Children's author Marguerite Davol to visit Lilly Library

The Western Massachusetts Library Club is sponsoring a visit from local children's author, Marguerite Davol, Wednesday, May 14th at 4pm at the Lilly Library in Florence. Ms. Davol will speak about her extensive picture books publishings and her lively career. Join us for light refreshments and to meet this wonderful author, bring any books you have in your collections for signing!

Please bring $2 to help defray the costs. The Club will also be meeting for dinner at a nearby restaurant following the event at Members' expense. Please RSVP to Mary Senecal at lakmary729@lycos.com


~ Mary Senecal, Western Massachusetts Library Club President

Recommended Program: Golden Wings and Hairy Toes

I wanted to share a program idea geared for adults that ties nicely into this summer’s reading theme. Todd McLeish, author of the book Golden Wings and Hairy Toes: Encounters with New England’s Most Imperiled Wildlife, gave a presentation at our library and it was really interesting. He is a great storyteller and shared some fascinating facts about endangered species in our area. “Todd McLeish profiles fourteen of New England’s most rare and endangered flora and fauna — mammals, birds, insects, plants, and fish — by following the biologists who are researching, monitoring, and protecting them. Todd traps bats in Vermont and lynx in Maine, gets attacked by marauding birds in Massachusetts, and observes the metamorphosis of dragonflies in Rhode Island. He visits historical cemeteries to see New England’s rarest plant, tracks sturgeon in the Connecticut River, and observes a parade of one of the rarest mammals on earth, the North Atlantic right whale, in Cape Cod Bay.” His fee was very reasonable and everyone seemed to enjoy it. His website with contact info is http://www.toddmcleish.com/.

~ Lisa Downing, Assistant Director, Forbes Library, http://www.forbeslibrary.org/

North Adams Poetry Slam a BIG HIT!

The North Adams Public Library’s first Poetry Slam was well received and a delightful event for the poets as well as the spectators. The winners of the Poetry Slam are:

First - Jacob Snow -- “Understanding Time”
Second – Cairo Voltaire – Annemic Dissipatent
Third – Seth Brown – Quarterstaff
Fourth – Casey Finnegan —Car Crash
Fifth – Void Sans Ange –Sleeping or blinking?
Sixth –Christian Phiffer -- Spit
Charlene Fiske – Visability

The first three place winners are invited to compete in the GRAND SLAM FINALE to be held on May 25 at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Prizes were awarded and donated by The Berkshire Bank and Legacy Banks, Angelina’s Subs, Wal Mart, Stop & Shop, Big Y and Quadlands.

~ Marcia Gross, Director, North Adams Public Library

Springfield Slammers rock!

We had over 60 people at our slam - about 20 people competed and we have 3 very hot poets who will hopefully all make it to the "Grand Slam" on May 25th. Local businesses were happy to donate prizes, so we had gift certificates for UNO's, Frigo's, L.A. Fitness (opening soon next to the Basketball Hall of Fame), etc... in addition to the $100 certificate from the BookLoft folks in Great Barrington (they donated $100 to every slam.... to be used to help defray the cost of self- publishing a chapbook). We are also in the process of contacting the winners of our 2008 Poetry Contest - they will all be invited to read at our awards ceremony on April 26th, and the top winners will be displayed in a storefront on Main Street (this will be part of a larger storefront art project being sponsored by the Springfield Cultural Council). We'll also post all the winning poems to the SCL website shortly after the awards ceremony.

~ Anna Brandenburg, Program Coordinator, Springfield City Library, abrandenburg@springfieldlibrary.org

The Digital Commonwealth: Information Session April 24

The Digital Commonwealth, a statewide digital library project, (www.digitalcommonwealth.org) is now in its second year and growing. The portal and website were launched in 2007 and the Repository will be launched later this year. On Thursday, April 24 from 10 - 12, at WMRLS HQ in Whately, Jan Resnick of WMRLS and Digital Commonwealth Executive Committee members Julie Bartlett and Marilyn Billings will present an information session for non-members on what the Digital Commonwealth is, why your organization should consider participating, how to join and what resources are available to get you started. We will repeat this program at NARA in Pittsfield on Thursday June 26, 10-12. If you are unable to attend and would like more information, contact Julie at jbartlett@forbeslibrary.org or Marilyn at mbillings@library.umass.edu. This program is co-sponsored by the Digital Commonwealth, WMRLS, and the Western Mass Library Club. Jan Resnick is the WMRLS contact person for this program. Registration for this event is available at: http://forms.wmrls.org/ceform

~~ Jan Resnick, Assistant Regional Administrator

WMRLS 25th Annual Summer Reading Program Power Workshop

Many Thanks to AJ Cole, Director of the West Stockbridge Public Library, for sharing information on Slide.com
Take a look at the West Stockbridge Public Library's What's Happening in the Library Slideshow!

