2009 Director's Report
Barbara Rose
Overview: Historically, during times of economic difficulties,
more people turn to their libraries for entertainment, education and
information. This has been so through
the 95 years since this library was first begun by volunteers, with donations
from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and the community. Now patrons also want the Internet and other
online services as well. Although the
library itself has been affected by the tightened economy, our citizens are
using it more than ever because of their straitened circumstances. The Internet and digital resources have been
especially popular for job searches and applications, particularly since
November 2008. Indeed, so many
employment offices have closed, that the library is the only way people who do
not have computers or have had to drop their Internet providers can access
these services, making the library a de facto unemployment center.
The ability to read is the biggest single factor in the future success of
our children, even more than the financial status of the parents, and getting
books into their hands long before they enter school is a large part of reading
readiness. Children with books in the
home come to school with a head start that never quite vanishes. This enables them to become better citizens
and more productive employees.
Board: We were pleased to have two new Trustees
appointed to the Board of Trustees by Mayor McDonald, himself also new this
year. They are Josephine Noone and Ron
Duryea.
Staff: The position from which Lynn Moore retired on
December 31, 2008 was not filled for budget reasons. After July 1, when three part time employees
were laid off (Mary Annelli, Marjorie Semonchick and Sonia Ayers), Barbara Rose, Cindy Trimmer and
Twila Eglinton remained, with part time building service worker Robin Wagner
completing the staff. Michael Weinstein,
who has been especially faithful, and Joyce Pyle continued as volunteers. Sue Fleming and Paul Doerwang were also very
helpful this year.
Hours:
As every Washington Borough taxpayer knows, the financial state of the
Borough has not improved in the last year, and the library went from being open
53.5 hours per week before July 1 to 35 hours per week for the Fall. To be eligible for state aid, we must be open
at least 30 hours per week with some weekend and two evening hours. There are other requirements as well, and
they provide a benchmark against which to measure ourselves, as well as to
receive the financial aid if these standards are met.
Building:
The building is in good condition. Two windows broke, apparently due to
the weather; they were replaced in January 2010. We continue to conserve utilities, including keeping the
overhead stack lights off on sunny days (when the sun shines in through the
clerestory windows).
This year
the library’s copier was declared too old to repair anymore (after 14 years the
company no longer must keep parts in stock), and the service contract has not
been renewed. We hope to replace it in
2010, but may have to wait until it needs repair or ink before doing so.
Library Use: While the number of
hours open this year was reduced by 19.3 % from last year, usage statistics
increased 1.3 % overall, with adult book circulation up 1.5 % and children’s
books up 2.8 % (books total 79.5 % of all items circulated). While books on CD increased 21.2 % last year,
DVD borrowing actually decreased 6.7 %, possibly due to the age of the
collection. The Internet computers
continue to be popular, especially among adults, many of whom use them to
conduct their businesses, job searches and unemployment office contact. As the wireless connection is available 24/7
from the parking lot, there some patrons work on their laptops from outside
when the library is closed.
Programs:
We held a total
of 110 programs, attended by 1,820 people.
Compared to 2008, there was 1 less program, but a 15% increase in
attendance.
The 2009
calendar included the continuation of the children’s story hour, the summer
reading program “Be creative @ your library”, the Craft Camp for adults and
computer training. The volunteer tax
preparers sent by the Office on Aging (one of whom was our own Board Trustee
Lorraine McGovern) provided free assistance to the community, and the
Washington Historical Society continues to meet in the library, after changing
their meeting night to Thursday evening.
Children’s programming included a Kiwanis-sponsored
celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 5, the preschool story time that
runs during the school year and the annual summer reading program. The First Book Program continues to make available
new or nearly new books for free distribution to young children to encourage
lifelong literacy. This year there have
been two distributions at WBID events, one on April 25 at the Warren County
Bazaar and one on October 3 at the Festival in the Borough. Together we have distributed nearly 500
children’s books and about 300 adult books or advanced reader’s copies (which
we cannot sell in any case). This year
as people have been downsizing, many more books have been donated or just
appear at the library. The best of these
are sold in the ongoing book sale, but the rest are distributed at these
festivals.
The 2009
Summer Reading Program theme for elementary children was “Be creative @ your
library”. 128 children registered. More than 597 books were reported read this
year, with children reporting a total of 481 hours of reading time. Once again, the children read for points, and
received a total of 28,860 Book Bucks paper “money” to purchase prizes in the library
“store”. The programs ran on Thursdays
in July. Children who could not attend
the programs but wanted to read for rewards were allowed to do so. They were all able to amass points throughout
the entire summer. This year the library
received free tickets to a Sesame Street Live event at the Meadowlands, and
Joseph Dowd was the happy winner.
Computers: While our long term computer plan called for
the replacement of three computers this year, we have not replaced them and are
having problems with four of the older machines.
Grants: An “in kind” grant was offered through the
National Endowment for the Humanities and for the Arts. These are sister grants for “Picturing
America”. One provides a collection of
posters for display from April 2009-2010; the other provides complementary books
on the subject of American history and the diversity of its people. We received both grants and have had the
posters on display in a rotating display since April.
2009/2010
Vision: Customer service is a continuing concern,
along with collection development and building maintenance. Efforts to cooperate with local schools and
other groups continue in order to promote the well being of our children and
ultimately our community. The financial
situation of the Borough makes the immediate concern one of survival, providing
as much service as possible with the resources available. The new Borough Manager has, of necessity,
made sweeping changes and these will continue to affect the library and the
services we are able to provide.
BAR