Report of the Library Director for May, 2013

Applications deadline for library positions – Summer program to start – TV is purchased

Circulation
May circulation activity was 5,440, which is a 2.0% lower than last month, and 1.1% higher than previous years. 

May is our one-year anniversary of switching to Evergreen circulation.

Laptops: 25.  Nooks: 6.  Games: 67.

Unique Patrons

Upton Library currently has 2,385 items checked out to 828 unique patrons.

Digital Content Use

BYKI: In May, 9 users accessed byki for a total of 13.1 hours.  Our top languages were Hebrew, ESL for Spanish speakers and Dutch.

Overdrive: eBook circulation to Upton patrons: 211, eAudio circulations: 56.

Wowbrary:   We have 126 active subscribers to Wowbrary.

New Patron Registrations:  17 new patrons registered in May.

New Items: We added approximately 92 items to the collection in May.

Passport Applications processed in May: 5.

Programs
Library book group: 4 people met on May 29^th.
Senior book group: 6 people met on May 7^th.

Thursday storytime averaged 9 children per session for 10 sessions.
TinyTots lapsit averaged 6 children per session for 5 sessions. 
Library Table: 5 visits, averaged 10 patrons and 32 items.

Lego Days: averaged 3 children per session for 3 sessions.

Special Events

Garden Day – 49 people participated on May 18^th.

Spanish Storytime – 6 children participated on May 23^rd.

Upcoming Events

Summer Reading registration begins – June 18^th

Little Red Wagon children’s theater – June 25^th, 6pm, Nimpuc HS

Red Cross Babysitter Training – June 28^th, 9:30-3:30, pre-registration required.

Plans for Next Month
1) Summer Program 2013 begins
2) Interview and make job offer for Clerk and Page

3) Bid documents for Library improvements project.

Summer Reading Program

Registration begins June 18^th.

Kickoff event – children’s theater from Little Red Wagon is June 25^th, 6pm Nipmuc HS.

We have a busy summer of events and programs planned, see the summer reading flyer for a full schedule.

Our reading incentives are slightly different this year.  The Treasure chest will be available, but will not be tracked by staff, instead it will be up to parents to decide if their children should have a prize or not.  After completing a reading log of 5 books, each child will receive a canvas tote bag with the library logo.

New programs for this year are: book and movie club for middle-schoolers, stuffed animal sleepover, Museum of Science’s “Dig into Dinosaurs” activity.

Library Improvements

The mold inspection has been completed, and we are waiting for the written report and recommendations.

After discussing the contracting process with the Town Manager, I can see some advantages in receiving bids from general contractors willing to complete the whole project, instead of individually selecting contractors for each section.

Television Screen Purchase

The television has been purchased and installed, we used it for a bee-keeping presentation on Garden Day, and Nicole will be using it for the book and movie club starting June 26^th.

I plan to restart the Documentary films program.  The TV is connected to our wireless internet and is capable of displaying websites, youtube videos and other streaming video content, which opens up additional possibilities for programs.

Staff Hiring

The deadline for applications is June 3^rd, 5pm.

So far, we have received 26 applications for Circulation Clerk and 10 for Library Page.

The Personnel Board will be meeting this week to review the applications and screen them for qualifications.

I would like to identify the candidates we’d like to call in for interviews by June 10^th, and then schedule the interviews as soon as possible.