Hello, Here at the library, we are busy gearing up for summer reading...and anxiously awaiting our new carpet! The library will be getting some much-needed updates in the month of May that will limit the number of programs we are able to provide to our community. We are looking forward to new paint, carpet, and other renovations to better serve our patrons! Thank you for your patience and understanding as our calendar this month looks different than usual. We will be back to regularly scheduled programming by mid-June. The library will be out in the community at the Kensington Garden Club Plant Sale on Saturday May 6 from 9AM-1PM. Our seed “librarian” will be there with seeds and to answer your garden questions. Did you know that the Kensington Garden Club provides the floral arrangement at the library's circulation desk each month? We are grateful for this touch of beauty in our building, and we’re excited to partner with them to get your garden going this year! Library eBooks have been in the news in Connecticut. Have you heard about the prices that libraries pay for eBooks? If you haven’t, here’s the short story: libraries pay almost 4 times as much for eBooks as you pay as a consumer. To make matters worse, after two years we lose access to the book and must buy it again! The Connecticut Library Consortium’s Executive Director, Ellen Paul, wrote an excellent piece in the CT Mirror explaining how library eBook pricing plans differ from those that you pay. Despite these terms, Berlin-Peck Library continues to make eBooks available to our patrons on two platforms – Hoopla and Libby! We have limited copies of eBooks through Libby (see above) which may mean you have to place a hold, but Hoopla has NO HOLDS and NO WAITING. You can check out up to 5 eBooks, audiobooks, movies, tv shows, or music each month through Hoopla. Do you have thoughts about how we can better serve you? Send me an email at kmcnally@berlinpeck.org and let me know. I hope to see you at the library soon! Warmly, Kim McNally Library Director |