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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOperational Report from Marsha To: M. Rebecca Loader, Library Director From: Marsha Tubbs, Children’s Librarian Subject: October 2004 Operational Report Date: October 28, 2004 I. PROGRAMS A. Program statistics October Program Title Date Children Adults Skipping Saturday 10/9/2004 3 2 Kindergarten 10/4/2004 8 1 3rd grade 10/5/2004 17 1 1st grade 10/7/2004 12 1 5th Grade 10/7/2004 22 1 1st Grade 10/7/2004 14 1 2nd Grade 10/8/2004 17 1 4th Grade 10/8/2004 29 1 2nd Grade 10/8/2004 16 1 Kindergarten 10/4/2004 18 1 Skipping Saturdays 10/23/2004 4 4 Storytime 10/12/2004 9 5 Storytime 10/13/2004 14 7 Storytime 10/19/2004 6 4 Storytime 10/20/2004 12 6 Scrapbooking 10/20/2004 12 2 Pam Nelson 10/26/2004 3 1 Storytime 10/26/2002 14 7 Storytime 10/26/2004 16 9 Halloween Storytime 10/27/2004 7 5 Spooktacular Celeb 10/30/2004 B. The library expanded its programming schedule this fall. As with each new attempt (especially those related to programming) we had some successful programs and some less than successful. 1. Saturday Storytimes have had limited success, however attendance has grown from three to seven and I am hopeful that this program with patience will continue to grow. I think it is important to offer storytimes at times other than weekday mornings, especially in a bedroom community. We will be making additional efforts to get the word out in November. 2. A large number of our fall programs were aimed at enticing middle school students to use the library. Getting middle school student involved in the library and reading continues to be a goal for library programming. Finding programming that appeals to this age level is difficult, but we are making progress through baby steps. The Scrapbooking Program offered through Archivers was by far the most successful of our fall programming and many of the participants requested that we provide this program again. Death Gets a Red Card was cancelled as we had only seven registrations and I could not justify the staff expense for a lock-down program at the library. We may try this again, however in a slightly different format. I Was a Teenage Nobody and Look at Me Now was a success, but in a different way. We had seven teens signed up for this program, but only three showed. But these three all requested the speaker to return again next week and every week for a while (I would if I had the budget for this). The three participants got a lot out of this program and I think will benefit greatly in the future from the techniques that Pam Nelson brought to them. Additional Halloween Storytimes were scheduled again in an attempt to give families where both parents work an option to participate in Library storytimes. Attendance at these storytimes is listed above. II. COLLECTION A. The easy weeding project is now complete. Over 300 single titles were withdrawn from the collection as a part of this project. Elimination of these unique entries in the database resulted in a budget savings for the library as our current contract requires we pay for unique title entries. Most of these books were older titles with low circulation. B. YA hardcover transactions have also been completed and unique titles from this collection were eliminated as well. This collection is growing and shelving space will become an issue soon. It is also growing in circulation. C. The final CD standing order for Listening Library was placed in October. Additional music CD’s were also ordered from Baker and Taylor. D. A final 2004 order for books in audiocassette format was placed this month. The majority of funds from this account have been moved into CD’s as the audiocassette format circulation is slowing down. There are some titles available only in audiocassette and I placed orders for these titles, as the budget would allow. E. Two large book orders were placed to Baker and Taylor including an order for holiday books. III. PROJECTS A. Staff is currently planning programming for National Children’s Book Week, Thanksgiving, and the December holiday season as well as preparations for a Winter Reading Program to begin in January. B. National Children’s Book Week will include an evening program provided by storyteller Julie Goldstein on November 16 at 7:00 P.M. Julie is an accomplished storyteller of folklore and will include tales for African, Latino, and Native American cultures. C. A special Holiday Storytime will be held on November 22 at 6:30 p.m to highlight the Thanksgiving season. D. Minnesota Aquarium will be here on November 4 to thrill children with their hands on program called “Shark Mania”. Participants will receive a free pass to Underwater Adventures as a part of the program. This program is a part of the library’s new “Schools Out” series scheduled for days when school is not in session. IV. MEETINGS A. I, along with the entire library staff, attended vendor demonstrations at Anoka County this month. Staff completed evaluation forms, which were then used in part to help the evaluation committee make a final choice on the new vendor for out automated system. The staff appreciated the opportunity to participate and thanks those members of the committee for their work in a very lengthy and difficult evaluation process. V. STAFF A. Library Clerk Kelly Olson has been busy creating flyers and posters for all our upcoming programs, placing orders and receiving orders for books and materials, and adding magazine titles to the collection. Kelly aided in processing the bulk loan materials for delivery and class visits. She also worked on the easy weeding project in my absence. Her help was greatly appreciated. B. Library Aide Cristy Tombarge created two new book displays for the department in October, aided in preparations for storytime, aided in the easy weeding project and prepared new shelf labels for YA paperbacks. C. The Pages continued and completed transactions for easy and YA materials, relabeled YA paperback racks and J paperback racks. They also processed new materials and completed order cards for children’s materials.