100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INDIAN ORCHARD BRANCH LIBRARY

Springfield City Library Plans Special Celebration!
SPRINGFIELD, MA – April 23, 2009 – It’s 1909 and what’s happening in the world? William Howard Taft has just succeeded Theodore Roosevelt as the 27th President of the United States. Big band leader Benny Goodman is born. And construction begins on the RMS Titanic in Belfast, Ireland. On Oak Street in the Indian Orchard section of Springfield, Massachusetts, the Springfield City Library system is opening the doors of a Classical Revival style library, made possible through the generosity of Andrew Carnegie. Designed by local architect John Donahue and built by local craftsmen, it is the first fully staffed suburban branch library in Springfield. In 1905 the Carnegie Foundation had given $260,000 to the city to build a central library and three branch libraries. (Also funded by this 1905 grant and commemorating one hundred years of service is the Forest Park Branch Library. A celebration event is being planned for the fall.)

In recognition of this milestone, there will be an Open House Celebration on Saturday, May 9th from 1-3 p.m. at the Indian Orchard Branch Library, which has now graced the corner of Oak and Worcester Streets for a century. The air will be filled with the sweet harmonies and jazzy blues sounds of the musical duo Too Human. Demonstrating her phenomenal artistry will be watercolorist Susan Pecora, who will work on a painting of the Library to be donated and hung in the branch. Crafts and face painting will provide fun for children. Refreshments will provide enjoyment for all!

This project is being funded in part through grants from the Springfield Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Special thanks and recognition go to the Indian Orchard Branch Library Advisory Committee for their continued help and support.


About the Springfield City Library
For over 150 years, the Springfield City Library (www.SpringfieldLibrary.org) has provided public library service to area residents. Starting with a single central library in 1857, the Springfield City Library today maintains ten neighborhood branches. Using state-of-the-art technology, the Library provides free and easy access to information and the opportunity for lifelong learning through a variety of programs and services, including Internet access at each location. Springfield City Library – A Place for You.

For additional information, contact: Janet Stupak, Community Relations Coordinator, Springfield City Library 413-263-6828, ext. 422; jstupak@springfieldlibrary.org

Join in MayDay ~ Make a Difference for Your Library or Archives

On May 1, you can do something simple that will make a difference for your library or archives. Join in MayDay , a grassroots effort whose goal is to save our libraries and archives!

INDIVIDUALS can do many things on their own:

* Quickly survey collections areas to ensure that nothing is stored directly on the floor, where it would be especially vulnerable to water damage.
* Note the location of fire exits and fire extinguishers.
* Encourage your repository to participate in MayDay.

REPOSITORIES may engage in activities involving all staff:

* Conduct an evacuation drill to acquaint staff members with the evacuation plan and to test its effectiveness.
* Update the contact information in your existing emergency preparedness plan and create a wallet-size emergency contact roster to facilitate communication and rapid response.

Here are some tips on how to get started...

* Visit a website. Check out SAA's MayDay website!

* Get Ideas for MayDay Activities

* Find tools to expand your disaster planning resources

* Create a quick-and-dirty disaster plan from a free template.

* Find disaster planning classes near you and more in the Annotated MayDay Resources .

* See examples of what others have done for MayDay in the past or what they're doing this year

* Read a book.

* For practical information about what to do first in an emergency and how to prevent further damage, view Heritage Preservation's Field Guide to Emergency Response .

* The Council of State Archivists publishes Emergency Preparedness Initiative and Rescuing Family Records: A Disaster Planning Guide to help point you in the right direction.

* Enter a contest.

* Heritage Preservation National Task Force is hosting a MayDay incentive contest featuring four prizes donated by Gaylord Brothers.

* Share.

* What did you do for MayDay? SAA would love to hear from you - even if you just changed a battery! Send us an email: MayDay@archivists.org.
* Send a paragraph or a photo and caption about how you made a difference for your archives on MayDay. We'll feature your information in the next issue of Archival Outlook. Send to Helen Janousek at hjanousek@archivists.org.

~ Gregor Trinkaus-Randall, M.A.L.S., C.A., Preservation Specialist, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

MLA Annual Conference Raffle Winners!

We are pleased to announce that the following 3 people from Western Massachusetts member libraries were selected in the drawing for a free day's registration at the Annual Conference of the Massachusetts Library Association at the MassMutual Center in Springfield (May 5-8). A total of 32 people entered this contest, which was sponsored with funds donated to WMRLS by the Berkshire Library Breakfast Committee.
Appropriately, they are from 3 different types of libraries:

* David McMahon - Babson Library, Springfield College
* Flannery Buchanan - Talmadge Elem. School, Springfield
* Mary Kostanski - Greenfield Public Library

Congratulations to these people We hope they, and many other people from WMRLS libraries, will enjoy this conference, which this year is being held in our part of the state.

If you missed it earlier, here is the link to the MLA conference brochure:

~ Sincerely, John Ramsay, Regional Administrator, Western Massachusetts Regional Library System