OUR NEXT “LENOX READS TOGETHER” EVENT WILL BE THE SCREENING OF THE DOCUMENTARY ”FAREWELL TO FACTORY TOWNS?” WITH SOCIOLOGIST MAYNARD SEIDER ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 6:30 PM.

The Lenox Library is happy to announce that we will host a town-wide book read of the Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Empire Falls by Richard Russo, beginning February 1. Called “Lenox Reads Together,” the project will provide an opportunity to talk about a fictional town in Maine and to think about how residents themselves direct their own town’s destiny.

The idea for a town read grew out of conversations with several Lenox residents about how complicated it can be at times to get involved in local government. Empire Falls, of course, is about a fictional mill town in Maine, but it was patterned after the author’s boyhood home of Gloversville, NY. So while many aspects of that town are not at all like Lenox, we hope people will enjoy discovering the similarities and contemplating the solutions.  

Copies of the book can be borrowed from the library (and we have secured many extra copies) or purchased from Matt at The Bookstore (and he has a lot of copies waiting for you there). Email and Facebook postings will take place throughout the month of February, so ask to be included on our email newsletter list, and “like” us on Facebook to follow along. The HBO movie version of “Empire Falls” will be shown in 2 parts on March 2^nd and 9^th. Book discussions will be held at the library on March 14^th and at The Bookstore on April 4^th. Excerpts of a documentary entitled, “Farewell to Factory Towns?”, including a conversation with the film’s creator, will take place on Wednesday, March 20^th. And two discussion sessions with town government officials are being planned for early April.

All activities will be free and open to the public. For further information, and to sign up for the library’s email list, email info@lenoxlib.org , call 637-2630, or stop by the main desk of the library. I hope you have fun as we read a novel together, and then let’s talk about how to keep our community strong.

This year, we are beginning a long-term project to preserve and digitize many of our local history items, making them available online for more people to enjoy. Reference Librarian Amy Lafave is working to prepare for the first of two meetings this year in connection with the project. The first meeting, on December 3, will be with Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC),  which will make recommendations on how best to preserve our archival materials. Their formal report, supported by a federal grant through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, will assist us in formulating a five-year conservation plan, and in securing future grants to support the plan.

The second meeting, on January 10, will be with Digital Commonwealth,  an initiative of Boston Public Library. They have been given a grant by which they can extend services to libraries to digitize as many as 5,000 items per selected library. This year, we have been accepted as one of those libraries. By digitizing some of our historic photos, documents, and artifacts, we hope to enrich more people than ever before with the unique history of Lenox. If you would like to volunteer to assist in some of this work, just let us know.

Some of the changes you will see include:

All Central and Western items are in ONE catalog.  Patrons won’t have to change catalogs to request an item from the alternate region.

Navigating your Patron LOGIN is more intuitive.  Your “dashboard” will guide you to options like Account Summary, Items Checked Out, Holds, Account Preferences, and Lists!

With Lists you can create and share categorized lists of your reading materials.

We appreciate your patience as we make this transition, as we strive to make your online experience easier and to keep costs down.

The Distinguished Lecture Series is back, with a wonderful roster of speakers, thanks to the efforts of Jeremy Yudkin. 

Did you ever want to speak to the mayor of Pittsfield, the head of The Clark, or the manager of the Berkshire Eagle?  Please come join these and other conversations, one Sunday a month at 4:00 at the library.

 All lectures are free, thanks to support from Shear Design, LSTA funds through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, and from donations from community members like you.

 This Sunday, our first lecturer is Byam Stevens, Artistic Director of the Chester Theatre Company.  He will be speaking on “The Fabulous Invalid, or the Truth about Theatrical Symptomology.”  What is “theatrical symptomology?”  Come and find out!

We are planning on a number of interesting programs this summer, especially if you are musically, artfully, or historically minded.  Our first is on Thursday, June 23 at 7:00 p.m., when Amherst professor Saloma Furlong speaks about her experience growing up in a unique subculture, which she describes in her book, Why I Left the Amish: A Memoir.  Her story is both gripping and thoughtful.  Bring your questions!

Jeremy Yudkin is back this summer with his Tanglewood Pre-Concert Lectures, beginning Friday, July 8 at 2:00.  Hear his entertaining talk, then go listen to the music live at Tanglewood with a deeper understanding and enjoyment. Admission is required, please email Profeesor Yudkin at info@SummerMusicSeminars.org for details.

Ed Liss has a passion and a talent for restoring jukeboxes to their original splendor.  He will present his short film on the influence of the jukebox on American popular music.  The film gets you up close and personal with some amazing jukeboxes of the 40s, 50s, and 60s.  Bring your memories!  

