Massachusetts Library Legislative Day Now April 11

Don’t miss Library Legislative Day at the State House on April 11th. Previously scheduled for April 30, the day and format have been adjusted to focus our advocacy efforts closer to the legislative budget time line. We don’t have a space for all events to occur together, but that does not make our attendance any less important. It is essential that our legislators (especially those receiving advocacy awards) and the Library Legislative Caucus hear from us and are aware of our support for them and the legislative agenda.

The format of Legislative Day has changed considerably, necessitated by the date and location changes. It is budget season at the State House and the Speaker has requested all rooms be available for legislators and committees so only a couple of spaces are available to the library community,

Legislators will be in session in the morning from 10 – noon. Library staff and supporters are encouraged to make afternoon appointments with legislators and meet with legislative aides during the morning. Please consider teaming up with colleagues who share Representatives and Senators for a joint visit.

Due to the scheduling issues beyond MLA and MSLA control, lunch will not be provided this year. There will be no Western MA Library Advocates bus. We encourage you to carpool.

MSLA

9-9:30 Registration and coffee in Room 437

10-11 MSLA Legislative Advocacy Award to Rep. Sean Garballey and Bookmark Contest Awards Ceremony.

MLA

9-10 Registration and coffee in State Library. MBLC staff will be at the registration to highlight Legislative Agenda items.

Noon Advocacy Award and Reception for Rep. Kate Hogan in State Library.

At both registration and the award reception, the MBLC will premier its sparkling new video. It features libraries statewide with the tag line “Who needs libraries? We all do.”

Legislative Day

A Guide For Newbies

by Jan Resnick, Western Massachusetts Library Advocates

Legislative Day is sponsored by the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) and in recent years MLA joined forces with the Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA).

When you arrive at the State House:

1. Proceed to the General Hooker entrance of the building and go through security.

2. At the State Library, visit the sign in desk and pick up information packets for legislators. If you've attended a legislative breakfast you will have seen the MBLC Legislative Agenda packet.

3. It is now time to go to visit legislators. A list of legislators and office numbers will be available, and there are plenty of people and signs to help you find your way.

It is not absolutely imperative that you make an appointment. Library Legislative Day is a significant recurring event. Legislators and their staff know to expect library visitors. The most important thing is to:

• Stop by your legislators’ offices.
• Speak to your legislators or their aides. Describe what your library provides for your community, why the Massachusetts Library System and the Central/Western MA Automated Resource Sharing network are important for your library, and why your library is important and necessary for your users. You'll have a few minutes to make a couple of key points on the value of state funding for libraries and to ask for their support. Specific local examples of library use or need are particularly effective.
• If you can’t speak with your legislator or an aide directly, leave your card, an info packet or a note so that they know you were there and what action you would like them to take. These notes and your presence are very important. Our legislators are aware of the commitment we have made to take the day and travel to Boston. Your note, even if your legislator is not available, makes a significant impression.
• Offer (in person or in your note) to provide any information they may need on library issues. If you can’t supply specific answers, you can refer them to the Advocates, the MBLC, or the MLS for more detailed information.

WMLA Spring Meeting - BPL Comes West

April 12, 2012 -- 10:00 AM

Stockbridge Library
Stockbridge, MA

Keynote Speaker: Michael Colford

Director of Library Services

Boston Public Library

"Library for the Commonwealth: A New Model for Serving the Commonwealth"

The Boston Public Library (BPL) has recently revamped its statewide program, turning the outmoded, hard-to-understand, Library of Last Recourse program into a more forward-thinking Library for the Commonwealth program. This program builds on the leadership strengths of the BPL in digitization and collaboration and extends services out to any resident of the Commonwealth. Michael Colford, Director of Library Services, will outline the programs and services offered through the Library for the Commonwealth program, examine how they can be relevant to the large constituencies you work with every day, and explain how libraries across the state can take advantage of them as a supplement to all the great work you are already providing. He will also give you examples of how libraries statewide have taken advantage of the many resources made available by the BPL.

