Feb Meeting

Don't forget our monthly meeting tomorrow, Feb 1, at 9 am in the Community Room. All are welcome and invited to attend. Topics to discuss include planning for the spring fundraiser, the 5th Annual Dover Library Spelling Bee.

Congratulations on another job well done!

Thomas Hennen is to libraries what Robert Parker is to wines--a person who studies, categorizes and rates libraries based on a stringent set of objective criteria. His report, the HAPLR (Hennen's American Public Library Ratings), is released in the fall and shows a library's ranking relative to the size of its community.

As you might imagine, Dover is often in the top 10. This year (2009), the Dover Town Library is #7 in the United States for towns our size, and--drum roll, please--#1 in Massachusetts. Again.

Here is a link to the report, so you can see for yourself (and look up neighboring towns, should you be so inclined):

Hennen's criteria include elements that are partly affected by the community, such as circulation, funding, and reference questions. So, in addition to congratulating your Library on a job well done, Dover Town Library patrons should take a bow as well. You are part of the success story.

Congratulations, everyone!

BUZZ ... IT'S BEE TIME!

5^th ANNUAL DOVER TOWN LIBRARY

SPELLING BEE SET FOR MARCH 25

While Spring is neither in the air nor registering on the thermometer, it is just around the corner, which means it is time for the 5^th Annual Dover Library Spelling Bee.

The Spring fundraiser for the Friends of the Dover Library, the Bee will be held on Thursday, March 25, at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Dover Town House. As in years past, the Bee will be broadcast live on Dover Cable Television. A fun community event, the Bee makes for a great way to come together as a town in support of our library.

Dover’s finest spellers are invited to join the gentle competition for the title and the grand prize of Enormous Bragging Rights (there is also a plaque in the library). Superlative prizes are also given to teams for best costume and loudest cheering section, to name a few.

Participants compete in teams of three, and the Bee is open to anyone in grade 9 and above. The words are given in advance and will be available by February 12 to teams with completed paperwork and paid entry fee.

Entry forms are available at the library; the entry fee is $300 per team, and each team may also purchase a $100 Mulligan to help them if they get in a bind.

In addition to the Bee itself, the Friends will also be putting on the popular “Bee Tree”, where anyone can purchase a mystery item (goods and gift cards) based on the word clue written on a bee, and the “Bee Café” will be serving snacks downstairs with a live feed from DCTV so no one will miss any action.

So save the date, dust off those thinking caps and get together a team – the more spellers there are, the more fun it is!

For more information on the Bee, please visit the Bee Blog at http://spellboundindover.blogspot.com.

January Artist of the Month

WARM IMAGES FOR COLD DAYS: THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS’ “SUMMER IN THE VALLEY” PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST’S WINNING IMAGES ON DISPLAY AT DOVER LIBRARY IN JANUARY

The Friends of the Dover Library is pleased to announce that photographs from the Trustees of Reservations’ 3^rd Annual “Summer in the Valley” photography contest are on display in the Dover Library for the month of January, serving as the January Artist of the Month.

The display of winning pictures features images taken by amateur and professional photographers of all ages, and the task was to capture the natural beauty of the Charles River Valley. In its third year, the contest has continued to draw attention to the area, reminding people that it is a place to appreciate and protect.

The categories and their winners are:

Grand Prize:

Edmund Prescottano

Age 7 and under:

Madeleine Guiliano (Family and Friends, Wildlife)

Katie Pusch (From the past, New Discoveries)

Curtis Bowman (Plantlife, Scenic)

Ages 8 to 12:

Eric Pusch (From the past, New Discoveries)

Trevor Bowman (Plantlife, Wildlife)

David Polansky (Scenic)

Ages 13 to 17:

Rachel Sisson (From the past, Scenic, Wildlife)

Ages 18+:

Claudine Ciccia Perosky (Family and Friends)

Laurie Perkins (From the past)

Debora LaPlante (New Discoveries)

Tori Stuart (Plantlife, Wildlife)

Lisa Dobbs (Scenic)

Professional:

Rebecca Skinner (From the past)

Diane Thomas (New Discoveries, Plantlife, Scenic, Wildlife)

To see the images, please visit http://www.thetrustees.org/things-to-do/special-events/summer-in-the-valley-photo-contest/

For more information on the Trustees of Reservations, please visit www.thetrustees.org.

The Artist of the Month program is sponsored by the Friends of the Dover Library. Each month, a different local artist’s work is displayed in the library.

The Dover Library is located at 56 Dedham Street in Dover. Library hours are Monday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Tuesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Wednesday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Thursday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. It is closed on Sunday.

For more information, please visit the library’s web site at www.dovertownlibrary.org.

More on Library Advocacy: the Legislative Breakfast

I copied this from Sunny Vandermark's posting on the Metrowest Regional Library System e-newsletter. We all just received our tax bills; you know that it's time to stand up for what we believe in. If you have the morning free on February 5th, consider going in person to talk to your legislators about your belief in funding libraries--in your community and in others around you. Or you can write or call your legislator in support of this event, and let them know you're paying attention to what they are doing for your library. (You can find easy contact information for your state and federal legislators at www.doverma.org.)



12th Annual Legislative Breakfast

Meet your state senators and representatives Friday, February 5, 2010, from 8 am to 9 am. Join your colleagues and other library supporters at the Concord Free Public Library for breakfast and talk with your state officials about the importance of libraries.
Invitations were mailed to all Metrowest area senators and representatives. Please follow up with a personal invitation to each of your legislators. Tell them that you will be at the legislative breakfast and look forward to the opportunity to talk with them.
Bring your trustees, town officials, friends, library users, school administrators, and others to the breakfast. With library use up as the economy shrinks it is most important to advocate for libraries and library funding. Your participation matters!
ALA has some excellent advocacy tools with materials on working with government officials and legislators. The materials are available at http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/index.cfm
What: 12th Annual Legislative Breakfast
Where: Concord Free Public Library
When: Friday, February 5 - 8 am - 9 am
Register online at:
http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/events.cfm?curOrg=MMRLS or RSVP by February 1 to jzomer@mmrls.org.
Directions are available at http://www.concordlibrary.org
- Sunny Vandermark

And on to the next thing: the Dover Town Library Spelling Bee

We are gearing up for our Spring fundraiser: the Spelling Bee. We have a date: Thursday, 25 March 2010, 7--9 p.m., and a venue: the Town House. Channel 8 has once again graciously agreed to film the event, and because the Town House has the proper cable setup, it will be aired live (and in reruns, of course!).

The popular Bee Tree will be back on the main floor, and the Bee Cafe will be held in the lower level, allowing guests to purchase refreshments in the lower level (where you can watch the Bee on TV while you snack.

Teams can sign up NOW (!) at the Library. The fee is $300 for a team of 3, with an optional Mulligan available for $100. A word list will be made available to players who are registered and paid in full (as teams) by mid-February.

Follow our progress on www.spellboundindover.blogspot.com. And get your friends, colleagues and neighbors together to make a team, and come play at this family-oriented night of fun and fundraising.