CITY OF CALABASAS LIBRARY ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 CITY OF CALABASAS LIBRARY ANNUAL REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Whether due to our beautiful building, our excellent service, or the recession, the City of Calabasas Library is busier than ever. On any given afternoon or weekend every chair may be taken by someone reading, studying or using a computer. Both our patron and circulation numbers have increased significantly as have the number of reference questions to librarians. Some of the highlights of the past year include: The opening of a quiet reading room to accommodate the need for extra space; the addition of five computers in the Children s Library; enhanced databases; improvements to the Friends Bookstore; and the approval of three new library positions. The following report provides information for the fiscal year ending on June 30,

2 THE YEAR IN REVIEW In fiscal year , 217,395 people walked through the doors of the Calabasas Library, or about 18,000 people per month. Of the total patrons, 55 percent are Calabasas residents, 2 percent are from Hidden Hills, 1 percent are from Mountain View and Mont Calabasas and 42 percent are from other locations. We saw an increase in patrons from other cities as many of the surrounding libraries reduced hours due to budget constraints. However, the California State Library provides reimbursement on a quarterly basis for non-resident patrons through the Direct Loan program. This year we received $4,000 in reimbursements. Registered Borrowers Adults 15,602 19,799 23,596 Children 6,147 7,316 7,451 Total 21,749 27,115 31,047 2

3 Circulation As the number of registered borrowers has increased so has circulation. Total circulation in was 190,851; in it increased to 217,991. The items most often checked out were DVDs, adult fiction, juvenile literature, and picture books. Non-English items circulated 1,175 times. The Library borrowed 1,486 books from other libraries through the Interlibrary Loan program and lent 53 items to other libraries. Collection Books 35,273 39,144 49,009 Audio 2,385 2,481 3,013 Video/DVD 3,346 3,789 4,061 Downloadable books 4,410 4,500 2,756 45,414 49,914 58,839 Magazines (titles) Newspapers (titles) Databases The collection has grown by almost 10,000 items this year due to the reclassification of the Library Assistant to Technical Services Coordinator. Half of her time is devoted to cataloging and supervising the processing of library materials. The new hourly Library Assistant for the Book Store helps to identify usable donated items to add to the collection. 3

4 Yearly Collection Growth Most of the Library s periodical holdings are on databases which can be accessed at the Library or through the Library website at These databases include Infotrac s General Reference Center Gold, (for over 2,000 magazines and journals) the Health Reference Center and the Literature Resource Center for literary analysis, criticisms and author biographies. Fulltext content of local and regional news is available through NewsBank's newspaper database which covers 95 newspapers in the Los Angeles Metro collection and 229 national sources. ReferenceUSA is a database of 14 million businesses and 100 million households used for job seeking, marketing, tracking down phone numbers and addresses and finding company information. We added two new databases this year, Mango Languages and Career Transitions. Mango Languages is an interactive language learning program. We eliminated the language e-books, which were becoming cost prohibitive and substituted this program instead. Patrons have provided much positive feedback on this database. The Career Transitions database was provided to the Library through a state funded grant. Users can easily discover and target fast-growing careers and industries in their immediate location and locations across the United States. It also features quick assessments to help people identify new opportunities based on their current skills, occupational knowledge and interests. 4

5 Reference Librarians offer help with reference, reader s advisory, computer use and class visits. They provide booklists and pathfinders for assignments. They place holds, order books from other libraries and take suggestions for new books. They analyze the collection to make purchases of new materials, weed outdated materials and catalog some of the donated materials. The librarians typically answer between 50 and 100 questions a day at the desk and on the telephone (these do not include directional questions). The number of reference questions increased from 35,940 in to 52,330 in Programs The Library is a community center for the city and provides many free educational, artistic and entertainment programs for people of all ages. Number Attendance Preschool Storytimes and programs ,280 School Age Programs 85 3,126 Young Adult programs 96 1,221 Adult Programs Total ,491 Programs for Children Statistics show that reading aloud to children from a very early age improves literacy later in life. To this end, the library has two storytimes per week; one for babies up to three years old and another that includes crafts for three to five year olds. Summer Reading Program The Library hosts special fun events during the summer to encourage literacy when school is out. These events include music, magicians and animal shows. Children also receive prizes for reading. Our Summer Reading Program (SRP) theme in 2009 was Be your library. During the eight week long program, 855 children signed up to participate and 1,760 people attended the children s events. 5

6 School Year Programming The Library also has special events during the school year to entertain and educate children such as holiday crafts, a play sponsored by the Water Board, author visits, and Winter and Spring program entertainment. Preschool and kindergarten groups from the local public and private schools visit the library for tours and storytelling. The librarians also had orientations for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and home-schooled children. Paws for Reading continues to be one of the most popular programs at the Library. Specially trained dogs sit and listen as new and emerging readers practice their skills. The program is offered on the first Saturdays of the month during the school year. A new program created this year is a specifically designed story time for children on the autism spectrum. The sessions include participatory storytelling, sensory songs and social support. Book Club On the second Wednesday of each month, the Library hosts a book club for fourth through sixth grade children. 6