Visit WMRLS Reads! for more Summer Reading Program Information

MA Legislative Day 2008

On Wednesday April 2, 2008, intrepid librarians from western Mass. hit the bus for the State House. On the way, we picked up another contingent from central Mass. The bus was organized and underwritten by the Friends of WMRLS. Donuts for the journey were generously provided by North Adams Representative Dan Bosley.

Legislative Day is sponsored by the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) and this year, for the first time, MLA joined forces with the Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA). The drill for the day is pretty straightforward for those of you who haven't joined us before. A few weeks before Legislative Day, attendees contact their Senator and Representative to alert them to the event and invite them to attend the program and lunch, usually as this year, held in the Great Hall of Flags.

Let your legislators know you are coming and will be stopping by their office. If several of you from a particular district are attending, its a good idea to make an appointment. (The bus usually arrives between 10 - 10:30, lunch is usually at 12, the bus leaves at 2 or 2:30.)

When we arrive at the State House, the bus driver drops us off and reminds us of the departure time. We proceed to the General Hooker entrance of the building and go through security (usually to comments like 'the librarians are here.') At the Hall of Flags MLA/MSLA volunteers staff a sign in desk where we pick up information packets for legislators and carnations. There are one or two briefing sessions conducted by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to review the legislative agenda. The briefings are generally at 10 and 11. If you've attended a legislative breakfast you will have seen the packet before and may not need to go to the briefing.

It is now time to go to see your legislators. You'll have a list of legislators and office numbers in your packet, and there are plenty of people and signs to help you find your way. Your reps and senators will be pleased to see you. 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. If they or an aide are not available, drop off a business card if you have one, a packet and a short note. These notes and your presence are very important. We'll hope to see you on the bus next year.

A summary of the day is available at http://www.masslib.org/legislative/legday2008.html.

~~ Jan Resnick, Assistant Regional Administrator

Information 911: Competencies for 21st Century Library Services

The informative PowerPoint presentation titled 911: Competencies for 21st Century Library Services by Tracie Hall is now available for downloading from the Public Library Association website. In addition to 911, PLA is making available selected handouts from a number of its recent National Conference Program. Be sure to check out the PLA 2008 website today!

Handouts include: Ins and Outs of Community Surveys, Libraries as Greenbuildings, Weeders Attract More Readers!, Everyone is Getting Crabbier, and more!

Worthington Library Poetry Slam a BIG HIT!

"And the winner is---


Congratulations to the winners of Worthington Library's Poetry Slam! First place went to Kate Ewald, second to Vati Srieberg, third to Mary Wheelan and fourth to Darrell Moore! A fantastic collection of poetry was heard and a fun evening was had by all. We'll all be rooting for Kate as she goes on to the Regional Slam to be held at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst on May 25 between 3 and 5 pm. "

Upcoming Western Massachusetts Library Poetry Slams

This poster includes locations, dates, and times.

The above information is taken directly for the April 12 posting on the Worthington Library Blog

Disaster Preparedness for Libraries and Archives

Are ou prepared for earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, fires, blizzards, and leaks?

Most libraries and archives are not!

Do you have a library disaster plan?

Most libraries and archives do not!

To assist libraries in preparing for such disasters, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) will be conducting the emergency preparedness workshop Leaky Pipes and Broken Windows at five locations statewide. One of the sessions is scheduled to be held at WMRLS on Thursday, May 22 from 9 to 4. For complete information and/or to register for this event, contact Rachel Devin, MBLC.

STCC Library 'blog

Recently I had a look at the main page of the WMRLS one blog and saw the list of library blogs there. Our STCC Library blog was not listed and so Janet asked me to send this out to let everyone know about it's existence. We've had it for a couple of years now and all the staff are able to contribute to it. It was created and is maintained by Eric Warren our Electronic Services Coordinator. Enjoy.

Visit the STCC Library Blog - http://library.stcc.edu/blogger/blogger.html

~ Lynn Coakley, STCC

Flock to the Westhampton Library

From the Westhampton Library website:

Flock to the Library Flamingo Art ~ Saturday, May 17

"Exciting news! 600 pink flamingos (original Don Featherstone models, thank you very much) have arrived in Westhampton, MA, and we need your help. To celebrate spring bird migration and help raise money for Westhampton's Town Center Library Project, the Friends of the Westhampton Memorial Library will be hosting America's first Flock to the Library event.

To make this event a success, we need you and your friends--artists, engineers, business owners, library supporters, book lovers, etc--to decorate a flamingo(s) and then bring it to Westhampton so that it can rejoin the flock on the Parsonage Lawn. We're hoping to get lots of press coverage, so your task is to be inventive as possible. (One person is already planning to outfit his flamingo with rockets and launch it into the air!) " Visit the library website for complete information: http://www.librarywesthampton.org/