Loading...
#4 Reports A. Activities Report Hedberg Public Library Activity Report June 2012 Circulation Services Total circulation for the month of June 2012 was 86,678. Our busiest day this month was Tuesday, June 12, when we checked out 4,578 items and checked in 3,931 – 8,509 items went through our hands that day. An average of 82.55%% of all checkouts were done using our self- checkout machines this month. We ranged from a high of 88.84% on Sunday, June 24, to a low of 73.93 % on Friday June 8. We had a total of 60,863 library visits in June. We have added five new people to our department in June. Our four new shelvers, Casey Muth, Anna Fowler, Jenna Hernandez, and Samantha Jackson, are working hard and learning quickly. Our new Senior Circulation Assistant, Jenny Swales, has done an exceptional job training them. We are seeing a marked decrease in the number of materials waiting to be shelved. We have also hired a new 20-hour a week Circulation Assistant: Crystal Daye. Crystal has worked for the Chicago Public Library since 2004 when she was hired as a teenaged shelver. She was promoted to Library Clerk II and has had front desk and workroom experience that parallels what we expect of our staff. Crystal’s first day will be Monday July, 9. Since she was hired specifically for nights and weekends, I will do her first week’s general training and then hand her off to Jenny for the specifics of her assigned shifts. Maureen Birchfield, our new Hedberg @ Home Coordinator continues do a great job. She has responded quickly to several requests from new clients and does a great job coaching volunteers on their interactions with them. In June we sent 593 items to our extension sites and 153 items to homebound clients, a total of 746 items. We have supplied 3,964 items to remote sites in the first six months of this year! The circulation displays created by Linda Kerr for June were: Large display- "Come along for the ride," a display of toy trucks and cars sure to delight our Summer Reading Program visitors. HPL has no shortage of fun and informative material on the topic of big working trucks and the jobs they do. Stories about the people who make a living operating these rigs are also included among the books and movies to take. A friendly fireman (ALS standup figure) stands guard over the display. Adult material is also incorporated into the checkout selection. A sign on display reads- "HPL would like to thank Tim Haney and family for loaning these vehicles, once beloved childhood toys, so they could be enjoyed by the young and young at heart." Old service desk: 1)River reading continued. 2) In memory of Ray Bradbury, American fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery fiction writer. 3)Patriotic display honoring the Fourth of July Center isle case-Louis Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright remained as interest stayed strong. New book case- Artist of the Month, “Fred Astaire” featuring the timeless movies that danced their way into our hearts forever. Collection Development Due to lack of a quorum, the collection team did not meet in June. Many of the selectors are drawn from the ranks of the reference staff, which has been rather lean the past months. Now that the vacant positions have been filled, the collection team should be back to full complement by the end of summer. In the meantime, remaining selectors of materials for the adult collection have temporarily taken on additional selection assignments. As a result, maintenance of the collection hasn’t suffered over the past six months. New print, audio book, and large print titles have been added as they have been published. The collection manager appreciates selectors’ extra efforts. Human Resources/Accounting Staff changes for January to June 2012: We said a fond farewell to Jean Yeomans, Linda Hermans, Kate Hull and Barbara Cullen. We welcomed new shelvers Rebekah Cullum, Samantha Jackson, Casey Muth, Anna Fowler, and Jena Hernandez. We welcomed back shelver Anna Golackson and youth assistant Kay Harrison. JATV added Nathan Johnson as a production assistant. Beth Webb was promoted to reference librarian from senior circulation assistant. Jennifer Swales was promoted to senior circulation assistant from circulation assistant. Laurie Bartz went from part-time YA librarian and youth associate to full-time YA librarian. Maureen Birchfield added the new 4 hr/wk Hedberg@Home coordinator position to her 20 hr/wk materials processing supervisor position. In Accounting, the payables list includes a $5,050 payment to Comprise Technologies, Inc. for the annual software license and hardware and technical support agreement for the Smart Access Manager (SAM) system. Infogroup is being paid $8,905 for the annual renewal of the Reference USA electronic database. The Map Solutions, LLC bill for $2,916.50 is for 55 county plat books. The operating statement includes a two-month electricity payment of $17,633.55. Miscellaneous revenue lags behind as usual at this time of year, waiting