Report of the Library Director for August 2011

Evergreen system delayed – Fall storytime schedule returns – Nooks circulating well

Circulation
Circulation for August was 5,328. This is a slight decrease from last month (3.2% decrease), and a slight increase from August of last year (3.1% increase).
Our laptops were checked out 31 times in August, and our nook e-readers circulated 11 times.

Digital Content Use
BYKI: In August, 11 users accessed byki for a total of 23 hours, the vast majority of sessions were for Spanish instruction.
Wowbrary: 3 new users signed up for Wowbrary, for a total of 86 active subscribers, and the newsletters produced 33 click throughs to the library catalog.
Overdrive: eBook circulation to Upton patrons: 94, eAudio circulations: 25

New Patron Registrations
23 new patrons registered in August.
Collection Development
We added approximately 67 items to our collection in August.
Passport Applications Processed in August: 4

Evergreen Library Software
C/WMARS just officially announced this morning that they are going to delay our switch to Evergreen Library system until the weekend of December 30th. This means all our plans preparing for a change over on October 7th can be disregarded.
Overall, I think this delay will be a very good thing for Upton Library. There are still a number of kinks to be worked out of the Evergreen system, and it will give time for us to develop some standards and consistency for our new features. It also means that Matthew will not be on vacation during the switch.
Our vote to close the library one Saturday for the switch will now be considering December 31st, instead of October 8th.

Nook eReaders
Our Nook eReaders were all checked out two days after I made them available, and they have had a total of 11 circulations so far. They have been constantly checked out, but the waiting list is not as long as I expected.
I have revised our draft eReader policy based on our discussions last month, and it is now ready for a vote.

Technology Nights
Four people attended a workshop on borrowing downloaded ebooks from the library. This seems to be the only topic that generates interest in these workshops. I plan to continue offering this workshop every other month, and once we switch to Evergreen system, I will also offer workshops on using the library catalog.

Passport Acceptance
Use of our Passport Acceptance service continues to be slow, but it is starting to pick up. After having offered the service for a few months, I am going to require that patrons make an appointment with Matthew to submit a passport application. Ideally, this would be a drop-in service, but we have had several instances when people came during times that Matthew was not available and wasted a trip. I am changing our advertising of this service to indicate that an appointment is now required.

Summer Reading Program
This summer, 424 children registered for the summer reading program, and we distributed 1262 small reading incentives, an average of 157 children each week claiming their prize. The finale on August 20th was attended by 32 children.

Programs
Library book group: 5 people met on August 31st.
Senior book group: 6 people met on August 2nd.
Thursday storytime averaged 9 children per session for 4 sessions.
TinyTots lapsit is not held during the summer months.
Library Table: 4 visits, averaged 8 patrons and 24 items.
Lego Days: 4 sessions, total participation 26.
Technology Nights: 2 sessions scheduled, total participation 4.


Special Events
August 20th – 11am Summer Reading Finale, Ice Cream donated by “Good to Go” at Red Rock Grill in Upton. Attendance 32
Every Friday – drop in craft activity, 3 sessions, total attendance 20.
August 31st – Spontaneous animal storytime because of school cancellation, attendance 45.

Upcoming Events in September
September 8th – Afternoon 1:30 storytime begins again.
September 9th – TinyTots lapsit storytime begins again!
October 1st – 9am to 3pm, Friends of the Library Annual Booksale

Plans for Next Month
1) Complete State Aid application.
2) Evergreen Training.
3) Catch up on collection development activities before Matthew’s Vacation!