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#4 Reports A. Activities Report Hedberg Public Library Activity Report October 2009 Adult Services Linda Belknap reported that three Nancy Parker programs in October together brought 110 people to the library "Cashing in on Coupons," "National Parks, Wisconsin Style" and "I Hiked the 1,000 Mile Ice Age Trail" inspired audiences to save money and hike, respectively. Also in October, staff liaison Linda Belknap met with the HPL Art Committee for its annual meeting. The committee set a November 19 date for its annual preview of sample art by artists interested in showing their work at HPL. The October case artist, who makes handmade musical instruments, was invited to play an informal concert in the library's upper lobby on Sunday, November 1, before taking down his case display. Steven Johnson brought in his "Robot Instrument" and a few other pieces too large for the display case. His unusual music drew a small, steady crowd throughout the 90-minute performance. Ren é Bue met with Ed Martinez from the Rock County Job Center to discuss partnering with HPL on programming and services. Ed may teach a CPR class in Spanish at HPL in the future. Ren é did two presentations in October. The first was a webinar for the Nicolet Federated Library System entitled “Outreach + Partnerships = Successful Library Programming and Collections”. Eleven people participated. Her second presentation was at the WLA conference in Appleton. She talked about materials selection in “Beyond Cervantes: Selecting Spanish Language Materials”. Thirteen people listened to her presentation. HPL’s Fiesta de las calacas on October 24 was attended by 64 people, almost all of whom were Latino. This hasn’t happened very often so Ren é was very pleased with the event. Two computer classes in Spanish were taught by Ren é at the end of the month. The first was well- attended (12 students) and the second one wasn’t (2 students). Ren é contacts each student prior to the class to remind them but six people didn’t attend the second class that they had registered for. Jean Yeomans began preparations for the 2010 Big Read in SE Wisconsin. The project will involve cultural programming, reading and discussing Sun, Stone, and Shadows, a collection of short stories written by Mexican authors, and book giveaways. UW-Whitewater and Young Auditorium are the organizers of the grant-funded program which includes libraries and schools in Southeastern Wisconsin. The October Leadership Development Academy training day was all about civic engagement. Members of the current class learned about lobbying from Dan Cunningham from Forward Janesville, city council responsibilities from Janesville and Beloit City Council members, and toured Janesville municipal and park sites by Janesville Transit bus. Jean and other city employees in LDA were responsible for planning the bus tour. The Riverview Heights Apartments book group is reading Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross. The two Riverfront, Inc. groups are reading Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. St. Elizabeth Nursing Home residents learned all about stamps (October is stamp collecting th month), the anniversary of the Statue of Liberty (114 anniversary on October 28), and thth Halloween trivia during Jean’s program on October 27. On October 20, Jean promoted library services at the annual Rock County Senior Fair at Marshall Middle School. Six residents at the Janesville Regency Apartments listened to short stories from collections owned by HPL at their monthly library program. More than 100 people stopped at the Arrowhead Library System table to pick up 2010 calendars with library contact info, RockCat Post-It-Notes, and brochures about senior services at the library. Many of the attendees are users of our library. th The “Reading Between the Wines” fundraising committee met on October 28 to discuss the project. Bryan, Elizabeth Hough, Carrie Hermanson, Cathy Jennings, and Jean talked about dates, etc. Central Services Even though the circulation is about the same as last October Adult Fiction Playaways, Job Resource Center and Adult Feature DVD Kits circulation has almost doubled. This is exceptional number for the DVD kits since they are kept behind the checkout desk. In a years time 1,097 electronic photos has been added to patron HPL accounts. In October 2008 there were 251 checkouts in OverDrive compared to 473 this month by HPL patrons. A new “neighbor”, children’s biographies which is still being established had 52 more circulations from last month. A circulation of 323 is all that has kept HPL from a net lender status. Circulation clerks continue to have a successful “pull” rate for “on shelf reserves” with this month pulling 90% of items requested. The Wisconsin Library Association Conference was held in Appleton. Linda Rogers, Head