On July 1st the Massachusetts Library System (MLS) will begin operations. All regional library services will be delivered by this new organization. Members of the six former regions will automatically become members of MLS as a result of the merger that has been taking place over the past several months.

This is a sad time as we wish the best to many of our regional colleagues who will not be continuing with the new organization due to budget constraints. We will miss them. They deserve our thanks for the stellar work they have done to allow member libraries to be successful and thrive. And those of us in the regional library systems appreciate the support of our members during this difficult time.

Now it is time to look to the future. We will be developing MLS to continue this important work for all libraries in Massachusetts. Granted our budget and staffing levels are smaller. We will need to take advantage of the streamlined administration designed by the Regional Transition Planning Team and the MLS Executive Board to build an efficient service center and fulfill the MLS mission:

The Massachusetts Library System, a state-supported collaborative, fosters cooperation, communication, innovation, and sharing among member libraries of all types. The MLS promotes equitable access to excellent library services and resources for all who live, work, or study in Massachusetts.

MLS headquarters will be located at 135 Beaver Street in Waltham. We will also maintain an office at 4 Sandy Lane, Whately. You may know these locations as the current headquarters of the Metrowest and Western Massachusetts Library Systems. The other regional offices will be closed in order to reduce operating costs.

MLS Contact Information as of July 1, 2010:
781-398-1819 – We will establish a toll free number too.
www.masslibsystem.org – This site is live and already includes some information about MLS

MLS will use a new email broadcast tool. Official statewide announcements from MLS will be sent from mls-announcements@mblc.state.ma.us. This mailing list is broadcast only. Recipients can respond to the sender but not to the entire list. We will provide sign up information. If you are currently subscribed to a regional listserv, this new list will include your email address.

The “allregions” listserv will remain available for communications among members.

We will be posting additional phone numbers and email addresses as they are established.

MLS Core Services will include:

• Delivery
• Mediated Interlibrary Loan and Journal Article Document Delivery
• Continuing Education
• Advisory and Consulting Services
• Online Content, e.g., databases
• Purchasing Cooperatives
• Summer Reading Program
• MassCat

Delivery Services will be provided in a familiar way. Former WMRLS members will continue to be served by the same delivery personnel and a small amount of contract work. The current provider, Eastern Carrier, will serve the central region. Eastern Connection will continue to serve both the metrowest and northeast regions. The southeastern and Boston regions will be served by Optima. This will be a change for the Boston region.

Mediated interlibrary loan will be provided by the Thomas Crane Memorial Library in Quincy and the Wellesley Free Library. Libraries will be served by their current provider. The Boston Public Library will continue to provide journal article document delivery service for the time being.

MLS staff will begin planning continuing education programs, advisory services, and next year’s summer reading program in July. Watch our web site for announcements.

Some of the six regions are renewing their licenses for online content for fy2011. While MLS will not be directly involved in these services, we need to know if you face any issues.

Purchasing cooperative information is being issued by the six regions. MLS will later consolidate this information on our site.

MassCat, a shared integrated library system with about 80 members, will continue as a service of MLS.

MLS will provide many opportunities for members to participate in governance and in providing advice and feedback to assist us in meeting your libraries’ needs. I encourage you to participate and to stay in touch with us and let us know your thoughts about our services.

By Greg Pronevitz, MLS Executive Director designee
greg@nmrls.org – 888-326-7772 – until June 30th
greg@masslibsystem.org- 781-398-1819 on July 1st

Cindy Roach, Regional Administrator in the Southeast Massachusetts Regional Library System has posted a terrific blog entry on how to support the six Regional Library Systems in the State. Please take a look at http://www.semls.org/community/news/2010/04/plan_to_support_the_six_region.html.

We’d like to invite you to the Boston Public Library for an informative panel about Google’s efforts to make books more accessible, and explore what the Google Books settlement agreement means for the academic, library, and business communities.

Speakers:

• Daniel Clancy, Engineering Director, Google Books
• John Palfrey, Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources, Harvard Law School
• Ann Wolpert, Director of Libraries, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Hal Abelson, Class of 1922 Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Moderated by Maura Marx, Executive Director, Open Knowledge Commons,

What:
Google Book Search is an ambitious project to digitize the world’s books. Six years, many million works, and two U.S. lawsuits later, the project is now set to change dramatically. Google has reached a settlement agreement with authors and publishers that, if approved by the court, will have sweeping implications for writers, readers, scholars, librarians, and the public at large.

