Commonwealth Catalog For Interlibrary Loans

 

The Commonwealth Catalog, also known as "ComCat", is now back in service after being suspended in March due to COVID-19. With access to millions of titles, the Commonwealth Catalog extends your library’s reach to all participating libraries throughout Massachusetts, with convenient pick-up at your local library.

To request books and other material, login at commonwealthcatalog.org using your CLAMS Card number and PIN.

What you should know about the Commonwealth Catalog:

Start local
Libraries share items across the state, but it’s always faster and more cost effective to check locally first, so if the CLAMS network doesn’t have the item, it’s time to look in the Commonwealth Catalog.

Powerful search
The Commonwealth Catalog searches all participating libraries in one easy step and allows you to sort your results by material type: books, audiobooks, DVD. Right now eBooks are not a part of the search, but we’re working on it. If you’re looking for eBooks please visit mass.gov/libraries.

Millions of items
The Commonwealth Catalog gives you access to millions of items from libraries that hold unique collections such as Boston Public Library and UMass Amherst and other academic, special and public libraries.

While service has been restored, not all libraries are currently participating and delivery may take longer than in the past. Once you request an item through the Commonwealth Catalog it may take up to two weeks for your local library to receive it. We’ll notify you so you can stop by your library and pick it up. You’ll also return the item to your local library.

Funding for the Commonwealth Catalog provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Join the MV Haiku Club!

 

The MV Haiku Club will begin meeting on Tuesday September 29th at 6 pm, with four zoom-based sessions led by Caroline Joy Adams and hosted by Vineyard Haven Library. Each session will have a specific theme, and participants will receive a helpful, explanatory PDF file ahead of time with suggested reading and writing assignments for the week’s meeting. To register or for more information, contact adult program coordinator Anne McDonough at amcdonough@clamsnet.org.

Caroline Joy Adams is the author of five books, including The Power to Write: Seven Keys to Discover Your Writer Within and her forthcoming title, Have Fun with Haiku. Caroline Joy Adams has been a college professor of Writing and Humanities for many years, and has also taught hundreds of creative writing workshops.

Her approach to Haiku is as a short form of poetic writing that has many variations and flexible guidelines, rather than strict rules or adherence to one rigid traditional form.  As part of the MV Haiku Club you will be encouraged to write Haiku that ranges from the serious to the sublime, to the most imaginative and whimsical -- and no matter what you come up with, you are sure to be surprised and delighted by the direction your words will take you. 

September 29      Haiku as Memoir: Theme—Water. 

October 27           Haiku as Observation: Theme—Change.

November 24      Haiku as Tribute: Theme – Appreciation.

December 22       Haiku for the Holidays: Theme -- Celebration.

Backyard Book Browsing

 

Weather permitting, library patrons will have an opportunity to browse and checkout a selection of new books outdoors in the courtyard behind the library. By appointment only -- to participate, please register and the library will contact you to confirm arrival time.

Register for Tuesday September 22nd, 10 am to 12 pm
Register for Saturday September 26th, 10 am to 12 pm

For additional dates, visit our Online Event Calendar

Entry will be by the path behind the building from Greenwood Avenue. Participants will be required to wear a mask, sanitize hands prior to browsing, practice social distancing, and refrain from handling books they do not intend to check out. Browsing may be limited to 15 minutes per person.

There will be no building access, and book selection will be limited to items in the courtyard area. (If you are looking for a particular item, please call the library to arrange for contactless pickup during our scheduled daily pickup hours.)

Friends "Virtual" 5k Run/Walk for the Library

This year, the Friends of Vineyard Haven Public Library's annual 5k Run/Walk to benefit the library will be a "virtual" event! Register today, and run or walk a 5k anytime between Sunday September 20th and Sunday October 18th. All registered participants will be entered into a raffle drawing for gift certificates to the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven!

The traditional 5K course for this race begins next to the library on Greenwood Avenue, turning left onto Main Street and proceeding up Main Street to the West Chop Lighthouse, then returning down Main Street to the library, but virtual participants can run or walk any 5k course of their choosing. Participants are asked to follow public health guidance including social distancing when completing their run or walk. If possible, show your support for the library by wearing a past year's race t-shirt, and sharing a selfie to the library's Facebook page!

There is no registration or fee required to participate, but a suggested donation of $25 will help the Friends continue to support library programs and services in the coming year. 