of Central Services attended the following sessions: -Flavor of Wisconsin: History and Culture through Recipes -People of the Sturgeon -ALA’s Privacy Initiative: Tools and Resources for Your Library to Get Involved -Humor at Work Really Works Collection Development Collection team members are making some hard decisions in response to the recommended $20,000 cut in the materials budget for 2010. Everyone was asked to look at their own selection areas at the October meeting in order to identify those budget lines that could be reduced with the least impact on service to patrons. All agreed to the proposal to distribute the cuts equitably between the adult collection ($12,000) and the children’s collection ($8,000), based on percentage of circulation, collection size and current budget. An October turnover report (statistics reflecting average circulation per item) and average cost figures for formats were distributed to assist selectors in making their decisions. All selectors were very supportive with several immediately suggesting cuts in their areas, accounting for over $8,000 in adult funds. Collection manager Carol Kuntzelman noted that even with the $4000 cut in the adult materials budget made in 2009, Hedberg’s materials budget ranks well with its peer libraries in Wisconsin. The collection team expressed interest in a suggestion that came from Outreach Librarian Jean Yeomans and Bilingual Outreach Coordinator Rene Bue to use shelftalkers in the library stacks. These are promotional signage that clip to shelves and provide brief information about individual titles. They flip up for easy access to materials while providing staff recommendations or other information about a book or audiovisual title. The team agreed to test their effectiveness by purchasing some for the Spanish collection, with Rene providing the information in Spanish. If they are found to be successful in promoting the collection, patrons will see them in other parts of the HPL stacks. Human Resources/Accounting I Made a Difference Awards: Rebecca Haefner and Emrick Gunderson for website development Laurie Bartz for her role in a workshop on adolescent literacy and audiobooks Training/Conference: Leadership Development Academy/Wisconsin Library Association Conference Accounting: Wages and benefits reflect a three-payroll month. The library’s annual share ($3,740) of the city audit expense was charged to our account in October. Reference Services Total Patron Questions: ? Patron questions asked at Reference Desk – 3252 ? Patron questions asked at Service Desk – 2929 ? Asked at Youth Services 2235 ? Asked at Bilingual Desk (when staffed) ? Asked at Teen Central (when staffed) 33 ? Total patron questions 8412 Reportable Reference Questions: ? Asked at the Reference Desk 1379 ? Asked at Service Desk 191 ? Asked at Youth Services 693 ? Asked at Bilingual Desk (when staffed) ? Asked at Teen Central (when staffed) 13 ? Total for all service points 2276 Statistics from InterLibrary Loan: ? Items requested from other libraries for Hedberg patrons – 560 ? Items received from other libraries for Hedberg patrons – 539 ? Requests received from other libraries to borrow Hedberg materials – 844 ? Items lent to other libraries from the Hedberg collection – 652 Reference has been expanding the number of staff who can teach computer classes, and also the number of classes those staff can teach. In January when DC retired, only the ALS trainer SO and Reference librarian SB could teach computer classes here at Hedberg. Now DM and KH are teaching classes as well. This gives us greater flexibility with our class offerings than we would have if we relied on the ALS computer trainer alone. The library and the local Social Security office co-hosted the first “Social Security E-Services Workshop” on Wednesday November 4. Social Security employees demonstrated features of the web site and answered questions about social security and retirement. Reference www.ssa.gov librarian KH was also present to assist patrons who needed help with computer skills. Kate reported: ? 8 people attended. ? One person had low computer skills, the others were more computer-savvy ? One was already familiar with the site. ? One person did the full Social Security application online during the lab ? Two had questions about the timing of their retirement; what factors they should consider and options were available The workshop was modeled after the Job Seekers Open Lab with one-on-one assistance, and participants could drop in any time between 4 and 7 pm. The second “Social Security E-Services Workshop” will be held Wednesday December 2. Question of the Month: During the month of October, we had three different patrons contact us who were planning birthday parties for a 90 year old friend or relative. One wanted picture of her grandmother as she looked in high school. Reference staff checked