MBLC Blog

Month: July 2019

  • Commonwealth Catalog to Undergo Scheduled Upgrade

    UPDATE 10/7/2019: The Commonwealth Catalog successfully underwent its upgrade and is now back online. Thank you for your patience while we underwent this process.

    Note: This post was updated on October 1, 2019 to reflect a change in date for the Commonwealth Catalog upgrade.

    On Friday, October 4, 2019 the Commonwealth Catalog will be taken down for a scheduled upgrade. The new version will bring improvements to help users find books and materials they want more easily and more efficiently. Though we hope the upgrade will take less than a day, it may take up to three. The Commonwealth Catalog will be unavailable to patrons and staff during this time.

    What’s Coming with the Upgrade?

    Increased Security and Patron Privacy: The system will now use “tokens” instead of internet cookies, which means your activities and searches cannot be tracked by cookie trails.

    More efficient searches: Searches will be broader, with related words included for title results, easier search narrowing, and the ability to select multiple different ways to refine your search results.

    Faster results: Search results will load faster, and you will no longer see those flickering book jackets. You will be able to navigate around the page as the search continues to bring in live results from the various Massachusetts library systems.

    Thank you for your patience while we work on making the Commonwealth Catalog an even greater resource for you and all Massachusetts residents to find the books and materials they want from anywhere in the state.

    Please be prepared for the system to be down from 5pm on Friday August 9 until August 11, and check the MBLC Twitter account for updates.

  • Your Local Library May Have A New Offering In Stock: A Resident Social Worker

    Trish doesn’t have many places to turn. She’s living at her elderly father’s home without a job because she can’t afford the care he needs. And every day she says the balance sheet seems stained with more red ink.

    Continue reading on NPR

  • Medford to start work on new $34 million library

    Medford is preparing to begin construction of a $34 million public library that officials said will allow them to meet a longstanding need for more space and improved facilities. In October, contractors are set to begin demolishing the existing 60-year-old library to make way for the new 44,000-square-foot facility, to be built on the same High Street site.

    Read more on the Boston Globe

  • Fall River library goes from sharing books to sharing bikes

    As regional planning officials work to attract the kinds of bike share companies that have thrived in larger cities such as Boston and Providence in recent years, Fall River Public Library has set a plan of its own in motion.

    Read more on the Herald News website