Sausalito Public Library Quarterly Update to City Council Q1 FY 2016 (July to September 2015) I. Quarterly Accomplishments Welcome to Rebecca Burgan On September 1st, Rebecca Burgan joined the Library staff as our new Library Assistant II. Rebecca has a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree from San Jose State University. Before joining us, Rebecca managed the DVD department for Amoeba Records in Berkeley. She has also worked as a volunteer for the Oakland Public Library and the Pacific Film Archive. 2015 Summer Reading Program Another successful Summer Reading Program (SRP) for children came to an end on August 8. Erin Wilson s eight-week program featured forty different events attended by 779 kids and 530 adults. 135 children participated in the Summer Reading Challenge. For the reading challenge, prizes were awarded to kids for every three hours of reading they completed. Children completing a full twelve hours were awarded a free book and an ice cream gift certificate donated by Lappert s. The Circus of Smiles performs on the Litho patio during the 2015 Summer Reading Program for kids 1 Page 1 of 8
A Little Free Library Takes Shape Slow but steady progress is being made on a new "little free library" on Galilee Harbor land near the corner of Napa Street and Bridgeway. A collaboration of the Friends of the Library and the Galilee Harbor Association, the free library will operate with donated books on a "take a book, leave a book" basis. When completed, the structure you see taking shape in the photo below will look like dock pilings lashed together. Weatherproofed shelves for books will be cut out of the middle and the statue of a tern will perch on top. We hope to complete the project before the rains begin this winter! Project lead Inka Petersen of Galilee Harbor and Friends volunteer Bob Brockob inspect the little free library Zinio A new electronic resource has been added to the Library s website. Zinio is an online newsstand which reproduces the experience of browsing and reading print magazines. Popular magazines like The Atlantic, BusinessWeek, and ESPN Magazine are among the titles available. The collection may be accessed via the Downloads tab on our homepage. Zinio is available to patrons of all Marin libraries. Marin Scope Digitization At their September meeting, the Sausalito Library Foundation granted up to $6,000 toward the digitization of the Sausalito Marin Scope newspaper from 1971 to 2014. The digitization will be done by BMI Inc., who will also host the collection when digitization is completed. Access to the Marin Scope collection will be limited to 2 Page 2 of 8
users inside the Sausalito Library. The project has the support of the publisher of the Marin Scope. Digitization will mean an exponential increase in the accessibility of this local resource. It will also allow us to dispose of the bulky and balky microfilm reader/printer that currently resides on the mezzanine. With the completion of this project and a parallel project to digitize the Sausalito News up to 1966, we will achieve full digital, searchable coverage of historical Sausalito newspapers (Sausalito was without a local paper between 1967 and 1971). II. Q1 Metrics The Library tracks a variety of performance metrics to help us understand how well we are meeting community needs. With fiscal year 2016 underway, we will check in on the circulation of children s and adult materials. Circulation of Sausalito Adult Library Materials Circulation is a measure of the number of times that items within a library s collection are checked out or renewed. The chart below shows total circulation of books, DVDs, CDs and other materials from the Library s adult collections. The first quarter of each year since 2012 is displayed as red. As you will see, adult circulation has been flat to declining over the past year. The decline is led by DVD circulation, which dropped by 12.3% when comparing Q1 2016 to Q1 2015. Despite the decline, Sausalito s overall circulation continues to outpace that of Marin County as a whole. Sausalito s population is 2.75% of Marin County, while Sausalito Library circulation currently accounts for 4.11% of total library circulation in the County. 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Circulation of adult library materials by quarter since FY 2012 3 Page 3 of 8
Circulation of Sausalito Children s Library Materials Circulation of children s materials continues to show a steady upward trend. Children s DVD circulation is declining, but this decline is concealed by the 10.7% increase in book circulation between Q1 2015 and Q1 2016. We believe that there is more room for children s circulation to grow, but that our limited shelf space for children s materials places a cap on growth (see also the item in section IV below about the Library floor plan). 10,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 Circulation of children s library materials by quarter since FY 2012 III. Special Report: Preliminary Accessibility Survey In July 2015, the Department of Public Works received a draft of an accessibility survey of the Library prepared by GPPA Architects. The Library survey is part of a larger Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan update that GPPA is developing under contract to the City. In this section, I will report on the major changes that we expect will be required of the Library to bring it into compliance. At present, we do not have a timetable for the changes. Library Doors Both of the Library's pairs of double doors will be modified to ensure that at least one of the door leaves in each pair is 32 wide or more. The existing width of each of the door leaves is 28. Handrails on Stairway to Mezzanine The handrails on the stairway between the main floor and the mezzanine do not 4 Page 4 of 8
