Stay in Touch with Western Mass Colleagues: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Have you subscribed to the WMRLS list?  The four western counties have retained their own email list for corresponding with colleagues.  When you want to communicate with your neighboring librarians, but the issue or question seems too local for the the Allregions list, use the WMRLS list to communicate with your neighbors:  it’s easy.

Use this link:  http://mblc.state.ma.us/sympa/subscribe/wmrlshttp://mblc.state.ma.us/sympa/subscribe/wmrls.  Enter your email address and click submit.  That’s all there is to it. 

You will now receive emails directed to the WMRLS list and can send to the list using this address: wmrls@mblc.state.ma.us.  Ask for advice, information, trade ideas, or arrange contacts with neighbors.  You’ll still want the Allregions list, but the WMRLS list will allow you to go local.

50 Years of Library Cooperation

Last night western Massachusetts librarians, trustees and legislators celebrated 50 years of cooperation, services and advocacy at the Apollo Grille in Easthampton. On December 1, 1961, the first Massachusetts regional library system, the Western Regional Public Library System, was founded.

Even though the Western MA Regional Library System is no longer in action (see below), the Western MA Library Advocates (WMLA) is thriving, offering programs, opportunities for advocacy, and occasions for library advocates to gather, support libraries services in western Mass and share a mutually beneficial and treasured history. This anniversary party was no exception.

Participants from the five western counties brought photos and artifacts from the history of the Western Region, the WMRLS Friends, and the Western MA Library Club (WMLC). (The Advocates is a merger of these last two organizations.) The occasion was honored by the presence of three Regional Administrators: Frank P. Taplin (first), Bruce S. Baker (third), and John E. Ramsay (final). Mass Library Association Ruth Urell attended as did Representative Don Humason and Aide to Senator Knapik Dan O’Brien. Most of the WMLA Board was there as were members of the previous WMLC board.

There were lots of stories, even some new ones. Brian Marchese, former driver for WMRLS observed when looking at the slide show that was being shown: “You know—looking at those pictures, I feel like I’m seeing reruns of an old TV show that I used to watch a lot. Like—‘Oh, here’s the episode where Mary and Jan (insert plotline here)…..’ I have to remind myself that this was actually my life every day for ten years!” In addition to plans for the future, the evening held a lot of history and a lot of joy.

As an aside, the Apollo Grille provided delicious food complemented by the music of guitarist Mark Schwaber. WMLA President Eric Poulin MC’d the comments. On behalf of the Cooperating Libraries of Greater Springfield President Kathy McDonough presented WMLA with a donation of $200 to support advocacy efforts. Everyone had a great time; maybe we’ll do this again next year.

(Following the Western Region, the Central and Eastern regions formed. In 1982, the Western Region became the first Massachusetts regional library system to form a nonprofit corporation. In the late 80’s, an affiliate membership was created to allow a few nonpublic libraries to join the system for ILL and delivery services. In the early ‘90’s, regional systems were expanded to include all types of libraries and the number of systems was increased to 6. In 2010, funding was diminished to such a degree that the 6 systems were dissolved. The Massachusetts Library System was established to support library services in the Commonwealth.)

WMRLS End of Era Picnic

On Saturday July 9, 2011, WMRLS staff got together for a picnic to catch up, say good-bye and in general, celebrate almost 50 years of service to the libraries and communities of western MA. We had staff from the very beginning and those who served until this past week. As usual we gathered over food, and a certain baseball rivalry was brought to the fore. The picnic was held at the D.A.R. State Park in Goshen on an absolutely gorgeous day. There was more than a little 'remember when' and a lot of discussion of plans for the future.

We were privileged to have three of our four past Regional Administrators present. Frankin P. Taplin was the Region's first Administrator (1961) and was responsible for encouraging libraries to join and support the new organization. Bruce S. Baker (RA from 1972-1990) took the Region and its first budget increase (yes 10 years on the same budget) through an expansion of services, the move from Springfield to Hatfield, and to becoming a nonprofit. John E. Ramsay (RA from 1991-2010) guided Regional services through the expansion from a public library system to include all types of libraries, the building of the new WMRLS HQ in Whately, and the eventual, budget induced merger into a single statewide system.

The picnic was sponsored by the Western MA Library Advocates, and we offer our sincere thanks for their support. We have a lot to be proud of and much to look forward to. What a grand history of service and a great group of people with whom to share a major portion of our lives.

~Jan Resnick, Former WMRLS Assistant Regional Administrator

WRPLS: First Regional Meeting - April 18, 1961

On April 18, 1961, the group that was to become the Western Regional Advisory Council (WRAC) conducted its first exploratory meeting to plan for the Western Regional Public Library System (WRPLS), the predecessor of WMRLS (the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System). The meeting was held at the Greenfield Public Library. On December 1, 1961, the contract for the first regional public library system in Massachusetts was signed.

Our information source? Mr. Franklin P. Taplin, first WRPLS Regional Administrator, who was attending the first formal meeting of the Western Massachusetts Library Advocates. Frank has been present at a lot of Massachusetts library history. Frank, thanks for the memories.

