Library Department Report

September 2007

Staffing

· A Materials Processor position remained vacant.

Facility

· Baby changing stations were installed in both public restrooms.

Professional Development & Meetings

· Meetings and workshops attended by professional staff included:

o Monthly Library Supervisors Meeting

o Monthly Staff Meeting for Librarians, Circulation Coordinators & Library Assistants

o Monthly Staff Meeting for Library Pages – Mary Reed and Pamela Myers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Finance Committee Meeting – Pamela Myers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Board Meeting – Pamela Myers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Advisory Council Meeting – Pamela Myers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Planning, Policy & Services Committee Meeting – Pamela Myers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Meeting with the State Librarian – Pamela Myers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Workshop: Videogames As a Service – Pamela Myers & Jill Reyers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Youth Services Committee Meeting – Jill Reyers

Programming, Promotions, Publicity, Special Projects,

Departmental Activities, etc.

· September 12: Afternoon Book Discussion Group for Adults

o Book: Bee Season by Myla Goldberg

o Facilitator: Mary Reed and Candace Hulst

o Attendance: 13

· September 13: Evening Book Discussion Group for Adults

o Book: Bee Season by Myla Goldberg

o Facilitator: Mary Reed

o Attendance: 2

· September 15: “Write Your Life” Workshop for Adults with Bobbe Taber

o Attendance: 21 (Registration was limited)

o Program funded by the Friends of Georgetown Township Library

· Toddler (“Wee Ones”) and Preschool Spring Story Times

o An eight-week session of Story Time began September 11.

o Detailed attendance statistics for Story Times held in September are provided below:

Date	Toddler Story Time	Toddler Story Time	Preschool Story Time	Preschool Story Time
	Children (Ages 1 ½ – 3)	Adults	Children (Ages 3 –5)	Adults
09/11	30	20	24	9
09/12	28	17	14	11
09/18	31	20	19	9
09/19	24	17	14	7
09/25	19	12	20	9
09/26	27	18	18	10
Total	159	104	109	55
Average	27	17	18	9

· September 25: Evening Story Time

o Special Guest: Lori Vander Linden from the Wild Bird Center

o Participants created their own bird feeders

o Attendance: 20 children and 12 adults

o Program funded by the Friends of Georgetown Township Library

· September 29: Reptile Program presented by the Outdoor Discovery Center

o Attendance: 29 children and 18 adults (Registration was limited)

o Program funded by the Friends of Georgetown Township Library

· Promotional materials (e.g., press releases, displays, web pages, etc.) created for upcoming September programs for youth – Jill Reyers

· Youth Services featured author (Phyllis Naylor) display – Sue Kirvan

· Program Room bulletin board updated for Autumn Story Time – Sue Kirvan

· Entryway table book display for Septemer 11 (“A Nation Remembers”) – Susan Carlson

· Weeding in Adult Fiction continued – Mary Reed

· Weeding of Adult Nonfiction 700’s continued, completed through 781’s – Susan Carlson

· Small Business Resources and Career bibliographies updated – Susan Carlson

· Patron database clean-up – Pamela Myers

· Item re-cataloging project – Pamela Myers & Sherry Jordon

Friends of the Library

· The Friends held their monthly meeting on Monday, September 10.

· The group approved funding requests for the following:

o $1,000 for the Family Reading Program (2008)

o $32 for the 32° Club: Fall & Winter Reading Program for Adults (2008 – 2009)

Service & statistical information

Service and statistical information for the month of September 2007 is presented below.

	September	September	% Change	2007 YTD	2006 YTD	% Change YTD
	2007	2006	2006 - 2007 %			2006 - 2007
Circulation (Items)
Total Circulation	23,079	25,170	-8.31%	261,716	262,202	-0.19%
Check-Outs	20,880	22,205	-5.97%	236,804	236,640	0.07%
Check-Ins	22,133	23,613	-6.27%	229,347	227,407	0.85%

Interlibrary Loan (Items)
Loaned	2,199	2,965	-25.83%	24,912	25,562	-2.54%
Borrowed	2,741	3,518	-22.09%	30,908	28,728	7.59%
Paged (Searched For)	2,508	N/A	N/A	26,770	N/A	N/A

Holds
Placed By Staff	753	912	-17.43%	7,971	8,524	-6.49%
Calls to Patrons (Min.)	1,392	1,688	-17.54%	14,392	15,519	-7.26%
# of E-mail Notices	1,174	1,293	-9.20%	12,543	N/A	N/A
# of E-mail Items	1,539	1,922	-19.93%	18,437	N/A	N/A
# of Telephone Notices	1,324	1,571	-15.72%	13,767	N/A	N/A
# of Telephone Items	1,628	2,168	-24.91%	15,772	N/A	N/A

Traffic Count	9,015	11,347	-20.55%	115,744	115,603	0.12%

Other

· Lakeland Library Cooperative hosted a meeting with State Librarian Nancy Robertson. Ms. Robertson has proposed a new model for state-funded, regionally distributed services to public libraries. She stated that the impetus for her proposal centered on the budget process to determine the level of State Aid to Michigan libraries and cooperatives.

o She wrote in her blog, “Each time the process takes place, the Budget Office and the members of the Legislature have many questions about the uses of the appropriation for state aid to public libraries. This is understandable, of course, and the portion of the appropriation that gets paid directly to Michigan’s public libraries on a per capita basis is easily explained and justified. Addressing the questions about how the portions of the appropriation that are there to support library cooperatives is more problematic, and instead of becoming easier each year, the explanation becomes more difficult to articulate effectively as time passes.”

She continues, ”The difficulty is due in part to the complexity and cumbersome nature of the distribution formula. But a large part of the challenge is the fact that the services that the thirteen library cooperatives provide to their member libraries and the way that they utilize (or do not utilize) some or all of the so-called swing aid funds vary from cooperative to cooperative. In addition to the disparity of services provided and uneven utilization of cooperative and swing aid funds, the decades-old model for how cooperatives are formed and established has evolved over time into an unwieldy, inequitable, geographically undefined system that does not inevitably result in enhanced public library service in the same degree for every resident of Michigan, even though state funds are appropriated and distributed for the purpose. Without any defined regional boundaries or identifiable and ensured core services, an unintended culture of haves and have-nots has arisen.”

o LLC members expressed concerns to Ms. Robertson regarding her proposed new model for public libraries and cooperatives as well as a possible “remix” of library cooperatives and services throughout Michigan. This meeting was scheduled as a follow-up to a letter sent to the State Librarian in June by members of LLC outlining the membership’s collective concerns and ideas regarding her vision for public libraries and cooperatives in Michigan.