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Beverly Public Library has a new director, Pat Cirone.

Connect, Click and Listen! In Boxford
By Diane H.C. Giarrusso, Director of Libraries

Audiobooks available to download onto your computer or MP3 player are coming in June to the Boxford Town Library System. Thanks to a grant from the Perley Scholarship fund, Library Director Diane Giarrusso signed a 2-year contract with Recorded Books and Netlibrary, two respected vendors of audiobooks and electronic books, which will allow Boxford residents to download hundreds of digital audiobook titles for adults, teens, and children. New titles are added each month. "The benefits are wonderful," enthused Giarrusso, "residents will be able to acquire downloadable audiobook from any computer 24/7, with no need to place holds and wait for months for a title. Imagine using any Internet connection to go to our website and access these titles--no more bulky books on CD to transport, no more running out of books on vacation!" Those who wish to use this new service will need a library card and an account, both simple to obtain at the library, in order to begin listening to their favorite titles.

The program will begin in June and library staff members are busy testing the service in order to better answer any questions about the program. Feel free to contact Diane Giarrusso or Laura Zalewski at 978-887-7323 about this new FREE service! Watch the library's website, www.boxfordtownlib.org, in June to get started!

After two years of renovations, Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library, Dracut, reopened on May 8th! For more information, please visit www.dracutlibrary.org/.
Deborah French is the new Director of T.O.H.P. Burnham Public Library, in Essex, and Andrea Levy is the Assistant Director. Beth Cairns, former Director, retired after 24 years.
Donna Beales, MLIS of Lowell General Hospital has received a Medical Library Association Hospital Library Section Professional Recognition Award in the area of Publication. The award will be formally presented at the MLA annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona in May.
Nadine Mitchell, Director of the Lynn Public Library, is pleased to announce that it's gone wireless. Any patron with a laptop with wireless Internet capability is invited to come on down and log on to the library's Internet access. Users will be able to "wifi" at the library from the Children's Room to the Reading Room to the Reference Department. The library offers plenty of seating in an historic atmosphere, and helpful staff to augment the service.

Access to wireless technology has been made possible by the combination of a generous donation by the Friends of the Lynn Public Library and the use of state aid grant funds. It's just one example of the resources in both print and digital format that the Lynn Public Library offers.

Tewksbury's Giving Tree
By Emily Classon, Assistant Director

The Tewksbury Public Library held a month-long charity drive to celebrate the 2006 National Library Week theme, Change your world @ your library®. The Library selected four area organizations including the Lowell Humane Society, House of Hope, the Lowell Transitional Living Center, and the Tewksbury Community Pantry to participate in this charity drive. Different organizations were selected so library users might find at least one that they would like to support. Many people donated to all four organizations.

Library users visited the Giving Tree, an artificial Christmas tree with spring-colored ornaments, throughout the month of April and selected ornaments listing suggested donations. Sample donations included the following: dog or cat food, leashes, collars, pet toys, canned or boxed food, toiletries, and much more. For each donation, library users received a raffle ticket for one of four prize baskets, which were provided by the Friends of the Tewksbury Public Library. Additional raffle tickets were available to patrons who registered for a library card or who attended an online catalog class in April.

This successful event generated over thirty boxes filled with donations for all four organizations. The Giving Tree was a fun way to encourage community involvement and to celebrate National Library Week at the Tewksbury Public Library.

Rebecca Domin is the new Teen Services Librarian at the Wilmington Memorial Library. Rebecca was previously employed at the Lawrence Public Library where she developed programs and services for teens. She will receive her MLS degree from Southern Connecticut State University in May 2006. Rebecca replaces Nathalie Harty who has accepted a position as Adult Services Librarian at the Lithgow Public Library in Augusta, Maine.
New Library Media Specialists in the region:
Audrey Alenson, LMS, Day School and Miller School, Westford
Maureen Beattie-Waterworth, LMS, Lakeview Junior High School, Dracut
Mary Condon, LMS, Bishop Fenwick High School
Mary Ellen Danahy, LMS, Woburn Street School, Wilmington
Mary Johnston, LMS, Joshua Eaton School, Reading