WMRLS Website Classics ~ A Look Back

Read about WMRLS History on Wikipedia

Photos of June 15 WMRLS Staff Appreciation Day

Belated Tech services roundtable notes

1. Purchasing Co-op deadline March 31; bid by end of April - e-mail

Jan Resnick if necessary.

2. WMRLS Restructuring - process of merger continues; consolidation

of staff and services at the Regional level (47 staff to be reduced to 22); www.wmrls.org has link to merger transition report, with important summary beginning on p. 4; plan should be final by June; WMRLS building will be open for at least a year as delivery hub; MassCat and training will continue; one positive thing is that data bases will be state-wide eventually; MARLS Coop is state-wide already, and it works well.

Facebook: "We Love Western Mass Libraries."

3. FY11 budget - How have individual Tech Services Depts. been

affected? Frustration expressed re: TS staff getting cut, and the difficulty of using subs in TS; also, the difficulty of working as subs in public services, when staff are out sick, on vacation, etc.

4. C/WMARS -Janet Schrader on communicating with CWMARS and

especially when registering for workshops - PLEASE include full name, library name, e-mail and use subject line to state topic or workshop name.

5. CatExpress up for renewal; deadline is very soon. Janet

believes records will still be .99 per record, and it's the same rate for extra records.

6. Migration to Evergreen should be in 18 months. It will only

occur, however, after Serials and Acquisitions modules are ready.

7. RDA will begin to replace AACR2; it might be web-based only,

@$300/yr.

8. Next Meeting: June 9, 2010, 10 a.m. - Belchertown, Clapp

Memorial Library.

Web 2.0 Week at WMRLS ~ Today: Google Favorites

Our Western Massachusetts Regional Library System January 15 Continuing Education Online Coffee Break focused upon Google Favortes. WMRLS invites you to view the archived pre-recorded session of this workshop:

Name: WMRLS Classroom - 01/15/2010 10:54

URL: http://67.202.209.252/launcher.cgi?room=wmrls_classroom_2010_0115_1054_47
Room ID: wmrls_classroom
Name: [Enter your name}

Google Favorites Online Handout for Workshop Participants

~ Sincerely, Janet Eckert, WMRLS

BOOKMOBILE service to end December 30, 2009

The following message was posted to the WMRLS Email Discussion List on Friday, October 23,2009

Dear Colleagues,

I am sad to let you know that the WMRLS Executive Board has approved a proposal to permanently take the bookmobile off the road at the end of December 2009. The actual proposal, which was developed after much discussion among WMRLS staff members, is attached to this email.

A variety of things make this step necessary---a decade of budget problems, a more recent lack of both drivers to take the bookmobile out and also technical services staff to promptly acquire and process a collection, and most recently the very real threat of a huge budget cut for next year with possible mergers of regional library systems. In addition, the growing number of small libraries joining C/WMARS and MassCat networks has required that the regional library put increasing resources into the WMRLS Delivery Service, and that is a trend that is not expected to slow down.

Any library that has a scheduled bookmobile visit during October, November and December will see the bookmobile as scheduled. It is your decision whether you borrow from the bookmobile as usual or only return materials. We will be working with our “bookmobile libraries” to facilitate the return of the collections they have from WMRLS now. We also will continue to fill deposit requests for materials that we will send out by delivery. You can find the deposit request form online at http://www.wmrls.org/services/additional/suppleme.html

The bookmobile program began before the regional library system did, back in the days of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Works Projects Administration in the 1940’s. WMRLS has continued this old-fashioned and beloved tradition as a needed and vital service to the smallest of western Massachusetts’ communities. We have found it challenging to continue the program as it was in its most proud days, so it is with feelings of great sadness that we see it to a graceful end.

Sincerely, Mary King, Regional Librarian, WMRLS

The WMRLS Bookmobile and Budget Cuts - An ABC News 40 Report

WMRLS Bookmobile Plight Reaches TV: Springfield TV News 40 (WGGB) ran a piece on March 9, 2009 portraying the difficulty WMRLS will face continuing its cherished 60 year old bookmobile service if WMRLS sustains another large State budget cut for FY10.

Potential Library Cuts Could Permanently Park Bookmobile By Marci Izard

"SOUTH DEERFIELD, Mass. (Abc40) The economic downturn has brought about a spike in library circulation. But as the demand for library resources has risen, budget cuts loom on the horizon...." [Read and View the complete report]

New PowerSearch Widget! Give it a Try!

Read More About It! Visit our WMRLS Online Databases webpage.

WMRLS Night at the MassMutual Center A Grand Success!

Thank you to all of our member libraries that participated in our WMRLS Night at the MassMutual Center fundraiser on Saturday, January 24. According to the Republican newspaper, there were 6,789 people in attendance at the sold out game, the most since November 16, 2001.

