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HomeMy WebLinkAbout202508 Library Board UpdateColumbia Heights Public Library Library Board Report – August 2025 BUILDING The building was inspected for pests, and exterior windows were washed. TECHNOLOGY COLLECTION • New books were selected from reviews in the March, April and May issues of Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and Library Journal. Adult bestsellers to be published in September and October were pre-ordered. Juvenile requests and replacements were ordered. • Weeding was completed in adult fiction H-M and nonfiction 951-999. • Adult endcap displays highlighted baseball, graphic novels, astronomy, and outdoor adventure. The main display featured August celebrations including Sisters Day, Sleep Under the Stars Day, Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, Dog Day, and National Aviation Day. Youth displays included “Start a Series” and “Back to School.” PROGRAMS AND SELF-DIRECTED ACTIVITIES DATE AUDIENCE ATTENDANCE Daycare Storytime 8/1 Children (0-5) 25 English Language Conversation Circle 8/2 Adult 7 ELL Conversation Circle 8/4 Adult 11 Evening Storytime 8/5 Children (0-5) 4 ELL Conversation Circle 8/6 Adult 6 Petite Concert 8/7 Children (6-11) 46 ELL Conversation Circle 8/9 Adult 6 ELL Conversation Circle 8/11 Adult 6 Blooming Sunshine Garden Tour (offsite) 8/12 Adult 3 EL Conversation Circle 8/13 Adult 4 EL Conversation Circle 8/16 Adult 4 EL Conversation Circle 8/18 Adult 8 Mystery Book Club: The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle 8/19 Adult 6 Book Club 8/20 Adult 12 EL Conversation Circles 8/20 Adult 7 EL Conversation Circle 8/23 Adult 5 EL Conversation Circle 8/25 Adult 9 Intro to LinkedIn Learning 8/26 Adult 1 Adult Basic Education Tour (2 classes) 8/27 Adult 47 EL Conversation Circle 8/27 Adult 8 Dungeons & Dragons 8/27 Young Adults (12-18) 15 Summer Adventures Reading Challenge Adult 74 Summer Adventures Reading Challenge Youth (0-18) 171 Elizabeth Ripley, Adult Services Librarian: • Staffed a table at the Mayor’s Monarch Festival. • Attended a virtual Adult Basic Education class and gave a virtual tour/overview of the library. • Hosted in-person library tours for two introductory-level ABE classes. • Made deliveries to two At-Home patrons. • Supervised the work of adult volunteers. • Redesigned and ordered new library cards, patron barcodes, and item barcodes. • Planned fall programming. Columbia Heights Public Library 2. Library Board Monthly Update – August 2025 Eliza Pope, Youth Services Librarian: • Hosted musicians Lara (viola) and Kathe (cello) for a Petite Concert. • Tabled at the CHPS Family Center Open House, distributing information on storytime and early literacy. • Visited Immaculate Conception School to meet teachers and present information about bulk loans. Summer Adventures Reading Challenge This summer, 589 reading trackers were given out to participants of all ages and 171 youth participants completed the reading challenge. Compared to last year, there was a 43% increase in reading trackers distributed and a 58% increase in youth who completed the challenge. The breakdown of youth who completed the reading challenge is below and showed increases across all three age groups, with the largest increases in birth to kindergarten and grades 1-6 age groups. • B-K: 54 • Grades 1-6: 95 • Teens: 22 Three key changes were made to the Summer Adventures Reading Challenge this year: • Participants could choose a reading challenge that met their reading goals-- twenty books OR twenty hours of reading. The B-K and Grade 1-6 age groups saw the biggest jumps in challenge completion, so this change seemed to work well for both groups. • Data was collected when participants completed the program. In past years, staff collected information from youth when they registered. This year, information was collected when participants returned their reading logs. This change was made to make the Challenge more streamlined and make it easier for all youth to participate. • Youth participants selected a free book after reading five books or five hours instead of getting a free book at registration as in past years. This change was made to make sure the summer reading program is financially sustainable for the library while continuing to offer an incentive book for participating in the Challenge. Renee Dougherty, Library Director: • Facilitated the book club discussion of The Librarianist by Patrick DeWitt. • Met with Library Associates Farrah Briest and Nick Olberding for annual performance reviews. • Interviewed two internal candidates for the Library Aide position. Columbia Heights Public Library 3. Library Board Monthly Update – August 2025 • Attended the first annual Bibliotheca Day at their Lake Elmo warehouse. Bibliotheca provides security gates, self-check kiosks, RFID tags and readers, and software for library operations. • Represented the library at CHPS new teacher orientation. • Attended meetings of the Anoka County Library Public Service Team; city division heads; the CHPL Library Foundation; the Library Board; and the Minnesota Library Association Board. • Met with the city communications director and the Anoka County Library Director. MISCELLANEOUS • Library Staff attended the summer picnic for city employees. • Library Page Naatii Ahmed departed for college; she will remain on the employee roster in a substitute capacity. • Anoka County Law Librarian John Murphy held office hours on August 21. • Six adult volunteers donated 25.25 hours, and four teen volunteers donated 32 hours.