News from the J.V. Fletcher Library!
Unless otherwise noted, the following programs are made possible by the Friends of the Library.
Director’s Corner: Moving an entire Library is a herculean effort. Luckily, months of planning, a dedicated and enthusiastic staff, and a moving company well versed in moving libraries is working in our favor. We are working fervently behind the scenes to create a welcoming and successful temporary location at 515 Groton Rd.
The J.V. Fletcher Library at 50 Main St. will be closed from March 31 through April 21 to allow for moving and training at the temporary library site.
The temporary location at 515 Groton Road, Westford will officially open to the public on April 22 at 10 a.m.
The J.V. Fletcher Library on the Town Common will be closed for 18-22 months as it undergoes an extensive expansion and renovation. During this time, the temporary library located at 515 Groton Road will operate regular library hours and services to continue serving the Westford community.
Please note that phone lines may experience disruptions during the transition. However, staff can still be reached via email at westfordlibrary@westfordma.gov, and virtual resources such as Libby, Hoopla, and online databases will remain available for all cardholders.
Important Information During the Transition:
Item Returns: Please hold onto your J.V. Fletcher Library materials until the temporary site opens. No overdue fines will be charged. Materials from other Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) libraries can be returned to any MVLC location.
Hold Pick-Ups: From March 24 to April 21, the library will not process hold pick-ups. Your place in line will remain unchanged. You may adjust your hold pick-up location through your account at westfordlibrary.org.
Library Cards: You can register for an e-card online or obtain a physical library card at any MVLC library.
Museum Passes: Physical passes will not be available during the closure. However, online passes for select museums, including the Boston Children’s Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, and New England Aquarium, will remain accessible.
Meeting Rooms: No meeting room space will be available at the temporary location.
Library Programs: Programming will resume in May 2025.
Please read our MOVING FAQ for more information about the move and our temporary closure.
The J.V. Fletcher Library team appreciates your patience during this transition and looks forward to welcoming you at our temporary site. For updates, please visit www.westfordlibrary.org
Change Holds Pickup Location: Please select another MVLC library as your holds pickup location during our temporary closure. If you have any questions, please email us at westfordlibrary@westfordlibrary.org
Go to https://westfordlibrary.org.
Select Account (right hand corner, over search box)
Enter your Library card number and PIN number (the last 4 numbers of your phone number)
Select the “Holds” tab
Select the item(s) you want to reroute.
Select “Edit Pick Up Location,” at the top of the page.
Select a Library other than Westford from the drop-down menu
Select “Change”
Virtual Job Search Help for 50 & Over – “Cover Letters – Are They Necessary?”
Wednesday, April 16 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. The Massachusetts Library Collaborative’s 50+ Job Seekers Group meets biweekly on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, from 9:30-11:30 a.m., via Zoom. If you are unemployed and actively looking, underemployed, seeking a new career direction, re-entering the job market after a long employment gap, or recently retired and looking for your “Encore Career”, this networking group program is perfect for you! Take advantage of these free, weekly skill-building and networking group meetings. A new topic will be covered at each meeting. Register here.
Virtual Adult Book Discussion Club: Thursday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. We’ll meet virtually to discuss By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult. Copies are available at the Main Desk (until March 27) and there are downloadable copies (audio and e-copies) available from Overdrive/Libby and Hoopla. If you are not on the Thursday night Adult Book Discussion Club email list, email Kristina Leedberg for the Zoom link.
Virtual: Grim(m) Fairy Tales with Bill Thierfelder Tuesday, April 22 at 7:00 p.m.
For over two hundred years, the remarkable stories of the Brothers Grimm have fascinated and terrified us. Between 1812 and 1857, seven editions of their often dark-hued folk tales—200 stories and 11 legends—found their way into the western consciousness. This presentation first defines what a folk tale is and then explores the meticulous research that Jacob and Wilhelm undertook to accomplish their goal of collecting significant stories from around Europe. Their accomplishments have created the great archetypes for much modern literature, sociology, and psychology. This program is presented in partnership with the Groton Public Library. Register here.
Monday Mystery Book Club: Monday, April 28th at 2:00 p.m.
We’ll meet in person to discuss The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson. Email Linda Ernick at lernick@westfordma.gov for details!
Staff Recommends: The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bojalian. “In this Civil War love story, inspired by a real-life friendship across enemy lines, the wife of a missing Confederate soldier discovers a wounded Yankee officer and must decide what she’s willing to risk for the life of a stranger, from the New York Times bestselling author of such acclaimed historical fiction as Hour of the Witch and The Sandcastle Girls. Virginia, 1864-Libby Steadman’s husband has been away for so long that she can barely conjure his voice in her dreams. While she longs for him in the night, fearing him dead in a Union prison camp, her days are spent running a gristmill with her teenage niece, a hired hand, and his wife, all the grain they can produce requisitioned by the Confederate Army. It’s an uneasy life in the Shenandoah Valley, the territory frequently changing hands, control swinging back and forth like a pendulum between North and South, and Libby awakens every morning expecting to see her land a battlefield. And then she finds a gravely injured Union officer left for dead in a neighbor’s house, the bones of his hand and leg shattered. Captain Jonathan Weybridge of the Vermont Brigade is her enemy-but he’s also a human being, and Libby must make a terrible decision: Does she leave him to die alone? Or does she risk treason and try to nurse him back to health? And if she succeeds, does she try to secretly bring him across Union lines, where she might negotiate a trade for news of her own husband? A vivid and sweeping story of two people navigating the boundaries of love and humanity in a landscape of brutal violence, The Jackal’s Mistress is a heart-stopping new novel, based on a largely unknown piece of American history, from one of our greatest storytellers”
If you have questions or need assistance, please send us an email at westfordlibrary@westfordma.gov
Director’s Corner: Moving an entire Library is a herculean effort. Luckily, months of planning, a dedicated and enthusiastic staff, and a moving company well versed in moving libraries is working in our favor. We are working fervently behind the scenes to create a welcoming and successful temporary location at 515 Groton Rd.
