Merrimac Old Home Days

If you're in town this weekend, that is in Merrimac, be sure to stop by the Library's table at Merrimac's Old Home Days event at the Donahue School field. OHD starts on Friday evening and goes into Saturday evening, though the events at the Donahue School field last from about 9 to 4ish on Saturday only.

True Library Tales

The following is a true story.


Conversation 1

Library Employee: (phone rings) "Good morning, Merrimac Library. May I help you?"

Cell caller: "I hope you can help me. I am at the Amtrak station in New Jersey. I just found a set of keys. It looks like house keys and car keys. The only identifying thing on the keys is a Merrimac Library card. I am calling to see if you can locate the owner for me.

LE: "Please give me the barcode on the library card and the owner will be contacted."

CC: "The barcode number is [deleted]."

LE: "May I give your cell phone number and your location to the owner of the keys?"

CC: "Certainly. I am at [deleted] and my phone number is [deleted]."

LE: Thank you for reporting this to us. Your phone number will be given to the owner. I expect you'll hear from the owner soon. Goodbye."

Conversation 2

Owner of Keys: "Hello?"

Library Employee: "Good morning. This is the Merrimac Library calling because somebody reported that they found a set of keys on the Amtrak Platform in New Jersey which belong to your household. Here is the number of the person that found your keys."

OK: "Oh dear! That has to by my husband's set. He left early this morning and probably doesn't even realize that he lost them. I will let him know."

Names have been changed to protect the innocent. Any resemblance to actual events is, uh, actual. If you or anyone you know has a story similar to this, please report it to the library immediately.

Did you know ? : Library delivery service

Did you know ? : Library delivery service

Each and every week day a big green van rolls up to the Merrimac Public Library. Inside are myriad red bins, each containing items that have been pulled from library shelves all over Massachusetts and shipped to our front door. The driver laboriously wrestles the ones addressed to our library onto a handcart and wheels them through our gleaming portals. He then trades the ones he's hauled all this way for the ones we've filled up for him, and are ready to be shipped out. Much shuffling occurs. After that, he wheels them back out to his van, wrestles them into place, and heads off in a cloud of dust to the next library on his route, where he will repeat the process for their bins.

Okay, so maybe this is an overly-romanticized view of the library delivery service, but hey, those guys work hard to get us the books and items we need, so I think they deserve some applause.

Exactly how doesthe mystical and sometimes magical library delivery system actually work? The following is a typical scenario that should give you a better idea (note: this process typically takes 2 - 3 days, though for this scenario it all occurs during the same day):

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The process begins by making a request for an item. (For more on requests, see this post) I think we should request James Patterson's hot new book "134th Bestseller : A whitespace novel". Once the request for the title has gone through, it sits somewhere out there in cyberspace. Meanwhile...

A librarian at the Winequog Public Library runs her library's pull list. The computer that has been hanging on to the request assigns the request to the Winnequog library's copy of the book. The librarian then hunts down the book from the stacks, pulls it from the shelf, and checks it in to the library computer. The computer tells the librarian where to send the book. The librarian affixes a transit slip to the book that shows the destination, and tosses it gently into a red bin.

Around 12:30, the green van rolls up, the driver does his thing, and leaves several red bins behind him. The librarian at that library sighs, and begins to unpack the bins. Meanwhile...

The van containing the bin with the requested book in it arrives at the warehouse. There, the bins are unloaded from the van, the contents unpacked, and the items for our library sorted into one of several waiting bins. Another van rolls up, and the driver loads up the bins destined for stops along his route, one of which is our library. The driver finishes his Dunkin' Donuts, throws the truck into drive, and speeds off down the road. Meanwhile...

We're getting a little impatient waiting for our book; it has been over two hours, after all. We call up the librarian at our library to see what she has to say about this travesty. The librarian informs us that the book is "in transit" and should be here any day now. We say thank, and hang up. Meanwhile...

The driver screeches to a halt outside of our library, knowing full well the importance of the cargo he's carrying. Quickly yet gracefully, he unloads the bins and wheels them in to our library. We say thank you, and he departs. We unpack the bins and begin the check in process on the mountain of stuff. One librarian checks in the copy of the book we've been waiting for, and the computer spits out a little slip telling the librarian who the book is on hold for and how to contact them; we prefer to be contacted by phone because email is far too unreliable and newfangled. After all the items are checked in, the librarian calls our number and tells us that the book is ready for pick up. We throw our stuff and children into the car and race down to the library, very nearly forgetting to bring our library card with us. But like all good patrons, we run back in to the house and grab it from the kitchen table, and with that we're off.