To register, visit the race website:
https://runsignup.com/Race/MA/VineyardHaven/VineyardHavenLibrary5kRunWalktotheChop

Why the Seas Rise" with Dr. Peter Neilley

 

During September each year, we mark Climate Preparedness Week, dedicated to learning, service, and actions that better prepare our communities for extreme weather events. Due to the Covid-19 public health crisis, this year's Climate Prep Week  events will take place in a virtual setting to ensure the safety of our community members. 

Featured event:

On Monday, September 28th at 7pm, Vineyard Haven Public Library will host 'Why the Seas Rise," an online talk with Dr. Peter Neilley. Climate change and rising seas are nearly synonymous here on the Vineyard.  But the causes for the rising seas are much more involved than just melting ice caps.  In this talk, we’ll take a look at why the seas rise, how much we expect them to rise, and some consequences to expect on the Vineyard.

Year-round Island resident Dr. Peter Neilley is director of the Weather Forecasting Sciences and Technologies for The Weather Channel and Weather Company. He is responsible for the weather forecasts used by several billion people around the world every day.  Dr. Neilley has both Master’s and PhD degrees in meteorology from MIT. He is an IBM Distinguished Engineer, a member of the Academy of Technology, and a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society.  

To register, contact Vineyard Haven Library program coordinator Anne McDonough at amcdonough@clamsnet.org.

For a complete schedule of 2020 Climate Preparedness Week events, visit https://www.climatecrew.org/prep_week

Climate Preparedness Week Events, September 24–30

 
During September each year, Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW) presents Climate Preparedness Week, dedicated to learning, service, and actions that better prepare our communities for extreme weather events. Due to the Covid-19 public health crisis, this year's Climate Prep Week  events will take place in a virtual setting to ensure the safety of our community members. 

Featured events:

9/24 at 1pm - Resilient Agriculture: Climate Impacts on Our Foods Systems and How We Can Respond 

• A panel discussion led by Enet Mukurazita and hosted by the Yale School of Forrestry’s Library with women farmers in Zimbabwe on their experiences dealing with climate impacts

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JN23Rk8sRHaLpjCWydb7Mg

9/24 at 7pm - Palaces for the People: A Community Discussion with Eric Klinenberg 

• A virtual discussion with acclaimed writer Eric Klinenberg with librarians and community members.  Eric Klinenberg is well known for his novel Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago and his more recent book Palaces for the People.

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PjqyASu7Tre02T3l6zSEEA

9/25 at 10am - Neighborhood by Neighborhood: Mapping Our Resilience 

• An overview of a Boston mapping project with the Conservation Law Foundation and the city of Boston. This event will explore the community assets that exist within the city of Boston and how they can be leveraged to create a more climate-resilient future, with a particular focus on how we can serve communities of color and other marginalized neighborhoods.

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fPfn2qrUSKa3aN2ehUz1EA

9/26 @ 7pm - The Economics of Climate Change with Madhavi Venkatesan, PhD

• Our economic system has fostered individualism over community and competition over collaboration, because simply, these are the channels that promote economic growth as we measure it in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We sell more when everyone has to have their own. But, individualism and competition results in unequal distribution that mimics the inequitable distribution of access to resources in our country. In many cases, inequity is a moral issue because the basis of it is exploitation of the vulnerable in a myriad of forms across historical time. In our discussion we will focus on the relationship between economics and sustainability: social justice, environmental justice and economic equity and also how our focus on economic growth has facilitated the speed of global Climate Change and exacerbated social justice issues along with the other two components of sustainability. 

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYlf-ysqzwuH9KR_7dA234paGe1sR9WIpvV

9/29 at 6:30pm - How Repair Events Can Transform Our Throwaway Culture

• A conversation on How Repair Events Can Transform Our Throwaway Culture with Elizabeth Knight and John Wackman, authors of Repair Revolution. This event will look at how repair events in libraries and other spaces are helping bring people together around common goals of sustainability, stewardship, community resilience, as well as social and climate justice. This conversation will be led by Blue Marble Librarian, Gabrielle Griffis.

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UHRz2-VHTn27KnTNyy_G_Q

9/30 at 6:30pm - The Linked Fight for Racial Justice and Climate Justice 

• Join us for a conversation with CREW Program Manager Reverend Vernon K. Walker as he speaks to Reverends Karlene Griffiths Sekou and Hajar Logan about how there is no climate justice without racial justice and how the fight for equality has to be led by those who have been most impacted. 

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NeSN-Ym7Rv-KzNDWePu4OQ