Month: May 2023

Help Spread the Word about MassHealth Renewals!

Dear Massachusetts Library Staff,

We are reaching out from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to ask for your help in an essential community outreach campaign that is happening this year. The campaign is focused on educating and preparing communities for MassHealth renewals.

  • What is MassHealth? – MassHealth is the state Medicaid agency. MassHealth provides health care coverage for 2.4 million people in Massachusetts including children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities. About 1 in 3 children are covered by MassHealth.
  • What are MassHealth Renewals? – A renewal is when the state “checks” a member’s eligibility by making sure that the member still meets federal and state requirements for the program. Renewals began on April 1, 2023. MassHealth will renew all 2.4 million MassHealth members over the next 12 months.
  • Why is there an outreach campaign this year? – The 2023-2024 eligibility renewal process will generally be the first time that members are at risk of losing their coverage since February 2020, when the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency began. It is essential that members are aware and successfully complete their renewals so that they and their families continue to have health care coverage.

In preparation for this effort, MassHealth has collaborated with health care providers and community-based organizations across the Commonwealth to help educate and prepare members to successfully renew their coverage.

We are asking for Massachusetts Libraries to join our outreach efforts. Please support our effort by sharing the materials in MassHealth’s Redeterminations Outreach Toolkit in your library spaces and social media channels.

This toolkit includes key messages as well as downloadable flyers, posters, and other materials in 9 languages. Libraries are encouraged to print and display the posters and flyers.

You can learn more about the upcoming redeterminations process at mass.gov/masshealthrenew.

Thank you for your partnership in supporting our members!

Sincerely,

MassHealth & the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services is the largest secretariat in state government and is comprised of 11 agencies and the MassHealth program. EOHHS seeks to promote the health, resilience, and independence of the nearly one in every three residents of the Commonwealth we serve. 

23rd Annual Letters about Literature Awards Announced

Massachusetts Center for the Book (MCB) has announced the 2023 Top Honor and Honors student writers in its flagship program for students, Letters About Literature (LAL). This Commonwealth-wide reading and writing initiative invites students from Grades 4 to 12 to write letters to authors about the books that have had special meaning to them.

The fifteen honorees, representing the top 1.5% of this year’s program submissions, were celebrated at a virtual awards celebration on May 17. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Massachusetts author Alexandra Marshall welcomed the students, families, teachers, librarians, judges, staff, and fellow MCB board members.  Marshall commended the students on their work and also told them, as a writer, how important it is for authors to hear from readers, because that’s why authors write: “with the wish to be read.”

Representative Lindsay Sabadosa (First Hampshire) provided the legislative welcome to those in attendance and continued the theme of the communications loop that students have completed. She noted that since the time of the ancients, great thinkers have believed that great writing should teach, move, and delight us. She commended the students for showing in their letters how books taught them lessons and also prompted strong feelings and great pleasure. “In turn, your letters have taught, moved, and delighted us with your articulate thoughts about the importance of books in your lives,” she concluded with appreciation.

The Top Honors and Honors Writers in Massachusetts Letters About Literature 2023

Level 1 (Grades 4-6):

Top Honor: Suryavir Jaisinhji Nallari-Jhala of Cambridge, a 5th grader at Belmont Day School and Maria L. Baldwin School, Cambridge, for his letter to Michael Dorris about Morning Girl

Honors: Saabir Ameer of Northborough (Al-Hamra Academy, Shrewsbury); Sofia Celli of Marblehead (Village School, Marblehead); Ash Quasney-Sandler of West Roxbury (The Rashi School, Dedham); Sofia Wolfe of Reading (A. W. Coolidge Middle School)

Level 2 (Grades 7 & 8):

Top Honor: Bryn Rufo of Grafton, an 8th grader at Whitinsville Christian School, for her letter to James Patterson about Jacky Ha-Ha

