Forbes Library launches mobile site

For the convenience of patrons using smartphones and other handhelds, Forbes Library has built a new website optimized for iPhone and Android devices. It offers quick access to library information, the catalog, e-books, databases, events calendar, and our reader's advisory blog. Check it out at http://forbeslibrary.org/mobile or scan this QR code with your smartphone.

We'd love your feedback!

--Faith Kaufmann, Forbes Library

Fine Art Scanography from Nature

UMASS AMHERST LIBRARIES HOST

 

EXHIBIT: FINE ART SCANOGRAPHY FROM NATURE

Amherst, MA – The UMass Amherst Libraries host an exhibit, “Fine Art Scanography from Nature,” by Easthampton, Massachusetts based artist/naturalist Marty Klein ’72, G’96, from September 3 to December 28, 2011, at the Science and Engineering Library, on Floor 2 of the Lederle GRC Lowrise at UMass Amherst.  A reception will be held on Thursday, September 22, 2011, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

Since 2006, Marty Klein, a long-time resident of the Pioneer Valley, has been creating limited edition, archival prints in the photographic medium known as scanography. Over the past five years, his art has been featured in many local and regional exhibits. Most of the subjects portrayed - plants, flowers, mushrooms, etc. are either locally grown or foraged by the artist. The compositions, which look like a hybrid of photography and illustration, portray both familiar and less seen details from the natural world. Klein holds a BA and a Masters of Regional Planning from UMass Amherst. He has worked as an artist, planner, blacksmith, and land protection activist.

“Marty Klein is a pioneer in scanography, the art of using a flatbed scanner as a macro camera. His work is remarkable for its deeply informed connection to nature, for its wit, and for its joy in life. His grounding in photography serves him well in composing his materials on the glass. What gives Klein depth is his intimacy with Nature, for he is a true naturalist, a man of the land. He sees.” —John Caddy, naturalist/writer, 2010.

For more information on Marty Klein: www.martykleinart.com.  The exhibit is open during the hours that the Library is open: http://www.library.umass.edu/hours.html.  For more information, contact Barbara Stewart (stew@library.umass.edu, 413-577-2634). 

Starting Up the Springfield Seed Library!

Get growing with the Springfield Seed Library : wwlp.com

Growing healthy food in Springfield can be easy and low cost! Springfield City Library and New Growth Gardens are launching a seed library with two upcoming hands-on workshops. A seed library is a place where seeds are safely stored and protected so that community members will have access to FREE seeds when the next growing season arrives. Urban farmer and food educator Peter Merzbacher will lead the seed saving class at the Pine Point Branch Library, 204 Boston Road (263-6855), at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 14, and again at the Forest Park Branch Library, 380 Belmont Avenue (263-6843), at 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 22. All vegetables for the seed saving workshops will be provided. Fresh from the garden refreshments will be provided at each workshop. Plus, we can’t wait to show you how we’ve repurposed an old wooden library card catalog for seed storage! To sign up please call either branch, email dmadsen@springfieldlibrary.org, or visit us online at www.springfieldlibrary.org. Funding for this project has been provided by Artists in Context (www.artistsincontext) a non-profit organization based in Cambridge MA engaging in projects elsewhere in Greater Boston, Western Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island. AiC's mission is to nurture creative platforms for the generation of ideas and real-world projects that move us closer to a sustainable future. Through these projects organizers create situations for conversation and research in the arts, architecture, sciences, humanities, commerce and communications.
http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/mass_appeal/community/get-growing-with-the-springfield-seed-library

Looking to get involved?

Librarians who are looking to get more involved in service to the library community both locally and statewide have multiple opportunities to participate.

The Massachusetts Library System is seeking Librarians who are interested in serving on its Executive Board. Board members serve a three-year term, and the group meets on the last Monday of each month. This is a great opportunity to get your voice heard statewide. If interested in learning more, please contact Board President Sal Genovese as soon as possible at sgenovese@ocln.org.

Additionally, the Western Massachusetts Library Advocates organization is also seeking Librarians or library supporters who are interested in serving on their Board of Directors. This group meets monthly, and is an excellent opportunity to work in support of issues unique to libraries in the West. For more information, please contact Toni Golinski-Foisy at agolinsk@cwmars.org.

I encourage you all to actively take part in the decision-making process that effects our libraries, and to work on behalf of the betterment of all libraries, both near and far!

Western Massachusetts Library Advocates Semi-Annual Meeting

Save the date on Wednesday, October 5 at 10 am for the Semi-Annual Meeting of the Western Massachusetts Library Advocates. We will be electing new officers and voting to finalize the merger between the Friends of WMRLS and the Western Massachusetts Library Club.

Following the business meeting at 10, we are very excited that Tom Corbett of Cushing Academy will be our keynote speaker at approximately 11:15. Here is a brief description of his discussion:


Tom Corbett will discuss an alternative future fore getting reading materials into the hands of our users outside of the traditional print paradigm (and systems such as Overdrive that are grounded in that tradition). This future is possible and even, to some extent, already here at Cushing Academy. However, we have a ways to go to before this new paradigm can fit well within other library environments. The biggest obstacles are not necessarily technological or monetary in nature, but, rather, organizational--even psychological. This future requires not only new approaches and ways of thinking about librarians and their institutions, but--perhaps more importantly--the publishing industry itself. Tom will argue that it is time to start thinking seriously about how best to deliver to our users the words and ideas of our best authors and thinkers and not stay so narrowly focused on delivering (and controlling) the physical manifestations of that writing: printed books.


Please join us for what is certain to be a timely, topical, and exciting discussion!