Get daily alerts delivered to your inbox for all your Westford news.
End of Summer Reading Prizes Pick Up – If your child is registered in the summer reading program, you may now pick up your prizes using our curbside service. Curbside Pickup is available Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m. and on Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Summer Reading Books: Are your kids working on their summer reading? Our Youth Services Department web page has links to the summer reading lists and copies of the recommended titles. We also have a selection of gently used free copies courtesy of the Friends of the Library. Please call us at 978-399-2300 to check on title availability.
Virtual Story Time and Book Club Online Registration: Monday, Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. Online registration for these programs starts Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. We are using virtual meeting software for live story times and book club meetings – links to these events will be sent to registered users. Please see the website for descriptions of our selection of story times. Book clubs are open to Westford residents and non-resident Friends of the J.V. Fletcher Library. Book clubs are for grades Kindergarten, 1, 2 , 3, and 4 and 5 (combined) and meet once a month from 4 to 4:45 p.m. The Non-Fiction Book Club is for kids in grades 3 and 4 and meets once a month on Monday afternoon.
Job Seekers Virtual Meeting: Join us on Sept. 2 from 3-4:30 p.m. for “Understanding Your Medicare Options!” with Gerald Lodge. To attend a WJS Meeting, please email Dina Kanabar at kanabar@westfordma.gov. Attendees will receive a link to access the Zoom Meeting via email. Weekly topics may be found on our job seekers web page.
Virtual Adult Nonfiction Book Club: Tue., Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. Is truth stranger than fiction? Is it more entertaining? Find out in the Adult Nonfiction Book Club. We meet on the first Tuesday of the month. On Sept. 1, we’ll discuss Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. You can now request a print copy through our catalog! Please be aware that if it comes from another library, it will be quarantined for one week before being put on hold for you. You can pick it up through our curbside pickup service, or by making a browsing appointment. You can also find this title on Overdrive. Email Charles Schweppe at cschweppe@westfordma.gov for the Zoom link.
Virtual Financial Aid 101 with T. Jack Wang: Thu., Sep. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Financial advisor T. Jack Wang returns with his college financial aid program, now on Zoom! We’ll be going over the rules AND strategies to get more aid and pay for college. Topics include what factors are considered, differences in the formulas schools use, and strategies on how to get more aid. And most importantly, we’ll be discussing how to avoid the unintentional mistakes that ruin your chances for aid! Jack will host the program on his Zoom account. Register at https://westfordlibrary.org/events/adult-programs/ and you’ll receive an email containing the Zoom link. Questions? Email Sarah Regan at sregan@westfordma.gov.
Virtual Adult Book Club: Thursday, Sept.10 at 7:30 p.m. Interested in joining a lively book discussion group? Consider the J.V. Fletcher Library’s Adult Book Club. Our selections alternate from Fiction to Nonfiction each month. New members are always welcome. At our September 10th Zoom meeting, we’ll discuss Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. Email Kristina Leedberg at kleedberg@westfordma.gov for details.
Requesting Books Outside of Our Collection: The library has many books, DVDs, and CDs for your pleasure, but sometimes not exactly what you want. Luckily, we are part of a consortium of libraries, and many of the items that we don’t have, they do! Those items can be requested through the catalog and picked up as normal, through our Curbside Pickup service. In rarer cases, the item you are looking for is not owned by any library in our consortium. What do you do then? Fear not. Give us a call, or send an email to Charles (cschweppe@westfordma.gov), and we will look for it in other libraries. While the current health situation means that this is still only a limited service, as libraries open around the country, the more places we can look. We will update you on your requests as we receive any information. Finally, there is the Commonwealth Catalog (ComCat), which searches for books in most other libraries in Massachusetts. While it is still temporarily unavailable, they are working hard to get it going again, and hopefully it will be ready sometime in September.
Limited Reopening: The J. V. Fletcher Library is open to the public on a limited basis. The soft opening is for limited browsing, per the Governor’s Re-Opening guidelines under Phase 3. In addition to CURBSIDE PICKUP, BOOK THE BROWSE TENT, LAPTOP ON THE LAWN, and reference phone assistance, a portion of the Library is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. The 11 a.m. hour is reserved for seniors and our high risk population. Each reservation is for one person. Only the middle floor of the Library is open, with displays throughout for browsing – please “JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!” as items handled but not checked out must be placed in quarantine. At this time, patrons under the age of 18 will be referred to the Browsing Tent for an outside appointment. Only 10 patrons at a time will be in the library, with patrons exiting and new appointments entering on the hour; make an in-house appointment by selecting a date and time for a “Main Floor Browsing” appointment via our Events Calendar. For more details and a list of available services, please visit our website or call us at 978-399-2300.
Curbside During Covid: Please place your selections on hold through the online catalog. You will be notified when your order is ready and you may come any time during our pick up hours. Inter-library delivery is now available, please expect longer delays than usual. Items received from other libraries will be quarantined for one week. Curbside Pickup is available Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Monday – Thursday 6:30-8:30 p.m. Please do not come until you receive a notification that your order is ready. When you arrive, please call 978-399-2300 (due to heavy call usage, we have updated the number to one that rings at multiple desks) and a masked staff member will place your order under the rear portico. Please wear a mask to pick up your items. If you have questions or need assistance placing your holds, please call us at 978-399-2300 or send us an email at westfordlibrary@westfordma.gov.
“Book the Browsing Tent”: Are you looking for new titles for you and/or your family? Do you miss browsing the stacks of the Library? Look for the form on our website and submit it to schedule a time to come and browse the selections personally picked for you by our staff. The form will inquire about your reading tastes or you can simply have us “surprise you” with some staff recommendations. We will also offer “Book Bundles” for children and adults. Choose a category and we will supply with a “bundle” of books. One of our Library staff will meet you in the tent with personally curated titles just for you. Check the website for the form, submit it, and then a staff member will reach out to schedule your appointed time. Fifteen minute appointments will be available for individuals and 30 minute appointments for families. To comply with Covid-19 safety re-opening guidelines, only one individual or one family will be scheduled at a time in the tent. This service is available Monday – Friday from 10-4. We can’t wait to see you under the tent! Per Governor Baker, masks are required.
“Laptop Loan on the Lawn:” Need to check your email or do some research? Perhaps you just want to spend some time catching up with friends and family on social media. You are now able to book up to 30 minutes on a laptop under a tent on our back lawn. Simply fill out the form on our website and a member of our Information Services staff will contact you to schedule a time. This service is available Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. We can’t wait to see you under the tent. Per Governor Baker, masks are required.
CLICK! CALL! CHAT! CONNECT!
- CLICK on ebooks, audiobooks, music, streaming video, and more at westfordlibrary.org
- CALL us at 978-399-2300
- CHAT with Reference at 978-399-2304
- CONNECT with us on FACEBOOK, TWITTER and INSTAGRAM
- CONNECT & sign up for the Friends eNewsletter to receive updates!
- EMAIL us at westfordlibrary@westfordma.gov
The J.V. Fletcher Library is located at 50 Main St., Westford. For more information, visit http://www.westfordlibrary.org or email us at westfordlibrary@westfordma.gov.