Join Boston Public Library and our panel of speakers for an explanation and discussion of the settlement. In addition to engaging with one another to dig deeply into the agreement’s impact, the panel will have an open Q&A with attendees.

Where:
Boston Public Library
Rabb Lectcure Hall
700 Boylston Street, Copley Square
Boston, MA 02116

When:
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
6:00 pm

Click here to RSVP. Seating is first come, first served, and not guaranteed so please arrive early.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today named Paul La Camera and Evelyn Arana-Ortiz as the newest Trustees of the Boston Public Library.

“At a time when libraries are changing and our city faces tough economic challenges, these two dedicated and innovative business leaders will offer their talent and their time to serve as Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston. I thank them for their willingness to serve their fellow citizens of Boston and am grateful they have each accepted my appointment to the board,” said Mayor Menino.

Up to nine distinguished trustees appointed by the Mayor govern the Boston Public Library which has almost 600 employees, 27 branches throughout the city and an annual budget of about $36 million.

“Many of Boston’s most illustrious scholars, generous civic and business leaders and noted literary greats have served on the Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library over its 150-year history. I am honored to be among them and to welcome Evelyn and Paul to our board. I look forward to working with them,” said Jeffrey B. Rudman, Chair of the Board of Trustees.

“On behalf of the library staff, I look forward to welcoming our two new trustees Paul La Camera and Evelyn Arana-Ortiz. Their experiences will strengthen our efforts as we continue to provide excellent library services to the citizens of Boston,” said Amy E. Ryan, President of the Boston Public Library.

Paul La Camera, General Manager of WBUR Boston and former President and General Manager of WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston, has served on the boards of many of Boston’s most prestigious and effective organizations including the Boston Foundation, Boston’s Catholic Charities, the Boston Public Library Foundation, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, and has earned three master’s degrees.

Mr. La Camera lives in the Back Bay with his wife Mimi, who is President of the Boston Freedom Trail Foundation.

Evelyn Arana-Ortiz, a West Roxbury resident, is Principal Implementations Project Manager at GE Healthcare – Business Solutions. She was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and arrived in Boston after completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a major in Information Systems at the University of Puerto Rico. She was recently selected to join the Boston GE Hispanic Forum leadership team, responsible for attracting, retaining, and training Hispanic talent and organize community service activities. She is also a board member at 826Boston (Development Committee), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. She has two daughters, ages 10 and 12, who have been participating at 826Boston workshops for the past year.

They join current board members, Mr. Rudman, Zamawa Arenas, James Carroll, Donna DePrisco, Berthé Gaines, and A. Raymond Tye.

We’ve heard it over and over… when economic times get tough, people go to the library. But that doesn’t help when Library budgets continue to be cut even as we get busier and busier. Fortunately the media is paying attention, and stories about libraries are showing up with increasing frequency in the newspaper and on television.

I will try to be better about posting links to news articles as I see them. This past week saw articles on libraries in two big papers, the New York Times and the Boston Globe. The New York Times focuses on jobseekers turning to the library, and the Boston Globe talks about the Boston Public Library’s new President, Amy Ryan. The links are below:

New York Times

Boston Globe

The Boston Public Library’s Author Talk series is in full swing, with some best-selling and first-time novelists in the works for the coming weeks. For more information, please visit the BPL’s website at http://www.bpl.org.

Author Talk: Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Tuesday, February 24, 6:00pm, Abbey Room, Main Library

Margaret Weis is the author or co-author of approximately 80 books, and she often collaborates on projects with fellow authors such as Tracy Hickman, Don Perrin, Dezra Despain, and others. In 1983, she moved to Lake Geneva, WI, to take a job as book editor at TSR, Inc., producers of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. At TSR, Weis became part of the Dragonlance design team. In 1981, Tracy Hickman approached TSR about buying two of his Dragonlance modules… and ended up with a job instead. That job led to his association with Margaret Weis and their first publication together, The Dragonlance Chronicles. Since 1984, they have jointly authored over thirty book titles.

Bones of the Dragon is the first book in the Dragonships of Vindras series — and an introduction to a new world, a new cast of heroes and heroines, and a new adventure by the creators of no less than five New York Times bestselling epic fantasy series. With Bones of the Dragon, these two storytelling masters have conjured a rich new world of Viking-like warriors who sail the seas in ships powered by dragons in search of untold treasure.

Lowell Lecture Series: On the Trail of Alexander Hamilton with Joanne Freeman
Wednesday, February 25, 6:00 p.m.,Popular Reading Room.

