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#4 Reports A. Activities Report Hedberg Public Library Activity Report May 2012 Circulation Services Total circulation for the month of May 2012 was 85,732. Our busiest day by far was Tuesday, May 29, the day after the two-day Memorial Day holiday. We checked out 4,362 items and checked in 5,038 – 9,400 items in a single day! It was also our busiest day for foot traffic when 2,294 people came through our gates! The total number of library visits for May was approximately 53,921. Our tracking problems from March are not yet resolved and Emrick is continuing to investigate why our computer is not saving the history. This month an average of 81.06 % of all checkouts were done using our self-checkout machines. We ranged from a high of 85.33% on Monday, May 7, to a low of 72.92 % on Tuesday May 8. Through the month, use of the self-check machines was more than 80% on 20 of the 29 days we were open. May saw several personnel changes in our department. First, Barbara Cullen, one of our two full time Circulation Assistants retired. To try to cover the work load, we have hired four 10-hour a week shelvers – one will leave us at the end of the summer to go back to library school. We will also be hiring one 20-hour a week Circulation Assistant specifically for nights and weekends. Hedberg @ Home, our homebound and extension site delivery service, is now part of Circulation Services. Maureen Birchfield of Technical Services has taken over the co-ordination of the program under Michelle Dennis’ supervision. She continues to work on an accurate list of home sites and volunteers. In May we sent 496 items to our extension sites and 183 items to homebound clients, a total of 679 items. The displays for May were as follows.: “Outdoor Projects Become Outdoor Pleasures!" Our Large Display featured materials on all topics of outdoor work that improve our outdoor surroundings. Many items from the DYI neighborhood were included, for example building tree houses and decks. Planting and gardening books were also displayed.The old service desk had several displays in May 1)Shakespeare... “Take him for all in all, We shall not look upon his like again.” Works of the author plus other titles inspired by the Brad of Avon. A small sign was also set up at JPAC to encouraging theatre goers attending a Shakespeare themed production to visit the library and (re)discover Shakespeare through the vast and varied collection on this topic. 2)River Reading-A bibliography committee booklist of the month. 3)In Memory of Maurice Sendak-beloved children's author, who passed away in May 2012. 4)In Memory of Carlos Fuentes-Mexican novelist who also died in May 2012. The center isle case features Louis Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright with Picturing America glossy posters showcasing samples of their work. Other library material on their lives and work complete the display. The “New” book case had featured two “Authors of the Month: 1)William Shakespeare, Bard of Avon. 2)Sir Conan Doyle (May 1859-July 1930), author of Sherlock Holmes now running on PBS. A small display on the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and author Mark Twain was set up in the public meeting room for a book discussion led by Carol Kuntzelman. It was part of Rock County’s Big Read. Collection Development Members of the collection team were doing double duty the past month, due to retirements from Information Services. Selectors of adult collection subject and genre areas volunteered to take on other duties until the positions were filled. Collection Manager Carol Kuntzelman and new selector Beth Webb met for an orientation session and to identify selection responsibilities. Beth will now be selecting legal, home economics, and travel print materials. As a member of the Bibliography Committee, Kate Hull completed two new booklists before she accepted her new position. The popular “River Readin’” includes both fiction and nonfiction titles with life on the river being the common theme; and her latest is on natural disasters which is always a fascinating subject. Her selection of tiles is compelling and inspirational, as well as educational. The collection team will miss Kate’s enthusiasm and expertise. Human Resources/Accounting In Human Resources news, Debbie Hessian-Kjornes, Information Assistant, received a “tip of the hat” for her exceptional service to a particularly challenging patron. As of 6/14/12, we have received 133 applications for the various job openings posted in May, with three positions still open. Nine new employees (in addition to 5 regular HPL staff this includes 1 Ground Floor Prep, 1 JATV and 2 seasonal) have been added this month to our new payroll system now linked with the City of Janesville. New World payroll module went live June 4, 2012. In Accounting, the payables list includes a $5,000 payment to S.C.F., Inc. for work on return fans and pumps. Proquest LLC is being paid $2,250 for the annual renewal of an electronic database called Ancestry Library. Ebsco Information’s $12,200.40 payment is for the annual renewal of 279 periodicals, from Absolute Sound to Yoga Journal. The operating statement includes an equipment amount of $4,208.53 for the new lights installed in the underground parking lot. Information Services We have received 25 applications for the librarian/programmer position formerly held by Jean Yeomans, and 22 for the Reference Librarian position formerly held by Kate Hull. These totals include several candidates who are interested in both positions. We are lining up interviews throughout the month of June as schedules allow. With two open positions, reference librarians and the Information Services Department Head are all spending more hours per week at the Information Desk than normal. Bilingual Coordinator Rene Bue and Reference Librarians Mary Buelow and Diana McDonald attended “Pathways to Employment; Preparing Wisconsin Job Seekers”, a one day conference in Janesville on May 15. They gained insight into the mindset of low-skill job seekers and the challenges they face, as well as resources and contacts to local organizations who are working with this population. Hedberg librarian Diana McDonald and Arrowhead trainer Sheryl Oberle successfully developed a “Financial Literacy” class, which is the first component of Arrowhead’s 2012 LSTA grant. The class covers resources and financial calculators for budgeting, buying a home, buying a car, retirement planning, student loans and other debt, and credit ratings. They also offer tips on spotting scams and avoiding phishing websites. Diana and Sheryl co-taught the class to staff from Arrowhead member libraries on May 24. Diana will teach the class at Hedberg on June 12, and again later this summer. Sheryl will teach it at other Arrowhead Libraries. A number of our