What Library Staff Has Been Reading Lately:
Cheryl:
Marie:
Kathy:
Nancy:
FY13 Action Plan
Charlton Census Forms
Forms may be dropped off in the box at the main level circulation desk.
AFTER HOLIDAY SALE
The Friends of the Charlton Public Library are selling Charlton Landmark Afghans originally priced at $40 for the sale price of $25. A limited number are available in red, blue, or green at the main level circulation desk.
January 2012
Open Letter to the Public:
We wholeheartedly support the actions recently undertaken by the Director of the Charlton Public Library to retrieve overdue library material.
Library materials are purchased using taxpayer dollars. As trustees it is our duty to safeguard those tax dollars. Ms. Hansen brought this matter to our attention in December and after listening to the facts and weighing all the options, we agreed she should take immediate action which included the following:
The Charlton Police Department was asked to help recover items from those patrons who had been delinquent in returning materials for more than 6 months and who had at least $100 worth of unreturned materials at their homes. The police visited 13 families whose outstanding balance totaled $2634.00 in library materials. These visits were done as a courtesy to remind people to return materials as under Massachusetts State Law legal action could have been taken. If the library went to the court for a hearing, additional resources on the part of the police, the court and on the part of the patrons would have been expended. As always, sending out the police was a last resort effort to get back some of our most valuable items.It is important to note the standard procedure of phone calls and/or emails to remind patrons to return their materials was followed. A bill had been sent once the item is overdue for a month.
We recommend reading the following article for more comprehensive information on this issue: http://www.telegram.com/article/20120104/NEWS/101049937
We would like to thank all those who have taken the time to research the facts and express their support.
Cheryl Meskus, Secretary
(Board of Library Trustees)

Museum Passes
The Higgins Armory, Boston Children's Museum, and Roger Williams Zoo passes have been renewed and are available again. To see more information and the complete list of discount museum passes click on the MUSEUM PASSES tab on the left.
Wowbrary is here!
It's free!
Library Value
Use this simple calculator to see how much money you've saved this week by using the Charlton Library
http://69.36.174.204/value-new/calculator.html
The mission of the Charlton Public Library is to provide free and open access to the citizens of Charlton to the accumulated wisdom of the world. Recognizing that public libraries are one of the cornerstones of the American tradition of equal opportunity, the library's goal is to support an informed citizenry by serving their cultural, educational, and informational needs through the use of traditional and emerging technologies.

