Circulation
Circulation for June was 5,157, not quite as high as last June but still reflects the large increase of library use that comes with the summer program. (13.6% higher than May 2008).
Collection Development
We added 113 items to the collection in June.
In the past, I have asked all our materials suppliers to not send any items in the last two weeks of June, so we can be sure all our accounts are paid and cleared for the new fiscal year. This year I decided not to put any stops on new shipments. The one week into July before vouchers are due should give us enough time to take care of the financial side without having to impose an interruption in our flow of new materials.
Magazine Subscriptions: I have seen some negative comments posted by other librarians about the service they received from EVA subscriptions. I had a telephone conversation with one local director who is using EVA for the second year, and based on that discussion I am going to proceed with moving our business to EVA for the next year, but I will be keeping a careful eye on our magazines and will be prepared to look elsewhere in FY10 if we don’t receive excellent service.
Programs
Library book group: met on June 25th.
Senior book group: 7 people met on June 3rd.
Thursday storytime averaged 7 children per session. For the rest of the summer, we are holding only the morning 10:30 storytime. Afternoon session will return in the fall.
TinyTots lapsit averaged 16 participants, significantly higher than usual.
Teen Tuesday was attended by 13 young adults.
Library Table: 4 visits, averaged 4 patrons and 9 items, which is an increase over previous months.
Special Events
Roughly 50 people attended the presentation and book signing by local author Ann Davidson on June 17th.
All of our animal programs were well attended. The longer duration and “walk through” format worked very well this year, wait times and crowding were greatly reduced from previous years, even though attendance was higher. Holding four programs was a strain both financially and on staff time. Next year we expect to reduce to two or at most three of these animal events.
David Polansky animal songs: June 4th, attendance 50
New England Aquarium tide pool: June 11th, attendance 223
Lil Folk Farm petting zoo: June 18th, attendance 432
Rainforest Reptiles: June 25th, attendance 224
Curious George visited the library on June 13th. Thank you to Barnes and Noble bookstores for lending us the costume free of charge, and to Jody Vaughan for wearing it. We did not get an exact count of attendance at this event, but estimate 200.
15 more pre-teens attended the Red Cross Babysitting course on June 19th and 20th. This class always generates a waiting list, and we are holding another session in August, which is nearly full just from the waiting list. Participants pay $50 to the Red Cross, and the library organizes registrations, reserves a meeting space, and provides equipment.
Summer Program
293 people attended our kick-off theatre performance of “The Ugly Duckling” presented by the theatre department of UNH. Thanks to all the patrons who came together and helped us move the set inside the auditorium when it started raining.
4 children participated in the first session of the gardening book group for ages 9-12.
32 children participated in the first session of the Magic Tree House book group for ages 5-8.
As of June 30th, we had 564 children registered for the program (compared to our final total of 514 for last year), and they had logged 504 hours of reading time.
Volunteers
15 items were delivered to 2 patrons on June 25th.
Upcoming Events in July
BubbleMania, July 7th at 7:00 in Nipmuc Auditorium.
All our summer book groups and storytimes continue, including our new Spanish Storytime.
Staff
Eileen has completed her six month probationary period, and the trustees have voted to accept her as a regular part time employee. Congratulations!
After some discussion and revision, I have worked out a consistent schedule to reflect our new hours. The staff and I are not happy with the required reductions in hours, but everyone understands that we have limited control over our budget constraints.
Book Groups
Several new book groups in town have asked the library to help supply multiple copies of titles to their members. I am happy to have more residents make use of our interlibrary loan services, and we have settled on a recommended system for book group requests that is working well. (each group has a single contact person and identifying name, requests are placed by the library instead of on individual patron’s accounts.)
Community Information Display
Two parts of the CID are up and ready at the Library: the copies of town bylaws and committee reports, and the calendar of upcoming public meetings.
I have been receiving our DVD copies of videorecorded meetings, but am still working to get them correctly cataloged in the circulation system.
The Selectman’s office has informed me that the library will still be able to receive copies of these recordings, even with the budget reductions to the cable advisory service.
Plans for Next Month
1) Summer Program continues.
2) Finish the last vouchers from FY08, and begin gathering the information needed for annual reports to the state.
3) Finish the implementation of the Community Information Display
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