Caro Appointed to Board

Carol B. Caro has been appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to serve on the nine-member Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

From Brookline, Caro has extensive experience with libraries including positions as the Executive Director of the Minuteman Library Network as well as Head of the Library Systems Department and Automation Librarian at Boston College. Her information technology skills have made her an asset to numerous committees and organizations such as NOTIS Users Group where she served four years as Chair of OPAC Training and the Boston Library Consortium where she chaired the Information Technology Committee. She has also served two years as the Secretary of the Massachusetts Library Association in addition to volunteering with the Friends of Brookline Public Library. Caro replaces Emily M. Salaun who was appointed to the Board in 2005 by Governor Mitt Romney.

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The 8th Annual Trustee Symposium
Saturday, April 5, 2008 at Holiday Inn in Boxborough 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

The Trustee Symposium is free. All Trustees are invited. Coffee and lunch are provided.

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library Trustees Association will hold the 8th annual Trustee Symposium on Saturday, April 5th at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Trustee Symposium is free, however registration is required. Workshops include:

Snapshot: Our Public Libraries Today!
Robert C. Maier, Director, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

We'll paint a portrait of public libraries today - who's up and who's down and why, how the Board's Legislative Agenda could help, and what the TV and radio ads and the mass.gov/libraries web site can do for your library and your users.

Public Relations 101
Celeste Bruno, Communication Specialist
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

The two areas of media relations that tend to be difficult for libraries are how to deal with unexpected calls from news reporters and how to promote libraries both to the local community and to local officials. A call from a reporter asking difficult questions can make one nervous. We'll talk about ways to work with reporters and make dealing with the news media less stressful. Promoting your library can be difficult for different reasons. Two of the most common issues are finding a cohesive way to promote the many services libraries offer and obtaining media coverage. We'll talk about the MBLC's statewide media campaign and how it can help promote your library and ways you can use it to highlight what you do locally.

Outreach to Spanish Speakers and Other Target Groups
Nancy Rea, Deputy Director Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

Do you have newcomers in your community whose primary language is not English and who may not know all that the library can offer them? Nearly eight percent of Bay Staters are of Hispanic or Latino origin (2006 U.S. Census). Through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) has partnered with Webjunction.org to provide Spanish Language Outreach (SLO) workshops throughout the Commonwealth to help libraries work with this growing community. Staff conducted five successful workshops in the fall of 2007 and has scheduled four more during the spring of 2008.

The workshop builds knowledge of Spanish-speaking residents' needs and will help libraries better serve the Hispanic community by increasing awareness of local library services and public access computing.

The techniques learned in this workshop can easily be applied to any special target group such as seniors, teens or other ethnic groups in your community. Come learn about this successful program and technique.

To Register:

Contact Maureen Killoran, Head, Public Library Advisory Unit
FAX: 617-725-0140
MAIL: Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
98 North Washington St., Suite 401
Boston, MA. 02114-1933
E-MAIL: Maureen.Killoran@state.ma.us
PHONE: 617-725-1860 X220 or 1-800-952-7403