Honors: Avery Condon of Canton (Montrose School, Medfield); Caroline Euber of Wilbraham (Wilbraham Middle School); Damilola Graciella Olabisi of Marblehead (Marblehead Veterans Middle School); Luca Rice of Westborough (Sarah W. Gibbons Middle School)

Level 3 (Grades 9-12):

Top Honor: Sophie Cutrer of Vineyard Haven, an 11th grader at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, for her letter to Ned Vizzini about It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Honors: Yumna El-Dib of Foxborough (Al-Noor Academy, Mansfield); Maya Johnson of Jamaica Plain (Melrose High School); Jane Lawley of Methuen (Methuen High School); Elyza Tuan of Millis (Montrose School, Medfield)

Commonwealth judges in the 2023 program were Celeste Bruno, Communications Director of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners; Trey Jones, Middle and High School English teacher, Northampton public schools; and Daniel Guerrero, audiovisual translator of English, Spanish, French and German.

For additional information and to read some of the letters from the Top Honors & Honors writers, visit www.massbook.org/current-awards

The Massachusetts Center for the Book, chartered as the Commonwealth Affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, is a public-private partnership charged with developing, supporting and promoting cultural programming that advances the cause of books and reading and enhances the outreach potential of Massachusetts public libraries. 

Massachusetts Center for the Book, 17 New South Street, Ste 302, Northampton, 01060.  info@massbook.org  

Get to Know Commissioner Mary Ann Cluggish

(Commissioner Cluggish in the center of Blades and Lauren Baker at a summer reading event at Tyngsboro Public Library in 2022 .)

What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?

Since this is my last year on the MBLC, it seems a bit odd to be introducing myself, but here goes. Just being on the MBLC and participating in events is interesting and fun. But speaking at Groundbreakings and Library Dedications is an honor and brings a special satisfaction. MBLC Summer Reading Events are simply delightful and again, a satisfying activity in helping to generate interest in reading in young children.  It has been an honor to represent the MBLC at Legislative Breakfasts, meet Legislators, and advocate for Libraries. I enjoyed served as Chair for a couple of terms and certainly enjoyed the Executive Board.

(2017 Hopkinton Ribbon Cutting)

What do you love about your local library?

What I love about my own Library, is that it’s very well-run and busy. As Trustee Chair, I shepherded the construction of the new library through Town Meeting despite being vigorously opposed for two years by three different groups. I then was intimately involved with the construction for a year and a half; so intimately involved, that the Director and I chose the color of the mortar between the bricks! Whenever I walk into the building, I am so filled with pride that it feels like my head is going to explode. I also participated heavily in raising $3.6 million dollars for the construction of the new building and was part of the team that set up the Foundation. I served as a Trustee for 12 years; I am still active peripherally in various activities.

Plaque honoring Mary Ann Cluggish at Wellesley Free Library.

What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?

Who I am can be summed up in these categories: Travel, the Outdoors, Wildlife, Birding, Water, and Town Affairs. I got the travel bug early, saved my money, and traveled around Europe for a year when I was 22 years old. I’ve been on three African Safaris and to most of the countries in South America. I’ve also traveled the world with birding groups to search for and identify birds.  I’m very proud of the fact that in my lifetime I’ve identified over 1000 species in the wild. On weekends in the winter, I can be found walking the beaches of Massachusetts looking for Snowy Owls.

(Left: Commissioner Cluggish is an avid birder. Do you know what type of bird this is? Right: Commissioner Cluggish in Argentina with a penguin!)

On the water: I volunteered weekly on the Boston Harbor Islands every summer for 13 years, leading tours and answering questions. I’ve done several whale and orca research trips with Earthwatch and similar organizations.  I’ve also been kayaking the rivers of Massachusetts for a long time.

Insofar as Town Affairs go, I was part of a group of 5 women who founded the Town’s Recycling program way back in 1971. It was the first in the state and one of the first in the nation. Both the EPA and Mass Audubon surprised us with awards. I also was part of a group of 13 women who started an Environmental Aide program in the public schools. We took children on nature walks, and taught them winter tracking, simple geology, tree identification, etc.

