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World Wide Wednesdays 2010 Concert Series

Catch "World Wide Wednesdays @ Chelmsford," at the MacKay Library in North Chelmsford (directions). Concerts run from 6:30 until about 7:45 p.m. on Wednesdays from July 7th through August 11th.

This summer's lineup is:

Jul 7 - DownEast Ceilidh - Cape Breton Band
Jul 14 - Branches Steel Band - back by popular demand!
Jul 21 - VoloVolo de Boston - bringing the music of Haiti to Chelmsford
Jul 28 - The Zhao Zhimin School of Music - traditional Chinese folk music
Aug 4 - Wildest Dreams - blending elements of Afro-pop, reggae, calypso, and funky soul
Aug 11 - Grupo Fantasia - Merengue, Salsa, Reggae, Mariachi, Cuban and Latin jazz

Grab a blanket or lawn chair, pack a lunch and don't forget your dancing shoes! For more information, or venue change due to weather, visit our website.

MacKay Branch Open House 2010

On Wednesday, May 5th, the Board of Trustees of the Chelmsford Public Library held an "Open House" style meeting at the MacKay Branch Library. More than 70 patrons of the Library were in attendance, representing a broad cross-section of library users and neighbors.

The full notes from the Open House are available on our website, and here are some of the highlights from the evening:

• The Trustees presented an overview of how the library is funded
• The library received level-service funding for FY2011, which means no cuts are expected
• Factors that influence staffing levels and operating hours at the MacKay Branch
• The Trustees are committed to keeping the MacKay Branch open
• Questions from patrons:
  • Can patron's contribute or do fundraising to benefit the library?
  • What will it take to restore hours to MacKay?
  • Could a tax bill insert be used to fund the library?

Please read the full notes from the Open House. 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.

Another Open House is scheduled at the Main Library for Wednesday, June 16th, 7:00-8:00 PM.

Upcoming Changes Due to Budget Cuts

At a special Town Meeting on Aug 16th, town reps voted to adopt new taxes in order to help offset the Town's budget shortfall. Unfortunately, this didn't close the budget gap entirely, so Town Departments, including the Library, are making an additional 2% cut to their operating budgets effective September 1, 2009.

What This Means for the Library
This latest cut to our budget (which is about $8,000 - on top of the initial $100,000 cut for FY10) will affect the Library in several ways:

1. Reduction of Hours at the Main Branch - opening time on Friday and Saturday will now be 9:30 a.m. (instead of 9:00 a.m.). This has the benefit of bringing Friday and Saturday opening time in line with the rest of the days of the week. The new hours are Mon-Thu 9:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. and Fri-Sat 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
2. Reduction of our Materials Budget - This latest cut further reduces our book budget. We continue to be the busiest library in the consortium but our collection resources are now limited. Donations from the public are greatly appreciated and can now be counted towards our municipal requirement for certification. Certification allows us to continue to receive state aid and to participate in inter-library loan within our consortium and across the state. As so many communities are having financial difficulties, the Board of Library Commissioners will be granting unlimited waivers this year - provided the cuts made to the libraries are equitable within the context of other town services.
3. Reduction of Hours at the MacKay Branch - MacKay will be closed on Mondays. The new MacKay hours are Wednesdays 1:00 p.m. - 8:00 pm and Friday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. This is a result of the initial FY10 cut of $100,000.

These changes will take effect September 1st. The last Monday MacKay will be open (until our budget situation improves) will be August 31, 2009.

The Chelmsford Library is always trying to balance the needs and expectations of our patrons with the resources we have available to us. Since these changes affect all of us, we'd like to hear what you think. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact at Becky Herrmann, Library Directory, at bherrmann@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x101.

Share Your Story!

Everyone has a story to tell - what's yours?

From May 20th to June 17th, the MacKay Branch will be a drop-off point for The Story Box Project. This is a global story sharing project - stories that are dropped off by Chelmsford residents will be collected in a Story Box that will be shared with other New England communities, and they'll share their stories with us.

Before the story box is sent on, we will hold a Story Box Celebration on Wednesday June 17th at 6:30 p.m. where we'll share many of the stories we collected. Our Stories will then be packaged up and the Story Box will be sent off to another library in the region where they will collect stories and send it on to somewhere else.

The Story Box should make it’s way back to Chelmsford in early 2010 packed full of stories from all over New England.

Story submissions begin on May 20th. You can drop it off in person at the MacKay Library, submit them through our online drop box, or mail them to MacKay Library, Story Box Project, 43 Newfield St, N.Chelmsford, 01863.

The Story Box Project was founded by Kevin Cordi, an Academic Storyteller at Ohio State University. For more information, check out the MacKay Programs webpage, or contact Bonnie Rankin at the MacKay Branch at brankin@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x214.

MacKay Branch Is Now Open

The renovation is complete, and the MacKay Branch Library is once again open to the public.

On Friday, Dec. 21st, the MacKay Branch's doors reopened, and many North Chelmsford were there waiting. All library services are available, but staff will be spending the next couple weeks finishing up loose ends and putting on the final touches.

For more information on the renovation, take a look at our renovation photos or read the Chelmsford Independent's article on the reopening.

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