The Falcons were very pleased by the turnout, and they hope to offer another fundraising opportunity for WMRLS next year, with more advance notice so more libraries can join in the fun. ~ Sincerely, John Ramsay, Administrator, WMRLS

Summary of Technical Services Roundtable

Yesterday the latest technical services roundtable was held at the North Adams Public Library.  At the meeting:

The attendees stated that they would like to see more activity on the CWCAT message board. Janet Schrader encouraged us to use CWCAT to communicate with each other about all tech services topics – whether or not C/W MARS cataloging is involved.  The attendees agreed that if we have more continuous activity on CWCAT, then we can send fewer messages to WMRLS and CWINFO.

The MLA Technical Services Section is seeking a candidate for Vice-Chair (2 and a half year committment) to fill an immediate vacancy, as well as candidates for Vice-Chair (3 year), Secretary (2 year), and Member-at-Large (2 year) to be elected at this year's conference in Springfield.  If interested please contact Cecile Bianco (Cecile.Bianco.umassmed.edu)

Libraries were reminded that they are obligated to follow the street dates for materials provided to them by their distributors. 

C/W Mars is actively working on customized templates for libraries seeking to print spine labels from Millenium Cataloging.  If you are interested and your library uses a laser printer, please contact Janet Schrader (jschrader@cwmars.org), if you use a continuous feed printer please contact Tom Corbett (tcorbett@cwmars.org).  It is also recommended that you send C/W Mars an example of your label stock along with its item number.  Click here for further information.

Libraries are strongly urged when adding items containing multiple parts to clearly label on the container what parts are included.  When cataloging these items it is recommended that you only use one barcode for the set as a whole. This is intended for items that circulate throughout the network and on which patrons/staff can place holds. The single barcode is so there will not be multiple item records for what is actually a single item.

A list of all current itypes has been posted to the C/WMars website for quick reference. 

Carolyn Platt wanted to know which products we prefer for attaching book jackets.  Some libraries like fiber or filament tapes, and no one worries about covering up information!

Laura Dankner of the Milne Public Library in Williamstown has volunteered to compile a list of commonly used supplies for covering books.  Please post your supply lists to the CWCAT list for this project. 

Jeremy Goldstein gave a talk on LibraryThing and LibraryElf, and will be happy to answer any questions on either topic (jgoldste@cwmars.org).

The next meeting will be held at the Westfield Athenaeum in February.

Technical Services Roundtable October 7th

Hello Everyone,

You are invited to our next Technical Services Roundtable meeting, at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 7th. It will be held at the North Adams Public Library.

Carolyn Platt, of the Jones Library in Amherst, will lead the meeting.

Please RSVP and send agenda items to Carolyn at PlattC@joneslibrary.org.

I look forward to seeing everyone in October

High Gas Prices Threaten WMRLS Bookmobile

Dear Bookmobile Colleagues,

The WMRLS Bookmobile program is threatened by the very high gasoline prices that we are all paying today. The bookmobile is a large truck that travels to about 75 libraries in our 4 counties. It is currently on the road 2 or 3 days a week and we need to reduce that schedule to 2 or fewer days a week if we stand a chance of continuing this important traditional service.

Bookmobile Department staff members are looking at our libraries to compare them in these ways:

• which libraries evidence the most need of the service by showinga history of borrowing larger numbers of materials each visit
• which libraries are served with multiple stops by WMRLS Deliverytrucks each week in addition to the bookmobile service
• which libraries are in communities that have smaller populations(the Together We Thrive grant, for example, is aimed at libraries in towns of under 2500 population)
  

Geography is also being taken into consideration because it is possible that some libraries which are close to WMRLS headquarters might be able to send staff or volunteers to our headquarters to borrow directly from WMRLS. How much delivery service our bookmobile libraries receive is also important because those that get multiple deliveries weekly are in a stronger position to request deposits of materials by delivery van in lieu of a bookmobile visit.

Soon I will be having conversations with the Directors of libraries that seem to us to be best situated to give up bookmobile service at this budget-challenging time. But we would love to hear from you if you think that you can manage without bookmobile!

I invite you to think about the criteria I mentioned above as well as the relative strengths of your own collections; if you think that you can replace bookmobile service with deposits that we would deliver by van, or if you could send staff or volunteers to WMRLS headquarters by appointment to select directly, I'd love to talk to you about these possibilities.

All that is certain right now is that changes are needed. I thank you very much for giving this your consideration.

Sincerely, Mary King, Regional Librarian, WMRLS

Western Massachusetts Health Information Consortium meets at WMRLS

Friday the 13th was a very lucky day for WMRLS! We had the good fortune to host the Spring Quarterly Meeting of the Western Massachusetts Health Information Consortium. A selection of photos from our morning meeting follows!

Welcome to WMRLS One Blog

Many Voices ~ One Blog
Tell us a story about your library. Share your library news! Review a book, DVD, CD, or website. Do you have seats available at an upcoming library event? If so, invite your western Massachusetts library colleagues to attend. Join our western Massachusetts virtual library community via our new WMRLS One Blog. ~ Janet Eckert, Western Massachusetts Regional Library System