I’ve been an elected Town Meeting Member for 40 years, served on three elected boards, on the Finance Committee, the Permanent Building Committee, and on several appointed Ad Hoc study committees. I served as chair of an Open Space Management Study Committee, convinced the Town Meeting to approve the merging of 7 different authorities and set up a Natural Resources Commission. As the first Chair, I negotiated the purchase of 42 acres of open space, and persuaded Town Meeting to approve funding the purchase.

Professionally, I was a Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a small company, and then a Trainer/Consultant to High Technology Companies. Both of these positions enabled me to travel both nationally and internationally.

What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?  

As a young reader I was inspired by books about early aviators, with Amelia Earhart leading the bunch of course.

What are you reading right now?

Crossroads by Johnathan Franzen.

(Commissioner Cluggish gives a rousing speech about the continued importance of libraries and congratulates the town’s hard work at Salisbury Public Library in June 2014).

Get to Know Commissioner Vicky Biancolo

What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?

I particularly enjoy visiting libraries and getting inspired by the professionalism, creativity, thoughtfulness, and care I see in libraries across Massachusetts. I also appreciate being part of important conversations that affect library services for so many.

What do you love about your local library?

I have lived in Massachusetts for most of my life, and I have loved all of my local public libraries, from the tiny reading library in Richmond to Worcester’s large, beautifully updated modern library. I love browsing the stacks, finding a comfortable chair, and tasting many different genres, authors, and subjects. I particularly appreciate that libraries are often the only indoor gathering spaces in a community where people are not required to purchase anything!

What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?

I work full time as the Director of Library Services at Worcester Academy. In my free time I love to travel, hike, kayak, read, and watch movies with my family.

What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?  

In high school I was introduced to Jane Austen, which started a life-long love affair with Regency-era drama. It was the first time I realized that people’s hopes, wishes, and challenges of the past were pretty similar to those of today, and thereby made literature–and history–come alive for me.

What are you reading right now?

I tend to have two books going at the same time, one fiction and one nonfiction. At the moment I am reading Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin.

Get to Know Commissioner George Comeau

What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?

I love traveling the Commonwealth and seeing the richness of the collections and offerings at public libraries. I once held an original draft of “Stopping By the Woods” by Robert Frost – and it was in the archives at the Jones Library in Amherst, Massachusetts. This was transcendent for me, and something I will never forget. You can walk into almost any public library and experience a world beyond the imagination. Knowing that librarians are at the core of knowledge and helping unlock questions – it is a power that I appreciate the most about these institutions and speaks to the highest of democratic ideals. 

A photo of the original draft of Stopping by the Woods” that Commissioner Comeau shared. From a note he wrote in 2014: ‘Today I got to behold the original Robert Frost poem, Stopping By Woods. Plus an original manuscript of A Further Range. Interestingly, the person before me that photographed the poem was Annie Leibovitz.’ “

What do you love about your local library?

I love the staff, the patrons, the special collections, and the fact that we have been opening minds for such a long time. 

What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?

I keep bees. I preserve old buildings. I travel. I produce large events and help market Downtown Boston as a destination. I also write historical essays. My favorite activity though is hiking with friends and spending time in the solitude of the woods – just like Robert Frost!!

What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life? 

For sure… Endurance – the story of Shackleton’s voyage. Also, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran is a book that has spoken to me in each stage of my life thus far. Every few years, I will turn to that book for new reflections upon my own life and where I am going.

What are you reading right now?

Ah, the NYT recommended a true crime book called Who Killed Jane Stanford and I recently wrote about Leland Stanford and a fabulous racehorse he sold and was stabled in my hometown (Canton, MA). So, the book is on my iPhone courtesy of Libby and it is a real digital page-burner. 

Former MBLC Director Robert Maier and Commissioner Comeau present Patience Jackson with a commemorative map of the 177 successful construction projects in 2013.