Report of the Library Director for June 2011

Summer Reading begins! – Technology Nights begin – Computing changes continue.
Circulation
Circulation for June was 4,958 items. This is a large increase from last month (23.2% increase), but not quite as high as June of last year (6.0% decrease).
5,124 items were checked out at Upton’s circulation desk, and 698 interlibrary loan requests were placed by Upton staff. The big jump in holds placed is due to requesting items on the school summer reading lists.
Our Laptops were checked out 39 times in June.

Digital Content Use
BYKI: 62 users accessed byki for a total of 131 hours in June. The most popular languages were French and Japanese, followed by German, Italian and Spanish.
Wowbrary: 1 new user signed up for Wowbrary, for a total of 75 active subscribers, and the newsletters produced 36 click throughs to the library catalog.
Overdrive: eBook circulation to Upton patrons: 82, eAudio circulations: 11 This is a huge increase in ebook circulation, more than 100% over last month.
New Patron Registrations
29 new patrons registered in June.
Collection Development
We added approximately 83 items to our collection in June.
Passport Applications Processed in June: 1

Computer News
The replacement circulation computer has arrived and is installed. The new computer uses Windows 7, which is significantly different than our previous operating system of Windows XP.
In October when we switch to the new circulation system, Evergreen, we will have to retrain our staff and make sure the software works well with our computers and printers. There will be a significant advantage to having both of our circulation computers be identical before the switch in October. I will be asking the Trustees to look at some price quotes and authorize the purchase of another replacement circulation computer this summer, ahead of our regular replacement schedule.
The two replaced computers were purchased in 2003. I will be asking the Trustees to declare them obsolete, after which I will offer them to the Town Manager for use in another town department. If they are too old to be of use elsewhere in Town, I will use the Friends of the Library network to see if anyone in the community has a use for them before I just throw them away.

Evergreen Library Software
The new circulation software is coming in October. Lisa and Matthew are scheduled to attend training at CWmars on August 1st and August 24th. We will then train the rest of the staff in September. We also need to start informing patrons of the upcoming changes, because there will be some interruption of service and the online catalog will have both cosmetic and functional changes.

Technology Nights
Our first two Technology workshops in June were very successful. Attendance was 5 at the “eReader” session and 4 at the “google products” session. That class size is about perfect for our space. More than 8 people will be cramped and uncomfortable. I received some requests to repeat the “eReader” workshop for people that could not make it, and I plan on doing so as one of our August sessions.

Summer Reading Program
One week into the Summer Reading Program we have 331 children registered for the program, and 186 of them received their reading incentive for the first week.
205 people attended our kickoff theatre event at Nipmuc Highschool. The UNH theater troupe did a great job, we received many compliments from parents about the play.


Programs
Library book group: 5 people met on June 29th.
Senior book group: 5 people met on June 7th.
Thursday storytime averaged 7 children per session for 8 sessions.
TinyTots lapsit is not held during the summer months.
Library Table: 5 visits, averaged 9 patrons and 19 items.
Lego Days: 2 sessions, total participation 12.
Technology Nights: 2 sessions, total participation 9.

Special Events
June 1st – 54 3rd Graders have library tours as part of Town Government field trip.
June 4th – Garden Day attendance 103. Next year we might consider inviting local businesses and groups to have booths instead of offering workshops.
June 28th – 205 people attend Summer Reading Kickoff event, “Strega Nona” presented by UNH Little Red Wagon theater troupe.
June 29th – 12 Young Adults attend Red Cross Babysitter training.

Upcoming Events in July
July 12th – 10:30am “Small World Magic Show” in Nipmuc Auditorium, funded by Upton Cultural Council.

Plans for Next Month
1) Expand Lego Program.
2) Continue Summer Reading Program.
3) Begin state ARIS forms.