Brown Bag with Ken Gloss from the Brattle Book Shop

Ken Gloss of the Brattle Book Shop on “What is an Old Book?”

Join us for a Brown Bag lunch on
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
State Library of Massachusetts
Room 442, State House
12 noon until 1:30 PM

Bring your lunch and hear Ken Gloss, proprietor of the Brattle Book Shop, speak about rare books and materials. Mr. Gloss, whose family has owned and run the bookshop since 1949, can be heard often on the radio and is a frequent guest on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow. He promises to bring a “rare” treasure of particular interest to those working in the State House or the general political “arena.” He also extends an invitation to attendees to bring their own personal treasures for appraisal after his talk.

To register for the Brown Bag, please go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZK5M7D6. You may also do so by telephoning Reference at 617-727-2590 or e-mailing reference.department@state.ma.us

Sponsored by the Friends of the State Library

Future Brown Bags will include:

March, 2011 - Bette L. Siegel, State Library, Federal Digital System
April, 2011 - Lacy Crews Stoneburner, State Library, Preservation
May, 2011 - Neil Savage, The History of the General Court

BUDGETS, BUDGETS, BUDGETS

The State Library holds a large collection of state and federal budgets.

Commonly known as House 1, the Governor's budget, is on the shelf in the main reading room from 1939 on. Copies of the Senate and House budgets have been placed beside many of the Governor's budgets.

The Legislature's web site at www.malegislature.gov and the Governor's web site at www.mass.gov have additional information on budgets.

The BUDGET OF THE UNITED STATES is available in the Library. Documents included in this collection are: ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT; ECONOMIC INDICATORS; and ANALYSIS OF THE BUDGET. All the Federal documents are on line at www.fdsys.gov and in paper as part of the Library's federal collection.

Visit us in room 341 of the State House and find all you want and more about state and federal budgets.

The Government Documents Staff

Program Services at the Suffolk County Sheriff's Dept.

Rachelle Steinberg will speak about programs in the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Andrea Cabral’s office is dedicated to providing the inmates and detainees with as much programming as possible to make for a smooth transition back into our community. The goal is to have each individual that is released from its facilities leave with more than they came in with.

When: Thursday, Jan. 27
Time: noon - 1:00 pm
Where: State Library, Room 442 State House

Please join us to learn more about the role of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. This program is designed to provide information to assist state employees in their work, whether with the public or legislation.

Feel free to bring your lunch. To register please call 617.727.2590 or email reference.department@state.ma.us

Sponsored by the Friends of the State Library.

The Charles River Dam, James Storrow, Helen Storrow and Storrow Drive

James Storrow was an investment banker who in 1901 spearheaded a campaign to have a dam built over the Charles River. He introduced a bill in 1901 to create a commission to study this. In 1903 the Legislature passed a law to construct the dam, which was erected between 1903 and 1910. It was located where the Science Museum is now.

James Storrow died in 1926. In 1929 Helen Storrow pledged to donate 1 million in her husband's memory to improve the Embankment as the Esplanade was known back then. According to The Charles River Esplanade: Our Boston Treasure by Linda Cox, the state of Massachusetts donated 2.3 million and the city of Boston donated $400,000. One condition was that the money be matched by the city or state. The second condition was that no roads be built between the Esplanade and the city in effect separating the city from this area. However, two years after Helen died, Storrow Drive was built.

The State Library has the acts related to Storrow Drive and the Embankment. These are also accessible through the Library's website at http://mass.gov/lib and include the following:
Storrow Memorial Embankment. Resolution 31 of 1937
Authorization to Erect a Memorial on Helen Osborne Storrow by MDC. Resolve 22 of 1948
James J. Storrow Memorial Drive, Embankment Rd. Chapter 262 of 1949, Chapter 828 of 1950
Fiedler Bridge (designating the foot bridge). Resolve 86 of 1953
A Statue Memorializing Arthur Fiedler. Chapter 567 of 1980

These publications are in the Library's collection:
Charles River Basin Commission, 1903 - 1910, MR 627 M415r
Report on the Committee on the Charles River Dam, 1903, MR 627 M414r
Evidence and Arguments before the Committee on the Charles River Dam, 1901 - 1903, MR 627 M414e

Naomi Allen
Reference Librarian

image: Charles River and Hereford Street Street Overflow, low water from Charles River Basin Report in 1905. MR 627 M415r

Holyoke Materials Now on Flickr

In the fall of 2009 the State Library displayed an exhibit called "Holyoke, Queen of Industrial Cities." This exhibit, a joint project by the State Library of Massachusetts and the Holyoke Public Library, is now available to view online as a set of images on the State Library’s Flickr site.