Reference Librarian Amy Lafave has offered her knowledge of local history and our archives to two historians who will present some of the tidbits of their research.  On July 21, Laura Engel’s talk on “Fanny Kemble: Fashioning Celebrity” brings us tales of the colorful nineteenth century actress who lived in Lenox.  On July 28, local favorite Cornelia Gilder will regale us with Gilded Age tales to go with the re-release and revision of her much-sought after Houses of the Berkshires, which contains many photos from our archives.  Both talks will begin at 7:00, and both will have copies of their books available.

Unfortunately, budget constraints have forced us to either charge for programs or not offer them. We hope that you will agree that our programs this season are worth a donation of $5, less than the cost of a movie, so that we can keep lifelong education at the heart of what we do.  Pull up a chair, and enjoy.

This is not to say that all is rosy, however.  Because the selectmen’s recommendation represents $10,000 less than the library’s proposal, we will be cutting our purchase of new titles to below FY2010 levels.  We have cut our expense accounts for programming and fundraising to zero, at the same time that fundraising will be more important than ever. 

Donations will enable us to continue to provide equal access to all for our materials, programs, and personal services.  People use our library to look for jobs and fill out job applications, get help using the internet, and learn about the issues of our time.  They also use us for free access to millions of books, CDs, videos, and articles.  Now more than ever, we will need an informed citizenry to help us keep Lenox strong.  The library can help.   

It is my hope that we will continue to strengthen the partnership between town government and its library.  We will continue to partner with the Chamber and other town organizations.  And we will continue to bring tens of thousands of residents and visitors to the downtown as we always have, knowing that this contributes to the educational and economic health of the community.  As one woman, a patron of the library for nearly 40 years, wrote us, “This library remains a place in which people can take refuge from the stress and storms of a too-busy world, a place that celebrates the human mind and spirit.”

We look forward to continuing to serve as your town library.

If you would like to respond, our reference librarian Amy Lafave has uncovered several weblinks to charitable organizations that could put your donation to good use:

American Red Cross

Doctors Without Borders

GlobalGiving

Salvation Army

Save the Children

If you are looking to contact friends or family in Japan, the State Department has contact information and links to its Facebook and Twitter updates.  You may also use any Time Warner digital phone (home or business account) to call Japan for free.  The Lenox Library uses Time Warner, and we would be happy to dial the number for you from a designated phone.

Finally, we will be setting up a table at the library to fold a thousand origami paper cranes to send to the citizens of northern Japan.  The last time I saw these dense streamers of cranes, symbol of long life and peace, was when I visited Ground Zero after 9/11.  The children of Japan had folded them to send to us in sympathy.  Perhaps it is our chance to return the favor.

On Wednesday, I will talk about how demand for our services continues to grow and we continue to do more with less.  We are determined to continue to play a vital roll in the economic and educational health of this community, and watch every penny at the same time.  Our requested appropriation only represents about 1% of the town’s budget, but we return the town’s investment six times over.  I hope you will attend the meeting or watch it on television, and be sure to get any questions you might have answered.

Libraries have always been on top of the current technology trend.  We were there for books on cassette, CD-ROM, VHS, and now DVD, CD, the online subscription database, and the website.  (I think we missed eight-track tapes, no loss.)  We already have online audiobooks and ebooks, courtesy of our CW MARS suite of services, so if you are interested, be sure to check it out.  (By the way, you should know that Amazon’s Kindle is not compatible with our collection, but almost every other e-reader or tablet is.  And OverDrive, the vendor of our CW MARS product, is working on a one-click download, coming soon.) 

A book is a book, whether print, audio, or electronic, so we are interested in bringing them to you.  More than that, an idea is an idea, and there are many ways to express ideas: books, live discussions, music, dance, paintings, and I’m sure you can think of more.  When we can, we bring those to you, too.  Different people have different learning styles, and respond to different media.  Likewise, some media are better than others at bringing an idea across.  It is up to libraries, as information hubs, to help people get to the relevant information and ideas, whatever the format. 

Will ebooks spell the demise of the codex?  I doubt it will happen any time soon, since so many different technologies happily coexist in our library already.  For that matter, it took movable type nearly a hundred years to supplant illuminated manuscripts.  Books, after all, are a technology, too, one that I can bring into the bath, but I have no interest in doing that with my Nook!

• 12 seat cushions for the oak chairs in Reference, so the seats are raised a little higher to the tables
• 1 laptop computer, so we can make our LCD projector more easily available to lecturers here
• 2 more laptops, and we can offer 7 stations for computer courses in the Dome Room
• New upholstery on our worn-out comfy chairs, and a good cleaning for those that are newer
• A sign to hang on the front door that says “Open – Welcome”
• A flag or banner to put out to let people know we’re open

Happy Holidays, everyone.