Library will be closed on Memorial Day - Monday, May 30, 2011

In observance of Memorial Day, the Library will be closed Monday, May 30, 2011. The library will reopen 9AM Tuesday, May 31, 2011.

Fresh Fish Anyone?

For those seafood lovers out there (I'm looking at you, Linda Greenlaw event attendees). Here is some exciting news from the City Manager's Blog:

"Cape Ann Fresh Catch (CAFC)- Community Supported Fishery (CSF) will be joining this year’s Lowell Farmer's Market LOWELL FARMERS MARKET with a fresh seafood deliveries set to start at the beginning of July. The fish is locally caught, fresh and delicious and the price is right—this program offers a sustainable and fun way to try something interesting and new this summer! Along with unparalleled freshness and flavor, this fish also comes with an added benefit: peace of mind...Deliveries are scheduled on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and as whole fish or fillets to best suit your family’s needs. You can pick up your fish at THE LOWELL FARMERS MARKET at JFK PLAZA on FRIDAYS from 4-6pm. Please see the CAFC website for more information on the program and to sign up for the new season: www.capeannfreshcatch.org. The program has gained national press attention, for more see this article in Saveur Magazine.

Before CAFC can come to Lowell, at least 50 people must express an interest in signing up by emailing Lowell@capeannfreshcatch.org be sure to spread the word so this great program can come to Lowell!!!"

The New Library Catalog will Go Live May 31st

Here's an update on the New "Evergreen" Catalog:

The Pollard Library along with the other libraries of the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium, will be launching a new catalog over Memorial Day weekend. The current catalog will shut down at the end of the day on Friday, May 27, 2011. Patrons will be able to check materials in and out at the library from 9am-5pm on Saturday, May 28th but they will not be able to search the catalog or place holds on materials or book museum passes over the course of the Memorial Day weekend. Access to some online databases may also be disrupted. The new system is scheduled to go live on Tuesday, May 31, 2011. Access to the statewide Virtual Catalog was shut down May 17th.

Any holds previously placed on materials should carry over to the new system. Users will find that their personally-created lists in the bookbags will be available in the “My Accounts” area of the new catalog. Library users will enjoy some new features with the Evergreen system, such as the ability to share their bookbags with others, more flexibility in creating user passwords, and the ability to update their street and e-mail addresses. Patrons will also have more flexibility and control over their catalog searches with the new system, including setting account preferences to search the Pollard Library only or MVLC as a whole. If you want to try it out here is a link to the demo version of the new catalog -- (FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY).

Coming attractions over the next few months include an improved catalog design, a feature allowing users to track their reading history, and a version of the catalog usable on mobile devices.

The Merrimack Valley Library Consortium will be the first large library system in Massachusetts to use Evergreen. The move to Evergreen is part of a larger project that will see MVLC, along with two other Massachusetts’ library consortia, NOBLE and C/W MARS, using Evergreen by early 2012. These three library networks encompass approximately half of the public libraries in the Commonwealth along with a number of academic libraries. The project includes locally-sponsored development funded with a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and by participating libraries.

We appreciate your patience while we all get used to the new system and work to utilize the great new features. If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to ask a librarian or email mloref@mvlc.org.

Philip Roth wins the Man Booker International Prize

It was announced today that Philip Roth has won the International Man Booker Prize. This is a biannual prize given to a writer for their body of work as opposed to the annual Booker Prize given for a single book.

Philip Roth is the author of many many books including Pulitzer Prize winning American Pastoral. Some of his other famous novels are Portnoy's Complaint, Goodbye, Columbus, and the series of novels featuring favorite fictional narrator Nathan Zuckerman (American Pastoral was one of these). Roth was one of only three writers to have his works canonized in their lifetime by the Library of America series. And he's not stopping yet, his latest book Nemesis was published just last year.

A Bookish Weekend

Friends Sorting Books at Donation Drop Off
Saturday, May 7, 2011

First of all, we would like to thank Nancye Tuttle for her article in last Thurday's Stepping Out section of the Lowell Sun. The article covered a lot of information about local area library booksales and our own Friends were fortunate enough to have been featured prominently.

So, don't forget, the Annual Friends Booksale is this Saturday from 9am-3pm at the Lowell Senior Center, 276 Broadway St, Lowell, MA.

And also, don't Forget, Friday is the Friends' Preview Night. Dues paying members of the Friends are invited to join us for first dibs on the cream of the crop of this sale. There will be light refreshments for this event. 5:30-7:30PM Friday May 20th at the Lowell Senior Center.

There are some real deals to be had at the sale and the money raised ultimately goes to the library for programs and services. For example, the Friends buy many of the library's museum passes which allow free or discounted entry for our patrons into many New England attractions (everything from the Boston Children's Museum and the New England Aquarium, to Zoo New England and the Museum of Fine Arts). These passes end up providing a great cost saving to our patrons. For example, two of our most popular passes are the Museum of Science and the Aquarium. Over the past year, they were used 237 and 206 times respectively. The cumulative average savings for patrons who used these two passes (depending on whether they used the 'maximum' number of entries available on the pass) totals more than $15000. For more information about what passes are available and how to reserve them please visit: http://pollardml.org/passes.html

The Friends also sponsor library programming. Such as our highly anticipated Summer Reading Kick-Off Event with the Pumpernickel Puppets, Wednesday, June 22nd @ 7PM (Free tickets available June 1st). For more information about the Friends and to find out how you can help you can email friendsofthepml@yahoo.com.

And in case the Annual Booksale only whetted your bookish appetite this weekend you should head down to UML's, O'Leary Library on Sunday, May 22nd at 2pm for a special book release party for three new 'Lowell' books being published by Loom Press. Two books of poetry and one of testimony. Welcome, all.

I would also be remiss if I didn't remind you we have the perfect lead in to this book related weekend—Steven O'Connor will be reading from his new book The Spy In the City Of Books Thursday, May 19th @ 7PM in the Ground Floor Meeting Room of the library. Don't miss it.

Lots to Do This Weekend!

Lowell TeleCommunications is having their grand re-opening Friday from 5:00-8:00 at their new space at 246 Market St. And, at the same time, Doors Open Lowell will begin. So, while you're touring Lowell's hidden architectural gems, stop by LTC to check out the new space and enjoy some entertainment and refreshment.

Doors Open Lowell continues Saturday and we'll be showing a matinee of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at 1PM. And there's some exciting stuff planned for Saturday night as well.

Powerspeak Languages Now Available at the Pollard

Powerspeak Languages is a new online language learning course that uses a variety of methods to engage learners. The core languages available are Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, and ESL for Spanish-speakers. Each course uses a variety of multi-sensory activities to take full advantage of the brain’s ability to acquire language. Designed specifically for use by the diverse audience of library users, the courses include a combination of scored online activities, exercises, lessons and games. Course lessons are bound together with rich graphics, audio, video, music and an intuitive way to check answers and track progress. Learners find a friendly structure that introduces vocabulary and are challenged to practice speaking and writing in a variety of interactive modules designed to simulate real conversations with native speakers. You can find it, along with the other Pollard Library Databases on our website. Ask a librarian if you have any questions, we're here to help!