Report of the Library Director for October 2008

Circulation
Circulation for October was 4,468, a 2.2% increase over last month, and nearly identical (0.4% decrease) to October of 2007.

Collection Development
We added 108 items to the collection in October.
I was able to complete an initial pass through the mystery and fiction collections to implement our new collection policy prior to the booksale. Staff certainly appreciate have space to shelve returns, and while I have heard several comments to the effect of “some of my favorite books are gone”, we have not yet seen any immediate failures of the collection because of the new limitations. I am in the process of applying the same criteria to our storage collection, which will in turn allow me to do a second pass through the browsing collection and fill storage back up.
I have not been purchasing many new non-fiction titles in the last few months. Our non-fiction display shelf is sparse, and we have only 3-4 of the new york times bestseller list top 15 nonfiction. Most of the NYT bestsellers are political diatribes, religious tracts or celebrity memoirs, all categories which I have been purposely not selecting for the collection, unless we get specific patron requests.
The non-fiction titles that I do purchase have low circulation rates, and I am not sure if the demand is low because I haven’t been able to offer quality titles, or the titles don’t fit our collection because Upton patrons simply do not have a high desire for nonfiction titles. (the non fiction that does seem to circulate the most are lively biographies.)
I will continue looking for more non-fiction that does appeal to our patrons, and any suggestions from Trustees or patrons will be appreciated.

Programs
Library book group: met on October 29th.
Senior book group: 9 people met on October 7th.
Thursday storytime averaged 9 children per session.
TinyTots lapsit averaged 28 participants. Make sure you look at the storytime blog (uptonstorytime.blogspot.com) to see the pictures of the tinytots children in their costumes on Halloween.
Teen Tuesday was attended by 12 young adults.
Library Table: 5 visits, averaged 6 patrons and 7 items.

Special Events in October
Annual First Grade Field Trip: over 100 new library cards were created for the first grade field trip from Memorial Elementary school.

The Ultra collection development book buying trip was cancelled and will be rescheduled for another date when more members are able to participate.

Volunteers
15 items were delivered to 2 patrons on October 15th.

Upcoming Events in November
FULTI is bringing Greg Maichack’s painting workshop back to Upton. The program is 6pm-8pm on Wed, Nov 12th, and has been moved to the art room at Memorial Elementary School. We have plenty of space left in this program, so call the library to register if you are interested. Greg brings a variety of professional quality art materials, and gives beginners a chance to explore, while giving tips and advice to experienced artists.

Our Closed days will be
Tuesday, Nov 11th, Closed
Wednesday, Nov 26th, Open 10-2, closing early
Thursday, Nov 27th, Closed
Friday, Nov 28th, Closed
Saturday, Nov 29th, Open 10-2 regular hours.

Plans for Next Month

1) Finish first pass of Storage weeding project.

2) Begin non-fiction weeding project.

3) Add more material to the Community Information display.