I had the pleasure of working directly with Madeleine on library budgets and enjoyed her wit and spunkiness when dealing with difficult decisions. Madeleine was always impeccably dressed and her level of professionalism in all that she did for the library was an inspiration. Her financial background and knowledge of the city finances was a priceless gift that she used to serve as our Treasurer for many years. From Madeleine I learned about the city’s budget process and how to best utilize our resources to provide quality library services. To say she will be missed by us here at MCL is truly an understatement.

On behalf of the library staff, trustees and friends of the Library I wish to express our heartfelt condolences to her family. It was an honor to have known Madeleine Roy.

Denise M. van Zanten

There was a study released this week by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation finding that a full 1/3 of adults in this country use the computers available to them at public libraries. The story was even picked up by NH’s own, WMUR.

“Library technology services have created opportunity for millions of Americans, but public libraries struggle to replace aging computer workstations and increase the speed of their Internet connections,” said Allan Golston, president of the United States Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This is not big news to us here at MCL. Between 2006 and 2009 we have seen our computer usage increase a whopping 43%. In the same time span:

• we applied for and won an Opportunity Online grant to add six internet workstations between our two buildings,
• our Library Foundation provided the necessary matching funds for the grant and generously purchased new flat-screen monitors,
• thanks to Library Trustees and the Cote Family Estate, we invested in a more stable, easier to maintain system for public library computing to help with this demand,
• this year we are hosting a wonderful volunteer from the Americorp VISTA program to help prepare our staff to meet the demand of supporting folks using these technologies,
• we are working with the city’s Information Systems department to upgrade our network to allow faster connections and make more applications available to those using our workstations.

All-in-all we have been very fortunate to have wonderful partners who help us meet the needs of folks using computers and we all thank them, very deeply.

- Lichen

Also as part of the Foundation’s Spring Fundraiser they are raffling two tickets to the April 24th Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway, which includes a limousine ride! Raffle tickets are $50. Please call Mary at 624-6550 x311 to purchase. Hurry since only 200 of them will be sold!

On Tuesday April 13th we will be celebrating National Library Worker Day. Our library staff is a vital asset in providing library services. The library staff will be having a dress down day and enjoy treats, which are provided by our Library Board of Trustees.

Patron Appreciation day is Friday April 17th so stop in for treats as our way of saying thank you for making your library so popular!

As part of our celebration this year we are asking library users to share what they love about the library with us, forms can be found at public service desks and at the online catalogs. If you care to share your feelings via the comment form below, we’ll be sure they’re included. We will have them on display starting Wednesday.

Come help us celebrate National Library Week April 12th-18th!

Our technology department has been working hard to plan for a brand new public computing system called Userful. Userful computers are specially designed to meet the needs of library computer users. Since each machine checks in regularly with a central server for changes, all machines will stay consistent. Centrally-located maintenance means far faster troubleshooting and the end of downtime! We hope that out-of-order signs and crashes will become a thing of the past in the library. When one user logs out, the computer reloads the default profile so the next person gets a clean slate.

Of course this will mean changes to the system we are used to. Userful
is a different platform, so while it will do all the things (and more) that our computers do now, there will be differences. Programs like Word, Excel, Internet Explorer will become Word Processor, Spreadsheet, and
Web Browser—they will look and behave slightly differently. There will be an adjustment for everyone, so please be patient while our staff gets trained to handle any questions you may have with the new system.

This change comes courtesy of the Cote Family Estate and represents
commitment and support from our Board of Trustees, our Library Foundation, the city’s Information Systems division, and all library
staff who have worked so hard on its implementation.

Our Library computers will be UNAVAILABLE March 18th through March 20th while we make the change over to Userful. If you have questions, concerns, or would like a preview of the new system please leave a comment below.

Our NH libraries receive between $1 and $10 per capita annually to buy new materials – books, videos, cds, databases, what have you. That’s how much we spend, but did you ever wonder what we get back?

I was thrilled to find an article about just that in the Bangor Daily News recently:

Molly Larson, director of the Rockport Public Library and president of the Maine Library Association, recently pointed out the Maine State Library’s online tool known as the Library Use Value Calculator… This user-friendly tool allows you to note not only how many books, magazines and movies you borrow in a typical library visit, but also whether you asked a reference question, read a periodical, used a conference room, attended a children’s or adult program, and more.

I recorded my latest library visit, during which I asked one reference question, attended one library program, used the library database, and borrowed one music CD, one film and five books. The value added up $233. And all I needed to receive these services was a library card.

I estimated that in the month of December I took home 15 books, 2 movies, 1 cd, 10 Interlibrary loans, and logged 3 hours of computer time. So, in December the Library provided me access to materials and services worth over $965! That’s even a conservative estimate for a busy month; I usually use far more than that.

Play around with the calculator; see what you’re saving. It makes me really appreciate all of the people and organizations that support us. The Library is truly a community asset. It belongs to all of us.