(State House, Boston)– State Representative Christine E. Canavan (D- Brockton) announced today a new partnership with the Boston Public Library (www.bpl.org) to expand library services to both East Bridgewater and West Bridgewater. Through her work on the legislature’s Library Caucus, Representative Canavan worked to establish the Library for the Commonwealth, supported by funds included in the fiscal year 2012 state budget.

As the Library for the Commonwealth, the Boston Public Library will develop and maintain a statewide digital library in order to better serve residents from across the Commonwealth. This partnership is an expansion of the Boston Public Library’s nationally recognized leadership role in this area, and ensures that its expertise and resources extend far beyond Boston city limits.

“Being such an avid supporter of libraries, I am so happy our communities are taking advantage of this wonderful partnership,” said Representative Christine Canavan. “I visit our public libraries often and look forward to utilizing these resources.”

Residents will be able to access a spectrum of resources, ranging from local town records to research collections of academic institutions, historical societies, and archives across the state. This program is a partnership with Digital Commonwealth, an existing, organization of libraries, museums, and other cultural institutions.

In addition to the expansion and oversight of this powerful statewide digital library, this program entitles all Massachusetts residents to:

• Participation in statewide inter-library loan program
• A Boston Public Library card for unrestricted borrowing privileges of all circulating items
• Instant access to online services with a BPL e-Card including a broad selection of electronic databases, e-books, downloadable audiobooks and music, and a wealth of digital images and books
• Reference and research services—in person, online, telephone, and written inquiries
• Access to collections of research books and journals in a range of subjects
• Digital lending through the scan-on-demand program including expansion of existing partnership with Perkins School for the Blind to serve visually-impaired users

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