All posts by Brian Herzog
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
First Annual Community Service Day
THURSDAY AUGUST 27TH
The Town Offices will be closed to the public at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 27 in order to provide an opportunity for Town employees and residents to participate in various community projects.
Support can be given in many different ways; actual labor, making food or serving refreshments to the workers.
Several projects around Town have been targeted for this year’s community service day. Many projects have already been organized, but please feel free to suggest additional projects. So far, the project sites include:
- The Paul Center Cabin Project w/ Goodrich Corp.
- James Alden Doughty Veteran’s Memorial
- East Chelmsford Veteran’s Monument
- Varney Playground
- Friendship Park
- South Row School Playground
- Robert’s Field Ice Rink
- Deep Brook site clean up and upgrade
Our Service Day will close out with Town Employees, Elected and Appointed Officials joining together at 5:00 p.m. for a summer barbecue at the Chelmsford Lodge of Elks. On the menu are BBQ ribs & chicken, burgers & hotdogs, salads, corn-on-the-cob, watermelon & dessert. All are welcome, and tickets are $15.
For more information on volunteering or the barbecue, please contact:
Tricia Dzuris
Executive Assistant
Town Manager’s Office
phone (978) 250-5201
fax (978) 250-5252
tdzuris@townofchelmsford.us
Library Wins Advocacy Award
The Chelmsford Library was recognized by EBSCO Publishing with the Library Customer Success Award.
EBSCO serves many libraries across the country, and has been compiling “success stories” of libraries performing and outstanding role in the field. In this case, Chelmsford won the award for Library Advocacy, for sharing the Library Use Value Calculator with other libraries.
The calculator was adopted for our website based on an idea from the Massachusetts Library Association. It is a tool that easily lets library patrons calculate the value of their library use – in other words, how much they would have to pay retail for the services they enjoy through the library.
When the economic downturn caused many state and municipal budgets to be cut, libraries across the country added the Library Use Value Calculator to their websites, and encouraged patrons to see how much money using the library was saving them. Libraries could then use this interaction to defend their budgets, to ensure they could continue to serve their communities.
The Chelmsford Library is honored to be recognized as a Library Advocacy success story, and the award itself will soon be hung on display in the library. Chelmsford’s success story [pdf] is available on the EBSCO Customer Success Center website.
Tips for Searching the Catalog
Searching the library’s catalog can sometimes be quirky, so here are a few tips explaining how it works, and how to more easily find what you’re looking for.
Using the Basic Search
Most of the time, people use the Basic Search – it gives four options:
- General Keyword: tries to match your search to anything in any field
- Author Keyword: tries to match your search to anything in the author field, in any order
- Title Keyword: tries to match your search to anything it the title field
- Subject Keyword: tries to match your search to the Library of Congress Subject Headings field
Using the Basic Search is best when you’re starting out, or know a little but about what you want to find. For instance, if you know some of the title and the author’s last name, Basic Search is perfect. You can even use the General Keyword to combine words from the author and title.
Using the Advanced Search
For people wanting a little more control over their search, Advanced Search lets you set various limits. In addition the same four search options as the Basic Search, you can also:
- Limit by Location (only see what’s in the Chelmsford Library)
- Limit by Format (search for only books, or only DVDs…)
- Limit by Language (find only material in Russian…)
- Sort the Results (by publication year, title, author…)
General Search Tips:
No matter which kind of search you do, here are a few general tips to improve your ability to find what you’re looking for.
- Spelling is Important! Our catalog doesn’t have a “Did you mean…” spell check feature, so if you’re not sure of the spelling, use wildcards
- Pluralization Matters! Searching for gladiator will not also match gladiators – use a wildcard to search for both
- What Doesn’t Matter: capitalization, punctuation and initial articles (The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is the same as memory keepers daughter)
- Limit Your Search! The catalog searches all the libraries in the MVLC – to see only the items in Chelmsford, use the Advanced Search or click on Chelmsford in the Limit Box at the top of the search results page (and pictured here) and click the arrow button
- Use Wildcards! Wildcard characters let you build in some flexibility to your search. There are two kinds:
- use * and the end of words (for instance, librar* will find library, libraries, librarian, etc.)
- use ? inside of words (for instance, wom?n will find woman, women, womyn, etc.)
- Use Boolean Logic – including the words NOT, AND, OR (must be in all capital letters) lets you narrow a search, for instance potter NOT harry NOT beatrix
If you have any questions on the search tips above, or have questions about finding items in the catalog or on the shelves, please contact the Reference Desk at askus@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521.
Thanks to Tracy Swaim at MVLC for creating a list of search tips.
Donate to the 2009 Book Sale
The annual Chelmsford Friends of the Library Book Sale provides funding for almost all of the programming at the Chelmsford Library.
