Harwich is a New England town on Cape Cod, in Barnstable County in the state of Massachusetts in the United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 13,440. Harwich experiences a seasonal increase to roughly 37,000. The town is a popular vacation spot, located near the Cape Cod National Seashore. Harwich's beaches are on the Nantucket Sound side of Cape Cod. Harwich has three active harbors. Saquatucket, Wychmere and Allen Harbors are all in Harwich Port. The town of Harwich includes the villages of Pleasant Lake, West Harwich, East Harwich, Harwich Port, Harwich Center, North Harwich and South Harwich.
Essex County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the total population was 809,829, making it the third-most populous county in the state, and the eightieth-most populous in the country. It is part of the Greater Boston area. The largest city in Essex County is Lynn. The county was named after the English county of Essex. It has two traditional county seats: Salem and Lawrence. Prior to the dissolution of the county government in 1999, Salem had jurisdiction over the Southern Essex District, and Lawrence had jurisdiction over the Northern Essex District, but currently these cities do not function as seats of government. However, the county and the districts remain as administrative regions recognized by various governmental agencies, which gathered vital statistics or disposed of judicial case loads under these geographic subdivisions, and are required to keep the records based on them. The county has been designated the Essex National Heritage Area by the National Park Service.
Interlibrary loan is a service that enables patrons of one library to borrow physical materials and receive electronic documents that are held by another library. The service expands library patrons' access to resources beyond their local library's holdings, serving as "an integral element of collection development" for libraries.
Bourne is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 census.
The Minuteman Library Network (MLN), founded in 1984, is a consortium of 41 public and academic libraries in the MetroWest and southern Middlesex County areas of eastern Massachusetts, US that share resources, patrons and services. The Network has over 6 million items and over 680,000 cardholders. Resources are shared. People who live, work, or study in Massachusetts are eligible for a card, which can be used to borrow items from Minuteman libraries.
The North of Boston Library Exchange(NOBLE) is a consortium of 25 libraries on the North Shore of Massachusetts working to improve library service through automation. Seventeen public libraries, seven college libraries, and one special library are members.
Evergreen is an open-source integrated library system (ILS), initially developed by the Georgia Public Library Service for Public Information Network for Electronic Services (PINES), a statewide resource-sharing consortium with over 270 member libraries.
The Old Colony Library Network (OCLN) is a consortium of 28 member libraries located on the South Shore of Massachusetts in the United States. OCLN membership includes 26 town and city libraries and two academic libraries. OCLN's cooperative approach enables member libraries to provide services that they would not be able to afford separately. OCLN was founded in 1984 and is incorporated in Massachusetts as a 501(c)3 corporation. OCLN is recognized as a charitable organization by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office.
The Lenox Library is the principal public library of Lenox, Massachusetts. It is managed by the non-profit Lenox Library Association, founded in 1856, and is located at 18 Main Street, in a former county courthouse that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Central and Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing, or CW MARS, is a library consortium in central and western Massachusetts dedicated to efficient resource sharing and rapid access to information. CW MARS was formed in 1982 to promote resource sharing among 28 public and academic libraries through a shared library automation system. In 1984, the network was incorporated as a 501(3)(c) not-for-profit corporation and the first member libraries began circulating on the shared system.
Central Massachusetts Regional Library System was a multitype library system serving 244 academic, public, school and special libraries in 72 central Massachusetts communities. It was one of six Massachusetts Regional Library Systems. Collectively, CMRLS libraries serve 924,491 people who live, work or study in Central Massachusetts. Founded in 1963, the library system began as a unit within the City of Worcester, Massachusetts municipal government and served public libraries exclusively. In 1997 it became a multitype, independent non-profit organization working with all types of libraries. Nearly all services were provided free of charge, with major funding through a contract with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Due to the collapse of state funding, it was merged along with four other Massachusetts Regional Library Systems into the Massachusetts Library System on July 1, 2010.
The Chicopee Public Library is the public library for the city of Chicopee, Massachusetts. A member of the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System (WMRLS), the library participates in resources sharing and collaboration with all other libraries in the WRMLS. The library owns approximately 109,000 books according to the 2005 IMLS Public Library Report. In addition, they have 4,200 media items and send and receive over 35,000 interlibrary loan requests. In the fiscal year 2008, the city of Chicopee spent 1.1% of its budget ($1,401,141) on its public library, around $25 per person.
The Massachusetts Library System was established in 2010. The system provides the following core services: consulting, training & professional development, cooperative purchasing, research & development, summer library program, and the following services as part of resource sharing: delivery, mediated interlibrary loan, journal article document delivery, MassCat, and electronic content, including statewide databases and eBooks in collaboration with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners." It operates from offices in Marlborough and Northampton, Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (est.1890) is a state agency that supports libraries in Massachusetts. The governor appoints each commissioner. The current board consists of librarians, academics and library trustees: Carol B. Caro, Mary Ann Cluggish, George T. Comeau, Mary Kronholm, Frank Murphy, Roland Ochsenbein, Janine Resnik, Gregory J. Shesko, and Alice M. Welch.
The Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing (CLAMS) library network is a non-profit consortium of 35 member libraries and 38 locations throughout Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. Since it was founded in 1991, the number of items available has grown from 568,000 in 1991 to over 1.6 million in 2022. Deliveries of materials between member libraries and other library networks in Massachusetts through an interlibrary loan program are made by the Massachusetts Library System located in Waltham . The network uses the Koha Integrated Library System (ILS) for staff function workflows: acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, ILL, and serials and Aspen Discovery for their patron's Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). The libraries provide access to reference databases, digital libraries, free music online, museum passes, genealogy, workshops, and other free services that vary from each location.
The Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) is an American library consortium created by Nancy Jacobson and Evelyn Kuo in 1982. MVLC manages the resource sharing of 36 automated and partially automated libraries in Merrimack Valley region of northeastern Massachusetts, ensuring unified access to all of their catalogs, which represent almost three million items and more than six hundred thousand titles.
The Boston Library Consortium (BLC) is a library consortium based in the Boston area with 23 member institutions across New England.
The SAILS Library Network, formerly Southeastern Automated Integrated Library Services, is a non-profit library consortium of 70 member libraries in 39 communities located throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. SAILS was founded in 1995 to link the ABLE and SEAL library networks, which were later dissolved into SAILS in 2000. The network provides library patrons with access to check out and return items at member libraries, interlibrary loans through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners' Commonwealth Catalog, mobile app access, and access to electronic collections. Member libraries are provided customized online catalog services, digital collections storage, internet and telecommunications services, email and Google Apps accounts for library staff, access to SirsiDynix software, and staff training.
The Dedham Public Library is a public library system established in 1872. It is part of the Minuteman Library Network.