7 Young adults Teen participation is integral to the running of the library. Fifty-two teens helped this year to run the Summer Reading Program. The Teen Library Council (TLC) meets once a month to make recommendations on collection and programming. They help plan the Summer Reading Program, set up events and assist the Friends of the Library with projects. This is the second year that they ran a successful fundraising event called the Fun Fair which featured crafts, games, face painting and refreshments for children. Other programs for teens included movie nights, peer counseling, seminars on college admission, a Harry Potter day, and a cartooning demonstration. The Library continues to provide space and support for the Calabasas Library Study Buddy program. High school students help younger students with their homework every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon in the Library s multipurpose room. Between 15 and 20 students attend each session. New this year is the Peer Counseling program, run by Calabasas High School students from the National Honor Society, for high school students. They meet in the Young Adult section of the Library. The teen volunteers were Jason Anterasian, Max Bowen, Ashkan Delrahim, Sean Everett, Daniel Frydman, Joe Hewison, Averil Kelkar, Krishnanand Kelkar, Andrew Loeb, Ashkon Masrourrod, Sebastien Nuta, Jonny Siegfried, Nick Siegfried, Jeremy Smith, Eric Wayne, Barron Yamron, Shahin Zartoshty, Hiba Abdali, Rachel Blankstein, Natalie Brown, Ariella Cherin, Simone Coffer, Davina Cohanghadosh, Andie Donovan, Devan Edwards, Rachel Gabai, Bahar Golmohammadi, Katie Harp, Niki Hashemi, Sidra Hussain, Tammy Imber, Jessica Jadali, Claresta Joe-Wong, Varinder Kaur, Nika Kazemi, Kellyann Lee, Lisa Liu, Sara Mahjoub, Ashley Maines, Jenna Marks, Shanilla Natanzi, Jomari Pecorelli, Chelsea Preisler, 7

8 Courtney Pritchard, Kavya Samudrala, Angelina Santoso, Monica Santoso, Cindy Sayani, Kimia Vafi, Sara Vafi, Romy Winnett and Maggie Yamin. Outreach In addition to students visiting the Library, staff provided outreach to the public schools. Librarians taught two seminars on resources and research for the Independent Study Project to the junior class at Calabasas High School. Librarians also prepared a library resource workshop for teachers at the Las Virgenes Unified School District offices. Adult Programs The library sponsored 72 adult programs this year. JULY 9 Book Club discussion, Three cups of tea 15 FOL Book Club 30 Mystery film and discussion, Mysterious California AUGUST 12 Designing and blending drought plants 13 Book Club discussion, The King must die. 16 Dan Crow concert 19 FOL Book Club 25 Calabasas Writers Group writing critique workshop SEPTEMBER 10 Book Club discussion, Loving Frank 16 Social Security Administration talk on retirement benefits 16 FOL Book Club 23 SCQAA Technology forum 24 Eckankar Past lives, dreams and meditation OCTOBER 2 Basic computer skills class 8 Book Club, My cousin Rachel 21 FOL Book Club 21 Women s health discussion hormone replacement 31 Fertility talk: understanding egg donation Major league baseball on the big screen NOVEMBER 1 Art show 4 Autism information 6 Computer class using library resources (databases and OPAC) 12 Book Club, Five quarters of the orange 13 Learn Excel class 18 FOL Book Club 8

9 DECEMBER 3 Health care talk effects of stress on health 4 Computer class-basic searching skills 6 Fertility talk: success with infertility 10 Teach the teachers 21 st century Research 10 Book Club discussion, People of the Book 12 Health care talk children and drugs 16 FOL Book Club 22 Movie A Christmas story 2010 JANUARY 13 How to avoid nursing home costs 14 Book Club discussion 20 FOL Book Club 27 Bereavement--Art healing workshop FEBRUARY 4 How autism affects behavior 5 Computer class searching skills 11 Book Club discussion 17 FOL Book Club 21 Renaissance music recital 25 College planning workshop 25 Olympics-hockey on the big screen MARCH 5 Computer class Setting up 11 Book club discussion, The history of the world in six glasses 17 FOL Book Club APRIL 2 Computer class and attachments, pictures and documents 8 Parenting class Improve your child s self esteem 21 FOL Book Club movie and discussion--mine 24 Grandma Rocks show May 7 Computer class Lakers Games 19 FOL Book Club evening movie 20 Book Club discussion 27 League of Women Voters June 4 Computer class 16 FOL Book Club evening movie 17 Book Club discussion 27 Basic job hunting skills 9

