In this Month’s News and Updates…
- MLS Welcomes New Library Consultant Manager Martha Meacham
- Statewide Research Databases Update
- Commonwealth eBook Collections Updates
- Delivery Open House Photos and Reflection
MLS Welcomes New Library Consultant Manager Martha Meacham
The Massachusetts Library System (MLS) is pleased to welcome Martha Meacham as the new Library Consultant Manager in the Learning Services Department. In this newly established role, Martha will help shape the vision and direction of MLS’s consulting services, leading a team of consultants to continue delivering impactful consulting services to libraries across the Commonwealth.
Martha brings a wealth of experience from her previous roles, including serving as Communications Director at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and as Program Director for the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She also has extensive experience in other federal, academic, and special libraries and archives. Martha has an MLIS and an MA in History from Simmons University.
Throughout her career, Martha has been dedicated to leading initiatives that ensure people can access the information they need, when they need it, and in the most accessible way possible.
Outside of work, Martha enjoys writing, swimming, spending time in nature, and exploring libraries around the world with her family.
Martha can be reached at martha@masslibsystem.org. For more information about the Learning Services Department, please visit our resource guide.
Statewide Research Databases Update
Last week, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) shared the impact of President Trump’s Executive Order 14238 on statewide research databases in Massachusetts.
Starting July 1, 2025, statewide research database offerings will be significantly reduced. However, the MBLC and MLS, which jointly fund databases, will maintain several of the most heavily used.
We encourage you to read the MBLC’s press release for the full details on this change, including the discontinued and continued products for FY2026.
Commonwealth eBook Collections Updates
MLS Awards Five-Year Contract to OverDrive for the Commonwealth eBook Collections K-12 Shared Sora Collection
MLS is excited to announce that our Executive Board has approved the recommendation from our Commonwealth eBook Collections’ Request for Proposal (RFP) Task Force by awarding a five-year contract to OverDrive to continue the incredibly successful Sora platform.
The new contract will start July 1, 2025 and will continue to June 30, 2030.
This past fall and winter, the RFP Task Force examined proposals by three vendors. MLS, our Executive Board, and the RFP Task Force are very pleased to continue with Sora as our primary Commonwealth eBook Collections platform.
The Commonwealth eBook Collections is currently the number two circulating Sora collection in the United States and in the world!
This collection has 669 MLS member libraries enrolled, 464,000+ items, and a fiscal year-to-date circulation of 2.3 million!
Visit the Commonwealth eBook Collections LibGuide for more information.
Sora Spotlight
Our colleagues at OverDrive recently shared a Sora Spotlight about Claudia Palframan, the licensed school library teacher at Dupont Middle School in Chicopee and current MLS Executive Board Member.
Claudia shared her perspective on how the Shared Sora Collection benefits her students:
“For me, I think the strongest benefit of belonging to a shared collection is the expansion of the school library’s collection and accessibility. Students can come to the library and check out physical books (and spend time in the library), and they can extend their choices by utilizing Sora to continue with a series, to try something new, or to set up mini book clubs. It greatly expands the reach of the traditional school library.”
Read the Sora Spotlight to learn more about Claudia’s story.
Delivery Open House Photos and Reflection
On May 8, MLS and Optima Shipping hosted a Delivery Open House at the newly updated sorting facility in Worcester. The Worcester facility sorts materials for over 220 libraries in Central and Western Massachusetts. On average, 12,000 items are sorted daily and around 67,000 items are sorted weekly at this location.
MLS member library staff learned how the facility handles materials destined for delivery to and from libraries in this region. During the Open House, attendees watched vans arrive at the warehouse, materials sorted using the sort-to-light system, and bins staged to be delivered the next day.
Thank you to all those who attended, and we look forward to hosting more in the future. For more details about the sorting process, check out our video!
