View photos of our progress! The long awaited, much anticipated renovations to our Local History and Reference Departments began on February 28. Without altering the library footprint, the two departments will offer expanded technology to visitors and staff, including a laptop computer lab, new microfilm scanners, a new LAN for Local History resources and additional public Internet workstations. Collection growth will be accomodated with compact shelving in the Local History Department. Other enhancements include climate control in the vault; video and collections security systems; more efficient microformat storage; and new service desks and offices for both departments. The Local History Department has been temporarily relocated to the balcony level of the library since the project started. To facilitate moving their collections back into the renovated space, our Local History Department will be CLOSED Monday, July 28, through Saturday, August 2.
Summer Reading Club began June 30!
The Athenaeum's 8-week Summer Reading Club offers Prizes; Craft activities; Writing Contest; Movies; Bookclubs for K/1st Graders, 2nd/3rd graders, and 4th/5th graders; as well as Special Performances with music, laughter, puppets, stories and fun. The Summer Reading Club programs are funded by the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System; G E Advanced Materials; Big Y; and the wonderful generosity of the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum.
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Free movies for Kids The Childrens Department presents free movies for kids in the library auditorium through the summer months. Films are shown most weeks on Mondays at 2 p.m., for school-aged kids; and on Fridays at 10 a.m., for preschoolers. Each program is approximately 30 minutes long. Groups are welcome. No preregistration is required. Children under 10 years old may not be left unattended in the library.
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Additional Museum Passes now available The Athenaeum now offers a total of 12 museum passes to library patrons. Museum passes provide free or reduced general admission to museums and other places of interest. The following are now available:
For more information, or to reserve a museum pass online, visit the Museum Pass page. We thank the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum for funding our museum pass program! |
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Childrens Library Special Performance: Tom Sieling  The Childrens Library Summer Reading Program presents Howl at the Moon with a Wild Thing Tune, a performance by guitar player, banjo player & singer, Tom Sieling, on Tuesdy, July 22, at 1 p.m., in our Auditorium. Groups are welcome. Children under 10 years old may not be unattended in the library.
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Third Thursdays: August 21  The Athenaeum joins other downtown businesses and organizations in Third Thursday celebrations. Watch for the next one: August 21. |
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Library Business Blog Visit the Athenaeum's new business blog, where it is planned to offer reviews of business-related print and online sources; web sites; business news and articles of interest; book reviews; library resources and trends impacting business and the larger community. Tell us what you think! |
Library Thing Perhaps you are familiar with the website LibraryThing, where readers create a free account and input their personal library collections. Members assign tags, which are keywords describing their books. As of June 19, this useful information is now available from the Athenaeum's catalog. When you view a title, you will also be able to view (at the lower right part of the screen) the collection of tags -- called the "tag cloud" -- that Librarything readers have assigned to that title. The size of the tag corresponds to the frequency with which readers have assigned it. Tags can be sued to search out other titles int he library's collection that might interest you. Take a look and have fun using this new social feature. As always, if you have questions, contact the Reference Department. |
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Grant Research The Berkshire Funding Resource Center, a cooperating collection of the Foundation Center, is located in the Athenaeum's Reference Department and offers access to print and online sources of information for those researching sources of grant funding. Professional assistance in using the databases is available; access to Internet computers, word processing workstations, and a wireless Internet connection are provided. |
Downloadable audiobooks, videos and ebooksDo you love to be read to? Do you have a long commute, a planned vacation drive, or a household task that would go faster if you could listen to an engaging book? Browse our collection of downloadable audiobooks. You'll find audiobooks for Children, Young Adults and Adults; fiction and nonfiction titles; biographies, business, history, romance, foreign language study, classics, mystery, science fiction and self-improvement titles. Many can be burned to a CD. Also available are downloadable videos and ebooks. All you need to begin is a library card and a high-speed Internet connection. Browse the digital catalog and choose some titles today. |
