ALA Conference Materials Now Online

Read All About It!

• ALA Conference Materials Archive

• ReadsinMA Online Reading Program Featured at ALA Conference Program

From the ALA Conference Materials Archive Website:

"This site is designed to make it easier to find materials before, during, and after ALA conferences. If you are a presenter at an ALA conference, we ask that you please post your session materials here or add a link to them if they are hosted on another site. It is also our hope that working groups within ALA will use this resource to link to materials generated from ALA conferences, such as meeting minutes, collaborative documents, etc. Thank you!"

Massachusetts Broadband Survey - Display this web button on your library's website

Ensure your voice is heard by telling us about broadband availability where you live or work!

Display this Web Button on your library's website or blog to ensure your library users make their voices heard. [HTML Code to insert within your library's webpage and blog is posted in the drop down menu under image.]
<a href="http://maps.massgis.state.ma.us/broadband/broadband_survey_map.htm"><img src="http://www.wmrls.org/code/mbi-survey-for-web.jpg" alt="Make Your Voice Heard Take the Mass Boradband Survey!" width="262" height="78" /></a>

ALA Book Cart Drill Winners ... The Oak Park Public Library Warrior Librarians

Featured on National Public Radio -

Librarians Go Wild For Gold Book Cart by Gabriel Spitzer

• Read the complete story
• Listen to the NPR broadcast
• Watch the winning video

Plus ~ YouTube of previous library book cart competition (below)

MSLA en Mass. ~ The Next Best Thing to Attending ALA Annual!

From the MSLA en Mass. Blog "MSLA members will be attending the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago July 9-15. Join us here as we document our experiences.

Plus ...

ALA's Blogging Annual Website

And

ALA's Microblogging Annual

Greenfield Community College Library's Award Winning Library Video

From YouTube: "At Greenfield Community College using a 70's Charlies Angel's theme, the Library staff creatively promotes the Library services. Greenfield Community College was awarded 2009 Massachusetts Library Association, Public Relations Award in the Media Presentation Category for this video."

Buckland Public Library Presents ...

Buckland Public Library presents

Pizza Pie & The Sky

For: Individuals aged 10-100

On: Friday night, July 10th, 7-9:00 pm

At: Buckland Public Hall at 17 Upper Street (behind the church)

Celebrate the wonders of summer -- and all that leisure time you will have to gaze at the sky -- by joining friends and amateur astronomer Paul Cardone of East Longmeadow for an interactive media presentation on deep sky and its infinite possibilities. Paul is a longtime member of the Springfield Stars Club, and is well known for his wry wit and lively presentations to audiences throughout Western Massachusetts. You don't have to reply in order to come to this free event, but we'll have more pizza if you do! Email ljacobson-carroll@cwmars.org with the number of folks you will be bringing.

and . . .


Stories of the Stars

For: Kids of single-digit ages

On: Saturday morning, July 11th, 10:00-11:00 am

At: Buckland Public Hall 17 Upper Street (behind the church)

Enjoy a star-studded slide show about our solar system! Whirling, twirling, spinning, hurling, exploding, and burning: it is all happening out there, and you'll be better off knowing about it! Amateur astronomer Paul Cardone, of East Longmeadow, is a longtime member of the Springfield Stars Club, and is well known for his lively presentations to audiences throughout Western Massachusetts. A constellation of refreshments will be served. You don't have to reply in order to come to this free event, but adults who email ljacobson-carroll@cwmars.org with # of kids they plan to bring will be rewarded with ample coffee!

Buckland Public Library is located at 30 Upper Street, Buckland MA
Hours: Tuesday 2-8 pm, Friday 1-6 pm, Saturday 9 am-1 pm
Phone: 413-625-9412

NASA Administrator @South Hadley Public Library

The head of NASA during the Carter administration will speak at the South Hadley Public Library on Tuesday, July 21 at 6:30.

Dr. Robert Frosch served as NASA Administrator from 1977-1981. While at NASA, Dr. Frosch was responsible for overseeing the continuation of the development effort on the Space Shuttle. During his tenure the project underwent testing of the first orbiter, Enterprise, at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility in southern California. The orbiter made its first free flight in the atmosphere on August 12, 1977.

Dr. Frosch has also served as an Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, and Vice-President of General Motors. He is still active in scientific and technical policy activities, serving as a Senior Associate at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

For more information, contact the library at 413-538-5045 or visit them online at http://www.shadleylib.org

Friends of WMRLS facebook page

Hi all:
The Friends of WMRLS has a brand new Facebook page. So far, even though its existence has not yet been published, we have 11 fans! Why don't you become a fan, too. So far, the Friends of CMRLS has 31 fans. Let's see if we can beat them! All in fun of course. ;-)

Here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whately-MA/Friends-of-WMRLS/98164952633?ref=s

Please post to the page. The Friends will be posting events as they happen, information on upcoming Friends' meetings and the like. Add what you would like to see on the page.