for the state-reimbursed computer payment which makes up about 30% of the miscellaneous revenue amount, as well as several smaller payments expected at the end of the calendar year. Information Services We have two new Information Services employees! Nicole (Nikki) Bolka is our newest full time Reference Librarian. She will take the position formerly held by Kate Hull. Nicole will start at Hedberg July 30, 2012, and will work on the Information Desk approximately twenty hours a week, select materials, and work on a wide variety of professional level projects. Nicole is originally from Ashland, WI, and went to library school in Madison. She has been a library assistant at the Oregon Public Library for the past five years, and previously worked for Northern Waters Library Service. Nicole was also a VISTA volunteer in Maine. Melissa Carollo is our new Programming Librarian. She will take the position formerly held by Jean Yeomans. Melissa will start at Hedberg August 6, 2012, and will be in charge of the Parker Programs and the Art Wall. She will also work on the Information Desk ten to fifteen hours a week and select materials. Melissa is originally from Madison and attended library school there. Melissa has been the Teen librarian at the Waupaca Public Library for the past four years. We are pleased to have Nicole and Melissa join our staff! Reference Librarian Beth Webb joined with the one of the “Wednesday Walk” programs sponsored by the Rock County Council on Aging. The Wednesday Walks are walking programs designed for mobility for seniors. The first walk on June 6 started at the library where Beth talked about our services for seniors. Attendees showed particular interest in computer classes, Kindle use, and the Janesville room. Scott Henning from the Council on Aging then led the group on a walk through downtown Janesville. Scott pointed out some history and architecture, and Beth was able to chime in with additional local history stories. Reference Librarian Diana McDonald and Bilingual Coordinator Rene Bue represented Hedberg Public Library at the 4th Annual Community Resource Fair for those who have been or are involved in the criminal justice system. Ex-offenders and their families face challenges and restrictions as they re-enter normal society, and the fair is intended to acquaint them with community agencies and the resources they offer. Diana was an active member of the committee that planned this event. Rene Bue and Michelle Dennis held the third program of the “Common Threads: Our Community Tapestry” program series on June 19. This program featured Marc Perry of Community Action, who spoke about the Platinum Rule. This is the “golden rule” with the added twist of accommodating the other person’s preferences, to treat others the way they want to be treated. Rene also translated information about computer classes into Spanish for Martha Gammons at the Arrowhead Library System. The Interlibrary Loan Department was closed to incoming requests from other libraries for a week in June, while Interlibrary Loan Coordinator Theresa Biele was on vacation. During this time we did not accept requests from other libraries for HPL materials. InterLibrary Loan Assistant Anita Day, however, continued to process materials other libraries sent to HPL for Hedberg library patrons. Question of the month: A patron wanted to know how to crack a whip. He wanted to show his grandson how to handle a bullwhip safely, and he was hoping for a book he could check out and take home with him. The librarian tried several searches in Rockcat. One search pulled up a book called Primitive and Pioneer Sports for Recreation Today which was originally published in 1937. This book has a whole chapter on whips (as well as lariat throwing, log rolling, tomahawks, darts and blowguns), but it is Reference and cannot be checked out. The patron made some photocopies then asked if there was anything else. The librarian checked Wiscat and Worldcat for titles available at other libraries, found a DVD called Whip Cracking Made Easy, and requested it through Interlibrary Loan for the patron. She also searched the internet for information and found a great number of YouTube videos on the subject. The librarian showed the patron how to search for the information on YouTube. She did recommend he preview the videos first before he showed them to his grandson, as some are intended for mature audiences only and might not be appropriate for PG or PG-13 viewing. Technical Services A look at technical services mid-year statistics shows staff performed yeoman’s work over the past six months. Over 12,400 items were ordered, cataloged, and processed during that time, with over 3000 audiovisual titles added. The majority of the items added were single copies, requiring separate catalog records for each title. In addition, the technical services clerks withdrew 11,000 items from the collection. Keeping up-to-date with deletion of non-circulating, superseded, or damaged materials not only makes room for new