Career Workshops Come to Library in April

Participants will learn techniques for writing resumes and cover letters, interviewing, networking and preparing for exams.

A series of career workshops is coming to the Somerville Public Library in April. According to an announcement from the city of Somerville, The LearningExpress Job & Carees Accelerator workshops are free, and they will provide personalized, step-by-step help to job seekers. Job seekers will get help writing professional resumes and cover letters, learning techniques for interviewing and networking and preparing for occupation-related exams. The workshops take place throughout the month at the main branch of the library, and here are the dates and times: For more information, contact the Somerville Public Library at (617) 623-5000 ext. 2955 or raugarten@minlib.net.

• Photos (1)

Somerville Trounces Neighboring Towns in Library Contest

Arlington's library director, and probably one of its selectmen, will have to dress as Clifford the Big Red Dog after Somerville dominated a four-town library sign-up competition.

In the end it wasn't close. Somerville soundly defeated Arlington, Belmont and Lexington in a contest to see which community could increase its library sign-ups the most. Somerville won the challenge with a 320 percent increase in sign-ups this February compared to last. Belmont finished second with a 186 percent increase, Arlington third with a 183 percent increase and Lexington finished fourth. Somerville's victory will cause at least two Arlington officials to dress as Clifford the Big Red Dog. Robbins Library Director Ryan Livergood will now don his Clifford the Big Red Dog costume and read to children at Somerville Public Library. What's more, it's likely Arlington Selectman Joseph Curro Jr. will also be dressing as the popular dog. …

• Photos (1)

VIDEO: Can Somerville's Library Smash Lexington, Belmont and Arlington's?

The "Library Card Challenge" pits four communities against each other in February.

The gauntlet has been thrown. The Somerville Public Library is officially in a showdown with Lexington, Arlington and Belmont, and as Somerville's library director, Maria Carpenter, said, "We are fiercely competitive." The challenge is to see which community can increase its new library card registration the most in February (percentage increase this February, compared to February 2012). “When I started as library director in April of 2012,” said Arlington's Robbins Library Director Ryan Livergood, “one of the things I wanted to do was get out in our community and remind people of the value of a library card.”  Belmont’s library director, Maureen Conners and Lexington’s Koren Stembridge joined Carpenter and Livergood Jan. 31 at a press …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Videos (2)

Courtney O'Keefe

11:30 am on Monday, February 4, 2013

I like it!   more ›

Somerville Library Unveils 'The Awesome Box'

The Awesome Box lets residents recommend awesome books and "mind-blowing" reads to each other.

Maybe The Who will write a song about it: "The Awesome Box." It's a new initiative at the Somerville Public Library, conducted in partnership with the Harvard Innovation Lab, that lets residents share awesome books with each other by placing them, you guessed it, in something called the Awesome Box. If you check out a library book and think it's awesome, put it in the box. If you want to see what books your neighbors think are awesome, you can visit the Awesome Box website. The first book in the box: "Fifty Shades of Awesome." Okay, that last bit was made up. Here are more details from the Somerville Public Library: SOMERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY UNVEILS “AWESOME BOX” PROJECT Partnership with Harvard University Innovation Lab Helps Residents …

• Photos (1)

New Lineup of Digital Documents Comes to Somerville Public Library

The city's annual reports from 1843 to 1925 and historical issues of the New York Times and Boston Globe are among the new digital offerings at the library.

The following is from the city of Somerville: SOMERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY ANNOUNCES DIGITIZATION OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS 19th and 20th Century Official City Documents Now Available through Library Database SOMERVILLE – The City of Somerville and the Somerville Public Library (SPL) are proud to announce the digitization of historical records from the files of the City’s past. Thanks to a partnership with the Boston Public Library and Digital Commonwealth, a State repository service for historical documents, the official full-text Annual Reports of the City from 1843 to 1925 can be accessed free through the Internet Archive. This archive is a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. The SPL also rolled …

• Photos (1)

Tuesday: Friends of the Somerville Library Benefit and Raffle

Somervillians can support the library by eating pizza and entering a raffle for prizes, including a snowboard, L.L. Bean gift certificates and special coffee.

City Poised For $18 Million Grant to Build Union Square Library

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners put a large Somerville library project on its list of priorities. If built, the Union Square library would replace the current Highland Avenue building.

Somerville is in line to get an $18 million grant from the state for a new main library in Union Square, the city announced Tuesday. According to the announcement, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners added Somerville to its waiting list for a construction grant to build a new library. Unlike a college admissions waiting list, the Board of Library Commissioners' list is more of a solid commitment, said Thomas Champion, a spokesperson for the city. In order to receive the grant, Somerville must come up with a solid plan for funding the whole project, which is projected to cost $45 million. The city will look at all options, including public-private partnerships, bonding and further grants, to come up with the money, said …

•  21 Comments
• Photos (7)

Sunday: New England Aquarium Tide Pool Exhibit at Library

The traveling exhibit lets children see animals from local waters.

The New England Aquarium's traveling tide pool exhibit comes to Somerville Sunday afternoon. As part of the exhibit, children will get up close and personal with live animals from local waters. The exhibit is free and open to everyone. It's at the central branch of the library, on Highland Avenue, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Photos (1)