Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Intellectual Freedom, Freedom to Read, Sunshine Open Public Meetings principles, Freedom of Information FOI principles of open government.
Cambridge Public Library
Board of Library Trustees
Minutes
http://www.ci.cambridge.ma.us/%7ECPL/about/bolt-minutes.html
A regular meeting of the Board of Library Trustees was held on
Monday, April 7, 2008 at the Main Library. The following
members of the Board of Library Trustees were present:
Janet Axelrod
William Barry
Andre Mayer
Patricia Payne
James Roosevelt
Also present:
Susan Flannery, Director of Libraries
Madeline Amorosi, Assistant Director
Marilyn Gagalis, Administrative Assistant

Minutes from the March, 2008 meeting were approved.

Correspondence was acknowledged from
Robert C. Maier, MBLC Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
and email from
pcholloran

Ms. Flannery informed the Board that she had
not received any Patriot Act requests since the March meeting.

Janet Axelrod, Andre Mayer and Susan Flannery reported on the
activities of the Fund Raising Committee. They spoke with two members of the Executive Services Corp; Alan Steinert and Al Rosen in a very productive meeting. They proposed moving forward with a fund raising program with the ESC as a consultant.

Madeline Amorosi announced her retirement from the library to become effective May 2, 2008. The Board thanked her for her many contributions to the Cambridge Public Library during her five year tenure and wished her well in her retirement. Ms. Amorosi was grateful to the Board for their unwavering support of her, the library and the community at large.

Ms. Amorosi also reported on the staff development day held on Friday, April 4, 2008 from Noon to 5:00 p.m. The City Manager stopped in for lunch and praised the staff for the outstanding service they provide to the Cambridge Community. The afternoon began with a presentation on the future of technology in libraries by Jessamen West. Alan Burne updated the staff on the Library Expansion project and Susan Flannery fielded staff questions at the end of the day. Ms Amorosi reported that it was a great forum for the exchange of ideas among staff.

Ms. Flannery introduced the Board to a new organizational chart developed by the library’s department heads over the course of the last year. It reflects changes and new trends in library services and will allow the library to deliver services in the most efficient way. It is a flexible structure allowing the library to adapt to the many challenges of technology, the new building and increased public demand for services.

The next scheduled meeting of the Board will be held on May 12, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Library at the Longfellow School.

There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
_________________________
Andre Mayer, Secretary

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Click on the little diagram for the big diagram

Johnson Building

Access Center Services -Concourse- 617-859-2295
Access services houses computers equipped with adaptive technology for use by people with disabilities. Also available is a circulating collection of materials relating to education, conversation groups, career, ESL, GED, citizenship, literacy and disability-related materials.







Audio Visual Materials -Concourse- 617-859-2317
VHS, DVD, CD, and cassette materials are available. Educators can request educational media for classroom use.

Children’s Services -First Floor- 617-859-2328
The Margret and H.A. Rey Children’s Room offers a variety
of books, audio visual materials, books-on-tape, children’s
programming and magazines for children from pre-school age
to 12. Reference books for parents, teachers, researchers and
curriculum development are also available.

Readers Advisory and Information Services – First Floor- 617-859-2339
Librarians are available to answer basic reference questions,
offer suggestions in personal reading, and assist in navigating
the Central Library and all its services.

Reference Services/Interlibrary Loan – Second Floor- 617-536-5400 x4418
Librarians provide reference services on all subjects as well as
in-depth reference in the sciences and humanities. Librarians
provide assistance for interlibrary loan services (requesting
items not owned by the library). Librarians also assist with
the microfiche catalog, which covers materials collected by
the library before 1974, as well as the many online catalogs
and electronic databases offered by the library.

TERI College Planning Center -Concourse- 617-536-0200
A non-profit organization housed within the Boston Public
Library, TERI provides free counseling and research
assistance for those interested in obtaining a college degree or
career, advanced coursework, or professional certification in a
field. Applications for financial aid, standardized tests, and
language proficiency tests are also available.

Young Adult Services -Mezzanine Level- 617-859-2334
The Young Adult Room serves the information needs of teens.
Among its highlights: fiction, science fiction, mystery and
horror fiction, nonfiction, college and career exam books and
study guides, science project books, and audio visual
materials. Filtered Internet computers are available with a
valid library card.

McKim Building

Book Delivery and Periodical Desk -Second Floor- 617-859-2244
Books and periodical titles (indicated in the catalog by a
location of Book Delivery) can be requested with a library or
guest card at the Book Delivery and Periodical Desk. These
materials are kept in closed stacks and are for in-library use
only. Requests are taken up to the last 25 minutes before
closing time. Magazines over five years old are in remote
storage and may take at least 24 hours to retrieve them.
Materials may be requested on-site or over the telephone.

