HomeMy WebLinkAboutOperational Report from Marsha
To: M. Rebecca Loader, Library Director
From: Marsha Tubbs, Children’s Librarian
Subject: Operational report for July 2001
Date: 7/27/2001
I. PROGRAMS
A. Wolfin Down books (MELSA reading club) registration totals are 611 to date
B. Trivia Time Warp (teen reading program) registration totals are 136
th
C. Summer Funtime and Storytime ended on July 26. This year’s attendance figures totaled 212
children and 119 adults. Average attendance per program was 47 people.
PROGRAMS CRAFT DATE CHILDREN ADULT
Snakes Snake hats 7/5/01 22 12
Frogs and toads Frog puppet 7/12/01 24 14
Bubbles Bubble maker 7/19/01 28 16
Camping out Bug motel 7/26/01 32 18
D. Super Tuesday Performances
PROGRAM DATE CHILDREN ADULTS
Doctor Science 7/10/01 130 42
Belles and Whistles 7/17/01 118 42
David Sleeper, Ventriloquist 7/24/01 106 38
Super Duper Duo 7/31/01 55 18
E. We have 40 girls registered for the American Girl party Josefina’s Fiesta. We filled this program in
10 days with in-house registration only. I have submitted this program for funding through CHASE for
2002. At that time I would like to consider adding a session. I believe that with limited advertising we
would have no trouble finding 80 girls interested in attending this event.
II. PROJECTS
A. The city is applying for another round of grant funds for the CHASE program. I was contacted by
Cindi Willprecht, Youth Coordinator for Parks and Recreation, and asked to submit a budget for library
programs. As a result, I submitted a request for $10,000 to cover the expenses involved in our teen programs.
The programs submitted include: Teen Read Week, LIBRA, American Girl, and National Library Week
programming. The Library’s request also includes a thirty-hour per week aide in the Children’s Department to
help with programming during the summer.
III. COLLECTION
A. The circulation counts within the Children’s Department dropped dramatically in June. It is
possible that the decrease reflects the absence of the staff at District 13 schools for promotional visits last spring
or possibly that the current juvenile reading club (Trivia Time Warp) doesn’t have the same impact that Harry
Potter had in 2000. In other words we are seeing fewer children this year. Our gate counts don’t support this
however. After careful consideration of the circulation statistics for the month of June, I also question whether
or not there is a discrepancy in the data we received. I will be checking into all these options and will report
later as to the conclusions reached.
B. The weeding of the easy collection has resumed. We are also checking lists received from
ACL of high circ titles. Some of these books will need to be replaced and I am developing a replacement order.
C. I placed two orders for books on tape and CD’s on tape this month. I have one more order to
prepare and hope to have that complete in September.
IV. MEETING
A. Patrick Jones, nationally recognized young adult services specialist, visited the Columbia
Heights Public Library on July 25. Patrick was here in part to gather information for an LSTA grant given to
MELSA. He was interested in information regarding the young adult programs provided through the library.
Patrick spent 4 hours here interviewing the staff, volunteers, and patrons. He collected information on the YA
collection, programs and services and then provided advice regarding the implementation of new programs and
the space requirements for this age group. He has requested copies of materials related to some of our YA
programs for inclusion in his grant report.
IV. STAFF
A. Pages in the department have been busy keeping up with the book returns and the demands of
the summer programs. They have been checking transactions on the J non-fiction in preparation for a major J
non-fiction weeding. Mending of the easy collection continues along with preparations for fall programs.
B. Library aide Michelle Smith has been aiding in the weeding process, circulation desk duties,
filing and copying. Michelle was responsible for all departments printing in the month of July. Alicia Andrews
completed the materials preparation for the Trivia Time Warp party and aided in the preparations for Josefina’s
Fiesta. Alicia will also be participating in both activities in August.
C. Kelly received three book orders, aided in the design and layout of materials for the American
Girl program and Trivia Time Warp, updated the ICS fall registration materials, produced updated listing of
magazines for ACL, and aided in the production of the library’s newsletter for July.