computer users are distance education students accessing their schoolwork. They go to their college or university web site and log on with their student ID to collect homework assignments and turn in completed papers and projects. Each school web site works most effectively with certain versions of the most common browsers – Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari -- but may not work at all with different versions of that same browser. This is particularly true for Internet Explorer (IE). Some college web sites work fine with IE 7 but don’t work at all in IE 9. Other college’s sites work with IE 9, but not IE 7. Since we cannot select a version of IE that works for all college web sites, Emrick Gunderson added the Firefox browser to the desktop of all public computers. Now students have a second option if their college web site does not work with the IE version the library is using. Bilingual Activities I will bring the Bilingual Activities report to the June Board Meeting. Information Item of the month: Alyssa, the volunteer who works on the High School Yearbook project, passed on the following information: The 1945 Janesville High School Yearbook includes a list of all Janesville High School Alumni who died in World War II as of March 20, 1945. The yearbook dedication reads: “This is our school. On May 31, three hundred and three of us will join the ranks of the four thousand nine hundred and ninety-three boys and girls who, since 1923, have been graduated from Janesville High School. Of our former graduates two thousand two hundred and nineteen have answered the call to serve their country. To sixty-five of these, we dedicate this book. They gave their lives.” Technical Services Technical Services cataloger Hope Moccero cataloged the newest Hedberg Public Library neighborhood—Children’s Graphic Novels. Approximately 500 titles were added to the catalog and processed by staff for the new collection. The books were ready for the summer reading program, and, I understand, a popular addition to the children’s collection. Youth Services Children’s Services Regular programming ended for the semester in mid-May and visits to schools to promote our summer reading program began at the end of May. We were very excited to visit every public elementary school in Janesville and all but one private school. Especially for the public schools, this is a better return for our effort than we’ve had in the last few years. The Innovation/Media Specialists really worked with us to get the word out about our fun summer program. In May we did 23 presentations at the schools and saw 3,205 children and teachers. Interviews were held for the position left vacant by Linda Hermans’ retirement and on May 21 we welcomed Maria Dietrich to our staff as the new Youth Services Librarian Assistant. Maria just graduated from the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Services (SLIS) and brings lots of experience with collections and public library programming to the department. Maria is also very interested in sharing new technologies with children and families, which is something we are looking forward to implementing in the near future. After years of weeding and months of planning, we shifted major pieces of the children’s collection to make room for the new juvenile graphic novels and to begin positioning the room for more effective service to all ages of children and their care takers in our efforts to continue growing readers – from birth through high school. More changes will take place at the end of the summer reading program. On May 23, our two summer college staff joined us to help get ready for both the children’s and teen’s summer programs. Angela Meadows, a new graduate of Carroll University, is back for her third summer and Katie Miller, a rising junior at Concordia University, is our new WAICU (Wisconsin Association for Independent Colleges and Universities) intern. Angela and Katie are both Janesville residents with fond memories of participating in summer programs when they were growing up. Young Adult Services The Printz Book Club met at Craig High School to discuss There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff, a book recently published for young adults. The students have decided that they will meet every other week during the summer to continue discussing the literary merits of the books we think might be Printz-worthy. We’ll supply lunch in return for their valuable perspectives. Other programs included a Teen Advisory Board meeting recognizing those serving as officers in 2011-2012 and high school graduates. In addition, five new teen volunteers completed the application process which includes interviews and contracts. School visits promoting Own the Night, the teen summer reading program, began in May at St. Patrick’s School. Presentations also took place at Marshall and Edison middle schools. Laurie Bartz visited 261 students at these schools and noted that they seem interested in the mythological theme. Other  Laurie Bartz attended the JM4C (Janesville Mobilizing for Change) monthly meeting and participated in the planning and hosting of the Town Hall Meeting sponsored by this group. The purpose of the Town Hall Meeting was to alert the community to the need to combat risk-taking behaviors by teens.  Laurie Bartz and Sharon Grover attended book discussion at the CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) at UW-Madison in preparation for June meetings of the real Printz Committee, which honors literary excellence in young adult literature.  Sharon Grover and Laurie Bartz met with Carrie Wolfson, a student at UW-Madison SLIS, who will be doing a field study project with the youth services department this summer.  Sharon Grover attended the Read on Wisconsin advisory committee meeting at the CCBC to help select the books for the 2012-2013 lists. Information about Read on Wisconsin can be found at http://readon.education.wisc.edu/.  Julie Westby and Sharon Grover met with Dr. Allison Kaplan, UW-Madison SLIS, for further planning of our presentation on the impact of early literacy training at the ALSC (Association for Library Services to Children) National Institute this coming September.  Sharon Grover met with Kris Koch, education coordinator at Rotary Botanical Gardens, to plan an August StoryWalk program at the gardens. This program would allow families to read a picture book at various points in the gardens.  Julie Westby and Sharon Grover met with staff from the Janesville Boys & Girls Club to plan outreach programs for their summer camp and drop-in groups.  Sharon Grover met with the Janesville Noon Optimists to share information about children’s programming at Hedberg Public Library.  Karin Timmermann and Sharon Grover met with a P4J (Preschool for Janesville) staff member to plan content and creation of early literacy kits.