Western MA Legislative Breakfasts Start This Week

Legislative Breakfast season is upon us! These events across the 4 western counties are opportunities to learn about this year's big library issues and to get guidance and support from our State Senators and Representatives. This is especially important at this time, with the State budget process for FY12 about to get underway.

Plan to attend a breakfast for your representatives. Following are details about each breakfast in Western Massachusetts. All types of libraries benefit from State funding for libraries, so we hope you will encourage staff members, trustees, friends, and officials to join you. If you're emailing, please use the Subject "Legislative Breakfast RSVP."

Senator Stephen Brewer
Friday, February 4, 2011 ~ 8:00 a.m. – Monson Free Library
Host: Katie Krol, Library Director
Registration email: kkrol@cwmars.org

Senator Ben Downing
Friday, February 11, 2010 ~ 8:00 a.m. Adams Free Library
Host: Deborah Bruneau, Library Director
Registration email: L.Kaufmann@mcla.edu

Senator Michael Knapik
Friday, February 11, 2011 ~ 8:15 a.m. – Westfield Athenaeum
Host: Christopher Lindquist, Library Director
Registration email: rmelnick@westath.org

Senator Stanley Rosenberg
Friday, February 11, 2011 ~ 8:00 a.m. – Greenfield Community College
Host: Eric Poulin, Coordinator of Library Services
Register at http://masslibsystem.org by clicking on the Services tab at the top of the page, then click on Continuing Education in the drop down menu to reach the MLS Calendar of Events.

Senator James Welch AND Senator Gale Candaras
>>>A combined breakfast for the two senatorial districts that overlap in Springfield<<<
Friday, February 18, 2011 ~ 8:00 a.m. ~ Springfield City Library
Host: John Ramsay, Assistant Library Director
Registration email: JRamsay@SpringfieldLibrary.org
Or phone the library at 413-263-6828 x. 290

Find the names of your state Senator and Representative(s) by visiting the Massachusetts Library Association - Elected Officials website http://capwiz.com/ala/ma/state/main/?state=MA

Meet David Chura, author of I Don’t Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine: Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup

David Chura has written and lectured extensively on incarcerated youth, speaking from 40 years of experience. Don't miss hearing him read from and talk about his riveting book, I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine: Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup, on Saturday, February 26. Booklist said "Chura recalls the raw, gritty emotions of young men with little education and few options, exercising sometimes violent and childish outlets for all that wild, pent-up adolescent energy...Chura offers a compelling look at the failings of the juvenile justice system."

Mr. Chura will speak at 2 p.m. in the Community Room of the Central Library, 220 State Street, Springfield. Copies of his book will be available for sale and signing. Please call (413) 263-6828, ext. 213 for more information.

Join Up and Benefit Western Mass Libraries

Watch for the upcoming winter newsletter from Friends of WMRLS. Our 2011 membership campaign begins this month, January. As the organization strives to renew and re-invent itself for the benefit of Western Massachusetts libraries, we look to you for your continued support. Help us maintain that spirit of caring and collaboration that emerged so amazingly from last year's challenging times. Watch this Western Massachusetts Libraries-One-Blog for further details joining Friends of WMRLS.

Louise Kanus
LKanus@aol.com

Bonnie Isman retires

In mid December, Bonnie Isman, 30 year Director of the Jones Libraries retired. The ceremony was a recognition of her outstanding career and an opportunity for area librarians, trustees and supporters to get together. The party was a vivid reminder of how Bonnie is valued in Amherst, and how important libraries are as the heart of a community. Here are just a few photos of the event that took place in the Jones Library. Congratulations, Bonnie.

Exhibit: "Chrome Dreams"

The UMass Amherst Libraries will host an exhibit of photographs by Gloria Kegeles, “Chrome Dreams,” through May 13, 2011, in the Science and Engineering Library, Floor 2, Lederle Lowrise, at UMass Amherst.  A reception will be held on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the same location.

“Chrome Dreams” blends Automotive Fine Art (the details created by car designers) and the beauty of chrome and shiny images produced through a lens of a photographer with an artist's eye. 

