Public Hearing on the FY09 Town Budget

To all Upton Residents:

The Upton Finance Committee will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, April 30^th, at 7:30pm in the Fire Station.

The FinCom and Town Department heads will present information about next year’s town budget, and its effects on our tax rate and public services.

If you can attend, this hearing is an excellent opportunity to ask questions and become aware of the issues that will be decided at the upcoming Town Meetings on May 8^th and June 9^th.

For more information about public hearings and Town Meetings, contact the Upton Town Library (529-6272), or visit the Town of Upton webpage at http://www.upton.ma.us/pages/town-clerk.php

Closing early for Annual Town Meeting

The library will close early on Thursday, May 8th for the annual Town Meeting.

Our hours on May 8th will be 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.

New Movies for April!

Here are the new release DVDs the library will be purchasing in April and early May. Stop by the library and ask for the 'movie binder' to see the descriptions and add your name to the reserve list.

Cloverfield 22-Apr PG-13
The Orphanage 22-Apr R
The Savages 22-Apr R
Charlie Wilson's War 22-Apr R
The Golden Compass 30-Apr PG-13
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 30-Apr PG-13
27 Dresses 30-Apr PG-13
I'm Not There 6-May R
P.S. I Love You 6-May PG-13
Mad Money 13-May PG-13
Bella 13-May PG-13

If you have suggestions for upcoming movie releases that would be a good addition to the Upton Library collection, let us know by posting a comment, or writing on the suggestion page in the movie binder.

Privatized Libraries?

There was an article in the Boston Globe a few weeks back about two towns in Massachusetts that were considering privatizing their public libraries.
Privatizing a library involves hiring a for-profit company which is paid an annual sum by the Town, and takes over the responsiblity for running the daily operations of the library. The company would decide what materials to purchase, what hours to be open, what services to offer, and the library staff would be employees of the company, not employed by the Town.
The usual reasoning for considering privatization is the claim that a company can operate more effeciently and cheaply than a municipality can.

The company that is usually mentioned in discussions about privatized libraries is called LSSI (Library Systems and Services, LLC)
LSSI runs several library systems in California, Texas and Oregon, but so far none in New England.

The ALA (American Library Association) has issued a statement opposing the "shifting of policy making and management oversight of library services from the public to the private for-profit sector."

The MBLC has posted some information in response to numerous queries resulting from the Globe article at http://mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/trustees/privatization_pl.pdf

MBLC also recommends several periodical articles on the subject which can be accessed through the "online research" button.

"Public Library, private management" by Mark Hemingway. The American Enterprise, Vol.13, no.5 July-August 2002

"When LSSI comes to town: public libraries, private company: the outsourcing compromise" by Norman Oder. Library Journal, October 1, 2004

"The Selling of the Public Library" by Patricia Glass Schuman. Library Journal, August 1998.

Report of the Library Director for March 2008

Circulation
Circulation for March was 4,727, an 8.1% increase over last month, and slightly (3.8%) lower than March of 2007.

Collection Development
We added 144 items to the collection in March.
Lisa and I met with a sales representative from Sebco Books and ordered about $1,000 worth of non-fiction materials, mostly juvenile with a few adult items. We will need to make at least one more large order like this to fulfill our materials requirement. Usually a rep from Apple Books visits us in the spring.

Programs
Library book group: 8 people met on March 26th.
Senior book group: 8 people met on March 4th.
Teen book group: 2 teens met on March 28th.
Music and Movement averaged 61 participants per session for 4 sessions.
Thursday storytime averaged 8 children per session.
TinyTots lapsit averaged 19 participants. This is a large increase from previous months.
Teen Tuesday was attended by 12 young adults.
Library Table: 4 visits, averaged 4 patrons and 6 items.

Special Events
The library continues to organize an intergenerational music program presented by Apple Tree Arts. This program is held at the Senior Center and has averaged 20 participants. Registration for the March session is low. We will not be organizing this program in the summer months and will re-examine it in the fall to see if it can be improved.

Volunteers
12 items were delivered to 1 patron on March 12th. The use of the home delivery program has declined now that we can offer item pickup at the weekly visit to the Senior Center.

Upcoming Events in April
Lisa visits United Parish preschool for national library month.


Staff
Matthew attended a workshop on library use of the photosharing website “flickr” I have begun work on modifying our current blog at http://uptonlibrary.blogspot.com/. My goal is to combine the blog and our static webpage into a single resource for patrons.

New receipt Printers
I have installed both the new printers, and we are now making use of the ability to print “routing slips” instead of writing them by hand. A routing slip is an address label that must be attached to each item we put into the interlibrary delivery system. Printing them saves our staff time and makes delivery easier for the regional sorters.

Account Access Policy
The revised account access policy goes into effect on April 15th. The new policy boils down to:
If you have a library card, you can access that account.
If you don’t have a card, you can present picture ID to gain access to only your own account.
The important thing for patrons to understand is that if you want to pick up a held book that was requested on a family member’s account, you will be required to have that person’s library card. So if you want your husband to pick up your items, give him your library card.
We have prepared several options to help patrons adjust to the new requirements. Staff will offer key-chain cards or multiple cards on the same account. We will also offer a one-time exception to the requirement, but those accounts will be marked so the second time we will be unable to make any exceptions.

