Not One, But Two State Awards Presented to the Friends of the Boxford Town Libraries

"Receiving acknowledgment for our great ideas is one thing, but slam dunking two First Place Awards is a thrill," said Friends' President Elizabeth Mullard. "As volunteers who often don't get enough credit for making a difference, this recognition means a lot to all of us."

The Friends submitted two entries as part of the "Great Ideas" contest sponsored by the Massachusetts Friends of Libraries and open to all libraries in the state. The awards were recently presented at its joint conference with the Massachusetts Library Trustees Association in Marlborough, MA.

A First Place Award was given to The Friends for their entry in the Membership category, which featured the use of a large graphic thermometer to measure the results of the organization's annual membership drive. Displayed on the front lawn of the East Library, the thermometer's "mercury" rises in the form of a stack of books that climbs as membership increases.

Another First Place Award was presented to The Friends in the Service category for the creation, implementation and underwriting of the popular motivational reading program for kindergarten through second graders, "Boxford Celebrates Reading." Coordinated this year by Boxford resident Tamara Nicewicz, the program rewards children for meeting their monthly reading goals. During the school year, children present their local librarian with a certificate in exchange for a key that unlocks a treasure chest of books and other prizes from which they can choose.

"The interest in these ideas by the other libraries present was exciting," said Adele McConaghy, Director of the Boxford Town Libraries who accepted the award on the Friends' behalf. "There were many questions, and a lot of note-taking of these great ideas. This is a wonderful way for the State to see how important the Libraries are to the Boxford Community."

Books in Bloom in Littleton: 

For the second year the Reuben Hoar Library is collaborating with the Littleton Country Gardeners to produce Books in Bloom. The library staff selected books to be interpreted in flowers by the garden club. Club members met at the library on the designated day and brought their mostly completed flower arrangements to display for the rest of the week. This is not a judged flower show, just an event that stimulates interest in books and floral arrangements.

The garden club divided into teams of three including at least one person who likes doing arrangements. The teams got the list of books in January, talked about them and read them in February and arranged the book displays in March on a morning that the library is closed. A florist member of club ordered flowers at her wholesale rate and helped members who were less sure of their arranging skills. This year the garden club provided a booklet with a description of the books and a list of team members.

The library selected possible titles using NoveList, the online catalog and bibliographies such as the one on Fiction_L. We tried to choose books that had obvious floral possibilities, that weren't' too long, and that we owned. The library staff provided suggestions for the space for 15 arrangements -the circulation desk, children's librarian's desk, old typewriter tables at the ends of the stacks, and the tops of the short stacks. Both the garden club and the library did publicity.

Reuben Hoar Library is happy to share our list of helpful hints for a successful Books in Bloom and the list of books that we have used the last two years.

Good for the Community!

Tyngsborough and Dunstable are collaborating on their third annual prom gown exchange. The public is invited to bring in prom and/or formal gowns on consignment to allow those needing gowns for the prom season to get them at a reasonable price. The location alternates between Tyngsborough and Dunstable; the sale lasts for about a week and the libraries get a share of the price for the gowns. In some cases, donors give the entire amount to the libraries as a means of recycling their gowns to someone local who can use them.

Name Change:

The McDonough Arts Magnet School in Lowell merged with the J. G. Pyne School, and the new name is J. G. Pyne Arts Magnet School (PreK-8). Nancy Byrne is the Library Media Specialist.

The Lowell Public School System has a new website: http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us/home

Published Authors!

Glenda Schaake and Eleanor Sathan, Memorial Hall Library, have been published! Look for "We Jumped on the Live Reference Bandwagon and We Love the Ride" in the April 2003 issue of Computers in Libraries: http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr03/schaake_sathan.shtml

Recent Staff Changes at the Peabody Institute Library, Danvers:

The Peabody Institute Library, which had been stricken with "retirement flu" in the last few months, is pleased to report the promotions of the following staff:

• Suzanne Macleod is now Assistant Director of the library
• Mary Saratora is the new Head of Circulation Services
• Frances Hegarty is the new Head of Technical Services
• Donna G. Maturi is the new Head of Reference Services
• In addition, Jennifer McGeorge and Patricia Arrington have joined the Reference Department as Reference Librarians.

Patricia Redd is the Medical Librarian for NMRLS newest member, Whidden Memorial Hospital Medical Library, in Everett. Pat was formerly with the Mass Prevention Center in Beverly, which closed last year.

Elaine Clements Zopes is the Executive Director of the Andover Historical Society. She has replaced Jeffrey Nichols.

Linda McPhail, ILL Librarian at Pollard Library in Lowell, retired several months ago.