#4 Reports - A. Activities Report
Hedberg Public Library
Activity Report
December 2008
Adult Services
HPL is participating with other local community groups who are organizing a visit from
the mobile Mexican Consulate in January. Rene’ is part of that planning committee.
Rene’ attended a WebJunction webinar entitled “Libraries and the Bilingual Child:
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Understanding Issues of Language Acquisition” on December 9.
Several patrons with a variety of questions were referred to Rene’ in December. She
assisted those patrons with translation and interpretation issues regarding library overdue
fees, use of RockCat from home, and a request for information about Nicaragua.
First Friday Family Fiesta and Las Posadas, both of which were very well attended, were
the two Bilingual Outreach programs at the library this month. Rene’ is already busy
planning 2009 programs and events.
HPL again hosted the December Downtown Riverfront Park Committee meeting. Plans
are in development for spring clean up of flower beds and park area. The January 2009
meeting will be held at JPAC.
Three Virtual Job Searching 101 classes were taught by Jean in December. They were
attended by seven patrons. The classes were the last of those covered under the 2008
LSTA grant.
Jean led 3 book groups outside the library and presented two Christmas-themed
programs at Regency House Apartments and St. Elizabeth’s Nursing Home.
Several new H @ H patrons were added to the list of those wishing to have library
materials delivered to their homes.
Building Operations
Upgraded operating equipment for the public elevator was installed during the week of
December 15. A state inspector approved the work on December 22 which put the
elevator back into use. During the evening of December 10, routine carpet cleaning was
done on the upper and lower rotunda areas, the stairway, and the Ground Floor seating
area.
Central Services
It’s been a busy December with circulation up compared to December 2007. Of the total
circulation for this month 53% were print materials and 47% audiovisual. Daily
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circulation jumped after the Christmas holidays with Monday December 29 and
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Tuesday December 30 reaching a combined circulation total of 7,967.
Adult DVD circulation was 5.6 times higher than video.
The Job Resource Center (JRC) showed a 34% increase from last month.
Total circulation for OverDrive this month was 422 with 64% of the total checkouts by
HPL patrons.
The number or holds filled this month was 28% higher than last December. The
checkout hold area had eight days with over 800 reserves on the hold shelf waiting to be
picked up.
The total number of notices delivered this month continues the consistent pattern of 55%
by phone, 40% by e-mail and 5% mailed from other months and also year-end.
Collection Development
Use of the Job Resource Center materials continues to grow, as reflected by the 34%
increase reported above. There is also anecdotal evidence; a check on the availability of
test study manuals shows all GRE preparation guides currently checked out. On-shelf
availability of these and other titles indicates the need for the purchase of multiple copies
of the more popular manuals, including those covering the GED, ACT, and SAT.
End of year statistics for Overdrive, show the Wisconsin consortium as having the
highest audio circulation for all consortia customers of the downloadable service. As a
member of the selection committee for the Wisconsin consortium, collection manager
Carol Kuntzelman met with other members to begin selecting new titles to be added in
the New Year.
Human Resources/Accounting
Cheryl Dobson received an “I Made a Difference” award for her extra efforts in the staff
room. Technical Services won the “Jazz the Jolly Juniper” tree decorating contest with
their Dr. Seuss’ Grinch-themed tree. At the annual staff breakfast, Kathleen Harrison was
recognized for 25 years of service; Linda Hermans for 20 years; Nancy Murray and Hope
Moccero for 15 years; Julie Westby, David Peters and David Wreford for 10 years; and
Laurel Fant, Jill Osmond, Beth Webb and Janice Haase for 5 years of service.
The bill list of 1/21/09 includes $65,345.07 of expense for December 2008 and
$49,051.33 for January 2009. The December operating statement is preliminary and a
final statement will be distributed when complete.
