While pulling out a box from our Fanny Kemble collection, another box in the Special Collections Vault caught my eye. It was a Dewar’s Whiskey box (White Label, for those who need to know), with DOLLS written on it in red marker. In it was an exquisite collection of dolls from all over the world. No other provenance is given. They are being displayed in the biblioteque, along with the 6 volume Le Costume Historique of Auguste Racinet.

Published in France in 1888, Auguste Racinet’s 6 volume Le Costume Historique focused upon what he considered to be traditional clothing, as opposed to Parisian “fashion.” It covered the world history of costume, dress, and style, with a focus on European clothing from the Middle Ages to its date of publication at the end of the 19th century.

The 500 chromolithographs for which Le Costume Historique is best known are copies from artworks, manuscripts, or earlier costume studies, or commissioned works created by professional illustrators.

Lenox Historical Society is hosting a lecture entitled ”Bringing Sarah Home” on Thursday, July 8 at 7pm at the Welles Gallery of the Lenox Library. Patricia Schley will speak on the life of Sarah Walker Davis with an intimate look at life in Lenox during the 1840s-1870s.  (And by the way, the Lenox Library Association was formed smack in the middle of this period, in 1856, and the swirl of activity surrounding the creation of Lenox’s public library is an interesting story in it’s own right.)

Patricia Schley, a native of Milwaukee, WI, is a docent and 1st person interpreter at the David Davis Mansion IL State Historic Site. Since 2005, she has been transcribing, researching and annotating the correspondence of David and Sarah Walker Davis, their family, friends and acquaintances. To date she has completed over 1,000 letters, which she aptly refers to as forty years of conversation. During this time, Schley has developed detailed genealogies for several of the key families mentioned. Schley was also a contributor to the book, Hawthorne’s Lenox (2008) by Cornelia Brooke Gilder with Julia Conklin Peters. 

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call Vickie at the Historical Society at (413) 441-7902.

http://www.townoflenox.com/Public_Documents/LenoxMA_BBoard/I029DA344.0/ATM2010warrant%203.pdf

Remember to come to the Annual Town Meeting at 7pm on Thursday, May 6th, at the Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.

Archives Unbound — a vast new resource of topically-focused, cross-searchable digital collections of historical documents
Career Transitions — a new electronic resource offering a comprehensive guide to career change
Global Issues in Context — this online resource offers global news and perspectives on issues and events of international importance
GREENR (Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources) — a new electronic resource offering authoritative reference content on the environment, energy, economic development and natural resources
Grzimek’s Animal Life — an interactive, media-rich online resource, with information on more than 4,000 species

Act quickly. These will only be available this week!

“On Friday, March 05, 2010, the 12th Annual Berkshire Library Legislative Breakfast was held at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. Fifty-seven trustees, librarians, and friends from all over Berkshire County took the opportunity to express their support of libraries and their concerns about cuts in state funding for libraries. Senator Ben Downing and Representative Smitty Pignatelli confirmed the need to make our voices heard in Boston and asked for letters supporting state funding for regional library systems (7000-9401) and library technology (7000-9506). Constituent letters help them persuade their colleagues of the needs of western Massachusetts.”

I was one of the librarians attending this event, along with Library Board President Becky Sorrentino. Emotions ran high as speaker after speaker expressed their dismay in the 29% cut in state funding for regional library systems in the governor’s proposed budget. This cut will force the dismantling of the six regional systems (including our own WMRLS) to create a consolidated statewide system, most likely headquartered in Waltham.

At one point, Smitty Pignatelli, who had already taken his turn at the podium, was so moved by the palpable frustration and anger in the room that he got up to speak to us again.

Looking over to where I was sitting, Smitty said “it’s not enough for Amy Lafave to ask me to support our libraries. I know where she stands on this issue. I need to hear from your patrons as well.”

The Friends of WMRLS website http://friends.wmrls.org has more information on the impact of this cut for western Massachusetts libraries. There are links to our representatives in Boston, including members of the Ways and Means Committee. I’ve also posted the email addresses of the legislators representing Lenox constituents below:

Representative William Smitty Pignatelli Rep.Smitty@Hou.State.MA.US

Senator Benjamin B. Downing Benjamin.Downing@state.ma.us

Donating via text message:

• Text HAITI to 90999
  American Red Cross
  Donates $10
• Text HAITI to 25383
  International Rescue Committee
  Donates $5
• Text HAITI to 52000
  Salvation Army
  Donates $10

Relief Organizations:

• American Red Cross, 800-733-2767
• The Salvation Army 800-725-2769
• UN Central Emergency Response Fund
• Yele Haiti, 212-352-0552

To see the entire list of organizations, go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34834553/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show .

• Ancestry.com
• HeritageQuest
• Sanborn fire insurance maps for Massachusetts

Come to the library and sign up for a public access computer in order to connect to these resources.

www.refdesk.com

There’s so much information and so many links at The Reference Desk that the site can be quite daunting at first.  After you become familiar with the site, you’ll appreciate all that’s available here and may refer to it daily.

www.onelook.com

Want to know the meaning of a word or phrase?  This site searches over 600 dictionaries

and lists all relevant results. Results are also listed by category.

www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/

This site lists the current day’s highlights in history as well as people born on this day.

http://thomas.loc.gov/

Ever wonder what Congress did yesterday?  You can find out on this site, which lists Congressional activities, a searchable database of current and past bills and their sponsors, information on the legislative process, treaties enacted, as well as the text of the Congressional Record (who said what on the floor of Congress).

Click on the link below and scroll down to see recent publications.

Goods and Services Bulletin and Central Registry

http://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/35811