Documentary Heritage Grants Announced:

On July 1, 2003, William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth announced the awards for the 2003 Documentary Heritage Grant program. The competitive grant program funds projects that educate the public to value historical records and archives, promote collaboration to achieve common goals, plan for adequate documentation of Massachusetts history, and improve the accessibility and preservation of historical records. The total award for the grant program is $100,000. Twenty-one projects met the funding criteria. Northeast libraries included the Reuben Hoar Library, Littleton (Preserving Littleton's Legacy $4,150) and the Beverly Public Library (Beverly Archives Project $4,800).

The Documentary Heritage Grant program is sponsored by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and the Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board and is made possible through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, a division of the National Archives and Records Administration.

The next Program Planners meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 2 PM at Wakefield's Beebe Library http://www.wakefieldlibrary.org/. Mary Behrle from NMRLS will tell us about an exciting new project that NMRLS will be initiating soon titled "The Library Experience: Older Citizens." We should have time to share ideas and talk about successful programs that we've held so bring along some visuals if you have them. The Program Planners Group meets four times a year. It is intended especially for library staff who plan and design library programs for adult and intergenerational audiences.

Kathy Cryan-Hicks
Chelmsford Public Library

Adele McConaghy will retire on November 3 as Director of the Boxford Town Libraries.

Cathy DeWitt is the new Children's Librarian at the Georgetown Peabody Public Library.

Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester:

Tom Madden resigned to take a position as Assistant Director in North Andover. He will be greatly missed.

New Technology at the Ipswich Library

The Ipswich Public Library has installed six new Dell PCs in the Gaunt Reference Room for public use. These computers are intended as reference tools for browsing proprietary databases that offer full-text articles from refereed journals, magazines, newspapers, etc. The Library homepage was setup on each PC as portal for Internet access.

Most of our patrons were easily attracted to the 18-inch flat panel LCD monitors. Comments overheard from patrons include: "they're very beautiful machines;" "easy on the eyes;" "fast and reliable;" " I like the library homepage." In July, over 950 user sessions were recorded.

The Library has also purchased a new laser printer for library patrons using the Dell PCs. Besides being fast, this printer provides crisp text and high volume printing. Cabling for the HP LaserJet 8150 network printer was funded by a Technology Grant from the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System.

Purchase of all the new electronic equipment at the Library is funded from the Library Incentive Grant/Municipal Equalization Grant managed by the Ipswich Library Board of Trustees. The LIG/MEG fund is the state aid money received by the Town through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

Mary Johnson-Lally retired August 29th as director of the Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell.

Merrimac Public Library Groundbreaking Celebration:

On Thursday, August 7, at 11:00 am, the ground was broken for the new library, marking a new chapter in the history of Merrimac. 6+ acres of land, a tenth of mile south of the present building, was purchased earlier. The ceremony contained remarks by State Representative Harriet Stanley, Anne Larsen from the MBLC, Town Selectwoman Janet Bruno, and Nan Becker from the Trustees.

Maureen Gsell has taken the position of LMS for the Pine Grove Elementary School in Rowley. Aline Jodz has retired from that position. Maureen was formerly with Salisbury Elementary School.

Megan McNichol is the new Director of Library Services of the Health Science Library of Salem Hospital/North Shore Medical Center. She replaces Ann Fladger who resigned last October.

Sparhawk School, Salisbury:

Faris Bennett, formerly of the Haverhill Public Library, is the new librarian at the private Sparhawk School in Salisbury.

New Staff at Wilmington:

Charlotte Wood, part-time Reference Librarian, is the new Head of Technical Services at the Wilmington Memorial Library. Charlotte who as been the part-time reference librarian at the Wilmington Memorial Library since December, 2002, has Masters Degree in Library Science from Simmons College and a Masters in Business Administration from UCLA.

Laurie Lucey has been appointed as the new part-time Reference Librarian. Laurie who has a Masters Degree in Library Science previously worked as Head of Reference at Stoneham Public Library. Congratulations and welcome to our new staff.