Library Department Report

May 2007

Staffing

· A Materials Processor position remained posted during the month.

Facility

· No changes in the facility to report.

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 & Materials Processors

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

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Finance Committee Meetings – Pamela Myers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Board Meeting – Pamela Myers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Continuing Education Committee Meeting – Mary Reed

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Youth Services Committee Meeting – Jill Reyers

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Microsoft Publisher Workshop – Susan Carlson

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Career and Business Highlights in MeL Workshop – Pamela Myers & Susan Carlson

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Health Resources on the Internet MeL Workshop – Mary Reed

o Kent District Library Workplace Safety (or Black Belt Librarian) Workshop – Pamela Myers & Jill Reyers

· Meetings and workshops attended by para-professional staff included:

o Lakeland Library Cooperative Microsoft Publisher Workshop – Candace Hulst, Sue Kirvan & Becky Ilkanic

o Kent District Library Workplace Safety (or Black Belt Librarian) Workshop – Leslie Garrison & Karen Jipping

Programming, Promotions, Publicity, Special Projects,

Departmental Activities, etc.

· May 09: Book Discussion Group For Adults

o Book: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

o Facilitators: Mary Reed and Candace Hulst

o Attendance: 14

· May 10: Evening Book Discussion For Adults

o Book: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

o Facilitator: Mary Reed

o Attendance: 3

· May 28: Appearance in the Memorial Day Parade promoting the 10^th Annual Scholastic Book Fair to be held June 11 – June 14

o Coordinated by Pamela Myers with assistance from Candace Hulst and 4 Library volunteers

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

o A six-week session of Story Time began April 03.

o Detailed attendance statistics for Story Times held in May 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
05/01	13	9	18	9
05/02	26	15	8	4
05/08	9	6	22	12
05/09	17	10	9	5
Total	65	40	57	30
Average	16	10	14	8

· May 23: Librarian Visit to Georgetown Elementary School – Jill Reyers

o Presentation of information regarding the Library’s Summer Reading Program as well as services and collections

o Attendance: 66 children and 3 adults

n May 30: School Class Visit to the Library

o Third grade classes from Pinewood Elementary School

o Included Library and bibliographic instruction, a story time, and information about the Library’s Summer Reading Program

o Attendance: 42 children and 5 adults

· May 31: School Class Visit to the Library

o Two first grade teachers from Bursley Elementary School invited students and parents to meet them at the Library for an hour during the evening for an introduction to the Library and the opportunity to register for a library card.

o Attendance: 40 children and adults

· Youth Services “Mystery” booklist created – Sue Kirvan

· Promotional materials (e.g., press releases, displays, etc.) prepared and distributed for upcoming Summer Reading Program events – Jill Reyers

· Youth Services featured author (Louis Sachar) book display – Sue Kirvan

· Michigan Week Youth Services display – Sue Kirvan

· Lobby table displays for Mother’s Day and “Beach Reads” – Susan Carlson

· Spring showcase display – Becky Ilkanic & Sue Kirvan

· Career Resources pathfinder revised and updated – Susan Carlson

· Booklists prepared for Summer Reading Program for Adults (e.g., Science Fiction, Fantasy, Classic American Authors, and Classic British Authors) – Mary Reed

· Materials prepared for Summer Reading Program for Adults – Mary Reed & Becky Ilkanic

· Promotional materials for Scholastic Book Fair (e.g., press releases, fliers, etc.) – Pamela Myers & Candace Hulst

· Weeding of Adult Fiction continued – Mary Reed

· Weeding of Adult Nonfiction 700’s began – Susan Carlson

· Weeding of Rental Collection – Pamela Myers

· Patron database clean-up – Pamela Myers

Friends of the Library

· The group held their monthly meeting on Monday, May 07.

· A discussion of pricing regarding used books was entertained. The group voted to raise the prices immediately for materials sold on the Ongoing Book Sale Shelves to the following:

o Hardcover Books: $2.00

o Softcover Books: $1.00

o Romance Paperback Books (e.g., Harlequin, etc.): $0.50

o Magazines: $0.50

· The group approved the following funding requests:

o Renewal of the Library’s movie site license: $385

o General Programming Expenses for Fall 2007 (September – December): $1,200

o Baby Changing Stations (2) for public restrooms: $500

· Voting on the slate of officers and committee members for the 2007 – 2008 fiscal year assembled during the April meeting took place.

o Officers for the 2007 – 2008 membership year are as follows:

· President: Marian Payne

· Vice President: Richard Saxon

· Treasurer: Pat Light

· Secretary: Carol Newman

o Committee members for the 2007 – 2008 membership year were assigned as follows:

· Hospitality: Rosy Roberts, Sharon VanDam & Judy Schuitman

· Book Sales: Pat Light

· Historian: Vacant

· Ongoing Book Sale Shelves: Joan Korzilius

· Friendship: Rosy Roberts & Sharon VanDam

Service & statistical information

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

	May	May	% Change	2007 YTD	2006 YTD	% Change YTD
	2007	2006	2006 - 2007 %			2006 - 2007
Circulation (Items)
Total Circulation	23,428	24,645	-4.94%	131,585	128,410	2.47%
Check-Outs	20,809	22,045	-5.61%	116,868	115,252	1.40%
Check-Ins	22,170	21,619	2.55%	113,811	109,960	3.50%

Interlibrary Loan (Items)
Loaned	2,619	2,600	0.73%	14,717	13,158	11.85%
Borrowed	2,948	3,133	-5.90%	16,592	16,082	3.17%
Paged (Searched For)	2,729	N/A	N/A	16,206	N/A	N/A

Holds
Placed By Staff	726	840	-13.57%	4,308	4,240	1.60%
Calls to Patrons (Min.)	1,337	1,567	-14.68%	7,644	8,036	-4.88%
# of E-mail Notices	1,226	N/A	N/A	6,875	N/A	N/A
# of E-mail Items	1,914	N/A	N/A	10,513	N/A	N/A
# of Telephone Notices	1,266	N/A	N/A	7,330	N/A	N/A
# of Telephone Items	1,616	N/A	N/A	9,683	N/A	N/A

Traffic Count	10,539	10,618	-0.74%	57,808	57,132	1.18%

On a quarterly basis, statistics related to the number and types of reference transactions fielded by staff are compiled at the various service desks in the Library. Data collection for the past quarter was completed during the week of April 9 - 14. In order to provide a basis for comparison, results from the previous year’s quarters are provided below as well.

	Completed	Directional	Reference	Total
Data Collection	Reference	Reference	Questions	Reference
Period	Questions	Questions	Not Completed	Transactions

2007
April 9 - 14	2,394	888	17	3,299
January 8 - 13	2,112	747	35	2,894

2006
October 23 - 28	2,194	672	18	2,884
July 17 - 22	2,535	867	30	3,432
April 17 - 22	1,136	459	23	1,618
January 09 - 14	1,207	513	42	1,762

Other

Discussions continued at various Lakeland Library Cooperative (LLC) meetings throughout the month regarding the potential cut to State Aid to public libraries and cooperatives by the State of Michigan in both FY 2007 and FY 2008. Lakeland Library Cooperative staff prepared various costing scenarios for inter-library delivery, incorporating such potential cuts as well as the possibility that some libraries might be forced to opt out of delivery service due to rising costs and a reduction in funding from the State of Michigan. Logistics associated with the possible termination of the inter-library loan of materials throughout the Cooperative were also explored. Board members were reluctant to recommend or make changes to the current system, again indicating they wanted to await additional information from the State of Michigan regarding funding.