The majority of the books sold at the sale are books donated to the Library and the Friends. To make sure each book sale offers as many titles as possible, the Friends have scheduled drop-off days throughout the year. The full schedule is available on their website, and the summer dates are listed below:
| July 25 | Saturday | 9 a.m. – Noon |
| July 29 | Wednesday | 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. |
| August 5 | Wednesday | 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. |
| August 15 | Saturday | 9 a.m. – Noon |
| August 19 | Wednesday | 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. |
| August 29 | Saturday | 9 a.m. – Noon |
| See Complete Schedule | ||
The drop-off location is the Dutton House (the yellow house next to the main library). On these scheduled drop-off days, volunteers are available to help unload cars and handle large donations.
If you are unable to make one of the scheduled drop-offs, you can use the new Book Sale Donation box, located on the edge of the parking lot between the Library and the Dutton House. Or, if you are emptying a house or an estate and would like to donate a large collection of books, please contact the Friends directly to make special arrangements.
Mosquito Spraying in Chelmsford
The Chelmsford Board of Health sent out a reminder saying that mosquito spraying is available to Chelmsford residents at no cost.
To request spraying in your area, contact the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project at cmmcp.org and click on . They can also be contacted via phone at 508-393-3055.
Their website also includes a map of their spraying coverage area.
For more information, or if you have questions, please contact Carole McCaul in the Chelmsford Board of Health Office at http://townofchelmsford.us/Board-of-Health.cfm or 978-250-5241.
Chelmsford Farmers Market Opens July 9th
This year, residents of the Chelmsford area will have another source for fresh, locally-grown food – the Chelmsford Farmers’ Market!
The Market will be held on the Chelmsford Common every Thursday, 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, from July 9 – Sept. 24, 2009.
Here’s a look at the vendors and items that will be at the Market:
- Bagel Alley – fresh bagels
- Carven Catering – food specialties
- Common View Farm – jams – jellies – marmalades – chutneys – pickles – eggs – honey
- Dragonfly Farms – variety of produce – herbs – cut flowers
- Foxbarn Farm – variety of produce – dried/decorated gourds
- Goodies – pre-packaged cookies
- Hames & Axle Farm – goat’s milk – soaps – herbal lotions – creams – sprays
- Jones Farm – variety of produce
- Parlee’s Farm – variety of produce
- Shaw Farm – assorted dairy products
- Springdell Farm – variety of produce – cut flowers – potted plants – eggs
- Vermont Gourmet Candy Dish – homemade candies & fudge – sauces & condiments – maple syrup
- West River Creamery – assorted cheeses – pork & lamb sausage – mustard – popcorn – cheese straws
For more information on The Chelmsford Farmers’ Market, visit these resources:
Fourth of July Chelmsford
In honor of this year’s Independence Day, Chelmsford Town Offices – including the Library – will be closed on Friday, July 3rd. The Library will also be closed on Saturday, July 4th.
A complete list of Fourth of July events are listed on the Town’s website [pdf] and below.
There will be no fireworks display in Chelmsford.
Friday, July 3
5-11 PM – Country Fair (Center Common)
5:30 PM – Dance Unlimited (Center Common)
6 PM – Air Balloons (rear of Center Fire Station)
6-8 PM – Kiddies Train Rides (rear of Center Fire Station)
6-10 PM – Art Festival (Old Town Hall Community Center)
6:30 PM – Suburbanette Twirlers (Center Common)
7-9 PM – Chelmsford Community Band (Center Common)
9-11 PM – “The Meanies” (Center Common)Saturday, July 4
7-10 AM Coffee Shop (Universalist Church)
8 AM – 3 PM – Country Fair (Center Common)
8:30 AM – Flag Raising (Center Common Flag Pole)
9:30 AM – 1:00 PM – Art Festival (Old Town Hall Community Center)
9:30 AM – Annual John Carson 2 Mile Road Race
10 AM – 42nd Annual Fourth of July Parade
Be sure to look for the Library float – our theme this year is based on the 2009 One Book Chelmsford, Three Cups of Tea.
New England Quilt Museum Passes
The library now has passes to the New England Quilt Museum!
Our pass admits 4 people free of charge to the museum, which is located at 18 Shattuck Street in Lowell (map and directions).
All of our museum passes are provided by Friends of the Library. They can be reserved through our museum pass webpage or by calling the Reference Desk at 978-256-5521 x211.
Pleasure Reading for Adults
This summer, we’re encouraging adults to rediscover the pleasure and magic of reading!
Join the library’s staff for brown bag lunch series called “Now… It’s Your Turn.” While this program is aimed at baby boomers – you’ve worked hard, and now it’s time to relax and enjoy yourself – it is open to everyone.
The lunch series will be at noon by the library’s fireplace, and will feature book talks on both current and classic titles you can add to your summer reading list.
If you’re looking for reading suggestions, check out the latest series bibliography or visit the library’s Reading Room web page. Then, come to one of the lunches and enjoy talking about what you’re reading.
For more information, visit the “Now… It’s Your Turn webpage,” or contact Mayleen Kelley (mkelley@mvlc.org) or Becky Herrmann (bherrmann@mvlc.org) at 978-256-5521.