We pull up outside of the library and park in the fire lane; such is our excitement to get our hands on this new bestseller! We race up to the front desk, proudly present our card, the librarian scans it, shuffles over to the hold shelf, grabs the book, shuffles back, checks it out, prints the slip and with THAT... the book is ours!

For three weeks, anyways.

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Okay. So that's essentially how the process works. Again, for simplicity's sake, what usually takes 2 or 3 days has been shortened into one day. At the Merrimac Library, we usually receive our once-daily delivery around 11 - 11:45 AM. This time may vary for your library.

Thanks for reading! Check back soon for more interesting rambling posts.

borrowing library - analogous to the "pickup point"

"the item is in transit" - means that the requested item has left the owning library, but has not yet reached the pickup point

owning library - the library that purchased the item and has it as part of their collection

pull list - a list generated by the library's computer that shows all the items owned by that library that are currently requested by a patron

"pulling" an item - finding a requested item from the owning library's shelves

transit slip - a slip attached to an item(s) sent through delivery that displays the destination of the attached item(s)

Pick-up and delivery service is provided through the Interlibrary Loan system. (NMRLS)

Previous posts in the "Did you know ?" series: Holds and requests

Did you know ? : Holds and Requests

Welcome to "Did You Know ?", a semi-regular series of posts that will give you an inside scoop about what goes on at your library. This is the first post in the series. Without further ado...

Did You Know ? : Holds and Requests

Say that you're looking for that new, just released, hard-to-find book. Our library doesn't have it, and you've driven around to several others in the area who are also fresh out. What's an eager reader to do in a situation like this? Here's a list of your options, some of which you might not know about:

1) Buy the book - this is not preferable, because books cost money, while libraries are free!

2) Make a request on your account after the book is released - this is better than buying the book, but you may still have to wait a while if the book is by a popular author

3) Make a request on your account before the book is released - this is your best option to ensure that it will be in your hands as soon as possible. Some libraries start adding up-and-coming books to their catalogs as soon as three weeks in advance of their release so that people can get a head start. Ask your local library if they do this with their items.

What's interesting to note is that the request list is usually pooled from all available copies at all available libraries (which could be as many as 34). This gives you a better chance of getting the item sooner.

To round out the post, which is fast becoming a book unto itself, here is a list of terminology associated with requesting books; so now you can speak to your librarian in their native Librarianese.

hold - analogous to a request

hold shelf - commonly used term for the place where requested items that have come in are kept

item request list/hold queue/request queue - the list of patrons who have a request in for that particular title; each request is assigned a number following the order in which the requests were made

"on hold" - this means that an item that you've requested has arrived at the pickup point, and is ready for you to pick it up

pickup point - the location at which you will pick up the requested item

"put on the list"/"put your name on the list" - your name is added to the request queue for that item

request - your name is in the request queue for a particular item

"the item you've requested has come in for you" - the item that you've requested has arrived at the pickup point, and is sitting on the hold shelf

"there are X people ahead of you" - X many people have also requested this item. Your position in the request queue is therefore X+1

Here is a typical scenario using these terms: Let's say that Mark Twain has written a hot new book that is set to be released on August 1, 2007. You go down to the library on July 12 and ask if you can put your name on the list. The librarian tells you sure. You say that would be fantastic. The librarian then tells you that there are 70 people ahead of you in the request list. You ask how many copies will be available. She checks and replies 32. You say that's fine. She asks you what the pickup point should be. You reply that you'll pick it up here. The librarian puts the request through, and says okay, you're all set. You say thanks, and out of gratitude march down to the town hall and demand that the library's budget be raised.

Okay, maybe that last part was a little improbable. If you've made it this far, you are to be commended! Check back next week (or so) for another exciting and hopefully shorter post.

Library maintenance

Just a quick note: the ceiling area over the children's room is currently undergoing some maintenance and construction, so that area has been closed off for the day (Monday, July 2).

Other portions of the library will be undergoing similar work during the upcoming weeks. Watch out for the big blue tarps as you're wandering the stacks.

Thank you for your patience!

Children's summer program schedule posted

This summer, the Library will be full of musical fun for children with a variety of programs for all ages. For more information on these various programs, please click on the link below.

View the schedule

Thanks to the Friends of the Merrimac Public Library, the Merrimac Cultural Council, The Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts Regional Library Systems, and Waste Management for helping to keep the library fun and exciting for everyone.

The blog is live!

Greetings!

If you're reading this message chances are you've found the announcement on our website regarding the blog. Let me be the first to personally say

"Thank you for visiting!"

Keep checking back for new and exciting stuff!
-Patrick