The Library recently subscribed to the P4A Antiques Reference database. It’s a quick way to check how much an antique might be worth, based on what similar pieces have sold at recent auctions.

The focus is on collectibles and historic Americana, including furniture, china, glassware, folkart, brass, silver, iron, artwork, and major antique collectibles, with complete information on when, where, and for what price the antique was sold. The database will also provide a little background information on each item, including date, maker, etc, based on the information that was provided at the auction.

Because antiques are described differently by different people, don’t give up after your first search. Try describing your piece in various ways, and also try the country of origin, material used, and maker, if possible.

If you have any questions about the P4A Antiques Reference database, please contact the Reference Desk.

To celebrate National Library Week, the library is launching “Your Library Anytime” – http://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org/anytime – to highlight all of the library services and resources that are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Whether you’re trying to finish your homework the night before it’s due, sitting on a beach and want to download an ebook, riding the train to work and feel like reading a magazine, or missed last week’s speaker on your favorite topic – the library can help, even after our doors are closed.

Your Library Anytime is divided up into general sections, with links to specific resources – both library tools and free online resources – which are all available 24/7. And we’ll be adding more links as we grow, so we’d love to hear your feedback – let us know what you’d like the library to offer! Send your comments to Becky Herrmann, Library Director, bherrmann@mvlc.org – or better yet, go to http://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org/anytime and choose one of the other ways to connect with us, 24/7.

This online archive is the result of grant, provided by the Boston Public Library and the Internet Archive to scan the Town Reports. Annual reports from both the Library and the Chelmsford Historical Society are included, and everything is available at http://www.archive.org/details/chelmsfordpubliclibrary.

The reports are full-text searchable, and you can read them online or download them in a variety of formats.

For help with the reports, or questions about Chelmsford history, please contact the Reference Desk.

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.

To see this list, just click the New Book Alerts button on our homepage. Once there, you can use the menus on the left to see just DVDs, or just Childrens books, etc.

Along the top, you can click to see previous weeks, or see more than one week at a time. These new items lists just started last week, so it’ll take a few weeks to build up.

Speaking of book lists, did you know the library has a Reading Room webpage devoted to provided reading suggestions? From there you can find best seller lists and lists of award winners, “read-a-likes” similar to your favorite books and authors, staff picks, and also a list of places from which to download ebooks.

And if you’d like to have reading suggestions delivered to you automatically, via email or RSS feed, check out our Electronic Signups page. You can sign up to receive notifications of new items, best sellers, library events, our Twitter feed and more!

If you have any questions about these options, please contact the Reference Desk.