Did you know that Boston Public Library receives 35.9 cents for each Mass. resident? Western Mass. contributes $295,874 to the Library for the Commonwealth. We look forward to seeing you!

Directions to Stockbridge & Parking info:

http://stockbridgelibrary.org/hours-and-directions/

A Brief Business Meeting will follow Michael's presentation, including an update on the status of the MLS-Whately building.

Pittsfield Children's Library wins $1,000 Leapfrog Reading Kit

The Children’s Library of the Berkshire Athenaeum is now offering Leapfrog Tag Readers for little ones  to practice and develop their reading skills. As a child moves the Tag Reader Pen across each word of a book, the story is read aloud, reinforcing the relationship between the written word and its sounds and meaning. Four different Tag Reader Pens are available; each Pen is loaded with a collection of 12 books.

Book collections include beginning reader titles which support learning vowels and consonants; other titles provide stories for children who have progressed to reading on their own or with less assistance. Also available for use with the Tag Reader Pens are U S and World Maps. Children who are 10 years old or younger can sign up at the Children’s Library Service Desk to use a Tag Reader for one hour  each day.

A library patron nominated the Athenaeum to receive the Leapfrog Tag Reading Kit  through Leapfrog’s Love Your Library program; and we are thrilled to have won!

Shutesbury's Library Makes the Big Time

Supporters ot the Shutesbury (M.N. Spear Memorial) Public Library have produced a compelling, creative and highly inspirational video encouraging support for the library building project. Popular author and library advocate Neil Gaiman enjoyed the video so much he posted it on his Tumblr site. He's given the video well-deserved exposure and added his own library spin to it:

The Public Library in Shutesbury, MA has made a movie that made me cry ACTUAL HUMAN TEARS OF HAPPINESS.

Support them, and support your local library.

That is all.

Congratulations for library advocacy at its best and most effective.

Neil Gaiman has promoted the Shutesbury Library Video!

Neil Gaiman's tumblr page!

Tenth Annual UMass Amherst Libraries Dinner with Friends

On Saturday, April 14, 2012, at 6:30 p.m., the Friends of the UMass Amherst Libraries will host the tenth annual “Dinner with Friends” at the Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst.  Yankee Publishing’s Editor-in-Chief Judson Hale will spin stories about New England’s past and present.  During a gourmet feast featuring New England fare, food historians and University of Massachusetts Press authors Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald will cook up some tasty tales from the region’s entertaining culinary history.  The evening will include a champagne and hors d’oeuvre reception with UMass Amherst student jazz musicians.   

Corporate sponsors to date include Bassette Printing; Brattle Book Shop; Elsevier; Lexington Group; Marcus Printing; MicroTek, Inc.; Prime Time Plus; Sunshine Sign Co.; Taylor Rental; UMass Amherst University Store; UMass Catering; and Wiley-Blackwell. 

The Dinner with Friends is the Libraries’ signature fundraising event.  Yankee Publishing Inc., home of Yankee Magazine and the Old Farmer’s Almanac, has donated its archives to UMass Amherst Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives. The Yankee archives strengthen the Library’s holdings in New England history and culture.  This year’s proceeds will benefit an endowment for the Yankee Publishing New England Fellowship. The Fellowship will provide students with structured, hands-on experience using and interpreting historical documentary resources and create new scholarship about New England from the collections.

The dinner will feature historical recipes including chowder in honor of the recent book, History of Chowder, by Rob Cox, head of Special Collections and University Archives and Alumnus Jacob Walker ’09.

Tickets are $150 per person ($100 is tax-deductible).  Complimentary passes for the parking garage will be provided.  Handicap parking is available next to the Library. 

UMass Amherst Libraries are open to all residents of Massachusetts, offering a rich array of resources and services. 

For more information and to make reservations contact Carol Connare at (413) 545-0995, email friends@library.umass.edu, or visit the Dinner with Friends web site http://www.library.umass.edu/dinner.  Individual and corporate sponsorships are available starting at $250.  For more information about the Libraries visit http://www.library.umass.edu. 