Joanne B. Freeman is professor of history at Yale University, where she teaches Revolutionary and early national American history. She has lectured around the country, appeared in television documentaries for the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and PBS, and served as an historical adviser for the National Park Service. She is author of Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic, which won the best book award from the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, and Alexander Hamilton: Writings, and is currently working on a book on political violence and the culture of Congress in antebellum America. Part of the BPL’s Lowell Lecture Series on Social Justice.

Mysterious Massachusetts: Local Mystery Writers Debut
Thursday, February 26, 6:00pm, Orientation Room, Main Library

Jebediah Berry has an MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has been published in The Best New American Voices 2008, as well as in literary magazines and online fiction sites. By day, he is an assistant editor at Small Beer Press in Northampton, MA. In The Manual of Detection, his tightly plotted yet mind-expanding debut novel, an unlikely detective, armed only with an umbrella and a singular handbook, must untangle a string of crimes committed in and through people’s dreams.

Hallie Ephron is an award-winning book reviewer for the Boston Globe where her On Crime column of crime fiction book reviews appears the last Sunday of each month in the ideas section. Hallie combined writing talent with a love of teaching in Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel: How to Knock ‘Em Dead with Style. Her debut novel is a gripping psychological suspense novel, Never Tell a Lie.

In his new book Musil attempts to redefine environmentalism and to enlarge the parameters of the environmental movement to include Americans from all walks of life. He demonstrates that all citizens are connected to the climate crisis: parents concerned about their children’s health, labor organizers, business leaders, religious Americans, academics and youth. Hope for a Heated Planet includes the scientific and historical facts necessary to put global warming in context. It also provides practical ways an individual can help alleviate the crisis and explores sustainable energy solutions. Musil does not just point fingers, but seeks to find answers, to broaden understanding and, most importantly, to spread hope.

“Hope for a Heated Planet is an important and timely book. Musil not only makes a strong case that a real climate movement is underway, he shows how a public health perspective can help to accelerate this hopeful new movement.” –Jonathan Isham, Editor of Ignition: What You Can Do to Fight Global Warming and Spark a Movement

Meet Author Dr. Robert Musil
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 @ Noon
90 Snell Library
Refreshments will be served

Sponsored by the NU Libraries, the NU Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the NU Bookstore. For more information or for special needs assistance, please contact Maria Carpenter at m.carpenter@neu.edu or 617.373.2821.

Two years ago the Boston Region offered a series of Library 2.0 continuing education courses in partnership with the Boston Library Consortium entitled Library 2.0: Using Social Networking Tools to Meet Users Where They Are that included courses on such subjects as wikis, Flickr, tagging and much more. Now, two years later, the Region will take another look at these concepts and see where we are right now. Some of the topics will be revisited, such as the use of Facebook and other Social Networking sites, and online outreach for libraries. I am frequently asked to provide more training in this area, and we will continue to do so until people stop coming. So please take a look at the courses listed below, and if you’re interested in attending any of them, contact Garry Wong at 617-859-2380, or gwong@bpl.org to register. You can also visit our CE page and register yourself using our new EventKeeper interface.

Library 2.0 is a loosely defined model for a modernized form of library service that reflects a transition within the library world in the way that services are delivered to users. More and more, today’s library users are inhabitants of online worlds where social networking has become a popular form of interaction. Social networking refers to a category of Internet applications to help connect friends, business partners, or other individuals together using a variety of tools. This series will look at the way libraries can use social networking tools to meet this new type of user where they are, particularly younger users who have grown up with the Internet.

WHAT’S NEW WITH WHAT’S NEW : WEB 2.0 AND BEYOND
In just under five years when the term was first coined, “Web 2.0” is commonly used in the library world. Web 2.0 describes the changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, communications, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web. Two years ago the Region offered a series of very well-attended programs entitled Library 2.0: Using Social Networking Tools to Meet Users Where They Are that included courses on such subjects as wikis, Flickr, tagging and much more. Now, two years later, the Region will take another look at these concepts and see where we are right now. Some of the topics will be revisited, such as the use of Facebook and other Social Networking sites, and online outreach for libraries.