New Staff Computer
The computer in the office needs to be replaced. This computer is used for staff word processing and email as well as cataloging functions. The current computer is infected with viruses and pop-up adware, and its hardware is below the new specifications recommended by CWMARS. As CWMARS software is expanded and improved, it requires more computing power to operate effectively.
I will ask the Trustees to vote to spend up to $1,000 from the State Aid funds to replace this computer. This replacement should be in addition to the one computer per year we request from the Town Technology Expense funds. I will make the purchase through Worldband communications, the last computer we purchased from them cost $700.

Plans for Next Month

1) Redesign the library Blog and begin using it as a library resource.

2) Complete the new Library information brochure for new patrons.

3) Finalize the Summer event schedule and begin assembling registration packages.

Town Crier Column April 4th, 2008

Feature Films for Families: DVDs Donated
The Upton Town Library has a new ‘special collection’ of DVDs, recently donated by library patron Linda Cofske. The set of 20 movies, from Feature Films for Families, was purchased by Ms. Cofske, for the Library, with “hope that children and their families enjoy watching them over and over again.” Some of the titles in the collection include Borrowed Hearts; Jacob’s Harvest; and Summer of the Monkeys, to name just a few. Thank you, Linda, for your thoughtful generosity!
Feature Films for Families is a group “committed to providing quality entertainment that lifts the spirit”, and providing an alternative to typical Hollywood productions. More information about the group can be found at their website: www.familytv.com

Library Book Discussion Group
The library supports a book discussion group, which meets monthly in the Upton Senior Center. Book titles are chosen by the members and are available at the library. The group alternates between fiction and non-fiction titles. Meetings are held at 7:00pm on the last Wednesday of each month. Copies of the book are available at the Library. Library Book Group will meet on April 30th to discuss “I’ll Fly Away” edited by Wally Lamb. “I’ll Fly Away” is a collection of 20 short essays written by female inmates at a maximum security prison.

Senior Book Group
The Senior Book Group meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 12:45 in the Upton Senior Center. Donna Kempton from the library staff leads the casual, entertaining discussions. Titles chosen are usually gentle, character-driven novels. Copies of each month’s book are available at the library in both regular and large print. Please call the library directly at 529-6272 to request a copy of the Senior book group title.

Library Table at the Senior Center
Each Wednesday from 11:00-12:00, a librarian will be at the Upton Senior Center with a small selection of our materials available. If you have difficulty getting to the library and it would be more convenient for you to pick up books, movies, audiobooks or magazines at the Senior Center, call us at 529-6272 and we’ll bring a personalized package of suggested titles for you.
This program is free of charge, and is open to all Upton residents.

Children’s/Young Adult Programs

Please contact Lisa Stratton, the Children’s/Young Adult Librarian, with any questions regarding the following programs, at 508-529-6272, or email UptonStoryTime@yahoo.com.
For more info, check out the following site: http://UptonStoryTime.blogspot.com


“Music & Movement”
“Music & Movement”, held every Wednesday at 1:00pm in the Upton Town Hall, is a free, library-sponsored event, funded, in part, by the Beginning Years Family Network. Designed for children ages 1-5, this program is half an hour of songs, stories, dancing and fun, led by the very energetic Deb Hudgins! No registration is required. PLEASE NOTE: This program will NOT be held on April 23rd, during school vacation week.

Story & Craft Time for children ages 3-6, is held in the library on Thursdays at 10:30am and 1:30pm. Each week has a different theme. Parents are asked to register for either the morning or afternoon session, on a monthly basis.

TinyTots LapSit StoryTime for infants and toddlers, birth to age 3, with a caregiver, is held Friday mornings in the library, at 10:30. This 20-30 minute program is enjoyed at least as much by the adults as the children, since it gives new parents a chance to meet other parents, and babies an opportunity to ‘socialize’ with new friends! Registration is requested, but we understand the constantly-changing needs of this age group, and invite you to stop by any Friday morning to join the fun, as we sing and stretch and read some stories!

Teens @ the Library
ULTRA will hold their next monthly meeting on TeenTuesday (April 15th), beginning at 4pm. Please come prepared to discuss something you have read during the past month, and feel free to bring a friend! TeenTuesday is open to all 12-18 year olds who are interested in helping to make the Upton Town Library an “ULTRA-cool” place for teens, by planning and/or assisting at events, making suggestions for material purchases, and volunteering on an as-needed basis. Free pizza and snacks are provided to all participants.

The ULTRA Book Club for Teens!
The Upton Library’s Teen Readers’ Advisory has its very own book club! The group meets on the last Friday of each month, from 3-4pm, at the library, and is open to all 12-18 year olds. For the next meeting, on April 25th, we will be discussing The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, a 2008 Newbery Honor book. Copies of this book are available at the circulation desk.

This Summer …
Plans are already underway for another fun-filled Summer Library Adventure. Watch this column next month for the dates and times of all our special events planned for June! This year’s theme will be “Wild Reads @ Your Library”!

"Join the Circle of Knowledge @ Your Library"

That's this year's theme for National Library Week which will be observed April 13-19, 2008.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.

National Library Workers Day
is April 15th.
"Libraries Work Because Wo Do!"