The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold public meetings on the proposed Broadwater LNG Project Draft Environmental Statement.  The public is invited to attend these meetings which will be held on January 9, 10, 11 and 16, 2007.  The locations and times of these meeting are posted on the Commission’s calendar located at http://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx

The Social Security Administration is warning people about a new e-mail scam that threatens to “suspend your account indefinitely” unless you update your personal information.  The e-mail contains the subject line “Cost-of-Living for the 2007 update” and asks for the individual’s Social Security number, bank account and credit card information.  Those who receive the  e-mail should contact Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271.

With the help of our hard-working Grantsmanship and Corporate Fundraising Committee members, I have identified a number of foundations that support library restoration projects.  Some grantors only give out small amounts of money, others give tens of thousands.  We are carefully matching building restoration projects and their estimated costs with the most compatible grantmaking organization.  The largest grants are from the government but we won’t be able to apply for most of those until the end of next year.

We are writing proposals for work that can be done to the current building during our regular operating hours so that there is no disruption of service to you.

If you know of any restoration experts (furniture, lamps, grandfather clocks, paintings) who might donate some time repairing original materials, I would love to hear from them.

 Thanks and I hope everyone has a wonderful 2007.                     Allison 

Dear Patrons,   First of all I’d like to wish you all a very happy holiday season.  Our staff has had our Christmas dinner and the Secret Santas visited us.  The library will be closed on December 24 and 25, and December 31 and January 1.  Please remember you can always access information in the form of electronic books and reference information via our library website and the Virtual Reference collection.  We look forward to a productive 2007 with no more falling masonry, lots of grant money for repairs, and the cooperation of this wonderful community in creating a library of which we can all be proud.   

The fourth in a series of open forums held by the Library Development Committee (LDC) will be held on Saturday, December 16th at 9:00 a.m. at the North Haven Village Hall on Ferry Road in North Haven. The topic of this forum is Space and Service Allocations, and will include

• A review of the community design process and meeting objectives
• A reveiw of the Community Library Committee (CLC) needs assessment
• A review of the CLC recommendations
• Determination of Space requirements
• Library services allocation by building

Questions and comments from those in attendance will be accepted throughout the meeting. The LDC is hoping for a large turnout of community members so that as diverse a range of opinions as possible may be heard and considered as part of the design process.

Call the library at 725-0049 for more information.

Please feel free to attend this 9:00 am meeting.  We will be focusing on Needs and Areas of and for the library service program.  The Trustees and the LDC members were very glad to see so many people in attendance at the last Forum.  We have a whole series of Forums (especially architectural design ones) in the works.  I will post a schedule as soon as we know the exact dates.  As always, we welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. 

We have two (Dell) computers that we recently removed from service that we are making available to the public for a nominal charge. We had three, but one has already sold.

While they’re not even close to state-of-the-art, they are serviceable. If you don’t currently have a computer, and purchasing a new one is not in the cards right now, you could get by with one of these for a while. They’re just fine for word processing (wordprocessing software not included), e-mail and Internet browsing.

The cost of the computer, with a keyboard and mouse is $30. Except for the operating system (Windows 98), there is no other software installed on the computers. We also have one 17″ and one 15″ monitor available for $20 and $15 respectively. If you buy either monitor with a computer, will take $5.00 off. So, you could walk away with a complete, old but working  computer setup for as little as $40.00.

We have two used printers, one inkjet and one laser, for sale cheap, too. Complete specs and prices for all the equipment are available at the library, or by calling Eric at 725-0049, extension 37.

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said:  “Don’t join the book burners… Don’t be afraid to go to your library and read every book”.

Please take note that the areas immediately surrounding the library building are off-limits to everyone, due to safety precautions.  As we learned from the engineer and our wonderful own Fred Stelle, it will not be a surprise if a harsh winter causes more damage.  Please respect our efforts to keep all of us safe by staying away from the building where you see orange fencing.  Lights are to be installed inside the scaffolding protecting the Handicapped Access side door this coming Monday.

Just a reminder: the library will be closed on the following days for the Christmas and New Year’s Holidays.

Sunday, December 24^th
Monday, December 25^th
Sunday, December 31^st
Monday, January 1, 2007

Please see our online Calendar of Events for a complete listing of programs, events and scheduled library closings.

We wish you a happy and safe holiday season!