Reference Services
Statistics from the Reference Department:
Patron questions asked at Reference Desk – 2542
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Patron questions asked at Service Desk – 2510
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Combined total of questions at both Desks – 5052
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Statistics from InterLibrary Loan:
Items requested from other libraries for Hedberg patrons – 428
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Items received from other libraries for Hedberg patrons – 491
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Requests received from other libraries to borrow Hedberg materials – 630
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Items lent to other libraries from the Hedberg collection – 463
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Deb Case and Karen Helwig both retired as of January 2, 2009. Staff held a retirement
party for Deb on December 16, and one for Karen on January 2. December 22 Deb and
Karen were also formally recognized by the Janesville City Council for their many years
of service. During December, Deb and Karen each met with various staff members in
the reference department to pass on information about several ongoing projects.
As of January 14, 2009 we have received 33 applications for the full-time reference
opening. The review process began on January 5.
Reference question of the month:
A patron wanted to know why frost forms inside car windshields, and how she can
prevent it from happening.
Reference staff checked several websites and found that Doug Craigen’s Physics Pages
(http://dctech.com/physics/features/0103.php) gave a very clear explanation of relative
humidity and why moisture collects – and later freezes - on the inside of car windows.
The page also gave some tips to minimize the moisture content inside the car, such as
not using the fan’s “recirculate” function and always maintaining the fan at maximum
speed. If the car’s temperature becomes too warm, Craigen says, turn down the
temperature and keep the airflow high. The web site gave several other tips.
The patron then wanted to know where the “recirculate” function was on her
1996 Mercury Tracer, so she could avoid using it. Staff checked the “Mitchell Web on
Demand” subscription database, which had a diagram of heater controls for a ’96
Tracer, and found that her car did not have a “recirculate” function.
Technical Services
Technical Services spent out the 2008 materials budget in December, which always
provides the staff a sense of accomplishment. Another accomplishment—their Grinch
theme won them the Decorate a Christmas Tree award.
Youth Services
Children’s Services:
December is when things usually begin to slow down in the Children’s Room. Families
are busy preparing for the holidays and program attendance often dips. This December
was no different, but there were two major exceptions.
Four staff – Julie Westby, Shannon Murphy-Tollefsrud, Camille Rammer, and Karin
Timmerman – planned and presented a holiday crafts extravaganza for our December
Family Fun Night along with six teen volunteers (see below). Children and the grown-
ups who accompanied them (62 total attendees) had a terrific time making a variety of
decorations to take home with them, including a beautiful picture frame, complete with
the child’s picture taken and printed by the staff.
Also in December, Sharon Grover and Julie Westby did training for the children, parents,
and staff of the Black Hawk Technical College Early Learning Center. The focus was on
the children attended BTC’s P4J classes and Sharon and Julie shared pizza (they were
coming directly from school), stories, library information, and a craft for the children to
take home. Fourteen out of 15 P4J families attended, along with 12 BTC staff.
December also brought visits from St. William’s pre-kindergarten classes, a Kennedy
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special education class, and the Wilson 3 grade classes.
Young Adult Services:
TAB meetings, now held the first Saturday of each month, continue to draw a core group
of creative and enthusiastic teens. Several TAB members stayed after the meeting to join
participants of the Make ‘N’ Take Glass Ornaments program. Students decorated and
filled clear round ornaments with a variety of items including curled song lyrics with
jingle bells, Styrofoam snow, and one even created a Twilight book-themed ornament.
The Edgerton High School Life/Work class took advantage of a clear driving day to visit
Janesville and take part in a tour of the library thanks to Youth Services staff member
Shannon Murphy Tollefsrud.
During school break, the teen librarian focused attention in Teen Central helping students
and parents locate materials and assisted teens with computer related issues. A Gaming
Day drew 17 students eager to try out Rock Band and the library’s Wii system, some for
the first time.
Six teen volunteers assisted staff at a Friday evening Holiday Crafts program for
children. Staff members commented on the excellent help from each. In addition, teen
volunteers helped set up the equipment for our Gaming Day. All are appreciated.