To kick things off, Elizabeth Thomsen will take a look around and see how libraries are integratng Web 2.0 services into their daily lives. She will also explore where things seem to be going and how services and users are evolving, forcing libraries to change and grow in ways that would have been shocking years ago.
Instructor: Elizabeth Thomsen, Members Services Librarian, North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE)
When: Thursday, February 19, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Location: BPL Mezzanine Conference Room

WHO AM I ONLINE? PART I: CREATING A CONSISTENT PERSONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY
As we venture online as individuals and institutions, we spread our identity across a variety of platforms and tools. How can a single voice come through a chaos of interfaces and websites? By looking at examples from the business and library worlds, we’ll explore what it means to keep a consistent identity when using multiple social computing tools such as Blogger, Google, Flickr, Delicious, wikis, Library Thing, MySpace, Facebook and more.

This workshop will focus on both the writing aspects (keeping consistent voice in text; maintaining tagging and category standards) and technical aspects (images/logos; skins and overlays) needed to create an integrated online identity. Participants will engage in exercises and discussions about the various tools and develop a checklist of elements to keep track of. A list of resources will be provided.

Please note: This program is designed for intermediate computer users; you must be able to independently work through a website’s settings and help screens with minimal support.
Enrollment Limit: 15
Instructor: Jennifer Koerber, Generalist Librarian, Boston Public Library, Honan-Allston Branch
When: Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – noon
Location: BPL Training Room

BLOGS AND MICROBLOGS
Do you tweet? Learn about blogging and microblogging tools and how they are being used by libraries of all types to keep patrons informed and to build community. In this course we will use Blogger and Twitter – other platforms will be discussed.
Enrollment Limit: 15
Instructor: Erin Logsdon, Nelinet Digital Services Consultant
When: Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Time: 9:30 a.m. – noon
Location: BPL Training Room

WHO AM I ONLINE? PART II: USING PERSONAL START PAGES AND OTHER DIGITAL IDENTITY TOOLS
After a few years on the Web, you wake up one day and discover you’ve got four email address, two blogs, a few wikis, a Flickr account, your Facebook page, your Delicious links, a Squidoo lens, two Internet radio stations and a few dozen RSS feeds to keep track of. And this is just your professional online identity! How do you manage it all? In this workshop, we’ll explore a variety of ways to keep a handle on all of your online ‘selves.’ Topics will include personal start pages, web-based email/life platforms, OpenID and other identity management tools, and mail forwarding/POP services.

Please note: This program is designed for intermediate computer users; you must be able to independently work through a website’s settings and help screens with minimal support.
Enrollment Limit: 15
Instructor: Jennifer Koerber, Generalist Librarian, Boston Public Library, Honan-Allston Branch
When: Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – noon
Location: BPL Training Room

FUN WITH FACEBOOK
Heard about Facebook but haven’t tried it yet? No worries! Come find out how to use this powerful social networking tool to reach out to your patrons in new ways. You will create a profile, add some fun applications, and learn how to create a Facebook “Page” for your library. Bring a photo of yourself and your library on a flash drive or CD if you wish. We will discuss how to reach out to your patrons using Facebook Pages and profiles, pitfalls to avoid, and more. This workshop is designed for beginners who are brand new to Facebook.
Enrollment Limit: 15
Instructor: Maureen Ambrosino, Youth Services Consultant at Central Massachusetts Regional Library System
When: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12 noon
Location: BPL Training Room

CONNECTING ALL OVER THE PLACE
In the fall of 2008 Facebook Connect launched. What does Facebook Connect do? It allows Facebook users to connect with their Facebook friends outside of the Facebook platform. Google at the same time launched Google Friend Connect and MySpace, as well as other social networking platforms, have announced their versions of this capability – called distributed social networking. What does this have to do with libraries? Perhaps a lot if we are to give our users the chance to connect with their Facebook friends via our library web sites, catalogs, and other tools we make avaialble on the web. In this workshop you’ll discover how distributed social networking might have an impact on your library’s virtual presence.
Enrollment Limit: 30
Instructor: Linda Braun, Project Management and Consulting Coordinator, Librarians & Educators Online
When: Thursday, April 23, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: BPL Orientation Room

IM HR! R U?
Join us to learn about two free tools and how they can be used to reach your patrons! This class will introduce you to Instant Messaging (IM for short) and show you how it’s being used in libraries. We’ll also discuss the cultural phenomenon that is IM Shorthand.