Fine Arts -Third Floor- 617-859-2275
The Fine Arts Department services reference and noncirculating
books about art history, architecture, painting,
sculpture, drawing, design, illustration, decorative arts, and
antiques, as well as magazines, journals, and microforms in
these subject areas. The department also services some City of
Boston Building Department’s records of Boston buildings, c.
1879 to 1966. Some special collection materials focusing on
the art and architecture of New England are viewed by
appointment only.

Government Documents -Second Floor- 617-859-2226
The Government Documents Department houses publications
from all levels of government, including federal, state and
city, as well as select publications of foreign governments.
The department is also a depository for patents and for many
United Nations publications. Some legal materials such as
case law, statutes and regulations can also be found here.

Hub (Computer Center) -
Second Floor (Washington, Elliott, and Boylston Rooms) - 617-859-2255
The Hub offers Internet access through 60 computers which
are available for 1 hour and require a library or guest card and
16 express computers available for 15 minutes on a first come
first served basis.

Microtext -First Floor- 617-859-2018
The Microtext Department services the majority of the
library’s microfilm, microfiche, and microprint research
collections. The department also houses the historical
newspaper collections. Access to newspaper print indexes,
city directories, and genealogy and obituary resources are also
available here.

Music -Third Floor- 617-859-2285
The Music Department services reference and non-circulating
books and periodicals about musical study including
biography, history and criticism, ethnomusicology, music
education, and theory and composition, as well as the
collected editions of all the major composers, many musical
first editions, and other rare items.

Newspapers -First Floor- 617-859-2230
The Newspaper Room receives over 260 national and
international newspapers and keeps the latest three months for
viewing. Older newspapers can be viewed in the Microtext
Department across the hallway.

Prints and Photographs -Third Floor- 617-859-2280
The Print Department has built collections that today total
over 100,000 prints and drawings and 650,000 photographs,
making it one of the largest public collections of prints in the
United States. Among the outstanding holdings are works by
Rembrandt, Durer, Goya, Daumier, Toulouse-Lautrec and
Boston Artists. Service by appointment is recommended.

Rare Books and Manuscripts -Third Floor- 617-859-2225
The Rare Books and Manuscripts Department houses more
than 600,000 printed items and 1 million manuscripts. Among
the important holdings are large collections on Colonial and
Revolutionary Massachusetts, The Presidential Library of
John Adams, Anti-Slavery Manuscripts, The Barton
Collection of Shakespeareana, and the Galatea Collection on
the History of Women. In addition, there are many important
examples of medieval manuscripts, incunabula, and fine
printing.

Social Sciences -Second Floor- 617-859-2261
The Social Sciences Department maintains a reference
collection covering topics as diverse as anthropology, business
and economics, coins and medals, criminology, education,
family studies, history, political science, social history,
sociology, transportation, and women’s studies. Among the
many highlights of the department are the genealogy and local
history resources. The department also serves as a Foundation
Center for those researching prospective grant opportunities.

Special Collections -Third Floor- 617-859-2225
The Boston Public Library holds special collections in a wide
variety of subjects. Special collection material is used under
staff supervision within the Rare Books Reading Room. Titles
from the Alice M. Jordan Children’s Literature Collection
should be requested at Book Delivery to be viewed in the Rare
Books Reading Room.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Floor Directory, Boston Public Library

Floor Directory, Boston Public Library
Copley Square main library campus of buildings

1st Floor, Boylston Street entrance
Boston room, exhibits
Bulletin Board
Distribution table, community news publications
Suggestion box
Display cases
Check out desks
Circulation desk, Library cards
Gifts, book donations
Telephone operators room, security display panel
Drinking fountain
Elevators
Information desk
Library guides, leaflets
Book shelf displays
Inspection desk
Deliveries, Shipping dock
Courtyard, Link to Research library McKim building
Main stairway, perimeter staircases

Deferrari hall exhibits
Catalog information desk
Catalogs
Copy machine
Circulating fiction by author's last name
New Fiction
New Nonfiction
Picture file
Travel

Children's room
Children's room lavatories

1st Floor, Dartmouth Street entrance
Vestibule display frames
Courtyard, Link to general library Johnson building
Display case exhibits
Inspection desk
Library guides, leaflets
Stairway, Lions
Drinking fountain
Elevator

Catalogs
Catalog information desk
Copy machine
Government documents desk
Microtext reading room


Lower concourse, general library Johnson building
Rabb Lecture hall
Concourse exhibits
Conference rooms
Lavatories
Drinking fountain
Access center desk
Library guides, leaflets
Audiovisual services desk
Library guides, leaflets
Literacy center ESL
Career center
Higher Education Information center


