The Boston Globe has a nice article and pictures of the new Cambridge Public Library.

 "The Cambridge library is one of the best recent pieces of architecture in the Boston area. And it’s one of the best pieces of old architecture, too, because Rawn’s glassy new library stands beside the original Cambridge library of 1888, a minor masterpiece by architects Van Brunt and Howe that’s newly renovated by Ann Beha and Associates of Boston."

Read the entire article here . What do you think of all that glass????

 
Please join library colleagues and supporters for MLA’s rally for libraries!   “Don’t Close the Books on Libraries” will take place on Wednesday, November 4th at 11:00 a.m. on the steps of the State House in the “well area”.   Massachusetts Center for the Book’s annual MA Book Awards will be held inside the State House from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m., so plan to attend this exciting event following our rally so that we can celebrate and support Massachusetts libraries and authors!

For more info on the rally, as well as talking points, please click here .

Maureen Killoran from the MBLC just posted this message to the ALL Regions listserv:

"The Governor outlined today at a press conference in Worcester his list of 9C spending cuts to the FY2010 state budget. These are emergency cuts to the FY2010 state budget due to a projected $600 million revenue shortfall in the first quarter of the fiscal year.  The Governor is required by law to reduce the state budget if revenues are not sufficient to the fund the state budget for FY2010.  The Governor did not reduce funding in line item 7000-9506 ( Technology and Automated Resource-Sharing, line item 7000-9101( MBLC Administrative account), or in  line items 7000-9402(Worcester Talking Book Library) or 7000-9406 (Perkins Talking Book Library).

However, the Governor has reduced funding for line item 7000-9401 (State Aid To Regional Libraries) by $514,000 in FY2010.  The Governor has also reduced funding by $284,000 for line item 7000-9501 for State Aid To Public Libraries in FY2010."

These cuts are not for next fiscal year, but this one that we are in now. Stay tuned for updates....

The blog 100 Scope Notes features a list of  Things Librarians Fancy. Though the author states he picked up ideas from other sources, his list includes Sensible Lunches in Brown Paper Bags, Cardigans, tote bags, and tiny laptops. Check out the entire list (and comments!) here .

"The National Endowment for the Humanities, in cooperation with the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Programs Office, is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the seventh We the People Bookshelf project.  Part of the NEH’s We the People program, the Bookshelf encourages young people to read and understand great literature while exploring themes in American history." This year's theme is A More Perfect Union. For more information about the grants, including how to apply, click here .

 Celebrate Family Literacy Month Event at the Boston Children's Museum on Friday, November 13, between 6:30PM-and 8:30PM. Secretary of Education Paul Reville and ESE Commissioner Mitchell Chester have agreed to participate and EEC Commissioner Sherri Killins is tentatively scheduled. Financial support from Target will enable families to access the museum for $1.00 (which they do every Friday evening) and take advantage of interactive family literacy activities for children and parents provided by distinguished partners including Barnes & Noble, the Boston Public Library, ReadBoston, Reach Out and Read, and WGBH. There will be activities such as making bookmarks, math games, storytelling, and reading of children’s books as well as a short speaking program by the special guests noted above as well as a parent speaker from the Otis Even Start Family Literacy Program.

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners held a second special budget session Tuesday to decide a course of action in the wake of a close to -17% (reduction) in the FY2011 budget cap that it received from the Executive Office for Administration and Finance. Other state agencies have received similar budget caps.

MBLC Chair George T. Comeau opened the meeting by stating, “We have some difficult choices in front of us today. This is the beginning of a reshaping of a number of programs.” Commissioner Em Claire Knowles added, “We’re here to help libraries survive this.”

 

Please click here to read the rest of the press release.

Boston is hosting the ALA Midwinter Meeting in January, 2010, and Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc. would like to extend an invitation to tour our facility located in Western Massachusetts.  We will provide bus transportation from Boston to our location and back.   The tentative schedule is to depart Boston at noon, tour the bindery, and return to Boston by 5:00. 

 You will see our library binding, conservation, and digitization services.  You will also tour our innovative print on demand operation.  

The tour will be on Friday, January 15, 2010.  We wanted to announce this event early to enable people to plan their travel accordingly. 

Please RSVP to Brian Baird at brianb@bnbindery.com so we can get a count of who plans to attend.  This will aid us in scheduling a proper sized bus, and preparing refreshments. 

School Library Journal editor responds to the bookless library at Cushing Academy in an open letter. An excerpt:

"This model of 21st-century learning is exactly what today’s students need: collaborative work spaces, enough technology to navigate the digital world, and instruction on how to evaluate online sources. Only there’s one big problem: the headmaster didn’t do his homework. By tossing out the print collection, [Headmaster] Tracy has put expediency ahead of reality. And the ones who will suffer are your kids."

Read the entire letter here . 

With the national attention Cushing Academy has gotten about a high tech library (read: no books), even real people, actual book readers, are speaking out. One writer, Cambridge's Alison Lobron, wrote an article for yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine about her "Kindle Quandary". Read it here . What do you think about electronic readers? Are they going to bury the printed book? Will our libraries be reduced to a file cabinet full of stocked Kindles? Or is this just a fad?

Better World Books, NCFL create national award for libraries

NCFL has launched a new funding opportunity to support family literacy in the library setting. Libraries have long been NCFL partners, offering services and access to books free of charge to families. With more than 123,000 facilities across the United States, libraries provide opportunities to bring literacy directly to families in the community.

Through the Libraries and Families Award, NCFL will distribute $30,000 in funding to libraries that are pioneering programs to families. Funding for the program will come from Better World Books’ Libraries Discards & Donations program, a free service that helps libraries manage their unwanted books.

Interested applicants can sign up now at www.famlit.org to be notified when the criteria and application are available, which should be no later than Oct. 1.

 

 

Celebrate Banned Books Week at your library. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell was at the top of ALA's most frequently challanged book list in 2008 (for the third straight year). For more info on Banned Books Week, including a list of resources, click here .

The American Library Association's 2009 I Love My Librarian Award is seeking nominations! From ALA:

 

Librarians in our nation’s 123,000 libraries make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans every day. Now is your chance to tell us why we should shine the spotlight on a librarian at your public, school, college, community college or university library. Nominate your librarian for the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award!

Up to ten librarians will be honored. Each will receive $5,000 and be recognized at an awards ceremony hosted by The New York Times at The Times Center in December 2009.

Nominations close Oct. 9, 2009.

To visit the I Love My Librarian site, please click here . 

In celebration of National Library Card Sign Up Month, the MBLC has put together a list of 52 ways to use your Library Card (one for each week of the year!)

 

Check out the list and print it out to promote this important event!

The Northeast Region has put together some resources for libraries about the H1N1 virus. You can read them here .