10 Technology Computer access is considered by many patrons to be one of the Library s most essential services. The Library provides free Internet, word processing, Power Point and Excel to patrons. An automated Internet sign up station facilitates the check in process. We have 15 Internet stations in the technology room, five Internet stations for children and three online catalog stations. Wireless access is also available at the Library and the Civic Center grounds. Patrons can check our events, the online catalog, full-text databases and their library records from home and request holds through the Library website. We will be implementing a new Integrated Library System during the next fiscal year and will start providing e-books. We are switching the downloadable audio book service from NetLibrary to Ingram MyiLibrary for better compatibility and customer service. The Library Commission The City of Calabasas Library Commission meeting is held on the 3rd Monday of the month on a quarterly basis to discuss library policy, programs, services and the budget. The public is invited to attend and make comments or they may watch the meetings on CTV. This year, the Commission discussed staffing levels and the purchase of a new integrated library system. The members of the Library Commission for FY were David Shapiro, President, Karen Brown, Vice President, Fred Gaines, Robert Hill, and Ellen Pangarliotas, Commissioners. Cindy Sayani was the Student Library Commissioner. Library Staff /Professional Development The Library is part of the Administrative Services Department. Robin Parker is the Director of Administrative Services, and Barbara Lockwood, the City Librarian. The full-time Library employees are Karilyn Steward, Librarian; Anita Torres, Library Circulation Supervisor; Suchandra Ghosh, Technical Services Coordinator; Jill Nevins, Library Technician, Children's Services; and Sarah Abdali, Executive Assistant. Hourly Librarians include Marcy Bowen, Michael Bozyk, Darren Jeffery, Katharine G. Kearney, and Caroline Russom. Tram Huynh and Kerrie Mierop are hourly Library Assistants. Larry McLinden and Kia Ahankoob are in the hourly Library Clerk II positions. Hourly Library Clerks are Talisa Barancik, Kelly Greer, Aaron Herscovitz, Stephanie Pelka, Natalia Sobchuk, Alivia Thompson, and Yasmine (Shanta) Williams. Susan Shear is the hourly City Historian. All staff members are dedicated to providing excellent library services to the community. 10

11 Staff members belong to the California Library Association and the American Library Association and attend library conferences and training. Several employees belong to SCLC committees. Barbara Lockwood is on the Administrative Council, Karilyn Steward is a member on the Audio-Visual Committee and the Young Adult Committee. Anita Torres and Suchandra Ghosh attend the Circulation committee meetings. Caroline Russom is on the Reference Committee and Jill Nevins is on the Children s Committee. The City Librarian attended a conference on Broadband Technology in Sacramento which was sponsored by the State Library and Bill Gates. Friends of the Library The Friends of the Library, a non-profit group, are responsible for fundraising activities. They have monthly board and membership meetings, run the bookstore and have quarterly book sales. Monies collected from memberships, book sales and special events are used to buy rental books and DVDs, summer reading incentives and fund special programs. They provide Los Angeles County Museum tickets to patrons. This year the Friends voted to upgrade the bookstore with new furniture and bought gift items to sell along with the used books. Kerrie Mierop was hired as a Library Assistant to help handle the usable book donations, and to train and coordinate the volunteers working in the store. The Friends signed an MOU with the city to clarify the Bookstore operation. Special Collections Room The City entered into an agreement with the Calabasas Historical Society to move the Kathleen Beachy collection into the Library. This past year the materials have been inventoried, catalogued, processed and moved into the Special Collections Room. The anticipated date for the opening is January Quiet Reading Room Because of the high demand for the study rooms and the need for additional seating we modified the back room of the library to create a quiet reading room. The project was spearheaded by Administrative Services Director Robin Parker. Wooden shelves, tables and comfortable seating were installed in the space that formerly held empty bookshelves. 11

12 Library Budget Fiscal Year Secured Property Tax $1,409,796 Fines & Recovery 28,264 State Library Funds 13,155 Interest Income 10,320 Miscellaneous 14,036 Copy Machine revenue 754 Total Income $1,476,325 Staff Expenditures $ 669,989 Collection 139,175 Other 516,700 Total Operating Expenditures $1,325,864 SUMMARY The Calabasas Library has now been open for two years in the new location. The collection, patronage, circulation, and program attendance all have increased and we continue to have a healthy budget. This year saw the reconfiguration of the Friend s Bookstore and the Special Collection room, the upgrade of technology and databases, and some staff additions and reclassification of an existing position to in response to increased demands. In fiscal year we will implement our new ILS, add additional shelving in the Young Adult area and develop a policy manual. We look forward to the grand opening of the Calabasas Historical Society Collection room. We anticipate further growth and hope to provide excellent service to the community. 12