Twitter is a free social networking tool, allowing you to stay connected with people in “real time”. Unlike IM, Twitter allows you to post quick notes and read other users’ updates without the intrusive feel of an IM. In this workshop, we will learn more about Twitter and how millions of people are using it to keep up-to-date with their friends and colleagues. We will also discuss its uses in the library.
Instructor: Rita Gavelis, Trainer/Consultant, Metrowest Regional Library System; Sarah Sogigian, Trainer/Consultant for Youth Services, Metrowest and Boston Regional Library Systems
When: Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – noon
Location: BPL Orientation Room

THE INTERNET SAVED THE RADIO STAR
With the explosive popularity of iPods and other media players, and more people working on computers daily, traditional radio stations (such as NPR, WFNX, and others) are providing access to their broadcasts online and internet-based radio stations are flourishing. In this workshop, participants will explore Radio Paradise, Pandora, Magnatune, Last.fm and Seeqpod as examples of live streaming audio, and the Internet Archive and its vast repository of archived works as examples of legally available stored music.
Enrollment Limit: 15
Instructor: Jennifer Koerber, Generalist Librarian, Boston Public Library, Honan-Allston Branch
When: Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – noon
Location: BPL Training Room

REACHING PATRONS: ONLINE OUTREACH FOR LIBRARIES
Every type of library can benefit from online outreach: public libraries reaching out to increasingly mobile, independent and tech-savvy patrons; special libraries seeking to expand their clientele and bring their expertise beyond their walls; and academic libraries trying to provide 24/7 services to students and invite the local community into their programs. Meeting wired users where they are is a vital component of library service, as an increasing number of people live their lives online. In this presentation, Jennifer Koerber will discuss ways to reach out to users using social computing technologies and online resources, from Craigslist and Wikipedia to RSS feeds and the local chamber of commerce site.

Topics covered in this course:

• ways to help your current and future patrons find your collections and online services
• community partners to approach for help with your online visibility
• places to advertise programs and other offerings
• avenues for bringing your staff and professional expertise out of your building and into the service of the world

Enrollment Limit: 30
Instructor: Jennifer Koerber, Generalist Librarian, Boston Public Library, Honan-Allston Branch
When: Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m.
Location: BPL Orientation Room

Juliana Hatfield is a performer who connects to her fans through honesty, humor and emotion. Over the course of her twenty year career, first with the Blake Babies, and then as a solo artist, Hatfield has demonstrated a unique voice. She will be discussing her memoir, When I Grow Up, and performing music from her latest record, How to Walk Away. Learn more and listen to her music at http://www.myspace.com/julianahatfield.

“In this thoughtful, highly readable, and sometimes painful memoir, Juliana Hatfield evokes both the everyday trials of the touring musician and the occasional moments of transcendence and connection that make it all worthwhile. Anyone interested in pop music, or curious about the pressures placed on women rockers, should read this book.”—Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and The Abstinence Teacher

Meet Juliana Hatfield
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 @ Noon
90 Snell Library
Northeastern University
Refreshments will be served

Sponsored by the NU Libraries, the NU Department of Music and the NU Bookstore. For more information or for special needs assistance, please contact Maria Carpenter at m.carpenter@neu.edu or 617.373.2821.

I am pleased to announce that the Boston Region will be contracting with the Metrowest Region for Youth Services Consulting Services. Sarah Sogigian, the Trainer/Consultant for Youth Services in the Metrowest Region will now be coordinating youth service for the Boston Region as well. Sarah will be representing the Boston Region in Summer Reading program planning, planning and presenting youth and children’s services oriented continuing education, and acting as a liaison and consultant to the youth and children’s services librarians at the Boston, Malden, and Chelsea Public Libraries, as well as for all of the Region’s school librarians. She will also be handling youth and children’s services issues for any academic and special libraries in the Boston Region as well.

I asked Sarah to introduce herself:

“Hello! I’m Sarah Sogigian and I am the Trainer/Consultant for Youth Services at the Metrowest MA Regional Library System. I previously worked as the Young Adult Librarian and in other positions at the Shrewsbury Public Library in Shrewsbury, MA where I started working as a teenager. My favorite teen author is Anthony Horowitz, and my favorite video game is The Legend of Zelda, which is loaded onto my cell phone for emergency game playing.

“I’m very excited about working with the Boston Region to bring some new CE classes to you, and to have to opportunity to work with you on summer reading, development, and other opportunities for you and your patrons! I look forward to meeting you all. In the meantime, my days at the Boston Region are a bit sporadic right now, but please feel free to email me (ssogigian@bpl.org) with any ideas, questions, or just to say hi!”

We’re very excited to have Sarah on board helping us to provide the best youth services support possible for Boston area libraries, and I’d like to thank Assistant Regional Administrator, Ken Peterson, for doing such a great job handling these responsibilities for the last three years.