Lower level, research library McKim building
Flood recovery projects


2nd Floor, general library Johnson building
Circulating nonfiction shelved by call number
Current periodicals
Newspaper room
Current Periodicals
Catalogs
Folio sized books
General reference
Internet
Microfilm readers
Infotrac cassettes
Journals and magazines listings
Internet access
Terminals, catalogs & databases
Terminals with printers
Selected old bound periodicals
Encyclopedias
Indexes
Boston reference

Citywide Friends office
Change machine
Copy machines
Drinking fountain

2nd floor, research library McKim building
Murals
Stairways, Elevator
Bates hall reading room
Humanities reference
Social sciences reference
Bates hall comment book
Book delivery desk
Suggestion box
Research library offices

Change machine
Copy machines


3rd floor, general library Johnson building
Human resources offices
President's offices
Business office, publication sales
Bids, vendors

3rd floor, research library McKim building
Sargent gallery
Cheverus room exhibits
Wiggin gallery
Dioramas
Wiggin gallery staircase
Wiggin gallery balcony
Print department
South gallery
Copy machine
Fine arts reference
Music reference
Rare books and manuscripts


Can't find what you want?

Ask a member of our staff.
We are here to help.

Ask other library users/customers/consumers for hints,
tips and pointers too.


The Copley Square location has
2 major categories of materials:

The take home circulating collection
includes approximately 1 million books,
books on tape, and audio and video cassettes.

The inhouse research collection
includes approximately 6 million books,
tens of thousands of newspapers and other
periodicals and journals, millions of
government documents, databases in a
variety of formats, and many other materials.


You will need a library card to borrow
materials and to use many of the inhouse materials.

Library cards are free.

They are available to all Massachusetts residents
with valid identification.

Courtesy cards are available for researchers
and our many visitors from other states and
countries. These are also free.


Library cards may be obtained at the circulation
desk in the lobby of the Johnson building, and at
the book delivery desk on the 2nd floor of the
McKim building.

Directory version of BPL Form No. 1389-Rev 8/98

Floor by floor Boston Public Library at Copley Square

Floor by floor Boston Public Library at Copley Square

1st Floor
General Library Johnson Building (newer building)
. Children's Room - Lavatory Children Parents
. Circulation Desk
. Checkout
. Circulating Fiction
. Internet Express
. Catalog Information Desk
. Picture File
. New Nonfiction
. New Fiction
. Travel
. Pay telephone
. Copy machine
. Elevators
. Boston Room
. Deferrari Hall
. Boylston Street Entrance Lobby

1st Floor
Research Library McKim Building (older building)
. Wheel Chair Lift
. Microtext
. Newspaper Room
. Sculpture Courtyard
. Novel Restaurant
. Sebastian's Map Room Cafe
. Orientation Room
. McKim Conference Room
. Dartmouth Street Entrance Lobbies


Lower Level
General Library Johnson Building
. Higher Education Information Center
. Career Center
. Access Center
. Literacy ESL Center
. Audiovisual Services
. Rabb Lecture Hall
. Backstage
. Green room
. Piano
. Conference Rooms C04, C05, C06
. Lavatories
. Pay telephone
. Elevators
. Staff Cafeteria

Lower Level
Research Library McKim Building
. Elevator
. Pay telephone
. Lavatories Women Men


Mezzanine
. Mezzanine Conference Room
. World Language Collections
. Young Adults Room


2nd Floor
General Library Johnson Building
. Circulating Nonfiction
. Catalogs
. Internet
. Copy machines
. Government Documents
. Reader and Information Services

2nd Floor
Research Library McKim Building
. Book Delivery
. Current Periodicals
. Washington Room
. General Reference
. Elliot Room
. Wheelchair Lift
. Chavannes Murals
. Social Sciences Reference
. Bates Hall Reading Room
. Elevators


3rd Floor
General Library Johnson Building
. Business Office
. Publications sales
. Human Resources Offices
. President's Offices
. Trustees Room
. Lavatory Executive Washroom
. Elevators

3rd Floor
Research Library McKim Building
. Rare Books and Manuscripts
. Music Reference
. Fine Arts Reference
. Copy machine
. South Gallery
. Wiggin Gallery
. Sargent Gallery
. Cheverus Room
. Print Department

Thursday, April 17, 2008

New leadership for our Cambridge public libraries.

In Massachusetts our Cambridge public libraries need a president,
a chief officer more up to date with current technology, more open to
feedback about usability and more concerned with intellectual
freedom. Our current library leadership is deficient because the
library environment is oppressive rather than it inspires library
users/customers/consumers .

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Library Directors

More and better civic information, more and better local government
information can be made more readily available at the Reference Desk
at The Lib.

It appears to be problematical for library leadership in our communities to
receive all the feedback people want a library director to know.
Information for your review, for the interest of other
libraries' advocates are at a guide to problematical library use
http://LibraryUsability.blogspot.com