Also, check out the Save Our Services web site for information and links
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
From Woods Memorial Library, Barre
Dear Hubbardston Residents,
My name is Stephanie Young, Acting director of the Woods Memorial Library in Barre. In January 2007 our library was declared uncertified by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. At this time I was a full time library assistant and experienced the hardship. Our library remained open and functioning but many consequences followed.
Once certification is lost, any library in Massachusetts by law can decide to revoke borrowing privileges from any resident in Hubbardston. The address alone will cause these privileges to be taken away, even if the resident has an existing account. There are no loop-holes. Our patrons were turned away from libraries they had been using for years, not always politely.
We do not own the amount of books larger libraries own, but we can borrow them though a service called inter-library-loan. Every certified library shares the resources they have. If your certification was lost and your library closed, this service would cease and resources will become non-existent. Every resident will be forced to buy their own resources or suffer without. A library actually saves every resident hundreds of dollars on books, movie rental fees, music and much more.
We have a patron who is house-bound, she uses CWMARS online database to order books and then has them sent to Barre so her husband can pick them up. She cannot walk to browse books but can browse from home, online. These books come from other libraries statewide. When certification was lost she was unable to use this service. Disabled people and elderly need these services.
Please remember our library remained open and we were still able to help our patrons as much as we could manage; not every resource could be borrowed. Many surrounding libraries would not lend to Barre residents. Our library had to be the main resource for the town without exceptions. It was daunting enough to be uncertified. If Hubbardston chooses to close the library the town will lose its main resource and certification. Library directors and trustees will ask, "If the residents don't want to support their own library, why should we support them?" Many will make policies denying any borrowing privileges to Hubbardston residents limiting a vast network of knowledge and literature.
I implore you to support your library’s budget. Do not let your town lose its cultural center or its literary resources.
Stephanie Young, Acting Director
My name is Stephanie Young, Acting director of the Woods Memorial Library in Barre. In January 2007 our library was declared uncertified by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. At this time I was a full time library assistant and experienced the hardship. Our library remained open and functioning but many consequences followed.
Once certification is lost, any library in Massachusetts by law can decide to revoke borrowing privileges from any resident in Hubbardston. The address alone will cause these privileges to be taken away, even if the resident has an existing account. There are no loop-holes. Our patrons were turned away from libraries they had been using for years, not always politely.
We do not own the amount of books larger libraries own, but we can borrow them though a service called inter-library-loan. Every certified library shares the resources they have. If your certification was lost and your library closed, this service would cease and resources will become non-existent. Every resident will be forced to buy their own resources or suffer without. A library actually saves every resident hundreds of dollars on books, movie rental fees, music and much more.
We have a patron who is house-bound, she uses CWMARS online database to order books and then has them sent to Barre so her husband can pick them up. She cannot walk to browse books but can browse from home, online. These books come from other libraries statewide. When certification was lost she was unable to use this service. Disabled people and elderly need these services.
Please remember our library remained open and we were still able to help our patrons as much as we could manage; not every resource could be borrowed. Many surrounding libraries would not lend to Barre residents. Our library had to be the main resource for the town without exceptions. It was daunting enough to be uncertified. If Hubbardston chooses to close the library the town will lose its main resource and certification. Library directors and trustees will ask, "If the residents don't want to support their own library, why should we support them?" Many will make policies denying any borrowing privileges to Hubbardston residents limiting a vast network of knowledge and literature.
I implore you to support your library’s budget. Do not let your town lose its cultural center or its literary resources.
Stephanie Young, Acting Director
Journal Making for All Ages
Saturday, May 31, 10 am - 12 noon. FREE! All materials will be provided. Feel free to bring your own photos or images. Call the Library to register.
Join Hubbardston artist and teacher Renee Malowitz in making your own personalized decoupage journal. Participants will look at journals of famous people and then cut, paste and make their own.
This is a hands-on, process oriented, multi generational, family friendly project. Journals can be used for recipes, nature journals, diary and more!
This program is supported in part by a grant from the (name of local cultural council), a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Join Hubbardston artist and teacher Renee Malowitz in making your own personalized decoupage journal. Participants will look at journals of famous people and then cut, paste and make their own.
This is a hands-on, process oriented, multi generational, family friendly project. Journals can be used for recipes, nature journals, diary and more!
This program is supported in part by a grant from the (name of local cultural council), a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Young Illustrators Workshop
Hands-on Story & Art for ages 3-6 years. Three Tuesdays in May - 5/6, 5/13, & 5/20 form 3-3:45 pm. FREE! Register for one session or all three.
Resident Artist and Teacher Renee Malowitz will be leading the children in a workshop inspired by the books of Eric Carle and Lois Elbert. Young Artists will make their own Zoo animals, Very Hungry Caterpillars and Spring Gardens.
This program is 
supported in part by a grant from the Hubbardston Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
supported in part by a grant from the Hubbardston Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.The Return of Fish Fry Fred!
He's back! Hubbardston's own Fish Fry Fred will be returning to the Coffee House and bringing his blues guitar with him on Thursday, May 1 from 6 to 7:30 pm.
The April Coffee house was packed and we're sure Fred will fill all available seats as well! These are becoming "must-do" events here in town so be sure to mark your calendar. As always, Coffee Houses are free and so are the coffee and beverages. Consider baking up a spring time treat to share. Donations of goodies and cash are always welcome.
The Library's Coffee House Series has been supported, in part, by a grant from the Hubbardston Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
The April Coffee house was packed and we're sure Fred will fill all available seats as well! These are becoming "must-do" events here in town so be sure to mark your calendar. As always, Coffee Houses are free and so are the coffee and beverages. Consider baking up a spring time treat to share. Donations of goodies and cash are always welcome.
