MBLC Service Update
March 13, 2025
☝️ NEED TO KNOW
Is the State Aid to Public Libraries Program affected by federal funding?
State Aid Grant Awards that public libraries receive through the State Aid to Public Libraries are fully funded by the annual state budget line 7000-9501. Not federal funding. However, all staff who work in the State Aid Unit are funded in part through federal funding. — Cate Merlin, Head of State Programs
🆕 NEW BLOG SERIES! Fortifying Your Library with Al Hayden
Welcome to our new blog series designed to help you fortify your library to protect you, your staff, and your patrons. A library is at its strongest when there are clear, unambiguous expectations for everyone to follow and one of the best ways to implement these expectations is through policy. To read more about library policy that creates stability for your staff and patrons, visit the MBLC Blog.
🕙 MBLC Monthly Board Meeting on April 3 (Hybrid)
Contact: Rachel Masse
The regular monthly board meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners is scheduled for 10AM on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams. This is a hybrid meeting.
😎 Apply for a Summer Library Visit with Blades by March 24
Contact: Rachel Masse, Celeste Bruno, June Thammasnong
The Boston Bruins mascot, Blades, loves visiting libraries throughout the entire Commonwealth to help promote the importance of summer reading! No library is too small or far for Blades. *If your library is interested in a summer visit with Blades, please submit an application by March 24.* Selected libraries will be notified by mid-April. Final decisions on all visits are determined by the Boston Bruins staff.
Blades library visits are 1 hour with all event materials provided by the MBLC and Bruins. A typical visit includes a hockey themed story (read by librarian or local VIP), hockey trivia, activity stations (coloring, beading, button making), photos with Blades, and outdoor games (such as Jenga and Connect 4).
📰 eBook Funding Increases but Access Constrained
Contact: Jaccavrie McNeely
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) recently awarded $1 million in grants to Automated Networks for purchase of eContent for the Library eBook and Audiobook program (LEA). LEA gives Massachusetts residents access to eBooks, audiobooks, and more from 389 participating libraries. For more information on increased eBook funding, visit the MBLC website.
📰 347 Libraries Certified to Receive Local Aid
Contact: Cate Merlin, Jen Inglis
Libraries certified in the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners’ (MBLC) State Aid to Public Libraries Program receive local aid funding to directly support public library services. For FY2025, 347 municipalities and their libraries are certified in the program and will share $20 million. For more on FY2025 State Aid, visit the MBLC website.
️📰 Explore Grants Awarded to 18 Libraries
Contact: Lyndsay Forbes
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) is pleased to announce 18 libraries will receive a combined $93,000 as the FY2025 recipients of Explore Grants. The MBLC uses federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding to provide Explore Grants that improve library services, collections, and programs. For more on how federal funding makes a local impact with the Explore Grants, visit the MBLC website.
📜 Community Voices: Curating Oral Histories and Audiovisual Collections (Recording now available online)
Contact: Jess Colati
Watch the recording online with password: Dh+0&2%D
Whether your recordings are audio, video, “on tape,” or born digital, curating oral histories and other media introduces new and different questions around collecting, management, preservation, and use. What equipment do you need to capture or digitize? How do you calculate storage? Should you work with a vendor? Do you need permission to make people’s stories and historical recordings available in your library and online? View the recording online, and/or contact Preservation Specialist Jess Colati with any questions or to schedule a 1-on-1 appointment.
🤝 Library Advisory Office Hours (Online)
Contact: Al Hayden
Monday, March 24 at 2PM – More Information & Zoom Link
Monday, April 14th at 9AM – More Information & Zoom Link
Open to all Directors, Trustees, Library Friends, and Foundation Members. They are designed to be an open-ended, safe space for questions and interaction among participants. Sessions will NOT be recorded, and chats will NOT be saved. Registration is not required; stop by anytime during the hour!
🗨️ Preservation Office Hours (Online)
Contact: Jess Colati
Tuesday, March 25 at 10AM – More Information & Zoom Link
Tuesday, April 8 11 at 10AM – More Information & Zoom Link
Open to all interested in ensuring safe and stable storage and improving collection management for your library or organization’s preservation projects. Connect with the MBLC’s Preservation Specialist, Jess Colati and colleagues around the Commonwealth that work to advance the protection of cultural collections during monthly office hours. Sessions and chats are not recorded or saved.