comply with the current California Building Code. The existing railings have inconsistent mounting heights and do not extend sufficient distances past the top and bottom risers. Self-Check Station Because the existing self check-out station is 39 tall (counter height), the Library is required to provide an alternate self check-out station at a counter height of between 28 and 34 for use by persons who use a wheelchair or cannot otherwise utilize the existing counter height. Book Stacks on the Main Floor and Mezzanine According to ADA regulations, the distance between book stacks should be at least 36. Currently, the distances between the stacks on the main floor (adult -- nonfiction) and mezzanine (adult -- fiction and biography) range from 28 to 35. This is the survey finding that will require the most significant changes to the Library floor plan and will make the largest impact on the Library collection. Based on my calculations, bringing the stacks into compliance could require a reduction of 25% to 35% of shelf space in adult non-fiction, and 10% to 20% in the adult fiction and biography collections. The required reconfiguration of the book stacks provides an opportunity for Library staff, Library support groups, and the community to consider whether other changes to the Library floor plan should be made at the same time that we alter the stacks. In the Goals section below, I will discuss some of the other changes that are under consideration. IV. Goals for Q2 2016 and Beyond In this section we will look at current and future initiatives underway to improve and expand library services in the community. Reevaluate the Library Floor Plan As mentioned in section III above, the Library will be required to make changes to the configuration of its adult book stacks to bring the Library into compliance with ADA requirements. I have begun consulting with the Library Trustees, Library staff, and Library users about other changes that we may want to make to the Library floor plan at the time that we undertake the work on the stacks. Based on the circulation trends mentioned in section II, and the increase in the number of school age children in Sausalito, one change we will consider is expanding the children s room of the Library. The most obvious direction of expansion would be to take over the City Librarian office, which could be relocated elsewhere within the Library footprint, possibly on the mezzanine level where we currently have a storage closet. 5 Page 5 of 8
When I am ready to recommend changes, the recommendation will be presented to the community for feedback. Ultimate approval of any plans will reside with the Library Trustees and the City Council. New Logo The Library s open book logo has been around for more than ten years and is due for an upgrade. I have begun working with local graphic designer Heather Graef on a new logo. Heather also designed the logo for Sausalito Beautiful. So far we are leaning toward a design which depicts one of the Sweeny Park cedar trees, as seen through one of the Library s tall windows. When finished, the new logo will go on library cards, business cards, and the new e-newsletters that are underway. The Library s outdated current logo More New Signage We are currently onto phase 4 in our effort to revamp the signage within the Library. Phase 4 covers the children s and young adult collections, and will primarily consist of small signs that identify sections like picture books, board books, and juvenile non-fiction. A grant from the Friends of the Library has been secured to pay for the work, which will be done by Victoria Colella of Valhalla Signworks. Phase 5, the final phase, will be for hallway signs and improved paint and labeling of the Library book drops. Improved Cataloging Assistant City Librarian Augie Webb and I have been investigating ways to improve the quality of the bibliographic records that we get from our primary book vendor, Brodart. Bibliographic records consist of data like title, author, physical description, contents, and subject headings. For the past few years, we have been on a low-cost plan from Brodart that relies heavily on automation. Unfortunately, the amount of time that Augie spends fixing and improving Brodart s records effectively negates our cost savings. Our plan now is to upgrade to a value-added Brodart service that features higher quality records and librarian review. The change has been approved by the Library Trustees and will increase our annual costs by approximately $2,500, with the cost being covered by the Library s book budget. 6 Page 6 of 8
Art Exhibits The art exhibits on the Library walls continue to be a success. I am currently working with the Library s Art Committee to set the exhibit calendar for 2016. Exhibits run for six weeks. Artists must either live in Sausalito or rent studio space in town. Workshops for Virtual Collections To boost circulation of our e-book and e-audiobook collections -- and introduce Sausalito residents to new electronic resources like Lynda.com and Zinio -- we will begin holding weekly drop-in workshops in January 2016. Respectfully submitted, Abbot Chambers, City Librarian October 14, 2015 7 Page 7 of 8
APPENDIX: Q1 2016 Statistical Dashboard 8 Page 8 of 8