The Library's Coffee House Series has been supported, in part, by a grant from the Hubbardston Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
May Book Discussion
Join us in our discussion of Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shores on Tuesday, May 6 at 7 pm.
"In Beneath a Marble Sky, readers enter a realm rife with contrasts; where love turns into betrayal; where war collides with beauty; and where the visions of a commoner inspire the dreams of a princess. Richly authentic, superbly written, this extraordinary work of historical fiction immerses one within ancient India's finest and darkest days.
Set at the height of the Mughal Empire, Beneath a Marble Sky recreates the remarkable lives of those responsible for the Taj Mahal's existence. From the famous lovers who inspired it, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, to the architect who designed it to the man who sought to destroy it, Beneath a Marble Sky recounts the stories of those who oversaw the rise of the world’s most famous building."
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Regarding Certification & Notice From Gardner Library
The following information is provided from the MA Board of Library Commissioner’s web site:
“The Closure of a Public Library
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners considers any municipality that closes its main public library or ceases offering library service to the public for any reason other than the undertaking of a project to improve library services (such as construction, automation preparation or inventory) or the occurrence of a natural catastrophe (including a limited emergency closing due to illness or death) to be, as of the date of that termination of service, no longer a certified participant in the State Aid to Public Libraries program.
The Commissioners will confirm the municipality's loss of certification at their next regularly scheduled Board meeting.
Once the municipality has lost certification, it cannot be recertified as meeting the minimum standards of public library service for State Aid to Public Libraries (as set forth in MGL c.78, s. 19A and 19B, 605 CMR 4.0, and current budget language) until the municipality's library has been meeting the standards for one complete fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) and proper application for State Aid to Public Libraries is made to the Board of Library Commissioners.
When a public library is not certified...
1. The noncertified municipality and its library will not receive any State Aid to Public Libraries monies (M.G.L. c.78, s.19A).
2. Libraries in certified municipalities are not required to lend library materials to the library in the noncertified municipality (605 CMR 4.01 (6a)).
3. Libraries in certified municipalities are not required to extend reciprocal library services, beyond in-library use of their materials, to residents of the noncertified municipality (605 CMR 4.01 (6b)).
4. The library will not receive support through the Small Libraries in Networks Program.
5. The municipality is not eligible to apply for funds under the Public Library Construction Program (605 CMR 6.05 (1)(c)), and any existing grant will be invalidated because the library must maintain eligibility throughout the construction process in order to receive grant funds (605 CMR 6.09(7)(b)).
6. The library will not be eligible to apply for grants under the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) program.”
According to the above state regulations, the Gardner Library has posted the following statement:
“To Our Hubbardston Patrons
We have received word…that the preliminary town of Hubbardston budget for the next fiscal year has zeroed out all funding for the Hubbardston library. If the Hubbarston Library closes it means that as of its closing date you will not be able to check out items from this library and many other libraries in the commonwealth. In addition, you will not be able to borrow items through network transfer and have them delivered her or to most other C/WMARS libraries.
If these services are important to you and your family, your support of the library should be expressed to your town officials as soon as possible.”
At this writing, Holden and Worcester libraries have indicated the same will be true for Hubbardston patrons trying to use those libraries.
“The Closure of a Public Library
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners considers any municipality that closes its main public library or ceases offering library service to the public for any reason other than the undertaking of a project to improve library services (such as construction, automation preparation or inventory) or the occurrence of a natural catastrophe (including a limited emergency closing due to illness or death) to be, as of the date of that termination of service, no longer a certified participant in the State Aid to Public Libraries program.
The Commissioners will confirm the municipality's loss of certification at their next regularly scheduled Board meeting.
Once the municipality has lost certification, it cannot be recertified as meeting the minimum standards of public library service for State Aid to Public Libraries (as set forth in MGL c.78, s. 19A and 19B, 605 CMR 4.0, and current budget language) until the municipality's library has been meeting the standards for one complete fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) and proper application for State Aid to Public Libraries is made to the Board of Library Commissioners.
When a public library is not certified...
1. The noncertified municipality and its library will not receive any State Aid to Public Libraries monies (M.G.L. c.78, s.19A).
2. Libraries in certified municipalities are not required to lend library materials to the library in the noncertified municipality (605 CMR 4.01 (6a)).
3. Libraries in certified municipalities are not required to extend reciprocal library services, beyond in-library use of their materials, to residents of the noncertified municipality (605 CMR 4.01 (6b)).
4. The library will not receive support through the Small Libraries in Networks Program.
5. The municipality is not eligible to apply for funds under the Public Library Construction Program (605 CMR 6.05 (1)(c)), and any existing grant will be invalidated because the library must maintain eligibility throughout the construction process in order to receive grant funds (605 CMR 6.09(7)(b)).
6. The library will not be eligible to apply for grants under the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) program.”
According to the above state regulations, the Gardner Library has posted the following statement:
“To Our Hubbardston Patrons
We have received word…that the preliminary town of Hubbardston budget for the next fiscal year has zeroed out all funding for the Hubbardston library. If the Hubbarston Library closes it means that as of its closing date you will not be able to check out items from this library and many other libraries in the commonwealth. In addition, you will not be able to borrow items through network transfer and have them delivered her or to most other C/WMARS libraries.
If these services are important to you and your family, your support of the library should be expressed to your town officials as soon as possible.”
At this writing, Holden and Worcester libraries have indicated the same will be true for Hubbardston patrons trying to use those libraries.
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