Report of the Library Director for April 2013

Garden Day May 18^th – Town Meeting on May 9^th – Summer Program ready to start

Circulation
April circulation activity was 5,555, which is a 5.5% increase from last month, and 8.5% higher than previous years.   

March activity needs to be revised upwards to 5,248 items.  As I mentioned in my March report, the March statistics did not include the last few days of the month, because they were calculated on Apr 1^st.  With the new numbers, March 2013 activity was 11% below previous years.

Laptops: 12.  Nooks: 4.  Games: 80.

Unique Patrons

Upton Library currently has 2,385 items checked out to 534 unique patrons.

Digital Content Use

BYKI: In April, 8 users accessed byki for a total of 6.7 hours.  Our top languages were Portuguese, Greek and Spanish.

Overdrive: eBook circulation to Upton patrons: 174, eAudio circulations: 24. 

New Patron Registrations:  10 new patrons registered in April.

New Items: We added approximately 91 items to the collection in April.

Passport Applications processed in April: 1.

Programs
Library book group: 5 people met on April 24^th.
Senior book group: 9 people met on April 2^nd.

Thursday storytime averaged 8 children per session for 8 sessions.
TinyTots lapsit averaged 3 children per session for 2 sessions. 
Library Table: 4 visits, averaged 10 patrons and 38 items.

Lego Days: averaged 5 children per session for 4 sessions.

Special Events

Jungle Jim’s Jedi Training – 88 people attended on April 17^th.

Spanish Storytime – 6 children participated on April 25^th.

Local Author visit with Lauren Scheuer – 14 people attended on April 27^th.

Upcoming Events

Garden Day – plant swap, booksale, gardening presentations, May 18^th. 10-2

Plans for Next Month
1) Start hiring process for Clerk and Page
2) Summer Program 2013 publicity

3) RFP for project manager for Library improvements project

Evergreen Update

The new staff client (software that lets staff use the catalog and circulation system) is installed at all CWMARS libraries.  CWMARS continues to make improvements to Evergreen performance, we’ll see some in the next Evergreen update later in the summer.

Library Improvements

The library improvement project will be on the town meeting warrant for May 9^th ATM.  I have sent a letter to four mold testing firms defining the scope of our project and asking them to resubmit bids.  As of May 6^th, I have received two bids, the deadline is May 10^th.

At our meeting on May 13^th, I hope that we can discuss the next steps in the mold investigation and finding a project manager for the improvement project.

Garden Day 2013

Our third annual Garden Day will be held on May 18^th on the Library Lawn, from 10am to 2pm.  Activities planned for this year include: Plant Swap, Book sale, Worm Composting Demonstration, Beekeeping presentation, Mulching presentation.

Help us spread the word!

Passport Acceptance

Passport business continues to be very erratic, with over 20 passports in March and only 1 in April.  I have started the process of getting a second staff person (Jeff) trained as an acceptance agent.  Hopefully by early June, both of us will be able to accept passport applications.

Television Screen Purchase

I am ready to make a purchase of a television screen for use in the library, and will be asking the Trustees to approve spending up to $1,500 from the Goodfortune Library Fund.  I’d like to be able to move the screen around as needed, so the largest size we can buy is an outside width of 34 inches, that will allow us to install it inside a standard bookcase.  The screen will be used for our book and movie club summer program, and I’d like to restart our documentary movie program.  It can also be connected to a computer, giving us options for staff trainings and public workshops.

Summer Program 2013

The schedule of programs and events for this year’s summer program is complete.  Registration will begin on June 18^th, with our first event being the Little Red Wagon theatre troupe on Tuesday, June 25^th.

Staff Hiring

The process for hiring a Circulation Clerk and Library Page has begun with the internal posting.  The external posting will run until the end of May.  Applications will be screened in the first week of June, and I hope to schedule interviews for the third week in June.  The Trustee personnel sub-committee should assist with screening and interviewing the Circulation Clerk.  The Library Page is a seasonal position, so more of the process can be delegated to the Library Director.  I would like 1 or 2 trustees to attend the Page interviews.