The J.V. Fletcher Library at 50 Main St. will be closed from March 31 through April 21 to allow for moving and training at the temporary library site.
The temporary location at 515 Groton Road, Westford will officially open to the public on April 22 at 10 a.m.
The J.V. Fletcher Library on the Town Common will be closed for 18-22 months as it undergoes an extensive expansion and renovation. During this time, the temporary library located at 515 Groton Road will operate regular library hours and services to continue serving the Westford community.
Please note that phone lines may experience disruptions during the transition. However, staff can still be reached via email at westfordlibrary@westfordma.gov, and virtual resources such as Libby, Hoopla, and online databases will remain available for all cardholders.
Important Information During the Transition:
Item Returns: Please hold onto your J.V. Fletcher Library materials until the temporary site opens. No overdue fines will be charged. Materials from other Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) libraries can be returned to any MVLC location.
Hold Pick-Ups: From March 24 to April 21, the library will not process hold pick-ups. Your place in line will remain unchanged. You may adjust your hold pick-up location through your account at westfordlibrary.org.
Library Cards: You can register for an e-card online or obtain a physical library card at any MVLC library.
Museum Passes: Physical passes will not be available during the closure. However, online passes for select museums, including the Boston Children’s Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, and New England Aquarium, will remain accessible.
Meeting Rooms: No meeting room space will be available at the temporary location.
Library Programs: Programming will resume in May 2025.
Please read our MOVING FAQ for more information about the move and our temporary closure.
The J.V. Fletcher Library team appreciates your patience during this transition and looks forward to welcoming you at our temporary site. For updates, please visit www.westfordlibrary.org
Change Holds Pickup Location: Please select another MVLC library as your holds pickup location during our temporary closure. If you have any questions, please email us at westfordlibrary@westfordlibrary.org
Go to https://westfordlibrary.org.
Select Account (right hand corner, over search box)
Enter your Library card number and PIN number (the last 4 numbers of your phone number)
Select the “Holds” tab
Select the item(s) you want to reroute.
Select “Edit Pick Up Location,” at the top of the page.
Select a Library other than Westford from the drop-down menu
Select “Change”
Virtual Job Search Help for 50 & Over – “Cover Letters – Are They Necessary?”
Wednesday, April 16 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. The Massachusetts Library Collaborative’s 50+ Job Seekers Group meets biweekly on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, from 9:30-11:30 a.m., via Zoom. If you are unemployed and actively looking, underemployed, seeking a new career direction, re-entering the job market after a long employment gap, or recently retired and looking for your “Encore Career”, this networking group program is perfect for you! Take advantage of these free, weekly skill-building and networking group meetings. A new topic will be covered at each meeting. Register here.
Virtual Adult Book Discussion Club: Thursday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. We’ll meet virtually to discuss By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult. Copies are available at the Main Desk (until March 27) and there are downloadable copies (audio and e-copies) available from Overdrive/Libby and Hoopla. If you are not on the Thursday night Adult Book Discussion Club email list, email Kristina Leedberg for the Zoom link.
Virtual: Grim(m) Fairy Tales with Bill Thierfelder Tuesday, April 22 at 7:00 p.m.
For over two hundred years, the remarkable stories of the Brothers Grimm have fascinated and terrified us. Between 1812 and 1857, seven editions of their often dark-hued folk tales—200 stories and 11 legends—found their way into the western consciousness. This presentation first defines what a folk tale is and then explores the meticulous research that Jacob and Wilhelm undertook to accomplish their goal of collecting significant stories from around Europe. Their accomplishments have created the great archetypes for much modern literature, sociology, and psychology. This program is presented in partnership with the Groton Public Library. Register here.
Monday Mystery Book Club: Monday, April 28th at 2:00 p.m.
We’ll meet in person to discuss The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson. Email Linda Ernick at lernick@westfordma.gov for details!
Staff Recommends: The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bojalian. “In this Civil War love story, inspired by a real-life friendship across enemy lines, the wife of a missing Confederate soldier discovers a wounded Yankee officer and must decide what she’s willing to risk for the life of a stranger, from the New York Times bestselling author of such acclaimed historical fiction as Hour of the Witch and The Sandcastle Girls. Virginia, 1864-Libby Steadman’s husband has been away for so long that she can barely conjure his voice in her dreams. While she longs for him in the night, fearing him dead in a Union prison camp, her days are spent running a gristmill with her teenage niece, a hired hand, and his wife, all the grain they can produce requisitioned by the Confederate Army. It’s an uneasy life in the Shenandoah Valley, the territory frequently changing hands, control swinging back and forth like a pendulum between North and South, and Libby awakens every morning expecting to see her land a battlefield. And then she finds a gravely injured Union officer left for dead in a neighbor’s house, the bones of his hand and leg shattered. Captain Jonathan Weybridge of the Vermont Brigade is her enemy-but he’s also a human being, and Libby must make a terrible decision: Does she leave him to die alone? Or does she risk treason and try to nurse him back to health? And if she succeeds, does she try to secretly bring him across Union lines, where she might negotiate a trade for news of her own husband? A vivid and sweeping story of two people navigating the boundaries of love and humanity in a landscape of brutal violence, The Jackal’s Mistress is a heart-stopping new novel, based on a largely unknown piece of American history, from one of our greatest storytellers”
If you have questions or need assistance, please send us an email at westfordlibrary@westfordma.gov
