Dec 18: N Cambridge Crime Task Force
12/18/1996
Minutes from North Cambridge Crime Task Force
Gerry Meidkeljohn, Liz M. Parise, John P. Parise, Josie Avakian, Frank M. McCusker, Nicholas F. Romusco, Frank Pasquarello, Bill Mergenaahl, Joseph J. Jean-Leger, Larry Burke, Harry Johnson, and Karen Carmean of Library 21
To provide access to all the people of Cambridge and to insure that we manage our resources well, Library 21 is gathering information from as many groups as possible about what the people want.
What would you like in the library?
A. Community Activity Center
- Art programs for kids
- Teach how to paint
- Crafts
- Draw pictures
- Paper mache
- Crayola kit
- Movie, an educational
- Teen talk- programs where kids talk on a topic whatever interested in
- Career Days for neighborhood kids:
- Public Safety career day: police, E. M. T., fire department
- Business career day: business people come and speak to neighborhood kids
- Health career day: doctors and nurses speak to neighborhood kids
- Job opportunity evenings: people looking for help come in one night a week
- Job Fair
- Music making room
- Music recording studio
- Baby-sitting area to leave kids safely
- Baby-sitting area to leave kids so parents can work nearby by while they play with blocks, etc.
- Elderly area in library with crossword puzzles, bingo, room to listen to music
- Guest speakers at branches
- Author series at other branches
- Cable access and Channel 37 available at branch libraries
- Snack time and place
B. Community Information Center
- Resident parking stickers available
- Registration for voters
- Sign up to go out with someone in a particular career
- List of people in different careers in the neighborhood
- Post-secondary education resources available
- College education information available
- Scholarship information available
- Financial aid information available
- Information on Crime Task force
C.. Formal Education Support
- Homework help area
- Tutors to help with work
- Mentors for children
- English speaking classes, with parent consent
- Workshop on financial aid available
D. Independent Learning Center
- Workshop to explain what computers are all about, to help us break in and use it because we are afraid of it
- Educational workshops to teach us how to vote for city council
E. Popular Materials Lending Library
- Computers for typing
- Printers to print out typing
- Windows 95
- Word processing programs
- Microsoft work for windows
- World wide web
- America On Line
- 3D graphics on computers
- Video games to check out
- Nintendo to check out
- Sega games to check out
- Videos on American History
- Geography videos
- New books needed
- Music playing
- Music, modern and soft music
- Music, anything but rap
- Board game, better board games
F. Preschoolers Door to Learning
G. Reference Library
- Encyclopedia programs on computer to quickly look up in formation
- Reference materials in branch are insufficient for my work
- Not enough reference materials at branches to do elementary school homework, had to go to main branch
H. Research Center
I. Other- important functions missing from list
- Too small branches, Concord Avenue and Fitzgerald too small to use
- Smaller libraries are pride of local area; too small, almost for personal use
- Not many services at smaller branches so not worth going there
- Comfortable couch for reading, not just hard tables and chairs, especially for teenagers
- Outreach to the community
- Bring library to the people
- Bookmobile brought back
- Expand the branches
- Eating in the branches
- Bus routes are bad to the main library
- Main library not used except for people in the area
- No parking at the main library
- No parking at the branches
- Quiet area needed
- Speaking area needed in library
- Police should watch people to make sure it is safe to go to the library
- Handicap access, especially at Fitzgerald and Main Library
- Bench outside library for when it is nice
J. An Important Civic Building