It’s no
secret that many of you love the Morrill Memorial Library. We receive
compliments each day – at all the desks of the library – from many of you.
Often, we hear it on Norwood’s
community Facebook page, Norwood Now. You praise us for the print books and
magazines we have in the library. You love the streaming and downloading
services we offer 24/7. You are thrilled that we now offer appointments for
passport and notary services.
You attend and applaud our
children’s and adult programs and make appointments for our technology training
from our staff who solve problems for you every day. You recommend our Outreach
services to the homebound and public-assisted housing, and you commend our
amazing literacy programs and services.
Finally, you appreciate the varied answers to most of the questions you
can think to ask. Remember, if we don’t already know the answer, our talented
and educated reference staff who will try to find it for you.
Each year, around this time, the
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners fights for additional funding for
libraries. You already know that the Town of Norwood generously funds the
library (all 360 towns in Massachusetts rely on local funding for basic library
services), but are you aware that we
rely on state support too? That funding awards grants so that we can provide
innovative programming (for example, Norwood Reads in 2013-2014 and the
children’s STEAM programs in 2015-2016.) The Commonwealth also provides the State
Aid to Public Libraries grant that we receive each year (if we meet the
regulatory and statutory requirements.) That grant allows us to offer terrific
programs such as Titles on Tap, our many movie series, and fantastic technology
additions to our collection such as ROKU steaming players, Wi-Fi hotspots,
digital downloads. And so, so much more.
The
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, or MBLC, is the agency of our
Commonwealth that has the responsibility to develop and improve library
services for Massachusetts residents. The nine commissioners and the MBLC staff
have a mission to provide each and every resident equal access to the resources
that the library has to offer in every town across the state.
State
budget lines not only pay to staff and fund the MBLC, but they provide
necessary funds for online resources, for the talking book libraries for the
blind at Perkins and Worcester, for digital resources, and for additional
funding for the nine library networks across the state (Minuteman is ours, for
instance.) State funding pays for 100% of the operating costs for the
Massachusetts Library System, a cooperative that provides training for library
staff, fosters innovation in all libraries, and nurtures cooperation between
all types of libraries (public, academic, law, medical, school, etc.) Most
importantly for most of Norwood’s library users, the Massachusetts Library
System operates the free service known as delivery – sharing books and other
materials between libraries in the state. If you request an item from another
library, the delivery service provides the sort and travel to you and back to
the home library.
Won’t
you take a minute or so to send a little love to the state senators and
legislators to thank them for their support? Let’s face it - we know that there
is only one funding pie. All agencies
and services in the Commonwealth are fighting for its share. Legislators in the
State House have tough decisions to make and letting them know how much you
appreciate us is important to them.
I’m
proud to serve on several of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
task forces and committees and I’ve been a member of the Public Relations
Advisory Committee since 2006. We are the ones responsible for getting the word
out about libraries –letting every resident know about the library jewels in
their town.
This
February, it’s time for us all to thank our legislators for their past, present
and future support of libraries. That’s why we are hoping you’ll show a little
love for us. We have valentines all ready for you to send so that you can
praise us to them. Those valentines will
be on the delivery vans to Boston where they will then be delivered to
legislators around Valentine’s Day by staff at the MBLC.
You can also visit
lovemasslibraries dot com and fill out the online version and tell them why you
love YOUR library. As that website says: “During
our busy everyday lives, we don’t always get a chance to let our libraries know
how much we care about them. And we rarely take the time to share that with our
state legislators.” Why do you love visiting your library? Is it a smiling face
at one of our desks? Is it the cozy reading room? Or perhaps the fantastic
selection of items you can borrow? What critical service does it provide to you
or your family? Is it free internet and Wi-Fi? Incredible educational or
entertaining programs offered almost every day of the week? Or answers to your
many questions?
Please share a little of your love
for us! #LibraryLovers on Facebook.