Dinner with Friends, April 14, 2012 – Speakers’ bios:

Judson Hale is editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine and the Old Farmer’s Almanac.  Jud’s wit and wisdom have established him as a beloved New England icon and expert. He has appeared nationally on Good Morning America, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Larry King Live. Hale has written two books about New England: Inside New England and The Education of a Yankee.  His latest book, Discovering Our Faraway Brother, is about his autistic older sibling. His monthly online column, “Jud’s New England Journal,” is credited as the first podcast offered by a consumer magazine.

Authors Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald have written two books together about New England’s food history: Northern Hospitality: Cooking by the Book in New England and America’s Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking. Through lively presentations and sprightly give-and-take with their audiences, they bring the hidden history of New England foodways to light, along the way showing how a region’s food practices can illuminate its broader social and cultural history.

WMLA Seeks Your Input

Western Massachusetts Librarians, Trustees and Library Users:

This upcoming Tuesday (March 6), members of the Western Massachusetts Library Advocates (WMLA) will be attending a joint meeting with members of the Massachusetts Library System (MLS) Facilities Committee, as well as several of our Legislators and aides. The topic will be the future of the MLS facility in Whately and service to librarians in our area.

WMLA would like to articulate the views of the librarians in our area on this topic. To do this most effectively and accurately, I am asking for input from our membership. If you would like your views to be heard and represented at this meeting, please feel free to share them with me. I will be presenting a report on WMLA’s perspective—and to do this accurately, I will need input.

Thanks for your attention and suggestion. And have a great weekend!

Eric Poulin, President, Western MA Library Advocates

Eric Poulin

Greenfield Community College

UMass Amherst Libraries Redesign Science and Engineering Library

UMASS AMHERST LIBRARIES
REDESIGN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING LIBRARY

     The UMass Amherst Libraries have renovated the Science and Engineering Library (SEL) to accommodate more students and optimize the available space.  Construction was completed for the spring 2012 semester, and the area is now open for student use.   The renovated space holds eight new group study rooms, each with a whiteboard and computer, as well as 46 new individual computer stations.  

On the third floor, power outlets were added to the study tables.  The space is constantly busy, and students are utilizing both the individual desks and the new study rooms.

On the busiest day in 2011, 1,273 people visited SEL, and over the course of the year Library staff answered 8,461 questions at the service desks.  The Library was challenged to accommodate this level of traffic before the renovations.

Although the renovated space came as a surprise to many, there was a great response when students found out about it.  “I noticed there was a sign saying it was closed during the construction phase, and when I came back a few days later, it was open,” said Civil Engineering major, Greg Olson, 2014.  “It is a good alternative to the crowded library, and it is close to all my classes so it is easy to come in between.  I usually come at least once a day.  There is easy access to computers, and the white boards are really helpful for group study sessions.  It’s awesome.”

Megan Colwell and Kristen Richard, both Kinesiology majors in the class of 2013 said, “Before we were in the small two-person rooms upstairs and they were freezing. This is so much better, we come every day.”

“More than anything else, students were asking for more computers,” says Maxine Schmidt, head of the Science and Engineering Library.  “And every semester, groups worked on projects huddled around laptops on low tables on the main floor, talking in whispers so they wouldn’t disturb others.  The students on the third floor in the quiet areas had no outlets for their laptops.  This renovation took care of all of those issues.  In phase two of our renovation, which we hope to have ready by fall, we will redo the lobby and entry area.”

The UMass Amherst Libraries include the Science and Engineering Library (SEL) in Lederle Lowrise; the Image Collection Library in Bartlett Hall; the Music Reserve Lab in the Fine Arts Center; and the W.E.B. Du Bois Library and Learning Commons, located at the heart of the UMass Amherst campus.

For more information, contact Maxine Schmidt (mschmidt@library.umass.edu, 413-545-6739).