This has been a challenging year for everyone, but it’s been a particularly difficult time for families. Here at the Ipswich Public Library, we know that parents and children have long lists of issues to navigate and skills to learn this fall, and that plans and expectations are shifting constantly. To help you keep track of it all, we’ve been working on an extensive Family Resource Guide. This new resource is a compilation of library materials, educational guides, and many other resources to help your family manage this school year and the years ahead. Inside, you will find tools and tutorials for remote learning technology that we’ve compiled with input from the Ipswich Public Schools. Our staff has also been familiarizing themselves with this technology, in order to be able to help answer your questions as you get up to speed with new platforms and environments. In addition to school-specific information, the Resource Guide also contains a wealth of information about other services and support for issues your family may be juggling right now. We’ve included information about health and wellness, mental health resources, and other support organizations. We hope you find it helpful to bookmark, and we will continue to update it as needs and resources evolve. We’d like to be your partners in gathering this information in one place and keeping it up to date. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to anyone on our staff. Even if we don’t directly provide the service you need, we will find a way to connect you to someone who can help. Click here to connect to the Family Resource Guide.

We hope to keep expanding and adding new features to our Takeout Service until the day we are able to open up the whole building and offer the full range of library services and programs we all miss! Check out our additional offerings below or click here to learn more about out placing and picking up holds. Reference Services   You can now request tax forms and printing through our website. Fill out a printing request or tax form request and we will let you know when your materials are ready to be picked up. Each person may request up to ten pages of free printing per day. Questions? Call the Reference Desk at 978-356-6648 x3015 or email Katy at kwuerker@ipswichlibrary.org. Let Us Help You Find Your Next Great Read  We are excited to announce two new services to help you find your next great read! BookMatch is a personalized reading list service. Just fill out a quick form on our website and we will send you a list of books we think you’ll like. If you miss browsing our “staff picks” display, you’ll enjoy staff picks to-go! When you come in to pick up a hold, simply ask for an extra book by genre or topic. We’ll have a list of our “daily special” topics at the Library! Both of these services are available for readers of all ages.   Summer Reading!  Our summer reading program has gone virtual this year! Imagine your story with the library this summer, from June 15th through August 28th! Register now on our Beanstack site or download the Beanstack tracker app from the Google Play store or Apple App store. For more information about registration click here. Statewide Delivery is Back  Statewide delivery among libraries — also known as Inter-library Loan — has restarted and you can now place requests from other libraries (choose from over five million items in our 36-member network alone)! Please keep in mind that transit time might take a little longer at first, as we work to return the backlog of items to their owning libraries. Search the catalog HERE! Online Resources Our website has tons of resources that are available to you any time of day or night! Click here for an overview! Mother Goose Storytimes   The Children’s Room has been creating online offerings for you, including our popular Mother Goose Storytimes!