The exhibit highlighted the items in both libraries' collections that document the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Included in the exhibit were books, maps, and photographs of Holyoke, which was one of the first planned industrial towns in the country. Most of the photographs in the exhibit were from the Holyoke Public Library’s Milan P. Warner Collection. Warner, a Holyoke photographer in the 1880s and 1890s, captured beautiful black and white images of the town during its first industrial boom.

Please visit the State Library Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm, to view the library’s current exhibit, “Congressional Redistricting through the Years.”

-The Marketing Committee

Library Closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The Library will be closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Regular hours will resume Tuesday. The Main Reading Room and the Periodicals Balcony are open Monday through Friday from 9:00 until 5:00. The hours in Special Collections are Monday through Friday from 9:00 until 1:00 and by appointment. Please call 617.727.2595 if an appointment is needed.

BROWN BAG ON THE SOCIAL LAW LIBRARY

The Social Law Library








Join us for our first 2011 Brown Bag Lunch
Thursday, January 13th
State Library of Massachusetts
Room 341 State House
12 until 1:30 PM

Bring your lunch and join us to hear Brian J. Harkins, Esq., Reference Librarian, The Social Law Library, speak about the library’s collection and services which include circulation, reference, document delivery and interlibrary loan. He will speak also about their database offering of case law and Massachusetts administrative law. Social Law does web hosting and web site design, and Brian will address those services as well.

To register, please go to:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8Y73M3J. You may also let us know you will attend by calling the Reference Department at 617-727-2590 or e-mailing to reference.department@state.ma.us

Sponsored by the Friends of the State Library

Future Brown Bags will include:
February 10th, 2011 - Ken Gloss, the Brattle Bookshop
March, 2011 - Bette L. Siegel, State Library, Federal Digital System
April, 2011 - Lacy Crews Stoneburner, State Library, Preservation
May, 2011 - Neil Savage, The History of the General Court

New Exhibit Now on Display

Please visit the State Library to view the newest exhibit, Congressional Redistricting Through the Years. This exhibit highlights the changes in U.S. Congressional districts in response to population growth. Maps included in the exhibit range in date from 1842 to 2002. The exhibit can be viewed outside of the library, room 341 of the State House, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

State and Metropolitan Area Data Book: 2010

The State and Metropolitan Data Area Book is a supplement to the Statistical Abstract of the United States. The last time this book was published was in 2006.

One can find statistics on social, economic, and metropolitan areas of the States.

This edition contains information about: 2007 North American Industry Classification System; 3 year tables (2005-2007) from the American Community Survey regarding population characteristics; results from the 2008 elections; social insurance programs and a total of 84 tables of information about the states.

The paper copy of the book is kept at the Reference desk in room 341 in the Federal Documents area. All of this information is also available on line at www.census.gov/compendia/databooks.

Government Documents Department
State Library

Restoration of Cape Cod Military Reservation

The State Library holds over 500 documents and/or CD-ROMs from the Department of the Air Force, Installation Restoration Program at Otis Air National Guard Base. This program is a result of the Base being identified as a Superfund Site. The site is located in parts of Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee and Sandwich.

You can access the pertinent information about the documents/CD-ROMs at www.mass.gov/lib. Click on the library catalog and enter the keywords Massachusetts Military Reservation.

The library is pleased to have this comprehensive collection which serves the Cape Cod community.

The Reservation also has a website at: http://www.mmr.org/. There are a host of frequently asked questions (FAQ's) including ones about cancer rates in the area; fishing in the waters near the area; use of chemicals in the cleanup; employment opportunities in the area; and responsibilities if the Government closes the base.

The Reference Department