Report of the Library Director for April 2012

All about Evergreen – Tinytots returns in May – Summer Program plans

Circulation
Circulation for April was 3,801, which is disappointingly low, I was hoping we’d stay over 4,000.  This is less than last month (9.4% decrease), and lower than our average for April (12.5% decrease).
536 interlibrary loan holds were placed.
Our laptops were checked out 14 times in April, our Nook e-readers circulated 9 times, and our videogames had 54 circulations.

Digital Content Use
BYKI: In April, 3 users accessed byki for a total of 1.5 hours.  Our top language was German. (this is very low usage for byki compared to our average usage.)
Wowbrary: 3 new users signed up for Wowbrary, for a total of 111 active subscribers.
Overdrive: eBook circulation to Upton patrons: 150, eAudio circulations: 39.

New Patron Registrations
13 new patrons registered in April
Collection Development
We added approximately 166 items to our collection in April.
Passport Applications processed in April: 17

Programs
Library book group: 6 people met on April 25th.
Senior book group: 3 people met on April 3rd.
Thursday storytime averaged 3 children per session for 8 sessions.
TinyTots lapsit will start again on May 11th.
Library Table: 4 visits, averaged 9 patrons and 22 items.
Lego Days: averaged 7 children per session for 4 sessions.

Special Events
Parents and Students in the Spanish Immersion Program held their last evening storytime of the school year, with 5 children participating on April 26th.  This group will contact the library in the fall if they decide to continue the program.

Upcoming Events in May
Tinytots will start again on May 11th for a six week session, we have started publicity and are asking parents to pre-register for this program.
Our final Baby sign language workshop will be held on Saturday, May 19th, 10:30-11:30.
The 3rd Grade’s annual field trip for town history and library tour will be on May 23rd and May 30th.

Plans for Next Month
1) Tinytots program restarted, Summer Reading program planning.
2) Implement Evergreen
3) Continue shelf-reading / collection development.

Spring/Summer Children’s events
I have scheduled the following children’s events for this summer.  More publicity will be forthcoming as they get closer:
Babysign workshop: Saturday May 19th, 10:30-11:30am, Upton Library
Red Cross Babysitter Training: Monday, June 25th, 9:00am-3:30pm, Memorial School
Little Red Wagon : Wednesdsay, June 27th, 6:30-8:00pm, Nipmuc HS
Davis Bates & Roger Tincknell, Tuesday, July 10th, 2pm, Nipmuc HS

Evergreen Library System
CWMARS is performing final tests on the newest version of the Evergreen software, and so far, everything appears ready to switch systems on Memorial Day Weekend.  A number of changes will be taking place during this process, some that will affect patrons, and some that should only affect staff.
1)    From May 11th to May 29th, we won’t be able to add new items to the collection.  Our cataloging system will be “frozen” in preparation for the transfer.
2)    Monday, May 21st I will be holding a final staff training day.
3)    Our current system, “Millenium” will be shut down at 6pm on Friday, May 25th.  For this weekend, patrons won’t be able to access their accounts online to renew or request items.
4)    The Upton Library will be closed on Saturday, May 26th.
5)    We will start library services on the new “Evergreen” system on Tuesday, May 29th.
6)    No items will be due and no fines will accrue from May 25th to June 12th.  This provides a 2 week window to work out any kinks in the transfer.
7)    If the installation of Evergreen is not completed by Tuesday morning, May 29th, we may experience some period of limited library services.

What  Patrons Will Notice Immediately:
1)    The central and western regions will merge, so your Upton library card will now be accepted in the western region of the state, and inter library loan requests can reach items in both regions.
2)    If you access your account online, your password will be reset.  The new temporary password will be your last name typed in all upper case.
3)    The online catalog will look very different.  All the functionality will be preserved, but the tabs and search boxes and menus will be different.
4)    Viewing your account online will look very different.  The new online access is easier to use and provides more options for patrons, but it will cause initial confusion.
5)    The logic by which hold requests are fulfilled will change.  It will result in lower average wait times for items, but individual circumstances might create longer than expected waits.  It will also be more difficult to predict the wait time for any specific item.
6)    Any currently saved reading history or wishlists will be deleted.  The only way for patrons to preserve this information is to export it prior to May 25th.