Read Magazines at the Library or on Your Computer (No More Expensive Subscriptions!)

One good way to save money is to read your favorite magazines for free at the library or on your computer through the Framingham Public Library website!

Framingham Public Library subscribes to hundreds of magazines for adults, teens, and kids - everything from GamePro to Seventeen, People to Consumer Reports, American Girl to Sports Illustrated for Kids. If you like to keep up with current news events, celebrities, sports, health, fashion, business, science, finance, cooking, decorating, or many other topics, we have a magazine for you. Current issues can be read in the library, or check out any issue that is not the current one and take it home to read at your leisure for two weeks.

Looking for a specific journal or article?

Framingham residents can also access many magazines through their computers as well. Search by title or browse by subject to access over 11,850 electronic journals, magazines and newspapers. From our website click on Catalog and then on EJournals Finder in the “Research and Information Box”. Type the magazine title in the search box and hit the Enter key to get a list of databases the magazine is indexed in. Choose a database, select a date for issues you would like to see - and you're set to enjoy!

Free Admission to Museums!

Every Friday for nine weeks during the summer the Highland Street Foundation is providing free admission to museums and cultural attractions across Massachusetts.  Beginning  Friday, July 1st we will sponsor 36 free venues including the Museum of Fine Arts, Franklin Park Zoo, Old Sturbridge Village, Plimouth Plantation and 32 more.  These venues will be absolutely free, no tickets or advanced reservations necessary.
View this link for more info.


 

SaferProducts.gov

Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually.

In an effort to identify product hazards quicker and provide consumers with safety information on products in and around the home, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has launched a new centralized federal database of people’s safety complaints about thousands of products. Consumers can use the site to report safety concerns or injuries linked to common products ranging from children's toys to power tools. They also, for the first time, will be able to easily search through recent reports about safety issues involving specific products. The database is accessible through the Commission’s website and directly at http://www.saferproducts.gov/. Previously, to get access to the same information, people had to file Freedom of Information requests for data, a cumbersome and lengthy process.

The CPSC will continue to collect reports of dangerous product incidents from multiple channels, including telephone, email, postal mail, and online, just as it has done in the past. The CPSC has up to 5 days to review a report to ensure that it does not offer materially inaccurate or insubstantial information. If the report is adequate, the CPSC will refer the report to the product’s manufacturer. The manufacturer then has 10 days to address the complaint and, if it chooses, can post its response in the database. After this review process, the original consumer complaint and any manufacturer response is made public online. Information about mandatory or voluntary recalls of the product will also appear in the database. CPSC has said that submitted reports will not become public if they are incomplete, “materially inaccurate,” or expose confidential information. Reports submitted anonymously will also not be made public.

The new database is intended to reduce risks and injuries by informing the general public of a potentially dangerous product earlier in the complaint process.

JAWS Software now available

Thanks to a generous donation from the Town of Framingham Disability Commission, the Library now has a computer equipped with JAWS software.  JAWS is a screen reader, a software program for individuals with low vision or blindness, whose purpose is to make personal computers using Microsoft Windows accessible to blind and visually impaired users. It accomplishes this by providing the user with access to the information displayed on the screen via text-to-speech or by means of a Braille display and allows for comprehensive keyboard interaction with the computer.
For more info, visit the Reference Department or call us at (508) 532-5570 ext. 4361.