All posts by Brian Herzog
Nominate Your Choice For One Book Chelmsford 2011
The Library had a great time with Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island for 2010’s One Book Chelmsford, and we hope you did, too!
Now, once again we’re asking for your help in choosing the next One Book Chelmsford, for 2011. Think about all the books you’ve read, or the books you’d like to read, and let us know which titles you’d like selected for the Town to read in 2011.
The next time you’re in the library, give your nomination suggestion to any staff member. Or, you can submit your nomination online by clicking the “Submit Your Nomination” link on our homepage or using the One Book Nomination Form.
The One Book Committee will review all the suggestions and narrow them down to three final choices. Then on Election Day in November, the entire Town will vote for which of those three they’d like to be One Book Chelmsford 2011.
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.
Recommended Under-The-Radar Reads
Seattle Librarian Nancy Pearl recently appeared on National Public Radio to highlight a few great books she that felt might not get noticed by readers this summer.
The titles of each book are listed below, with links so you can request the book from the library’s catalog (or request that we purchase it if we haven’t already). If you’d like to read Nancy Pearl’s description of the books, check out the story on NPR.
Finding George Orwell in Burma
The Good Son
Blood Harvest
Miss Hargreaves
Under Heaven
Last Night in Montreal
The Lotus Eaters
Instead of a Letter
Words for Empty and Words for FullFor help requesting one of these books from our catalog, or with placing a purchase request, please contact the Reference Desk. For more reading suggestions, check out our Reading Room page, and other book recommendations by Nancy Pearl.
New Museum Pass: One Stop Fun
We just added another new museum pass for patrons to use – One Stop Fun in Westford.
Our pass admits one child and one adult to the indoor playground at no charge (a $9.99 value), and passholders can upgrade to use the pool for an extra $5.00. This pass, and all our other museum passes, can be reserved through our Museum Pass webpage.
One Stop Fun “was originally known as Gymnastics Unlimited, Inc. and Gym Mania, Inc. When we expanded our center to include a full service Dance Center, the ultimate Party Place and our interactive outdoor Pool Plaza, we became One Stop Fun.”
Be sure to read about the other new resources we recently added.
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.
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.
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:
- The threatened (but averted) loss of certification for the Chelmsford Library
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Dennis Lehane Visits Chelmsford
Dennis Lehane, author of the 2010 One Book Chelmsford Shutter Island, will be speaking in Chelmsford on Sunday, June 13th!
This event will take place at 1:00 PM at the Chelmsford High School Performing Arts Center (directions and map). There is no admission fee, but we are asking people to register on our website so we know what size crowd to expect. Shutter Island will be discussed, but attendees are also encouraged to ask questions about any of Dennis Lehane’s books – including the upcoming Moonlight Mile.
For more details, visit the One Book Chelmsford webpage or our calendar’s Event Information page.