Report of the Library Director for Aug, 2013

Stuffed animal sleepover – Summer program ends – Planning and Design grant.

Circulation
August circulation activity was 6,213, which is 12.5% lower than last month (July is our peak month), and nearly identical to previous years (0.5% lower).

Laptops: 15.  Nooks: 6.  Games: 83.

Unique Patrons

Upton Library currently has 2,180 items checked out to 522 unique patrons.

Digital Content Use

BYKI: In July, 5 users accessed byki for a total of 1.9 hours.  Our top languages were ESL and Italian.

Overdrive: eBook circulation to Upton patrons: 243, eAudio circulations: 46.

Wowbrary:   We have 136 active subscribers to Wowbrary.

New Patron Registrations:  25 new patrons registered in August.

New Items: We added approximately 47 items to the collection in August.

Passport Applications processed in August: 0.

Programs
Library book group: 6 people met on August 28^th.
Senior book group: 8 people met on August 13^th.

Thursday storytime averaged 6 children per session for 9 sessions.
TinyTots lapsit averaged 5 children per session for 3 sessions. 
Library Table: 4 visits, averaged 9 patrons and 38 items.

Lego Days: was not held in August.

Special Events

Stuffed Animal Sleepover – 50 children participated on Aug 6^th.

Dig into Dinosaurs with the Museum of Science – 44 children attended on Aug 13^th.

Red Cross Babysitting Class second session – 12 students on August 16^th.

Ice Cream Social at Summer Program finale – 34 participants on Aug 17^th.

Upcoming Events

Annual Book Sale – Friends of the Upton Town Library.  Heritage weekend, Saturday, October 5^th.

Plans for Next Month
1) Plan Fall / Winter programs
2) Implement Library improvements plan

3) Financial report to MBLC

Summer Reading Program

This year’s summer reading program is completed.  Our remaining events in August were well attended.  The second session of the Babysitting class was full, and the Museum of Science visit was close to capacity (44 out of 48).  The stuffed animal sleepover was a big hit, and a fun event.  If you haven’t seen the pictures at the library or on the facebook page, take a look.

JJ’s Ice Cream once again donated a tub of ice cream for our end of summer finale on Saturday, Aug 17^th.

Library Improvements

The Library Trustees met on Aug 26^th, along with the Board of Selectmen and several members of the Fin Com to discuss how to proceed with our library improvements.  A general consensus was reached, and a list of items to be accomplished was drawn up.  Since then, the construction services firm Vertex walked through and examined the building.  They provided a list of recommendations, some of which involve the exterior of the building, and will be overseen by the Town Manager’s office.  The interior actions we should be able to incorporate into our existing plan for library improvements.  I would like to put our plan into motion, and start by hiring a project coordinator who can refine our ideas and start soliciting quotes from contractors.

Library Pages

The summer library pages have completed their work and left to start college.  We used 135 hours of page time, and have 385 hours remaining in the budget.  I am very happy with the work accomplished by the pages, they contributed greatly to keeping the library organized this summer, and finished several inventory and filing projects.  I plan to go back to our pool of applicants to contact the top candidates to see if any of them are interested in working during the school year, and hopefully schedule some interviews.

Certification and Financial Report

The financial report to the MBLC, which is the final requirement for our annual certification is due in the beginning of October.  I will be compiling the information and submitting this report in mid-September.

Planning and Design Grant

I submitted a letter of intent for the 2014 planning and design grant round.  The goal of our project is to evaluate several possible options for a new library facility.  The bulk of the funds would be spent to hire an architect for conceptual design and cost estimates.  I estimated the project cost at $60,000.  If our application is approved, the town would need to appropriate $20,000 at the 2014 annual town meeting, and the grant would provide $40,000.  The next step in the process is to attend a workshop explaining the application process at the end of September.

We will also need to update our action plan and long range plan.