Report of Library Director for March 2015

Building Program complete  – Spring activity  – Swap Magazines

Circulation

March circulation activity was 4,744.  This is 13.1% higher than last month.  March of 2014 was the month the library was closed for renovations.  4,744 is 8.9% lower than March of 2013.

Laptops: 3.  Nooks: 2.   Games: 47.

Unique Patrons

March 2015: 1,854 items checked out to 733 unique patrons.

Digital Content Use

BYKI: 1 user for 3.8 hours, learning French.

Overdrive: eBook circulation to Upton patrons: 292, eAudio circulations: 92.

Wowbrary:   We have 143 active subscribers to Wowbrary. (+2)

New Patron Registrations:  16 new patrons registered in March.

New Items: We added 178 items to the collection in March.

Passport Applications  processed in March: 19.

 

Programs
Library book group:  6 people met on March 25^th.
Senior book group: 8 people met on March 10^th.

Thursday storytime 5 sessions, averaged 5 children.
TinyTots lapsit 3 sessions, averaged 4 children.

Library Table: 4 visits, averaged 7 patrons and 20 items.

ESL classes: 3 classes, averaged 3 students.

Friends of the Library – Met once to renew museum passes.  Their annual meeting to select Directors will be April 9 at 11am.  Spring Booksale will be Saturday, May 23^rd.

Plans for Next Month
1) Sign contract with OPM
2) New shelving installed in main library

3) Plan for spring attic cleanout

Special Events – Matthew and Lee Ann attended MURSD’s technology night, sharing information on library cards and using Overdrive to borrow ebooks.

Upcoming April Events

April 21, Tuesday 2pm-4pm : Children’s Art workshop at Memorial Elementary, sponsored by Friends of Library.

April 25, Saturday 1pm : Diane Lewis - author visit and psychic medium demonstration in the Reading Room at the library.

Planning and Design Grant

Building Program is ready for review and approval by the Trustees.  Submitting the building program to the MBLC needs to be done by April 30^th.

Once the building program is complete we can request payment from the state for the first 80% of the grant funds.

OPM contract has been signed with Vertex Engineering, and they have already attended a feasibility committee meeting and started working on the Designer RFQ and Site RFP.

The next steps to accomplish are:

Start looking for a Designer / Architect

Write RFP to look for privately owned sites in town

Work with COA to write a joint building program.

Visit: http://sites.google.com/site/uptonlibraryplanning for the latest information on the planning and design process.

Library Improvements

New shelving for the main library arrived and is installed.  Staff moved a number of collections to use the new shelves.  Net gain was more space for Fiction, Large Print, Audiobooks and DVDs.

Electrician came in and properly hardwired the circulation desk.

Exterior door has been examined by contractor, and he is ordering parts.  No price estimate yet.

Budget: after paying for the shelving, we have $2,800 left.  That needs to pay the electrician and the door replacement, with hopefully some left over for the staff break room furnishings.  The door price might be higher than hoped, the hardware/crash bar is expensive, could easily be $2,000 or more for the door replacement.  If needed, I will use State Aid funds to finish the project.

Winter Storm Damage

DPW employees came out and put some patches on the two worst potholes in the parking lot.  Thank you to the DPW for responding quickly to my request.

The patches are temporary, and the rest of the lot is still in bad shape with a lot of cracks and crumbling asphalt.  I will continue talking with DPW and Town Manager about a long term fix.  We also need to figure out how to repair the hole in our sidewalk.

Magazine Swap Rack

I have removed our rarely-used pamphlet rack in the entryway, and put up a magazine swap rack for patrons to drop off and take used magazines.  I will be evaluating this service to see how it is used, and after a few months we can decide if we should keep the swap rack in place.