Gloria Kegeles’ automotive photo art evolved from her great love of the unique cars of her childhood.  “My dad's ‘family van’ was a black 1951 De Soto limousine!” she says.  “I start with the vehicle as a full canvas and search through the lens for the parts and angles of the canvas that catch my mind’s eye.  The transition from three to two dimensions, of subjects already distorted by curved surfaces and multiplied by reflection, often produces unpredictable results, thus recapturing an altered dimension — the stuff of photographic magic.”

For more information, contact Peter Stern, pstern@library.umass.edu, (413) 545-3967, or visit: http://www.chromephotos.com/.  The exhibit can be viewed all hours the Science and Engineering Library is open.  For hours, call (413) 545-1370 or visit http://www.library.umass.edu/hours.html.

Western Mass Libraries Blog 2.0

Hi everybody!

Welcome back!!!

The newly forming Western Mass. Library Advocates (formerly the Friends of WMRLS and the Western Mass. Library Club) are combining efforts to support western Mass. libraries. One of those efforts is to get the blog up and running again! Those of you who were authors before can still post to the blog. If you have news for the blog and are not an author, please send an email to wmladvocates@gmail.com and we'll post it for you.

Your new and floundering bloggers:
Jan Resnick and Lynn Coakley

Thanks to Janet Eckert for her gracious assistance and support in getting us started. All mistakes are ours alone!

be kind while we figure this out! And post away.

WMRLS Website Classics ~ A Look Back

Read about WMRLS History on Wikipedia

WMRLS Website Classics

• Library Lesson Plans

Copyright Information ~ A WMRLS Website Classic

• Association of Research Libraries (ARL) ~ This organization promotes equitable access to, and effective use of, recorded knowledge.
• CONFU - The Conference on Fair Use ~ Sponsored by ARL
• Copyright Crash Course ~ Includes: a Copyright Crash course, Complying with the DMCA, Fair Use Guidelines and much, much more
•  Copyright Implementation Manual ~ Provided by the Redlands (CA) Unified School District.
• The Copyright Website ~ This site endeavors to provide real world, practical and relevant copyright information of interest to everyone.     
• Duration f Copyright ~ When works pass into the public domain
• Fair Use Check List  ~ Developed by Columbia University Libraries/Information Services
• Fair Use Guidelines For Educational Multimedia ~ eloped during the Conference on Fair Use
• Intellectual Property ~ An international look at copyright issues
• Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) ~ LCA consists of five major library associations that cooperate to address copyright issues that affect libraries and their patrons.
• Permission Template ~ Permission Template for requesting use of copyrighted material
• Questions and Answers on Copyright for the Campus Community ~ ©2006  National Association of College Stores

How Can A Textbook Be Free? Keeping Higher Education Affordable With Open Resources

 Date:  Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Time:  1:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Location:  Room 163C, Campus Center, UMass Amherst

Panel discussion on Open Educational Resources hosted by UMass Amherst Libraries.  The panel will include Stephen Carson from MIT OpenCourseWare, and Eric Frank ’92 and Michael Boezi from Flat World Knowledge.  More info: http://bit.ly/freetextbook.  RSVP on Facebook

Author Reading at Greenfield Public Library

Upcoming events at the Greenfield Public Library

Friday Night Films Celebrates Pixar Animation; July 16-August 13!

Super Cold Science with the Boston Science Museum's Traveling Program; Thursday, July 15; 3pm

Glue and Go Costumes with Holly Cleeland; Tuesday, July 20; 4pm

Animal Behaviors with Rachel Roberts; Wednesday, July 21; 3:30pm

Writing Poems from Nature: Workshop for Adults with Jeannine Atkins; Tuesday, July 27; 6:30pm

Life2Poetry: Workshop for Teens with Jeannine Atkins; Thursday, July 29; 3pm

Rock Band for Teens; Tuesday, August 3; 2-4:30pm

Rock Band for Adults; Tuesday, August 3; 5:30-8pm

For more information on any of these programs, check our website at greenfieldpubliclibrary.org