materials, but also provides many of the titles sold at The Ground Floor. Low-use materials are recycled, with the money going to the Friends of the Library. A mid-year review of OverDrive downloadable book statistics reflects a continued increase in circulation to Hedberg patrons. Over 10,552 titles were downloaded, double the number circulated at this time in 2011. E-books account for two thirds of the circulation. Youth Services Children’s Services June saw the end of school visits and the beginning of the summer reading program. This year the library is offering several different program streams to keep children reading during the summer. Sweet Dreams is our new program for children age three and under. Parents and care givers are encouraged to fill in sheets with a variety of early literacy activities, including singing, reading, playing and other fun activities that build little ones’ pre-reading abilities. A small rubber duck and a free book are the prizes for this program. Dream Big is the program for children ages four through fifth grade, who read through four logs to accumulate prizes that include stickers, temporary tattoos, small stuffed toys, and culminate in a free book (donated by publishers). The smaller prizes are furnished through funds from the Friends of the Library. At month’s end, Sweet Dreams had 247 children registered and Dream Big had 1149. We have also been making visits to day camps to enroll children in a program designed to be easy for counselors and kids who may not make it to the library often during the summer. These children will receive a small prize at the half-way point of their program and a free book when they complete their reading logs. Numbers for these programs are not yet firm. The Tuesday programs continue to attract nice-sized groups that are large enough to make the expense worthwhile and small enough to let everyone enjoy the performers. In June we had a musician, a magician, and a juggler. The new arrangement of the room and a different programming emphasis seems to be helping our circulation. We are up a bit more than 3500 from this time last year. Young Adult Services School visits promoting Own the Night, the teen summer library program, continued in June with presentations at Franklin, Edison and Marshall middle schools. Online and In-house registration for Own the Night opened on Monday, June 4. By month’s end, 445 middle and high school students had registered to read at least seven hours for each reading chart. Students can complete up to four charts through July 31. Incentive prizes were provided by The Friends of Hedberg Public Library and Pizza Hut of Southern Wisconsin and include pizza coupons, glow necklaces, light-up pens, books (donated by various publishers) and as prize drawings, movies, audiobook baskets, an iPod shuffle and a telescope. Events for teens included a Percy Jackson themed Summer Book Club, Cosmic T-Shirts, Drop- In Craft (duct tape lanyards and wallets), Gobs of Glow (glow jars and bracelets) and the Printz Book Club. Julie Westby and Laurie Bartz conducted three training sessions for teens interested in volunteering in the Children’s Room this summer. Teens contributed 162.5 hours in the month of June helping at the Check-In station for babies and children and at various programs for children and families. Other:  Katie Miller, summer intern, and Laurie Bartz attended the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU) Nonprofit Internship Program 2012 Institute at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Hedberg Public Library was selected to host a summer intern along with several nonprofit organizations from Rock, Walworth, Jefferson and Milwaukee counties. WAICU facilitates the program which receives financial support from the Batterman Foundation.  Sharon Grover and Laurie Bartz attended the Annual Convention of the American Library Association in Anaheim, CA. We attended meetings of the 2013 Printz Committee, and a variety of sessions with authors and publishers, as well as sessions describing ways to enhance current library practices. We enjoyed hearing the narrators of the Odyssey-Award-winning audiobooks read portions of those books and then were fortunate to listen to the 2012 Printz honor authors and award-winning author discuss their work.  Camille Rammer and Shannon Murphy-Tollefsrud presented stories and our new summer program for children age three and under to 63 children and adults at the Rotary Botanical Gardens monthly Story and Stroll event.  Julie Westby is partnering in a program to bring books and a library presence to children living in a trailer park at the south edge of Janesville. Started by teachers at Jackson elementary school, this program provides access to books for children who are unable to make it to either the school or the library.  Karin Timmermann and our UW-Madison field study student took a Library Explorers program out to the Boys and Girls Club where 37 children participated in making rockets after listening to a story.