Report of the Library Director for January 2009

Circulation
Circulation for January was 4,240 items. This is a 14.7% increase over last month, but 4.9% less than last year, so we did get a bump in circulation, but not quite as much as last year. 4,240 is the number of times items owned by Upton Library were checked out, so this is an evaluation of the popularity of our collection.
The number of items physically checked out at our circulation desk in January was 4,268. This number includes both items we own and items we requested from other libraries, so it is an evaluation of how busy our circulation desk is.
Because we send out almost as many items as we request in, there is not much difference between these two measures.

Collection Development
We added 73 items to our collection in January. We have also processed our new encyclopedia set and juvenile animal collection. The replaced encyclopedias were donated to the Memorial Elementary school library.
After considerable discussion about our movie collection and debating the merits of changing how we assign titles to the Adult vs the Juvenile collection, Lisa and I have decided not to make any changes.

Laptop Computer / Wireless Project
After gathering some input from other libraries currently circulating laptop computers to patrons, I think we should start slowly by purchasing 2-3 mid-quality laptops, and not attempting to offer printing capability. The next step will be to price out the specific computers and then prepare a funding request to the Upton Men’s Club or Friends of the Library. We may also need a more powerful wireless router to provide internet coverage to the entire library.

ULTRA Boardgame Afternoons
The existence of Kaleidoscope bookstore has helped bring some new members into the ULTRA Teen group, as they enjoy getting drinks and snacks and then relaxing at the library in the afternoons. Twice during January, ULTRA held semi-spontaneous game days, playing Scrabble, Boggle and Apples to Apples. Click here for some photos!

Programs
Library book group: met on Thursday, January 29th as a snow date.
Senior book group: 9 people met on January 6th.
Thursday storytime averaged 12 children per session.
TinyTots lapsit averaged 26 participants. Once again, we are struggling with space issues for TinyTots.
Teen Tuesday was attended by 14 young adults.
Library Table: 4 visits, averaged 5 patrons and 7 items.


Volunteers
12 items were delivered to two patrons on January 6th.

Upcoming Events in February
The storyteller / entertainer “Big Joe” is coming to Upton during February vacation week. The event is organized by the library, funded by FULTI, and will be held in Nipmuc Auditorium.

Lisa is currently arranging a time and place for a presentation by a local family who have driven across the country in a vegetable oil-fueled car, and make videos of the experience to share on youtube (a free online video-sharing site). The presentation will be about both the “veggie-car” and about self-publicizing through youtube.

For more info about these events, visit the StoryTime blog at http://UptonStoryTime.blogspot.com


Staff
Lisa has started the next semester of her MLS.
Regina Young is taking an intensive course in genealogical research. While not directly related to the library, the skills she learns will allow her to provide even more assistance to patrons interested in their family history.


Plans for Next Month

1) Work on FY10 budget

2) Complete funding request to Men’s Club

3) Continue Adult non-fiction weeding project.