Sign up for Smart 911 and Boston Library eCard

Looking to stay informed and access more digital library resources?  Here are two services you should sign up for today!


Smart 911 - Upton’s Emergency and Community Notification system to notify our citizens about public safety emergencies, extreme weather warnings and events that could impact your family’s life safety.

Your enrollment can be completely customized with your preferences for which notifications to receive, everything from emergency road closures, to trash pickup information, and format: phone, email or text.

If you've cut the cord on your landline phone, registering your cell phone number with Smart 911 can also save precious seconds if you needed to call 911, by providing automatic information to the dispatcher.

https://www.uptonma.gov/emergency-management/pages/smart911-emergency-notification-signup


Boston Public Library eCard
The Boston Public Library will give any resident of Massachusetts an e-card, which provides instant access to their digital services.

Highlights include 'Hoopla' - a source of downloadable music, and 'Kanopy' - an archive of streaming video and movies.  Neither of these resources are available locally with just an Upton Library account, but we can all access them through the BPL.

Sign up for the ecard completely online, verify your residency, and you're ready to go!

https://www.bpl.org/ecard/

You might be familiar with our RB Digital eMagazine collection; we’re now adding eAudiobooks!

Upton Town Library offers a collection of always available digital Audiobooks and Magazines through RB Digital.

Browse over 8,000 audiobooks for adults and children that are always available with no waiting list or hold times. Magazines are full color, complete issues of over 50 titles, including Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Popular Science, ESPN, Newsweek, and many cooking, crafting and hobby titles.

For more information, check out our RB Digital Audiobooks and Magazines page.

New event calendar, room booking, and museum pass reservation system!

The Upton Town Library is switching over to a new system for library event registration, booking our meeting rooms, and reserving museum passes! Once we finalize the details and make the new system live, all of the event registration, room bookings, and pass reservation links on our website will link to the new system.

All previous registrations and reservations will be preserved in the new system; you do not need to re-register for events or re-reserve meeting rooms or museum passes.

This is what the system will look like:

Calendar

Room Booking

Museum Passes

What Can The Library Do For You?

Libraries offer more than just books, magazines, movies and TV series.
Libraries are a great source for feedback, research and services.

The Upton Library has several desktop computers for public use; patrons are welcome to scan documents (at no charge) or make photocopies / print documents (for a fee). WiFi is also available.

We also participate in the Blackstone Valley Libraries Museum Pass system. Patrons may borrow discounted passes for more than 25 different museums. Ask us for details.

Why not join a book group? Learn a new language? Research a homework project?
We have a small study room and a larger gathering room that are available to reserve.

Stop by or call us to learn more.

Library Links

Spanish Language eBooks

¡Qué increíble!

Do you speak Spanish or have a child in a Spanish Immersion program? These Spanish language eBooks and dozens more are available in our digital catalog. Ask a librarian how to get started, check out a preview below the jump, or click here for a full selection of children's titles!

Online News Articles Available

Upton Town Library now offers free online access to news articles from local papers and across the country.  Search archives of 43 different Massachusetts newspapers, including the Milford Daily News, Worcester Telegram and Gazette and the Boston Herald.  Expand your search to include articles from across the country.  Articles can be printed or emailed, and citations are included.  Articles do not include photographs, and the Boston Globe does not participate in this service.

Get access through our website at uptonlibrary.blogspot.com and click on the “America’s News Magazines” button.  You will be prompted to enter your Upton library card number.

Upton Library offers online courses

Upton Town Library is proud to offer a new online service,

 “Universal Class”, which offers hundreds of interactive classes taught by live instructors.   

All the classes are completely online, taken at your own pace, and include readings, videos, graded assignments, and interaction with fellow students.   

Courses are offered in the liberal arts, as well as practical knowledge.   

From Accounting to Wedding Planning, Chemistry to Gardening, learn something new today!   

Classes are intended for everyone from high-school students to retired adults.  Take up to 5 classes at a time, with no limit on the total number of classes you can take.

These classes are free to all patrons with an Upton Library card. Once you register an account using your library card number, you can access your classes from any computer.

Get started at the Universal Class website:

http://uptontownlibrary.universalclass.com/register.htm

Passport Applications

Upton Town Library is a Passport Acceptance Facility.

We accept completed passport applications by appointment with the Library Director.

Please review the passport application guidelines at travel.state.gov before making an appointment.

Currently the best times to make an appointment are:
Tuesday, Wednesday 10am-5pm
Thursday 1pm-8pm
Friday, Saturday 9am-2pm

For any questions about required documentation, fees and forms, or to make an appointment,
call Matthew Bachtold at 508-529-6272

Upton Library to lend pre-loaded eReaders

Starting August 1st, we will be lending pre-loaded “Nook” eReader devices. These small, touchscreen tablets hold digital books that are easy and convenient to read. Upton’s eReaders can be borrowed for a three week period by any patron 18 years of age or older. We expect high demand for these items so put yourself on the waiting list now! We will be pre-loading the devices with a selection of books from our past book-group choices, as well as current bestselling fiction. If you’d like to read a specific book, please call and tell us the title, we want to build our content from your recommendations!
Content on these devices cannot be transferred to your home computer or personal eReader. If you own your own reader and would like to borrow content, visit the library for a flyer or see our Technology Workshop on August 23rd.
Any questions about the Nooks, what they are, why you might want to borrow one, please call Matthew at 508-529-6272 or email me at mbachtol@cwmars.org

Online Research and Databases

 Link to starting Database Search

Upton Town Library offers access to several online research sites and databases.


Services Funded by CWMARS:

Grolier Online - General Encyclopedia

Issues and Controversies - Articles about current political issues


Services Funded by MBLC (State Library Board):
Journal Articles and Research Databases

Virtual Reference Library - A good starting place

Boston Globe Newspaper

Boston Herald Newspaper

Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Fax Sending Service

Upton Town Library now offers fax sending service for its patrons!

We have a public fax machine available to send faxes to U.S. telephone numbers for a fee of 50 cents per page.

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”!