the yearbook index, and found pictures of the grandmother in the Janesville High School Yearbook of 1936. A second patron wanted highlights from each of the previous nine decades. Reference staff found several books with timelines of current and cultural events. They also showed the patron the reference book “The Value of a Dollar”, which shows changes of consumer prices throughout American history. The third patron was referred to us by the Gazette. The patron knew the Gazette had run a story some years ago about a business the 90-year-old “birthday boy” once owned, but the Gazette no longer had copies of the article or its accompanying pictures. Reference staff checked the Local History Database, realized the article and photos were part of our clipping file, and pulled the article. This third patron had never used the library before and was impressed with how easily we found the article, and that our only charge for the service was the cost of the photocopies. Technical Services Technical Services is gearing up for a video withdrawal project in December. There are several reasons for the collection team approval of the elimination of the HPL video collections by the end of the year. Due to their age and the library’s inability to replace or add new titles for over the past five years, videos are not going to receive RFID tags. Circulation has dropped, and the condition and viewing quality of many of the tapes are poor. Signage will be posted in November to inform the public of the withdrawal, scheduled for the middle of December. It will also alert patrons of a sale of the videos by the Ground Floor, planned for February 2010. Youth Services Children’s Services rdth Fifteen 3 – 5 graders and Children’s Librarian Julie Westby had fun solving the mystery at the Crime Caper Mystery program on a no-school day for public schools during Teacher’s Convention. Fifty-two children from Wilson Elementary School third grade classes visited the Children’s Room where they heard stories and learned what the library has to offer, thanks to the programming efforts of Karin Timmermann and Julie Westby. Children’s Room staff also planned and presented storytime programs at Montessori Children’s House and Cradles to Crayons. Young Adult Services Sharon Grover and Laurie Bartz, in partnership with the School District of Janesville, organized and presented Listening for Literacy: Audioliterature and Teen Readers. This all-day workshop on adolescent literacy was funded in part with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services which administers the Library Services and Technology Act. Rebecca Haefner and Elizabeth Hough created wonderful handouts for participants, Emrick Gunderson designed a web page and database to track registration, and Laurie Bartz and librarians from Craig and Parker High Schools coordinated a teen listener’s panel of local students who shared information about their listening habits with the audience of teachers and school and public librarians. Duane Brewer filmed the teen panel for JATV and will also make this available for viewing on the library’s website, where teachers and others will also find additional information from the workshop. UW Rock County Assistant Campus Dean of Student Services Kristin Fillhouer presented Scholarships and Financial Aid 101, an informative and insightful workshop attended by high school juniors, seniors and parents. Folders and numerous handouts were provided by Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation. Laurie Bartz and Diana McDonald attended training in Madison, WI, in preparation for College Goal Sunday 2010. Hedberg is the first public library in the state to host CGS. High school seniors and adults returning to school will have the opportunity to complete financial aid forms at the event and receive one-on-one assistance from area financial aid officers. College Goal Sunday Weekend Edition is scheduled at HPL on February 20, 2010. The Wrestlemania Reading Challenge was launched for middle and high school students during Teen Read Week. Students who read ten books, turn in a log and design a bookmark will have a chance to win Wrestlemania products and a trip for two to Wrestlemania XXVI in Phoenix. The program is sponsored by YALSA and World Wrestling Entertainment. Wildwood Theatres and Teen Central partnered to offer a New Moon Fanfiction Writing and Poster Contest in anticipation of the release of the new movie. Students who entered the contest were given a free voucher to a special showing of New Moon at Movies 10 courtesy of Wildwood Theatres. Contest winners will receive New Moon merchandise. Posters will be displayed at the theatre and in Teen Central after the judging takes place. Other programs for teens included a Teen Murder Mystery Night, Teen Advisory Board meeting, B-Force Middle School Book Club and a new TAB Web Committee meeting.