Report of the Library Director for October 2013

Circulation up slightly – note the Thanksgiving schedule – library improvements started

Circulation
October circulation activity was 5,197, which is 11.1% higher than last month and 3.2% higher than previous years.  (7.5% higher when compared only to Evergreen statistics.)

One interesting statistic generated by the Evergreen system : the value of items checked out at Upton Library in October was $92,510.

Laptops: 45.  Nooks: 3.  Games: 68.

Unique Patrons

Upton Library currently has 1,718 items checked out to 723 unique patrons.

Digital Content Use

BYKI: In October, 5 users accessed byki for a total of 20.3 hours.  Our top languages were ESL for Arabic and Spanish.

Overdrive: eBook circulation to Upton patrons: 253, eAudio circulations: 47.

Wowbrary:   We have 137 active subscribers to Wowbrary. (+1)

New Patron Registrations:  13 new patrons registered in October.

New Items: We added approximately 93 items to the collection in October.

Passport Applications processed in October: 9.

Programs
Library book group: 6 people met on Oct 30^th.
Senior book group: 5 people met on Oct 8^th.

Thursday storytime averaged 4 children per session for 6 sessions.
TinyTots lapsit averaged 4 children per session for 4 sessions. 
Library Table: 5 visits, averaged 8 patrons and 31 items.

Lego Days: averaged 6 children for 5 sessions.

Special Events

1^st Grade Field Trips – Oct 21^st: 43 students, Oct 28^th: 45 students

Upcoming Events

Spanish Storytime 6pm on Thus, Nov 14^th.

Thanksgiving Schedule: Nov 26^th 10am-8pm.  Nov 27^th 10am-3pm.  Nov 28^th Closed, Nov 29^th Closed, Nov 30^th 9am-5pm

Plans for Next Month
1) Grant applications – Planning and Design
2) Complete FY15 action plan

3) Library improvements planning

Library Improvements

Vertex has come onboard as the project coordinator.  They have compiled two revised budgets for the project, one being the “complete scope” with all the library improvements plus all the work needed to mitigate the mold issue.  This budget came to $103,000, which is outside of our ability to fund.  The “reduced scope” budget eliminated all the items we voted as low priority (lighting, ceiling tiles, window treatments, circulation desk).  This budget came to $69,000.

John and I met with Vertex, the Town Manager and the Finance Committee, and the consensus was that we should adjust the “reduced scope” budget slightly, ask for an additional $10,000 at the Nov Town Meeting, and instruct Vertex to proceed with getting contractor bids based on that scope.

At tonight’s meeting, the Trustees should take action on the following:

Approve or adjust the “reduced scope” budget

Authorize the Chairman and/or Director to make a motion at Town Meeting

Authorize Vertex to proceed with asbestos testing and pest control

Authorize Vertex to prepare architectural specifications and solicit bids from General Contractors.

Planning and Design Grant

Now that the Library Improvements project is underway, I will be turning my attention to starting the P&D Grant application.

One important step is to complete the FY15 Action Plan.  I have submitted a draft document to the trustees, and I hope that at tonight’s meeting we can revise and approve the Action Plan.

I will also be gathering some additional statistics in the library during November using an hourly sampling method recommended by the MBLC.  Along with providing information for the grant application, this survey will give some insight into how people are actually using the library that can’t be captured by circulation statistics.

FY15 Budget

We need to start thinking about our budget priorities for FY15.

Our FY15 municipal appropriation for state certification is $220,473.  If the Town appropriates an amount less than that, we risk losing our certification status.  Since 75% of our budget is employee wages, the recommendations of the Personnel Committee have a great impact on our budget.  For example, a 2% wage increase would put us over the level needed for continued certification with no other changes to our budget.

Director’s Priorities for FY15:  I have two priorities for the FY15 budget. 

First, I want to make sure our two circulation clerks receive a wage increase that puts them above the minimum for their grade range.  Based on their performance evaluations, they deserve to be at least 1% above the minimum after working here for over a year.

Secondly, our public use laptops need to be replaced.  This program was started by a Men’s Club grant and has been extremely popular.  The laptops are now 4 years old.  I would like to replace 2 of them with touchscreen Windows 8 devices.  These funds can be in our budget or in the technology expense budget.