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#4 Reports A. Activities Report Hedberg Public Library Activity Report December 2011 Adult Services Bilingual Outreach During December, René met with Martha Gammons (Arrowhead Library System) to discuss the ALS webpage with resources for Spanish speakers. The same resources will be used on the HPL Spanish pages. HPL hosted the Las Posadas program. Thanks to René’s hard work, the event was enjoyed by more than 50 people. The event features a wonderful partnership between HPL and the School District of Janesville’s high school Spanish classes. René returned a phone call to someone from Pittsburgh, PA who saw the article in Great People, Great Stories about her and the work she does at HPL. The caller offered information about a Federal migrant education program to share with Latinos who come to the library. Adult Services December was a quiet month for adult programming. Only one program was on the schedule (Touring by Bus). The three senior sites (Cedar View, St. Elizabeth’s Nursing Home, and Regency House) enjoyed programs about Christmas in other countries. Residents were treated to stories and trivia about Christmas celebrations. Due to low attendance at recent book discussion sessions at Riverview Heights, the program has been suspended for a few months. Jean and the activity director at Riverview Heights are considering several ideas to substitute for the book discussion activity. Collection Development Expectations of an increase in OverDrive downloads over the holidays were well-founded. December statistics show a record 1453 e-book circulations, a twenty per cent increase over the previous month. The added copies purchased for HPL cardholders through the Advantage program accounted for a portion of the increase. It also meant more satisfied users as they were able to find popular titles available for immediate download. The WPLC Selection Committee will be ordering a significant number of new titles in 2012, due to increased funding of a million dollars for content from the Wisconsin library systems. Human Resources/Accounting The annual staff breakfast was held December 14. Service awards were presented. For 30 years of service: Janet Morehart and Virginia Darrah ; 20 years of service: Anita Day; 15 years of service: Steve Wenzel, Jenny Twardzik, Laurie Bartz, and Barbara Cullen; 5 years of service: Karin Timmermann, Shannon Murphy-Tollefsrud, Carolyn Messer, Ellen Hackbarth, Sharon Grover, Burdette Richter, Heather Myers, and Elizabeth Hough. Congratulations and thank you to all these staff members for your dedication. “I Made a Difference” awards were presented to Sharon Alfano, Emrick Gunderson, Helene Ramsdell, Laurel Fant and Anita Day for their respective roles in putting the annual program together. A paid invoice list, a preliminary December operating statement, and a 2012 operating statement has been included with your packet. As of the board mailing date, 2012 expenses have not been recorded, but the 2012 statement does provide you with the new account numbers and budgeted amounts. These documents will continue to evolve as we learn the New World Systems accounting program. Information Services We purchased a new Minolta MS6000 MKII Microfilm reader, printer and software out of note issue funds, and it was installed by Naviant on December 15. This machine replaces one of the two Minolta 605 reader-printers purchased in the first half of the 1990s. Parts and supplies for the 605s are no longer manufactured, so once we run out of toner we will not be able to purchase additional supplies. The lack of parts also makes the 605 more difficult to maintain, and we are charged a higher service contract for these older machines. Patrons and staff use our microfilm equipment to access back issues of the Janesville Gazette or the New York Times, back issues of magazines, film and fiche materials received through InterLibrary Loan or non-library sources. The new MS6000 is connected to both a printer and to a computer with an image scanner. Now when a patron finds pertinent information, he or she has a choice of either printing an image or to scanning it to a flash drive. We will distribute Federal and State tax forms again this year. Last year the IRS stopped mailing Federal tax forms to individual homes, and this year the Wisconsin Dept of Revenue will join them. Since no tax forms - federal or state - will show up in anyone’s mailbox, we expect there will be continued demand for the print forms here at the library. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue will have staff available to answer tax questions one day every other week between January 23 and April 16. We have received twelve applicants so far for the open 50% Reference Librarian position, formerly held by Laura Gottlieb. We expect to begin interviewing candidates the week of January 23. Question of the Month – How many minor children are homeless in Janesville? The librarian searched through a number of sources and found a Janesville Gazette article from October 10, 2010 titled “Child poverty rate has been rising for years”. The article named Ann Forbeck as Janesville School District’s homeless education coordinator. The librarian called Ms. Forbeck who reported that 276 Janesville School District students have been homeless at one point or another since the start of the 2011-2012 school year. Technical Services End of year statistics reflect another year where selectors and TS staff maintained a balance in the adding of new titles to the collection and the withdrawal of dated, non-circulating works. Approximately 750 more items were withdrawn than added. Total withdrawals included more than a thousand books on cassette. Elimination of this collection provided room for the addition of our new Blu-ray collections. Some money for the Blu-rays came from print funds that were under-expended at year’s end. Selector Rebecca Diedrick used the money to order a significant number of titles in Blu-ray format. However, patrons will be limited to one checkout until the collection grows. Youth Services Children’s Services Regular programming ended the second week of December. Awesome Activities had a full rdth complement of 3 through 5 graders making gingerbread houses with Shannon Murphy- Tollefsrud. All of the students were very excited to show off their masterpieces, ranging from the usual style to a house fashioned like a log cabin to a castle, complete with a moat. Our stalwart teen volunteers spent almost an hour washing frosting off the plastic tablecloths after the program. Several kindergarten and preschool groups enjoyed programs both inside and outside the library rdth and the 3 – 6 graders at the Boys and Girls Club participated in a rousing Readers Theater performance of Cobweb Christmas, complete with a chorus singing “O Christmas Tree.” Young Adult Services Printz Book Club members met at Craig High School to discuss Monster by Walter Dean Myers, the first Printz Award-winning book. TAB members broke into groups to talk about programs and prizes for the teen Summer Reading Program, Own the Night. Officers led the discussions and took notes. Following TAB, 20 teens attended a Paper Ornaments program. Rebecca Haefner and Laurie Bartz provided examples and materials for several ornament designs including bird and bulb- shaped ornaments. Completed ornaments now decorate Teen Central. Our final program of the year gave teens the opportunity to apply temporary tattoos using henna powder and pre-mixed paste. Teens continue to apply and interview for volunteer positions in Youth Services. Twenty middle and high school students have volunteered at Children’s programs this school year. Teens contributed 19 volunteer hours in December. Other:  Laurie Bartz participated in a College Goal Wisconsin (CGW) State Committee Meeting at Fox Valley Technical College where she: Presented Development Committee progress report. o Discussed CGW 2012 budget, program presenters, volunteers, FAFSA training, o scholarships, Wisconsin Covenant, sites and outreach. Discussed CGW 2013 sites and possible funding sources. o  Sharon Grover met with Kathy Boguszewski to continue discussing ways that School District of Janesville (SDJ) innovation specialists and high school library media specialists can collaborate with HPL youth services staff to better serve students and their teachers.  Laurie Bartz attended a JM4C Communications Meeting where target audiences and media sources were identified.  Sharon Grover met with Rep. Amy Loudenbeck to discuss broadband issues in Wisconsin, including WiscNet.  Laurie Bartz, a member of the Janesville Virtual Academy Board, participated in their December meeting.  Sharon Grover and Laurie Bartz attended the December book discussion at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center on the UW-Madison campus.  Julie Westby, Laurie Bartz, Mary Buelow, and Sharon Grover met with the SDJ innovation specialists and high school library media specialists to showcase special features of the HPL website particularly of use to teachers and to give a tour of the library.