new locations of items.

We hope you will pardon the transition, and that you will enjoy the new study space and access to the collection when this project is completed. If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to talk to the reference staff, library trustees or to Becky Herrmann, Library Director, at bherrmann@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x101.

Education Resources at the Library

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.

Town-Wide History Project

The Chelmsford Library and many other groups in town are beginning a Town-Wide History Project. The goal of the project is to create a master index of local historical records, preserve these original and irreplaceable records, and digitize as much of it as possible.

The first step of the project was to ask local organizations and Town departments with historical records or artifacts to complete a Preliminary Survey (download the survey [pdf]). This was to give us an idea of how much and what kind of historical records each group has, and where this information is stored. The next step will be visiting each location to conduct a direct inventory of the records.

The project will also include inviting experts in the field to speak at the library about preserving historic information, both for Town and personal use. We expect this project to take years to complete in full, especially the digitization of records. But once information is preserved and digitized, it will be much easier for historians, genealogists, and anyone curious about the history of Chelmsford, its buildings, parks and citizens, to access through the internet.

We've created a Chelmsford History Project webpage to keep track of the project progress, and we invite the public to participate as much as possible. Although the project is currently focusing on local churches, organizations and Town departments, we recognize that many private collections in peoples' homes are of great value as well.

If you'd like to be involved, know of a historical collection, or just have questions about the project, please contact Brian Herzog, Head of Reference, at bherzog@mvlc.org or 978-256-221 x111.

Upcoming Election Issues

On November 4th, Massachusetts voters will get to elect many national and state officials, and also decide on three state-wide ballot issues.

The MA Secretary of State Office has published the Information for Voters booklet [pdf], which includes these ballot questions and outlines what a Yes or No vote means in each case. Copies of these booklets are available online [pdf] and at the Reference Desk, and the issues are summarized below.

Question 1: State Personal Income Tax
This proposed law would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for all categories of taxable income for the tax year beginning on or after Jan 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after Jan 1, 2010. Complete summary...

• Voting Yes would lower and then eliminate personal income tax as a source of revenue for the state government.
  More information: SmallGovernmentAct.org
• Voting No would make no change to state income tax laws.
  More information: VoteNoQuestion1.com

Read how Question 1 could affect the Chelmsford Library, in a statement by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

Question 2: Possession of Marijuana
This proposed law would replace the criminal penalties for possession of one ounce of less of marijuana with a new system of civil penalties, and would exclude information regarding this civil offense from the state's criminal record information system. Complete summary...

• Voting Yes would replace the criminal penalties for possession of one ounce of less of marijuana with a new system of civil penalties.
  More information: SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org
• Voting No would make no change in state criminal laws concerning possession of marijuana.
  More information: Mass.gov/MDAA

Question 3: Dog Racing
This proposed law would prohibit any dog racing or racing meeting in Massachusetts where any form of betting or wagering on the speed of ability of dogs occurs. Complete summary...

• Voting Yes would prohibit any dog races on which betting or wagering occurs, effective Jan 1, 2010.
  More information: MSPCA.org
• Voting No would make no change in state criminal laws concerning dog racing.
  More information: RaynhamParkFun.com

Additional information on these questions, candidates for office in 2008, and registering and voting in Massachusetts is available from the Elections Division of the Secretary of State.