Bentley Library is proud to celebrate Black History Month! This month, we are highlighting books, audiobooks, and films that honor Black Voices and Black Stories. Whether ebooks or print books, streaming films or DVDs, or digital audiobooks or CDs we have the resources to help inspire and educate you.
Visit our online Black History Month book and film display to browse, borrow, or place a hold on items. Simply click on a cover and you will be brought right to the material. Place a hold on physical items for pick up in the library or enjoy our digital content from the comfort of your home!
In an effort to support the campus de-densification efforts, Bentley Library will remain closed to patrons until classes begin in January 2021. As we finish out this semester, we will resume contactless pick-up of library materials! Simply search our online catalog, click “request” on any item you want, sign in with your Bentley credentials, and submit the request. You will receive an email when the item has been located with instructions on when and how to retrieve your material. Pickup hours will be held on Wednesdays in December from 9am-5pm.
Remember, if you only need a chapter of a book or a journal article from our physical collection, we are still offering Scan on Demand. Submit a request and a digital copy will be emailed to you!
Bentley Library is excited to announce contactless pick-up for library materials! Beginning on Monday July 13th, you will be able to search our catalog, place a hold, and pick up items later in the week. As our time in the building is still limited, we are currently only able to offer one pick-up window on Fridays between 12:00pm and 4:00pm.
Here’s how it will work: Once you find items you need, click “request”, and sign in with your Bentley credentials. We will locate the item and will send an email letting you know how and when to pick it up! There will be a 10 item/per week limit, so make sure to request the most important material first. Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer museum passes at this time.
Remember, if you only need a selection from a book or a journal article from our physical collection, Scan on Demand will continue to be available. Interlibrary loan of physical material is still unavailable.
It has now been five weeks since we have been told to “stay home” and we are sure you are all going just a bit stir crazy these days. Under normal circumstances, we would be looking to our cultural institutions to help us get out of our doldrums and explore without having to leave Massachusetts. We are lucky enough at Bentley Library to be able to offer access to world-class institutions throughout the state and being stuck at home has not changed that! Here is a look at what museums are doing to stay connected and stay vibrant in a virtual world:
Zoo New England has created #ZooToYou! You can tune in everyday at 1:30pm EST to Facebook live where they are presenting videos, activities, and more. You can also virtually “meet” the animals to learn more about their natural habitats and conservation efforts!
The Museum of Science has similarly created #MOSatHome where they have daily “Ask a Scientist” live stream events as well as “Science in Action” where they conduct live experiments. You can register for the free events ahead of time so you can add them to your calendar and receive a reminder of when they are about to start.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum now has “The Gardner at Home” where they are blogging about their collections and offering virtual tours of their world famous courtyard and greenhouses. You can even watch or download music that has been performed in their newly renovated concert hall.
The Museum of Fine Arts has made a number of their collections available through “Google Arts & Culture” and made virtual tours of recent exhibits available on their site. They have also started “Art for this Moment” where curators “share objects from across our collections that carry personal significance and global resonance.”
In addition to their award winning podcast, PEMcast, Peabody Essex Museum has pulled together all sorts of digital content. You’ll be able to read stories, listen to artist’s, and explore collections all from the safety of your living room.
If you are just craving some time spent outside, our newest partner, The Trustees of Reservations, have got you covered! There you will find wildlife cameras, activities to help you identify bird calls, a live sunset stream from The Fruitlands Museum, and even a virtual fire pit at 6:45pm EST every Friday!
Grand Teton National Park
Lastly, our National Parks are one of our greatest resources and they provide many opportunities to #FindYourVirtualPark! The National Park Foundation has virtual tours, activities for kids, live webcams, and incredible photography.
Even though it is easy to feel stuck right now, we hope
these ideas inspire you to stay connected while we all #StayHome.
After fielding a number of requests, we are thrilled to announce that we have added The Institute of Contemporary Art: Boston to the museum pass program! After incorporating in 1936, the museum spent decades moving from spot to spot around Boston before opening its flagship location in Boston’s Seaport District in 2006. The 62,000 square foot space now houses a permanent collection of 20th- and 21st-century art with works by Paul Chan, Marlene Dumas, Mona Hatoum, Christian Jankowski, and Cornelia Parker. The mission of the museum is “to share the pleasures of reflection, inspiration, provocation, and imagination that contemporary art offers through public access to art, artists, and the creative process.”
We are able to offer one pass per day that will admit 2 people at a cost of $5.00 each. Reservations can be made up to a month in advance on the library’s Museum Pass page.
Please note that passes are for the exhibit halls only and are not valid for entry to performances or special events.
“We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope.” ― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Acadia National Park, Maine, USA.
The National Parks have been called
“America’s Greatest Idea” and it is easy to see why. In 1916, President Wilson
signed The Organic Act creating The National Parks Services whose “purpose is to conserve the scenery and
the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for
the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them
unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Today the National
Park System covers more than 84 million acres including parks, shorelines,
monuments, and historic sites.
This collection of books includes histories of the parks and the people who championed them, memoirs of time spent living in and walking among nature, depictions of conservationists efforts to protect these resources, and awe inspiring photography that captures just a fraction of what makes these landscapes so breathtaking. Check out one of our guide books covering everything from the major parks in the west or even just the rail trails of New England or read a history of the Boston Harbor Islands as you prepare for a local day trip. Whether you are heading to the Cape Cod National Seashore or the Great Smoky Mountains, or you’d rather be thrilled by the amazing feats of the rock climbers of the Yosemite Valley, as summer rolls in be inspired to get outside and explore.
Stop by the library lobby to browse or borrow May 13th – June 23rd.