💬 State Aid Office Hours (Online)
Contact: Cate Merlin
Wednesday, March 26th at 2PM – More Information & Zoom Link
Wednesday, April 16th at 9AM – More Information & Zoom Link
Join Cate Merlin, Head of State Programs, and your fellow Library Directors, Trustees, and others seeking advice and answers as we embark upon the FY2026 budget season. Make sure your next budget, materials spending, and hours open fully meet State Aid requirements, and share ideas for budget strategies with others- registration is not required, and session and chats will not be recorded or saved.
📈 Census Bureau Data 101: Resources and Services (Online)
Contact: Al Hayden
Tuesday, March 18 at 2PM – More Information & Zoom Link
In this workshop you will learn about U.S. Census Bureau’s surveys and data resources available to help you understand, access, and use Census Bureau data, which can be helpful to libraries for community research and outreach, program planning, and resource allocation. We will take a tour of the Census Bureau’s website and highlight areas that may be most useful to library staff and patrons and provide a demonstration on how to quickly pull up your community’s data profile.
👭 Building Friendships Between People with and without Disabilities: A Train-the-Trainer Workshop (Online)
Contact: Ally Dowds
Wednesday, March 19 at 1PM – Registration & Zoom Link
The ARC of Massachusetts will facilitate a 2-hour train-the-trainer workshop model to equip library staff with the skills and strategies needed to foster friendships between people with and without disabilities. This interactive presentation will provide practical tools to help integrate inclusive practices into your organization. Registration is required.
🖥️ B&T Connect Training (Online)
Contact: Cate Merlin
Thursday, March 20th at 10am – More Information & Zoom Link
Thursday, March 27th at 2pm – More Information & Zoom Link
The State Aid team is excited to introduce Baker & Taylor Connect to the Library community! B&T Connect is the data analysis and visualization counterpoint to B&T Collect. This training will walk you through the basics of creating and viewing data and charts using years of your library data (and data from all MA libraries), so you can better advocate for your libraries and communities.
🌍 Breaking Bad Conversations about Climate Change with John E. Fernandez (Online)
Contact: Andrea Bono-Bunker, Heather Backman
Tuesday, March 25 at 1-2:30PM – Register here to attend!
Please join us to learn how to better communicate about challenges facing our climate with Professor John E. Fernandez, a practicing architect, a full professor in the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Director of MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative. Professor Fernandez will leverage his experience engaging across diverse sectors of American society – the public sector, private sector, communities, and civil society generally – to offer ways in which to engage in non-confrontational, nonpartisan, and, most importantly, positive conversations about climate change. The aim of the talk will be to discuss cases in which conversations are likely to be derailed by current misunderstandings and explicitly confusing information and offer pathways toward, if not agreement, then purposeful enhancement of understanding and empathy. Professor Fernandez will also offer several information and communication assets developed over the past few years by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative.
This webinar was planned by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the Massachusetts Library System, and the Vermont Department of Libraries.
🌈Special Populations Deep Dive: Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth (Online)
Contact: Ally Dowds
Wednesday, April 2 at 2PM – Registration & Zoom Link
Join us for a conversation and Q&A with the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth to learn more about its Annual Recommendations for state agencies (including the MBLC!), the Safe School Initiative, and opportunities for trainings and technical assistance to schools across the state. The Commission advises others in state government on effective policies, programs, and resources for LGBTQ youth and will help connect you to resources and latest news to help libraries support youth in their communities.
Contact: Rachel Masse, Celeste Bruno, June Thammasnong
It’s not too late to join the Boston Bruins, DCF/Wonderfund and Cradles to Crayons to collect pajamas for kids in need until March 15. Together, we hope to collect 10,000 pairs of new PJs!
💙 Participate in the Empowered by Libraries Campaign!
Contact: June Thammasnong, Celeste Bruno
This year, the MBLC is encouraging libraries in Massachusetts to invite their patrons to share their story of how the library has helped them at LoveMassLibraries.com. As part of the FY2026 Legislative Agenda‘s theme of Empowered by Libraries, their stories will demonstrate the importance and impact of our Commonwealth’s libraries to state representatives and legislators during the legislative budget season and beyond. Learn more about how your library can participate with the Empowered by Libraries Toolkit.
📅 Registration is open! Library Summit on Social Cohesion: April 11, 2025 from 10AM to 3:30PM at Devens Common Center
Contact: Jack Martin (MLS)
Registration & More Information
In collaboration with the Massachusetts Library System (MLS) and Simmons University School of Library and Information Science, we are excited to announce the Library Summit on Social Cohesion! This in-person event will provide a nourishing day for library staff to strengthen relationships within our profession and to support our important role fostering social connection in our communities. The theme of the summit is: Together We Thrive: Libraries as Catalysts for Social Cohesion. Registration is required.