If you see something on the page that should be there that I've forgotten please post that so I can add/fix, etc.

And -- most importantly, thanks to Janet Eckert for formatting the Friends' logo and to Julie Bartlett for figuring out what I did wrong and fixing it!

Forbes Library Budget Announcement

Press Release June 29, 2009

The Trustees and staff of Forbes Library are grateful to the voters of Northampton who passed the override. Director Janet Moulding said that the library will still have to make cuts in services for FY10 because of reductions in the library’s income, but because of funds from the override, those cuts will be much less severe.

Because of reduced income from the city appropriation and state aid, the library will spend less for books, DVDs and library supplies. The only reduction in hours will be that the library will close on Saturdays this summer from July 4th through September 5th. The library will resume its current hours after Labor Day. “We are sorry to inconvenience any of our patrons because we know how important library services are to Northampton, especially in tough economic times. Our usage has increased by 20% since July 2008! We are hoping the economy will improve in the next couple of years, so Forbes can resume summer Saturdays and ideally increase hours in the future,” said Moulding.

Funds from the override have also enabled Forbes to keep its state certification which entitles the library to state aid, grant eligibility and, most importantly, interlibrary loan privileges. Said Moulding, “Without certification, residents of Northampton could not request books and videos from other libraries through interlibrary loan. We couldn’t even go to another library and check out materials. Without certification, Northampton would become isolated from the whole library consortium.” Because of the override, Forbes will also be able to keep the Hampshire Room for Local History and the Calvin Coolidge Museum open for limited hours each week. “We are relieved that we won’t have to turn away historians and genealogists. Our collections are essential to many people’s research,” said Moulding.

Starting July 4th, Forbes will be open from 9:00 to 9:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 1:00 to 5:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 9:00 to 5:00 on Fridays. The library will be closed Saturdays and Sundays until Labor Day.

Contact information:
Janet Moulding
Forbes Library
20 West Street
Northampton, MA 01060
413-587-1016
jmoulding@forbeslibrary.org

Survey - Statewide Delivery Working Group on Ergonomics and Safety

Dear Massachusetts libraries of all types and sizes:

The Statewide Delivery Ergonomic Work Group needs your input. With delivery becoming such a major issue for libraries, we’d like to collect information about equipment and furniture you have found that makes your delivery areas and operations easier and safer. We will post the results, and will also include them in delivery workshops to be conducted across the State in the fall.

If you have items to suggest, please participate in our brief survey at

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=iCcOLDBP0emb25nRYUCRsw_3d_3d

Please try to coordinate within your library to avoid duplicate suggestions from your library.

It would help if you can supply a link to the specific item from the vendor’s web catalog. Otherwise, we’d like at least the name of the vendor and the name of the product. It would really help if you can also supply us with the item’s catalog number, if you can find it easily. And, if you can think of something that might be useful but you don’t know if it exists, where to get it, or what it costs, let us know. We’ll do our best to locate it for you and for everyone.

Thanks so much for your help in guiding libraries across the state to products that can make everyone’s work easier and safer. .

John Ramsay, Regional Administrator
Western Massachusetts Regional Library System
P.O. Box 609, South Deerfield, MA 01373
(413) 665-9898 x. 113
(413) 665-8877 fax
jramsay@wmrls.org
WMRLS Website: http://www.wmrls.org/

Top 10 WMRLS Webpages ~ June 2010

What are the current Top 10 WMRLS Webpages?

Join our WMRLS WIMBA CE Coffee Break for a 7 minute webtour!

Name: WMRLS Classroom - 06/24/2009 13:39
URL: http://67.202.209.252/launcher.cgi?room=wmrls_classroom_2009_0624_1339_57

Instructions:
Select "Participant Login"
Room ID: wmrls_classroom
Name: (Write your name, pseudonym, and/or library name)

Note:

The first time that you visit this website, you may be prompted to run the Wimba Classroom Setup Wizard to ensure that your computer is ready to run this online continuing education program.

North Adams Public Library offers free passes to Herrmann’s Lipizzaner Stallions of Austria Event

Attention Children’s Librarians:

The North Adams Public Library will be hosting the Herrmann’s Lipizzaner Stallions of Austria on Friday August 28 @ 7 pm, Saturday August 29 @ 7 pm and Sunday August 30 @ 2 pm and offers your library two complimentary tickets to be used as prizes for your summer reading program.

If your library is interested in receiving two free tickets please respond to this email and we will send them to you in delivery. Children under six are free, so if a child under six is awarded this ticket during the Summer Reading Program, the ticket may be used by the adult that brings this child. The cost of a ticket is $12 for adults and $8 for children 6-13.

Contact: North Adams Public Library [napl@bcn.net]