CITY OF CALABASAS LIBRARY FY 2016-17 ANNUAL REPORT 1
Executive Summary The City of Calabasas will celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the library building in 2018 and the 20 th anniversary as a City Library. We ve come a long way since 1998 when the library left the Los Angeles County Library system. We started with 14,000 items, one Internet computer and a patron base of 0. Today, we have more than 45,000 registered card holders, a collection of 87,000 items and 20 public Internet computers. We traded our VHS collection for streaming video, have 72,000 wireless users and 172,000 virtual visits to the library website per year. In 2016, we helped the City of Calabasas celebrate its 25 th anniversary with special programs and events. In 2017, we were awarded several grants from the California State Library for High Speed Broadband Internet; Makerspace boxes; and Virtual Reality equipment. We are currently working with the Las Virgenes School District (LVUSD) to provide digital library cards for every student. We will continue to grow our patron base, our collection and our programs. We look forward to a deepening connection with our patrons in Hidden Hills, our local schools and all citizens of Calabasas. 2
Registered Borrowers In fiscal year 2016-2017 the library had 45,196 registered patrons. The Library recorded 155,593 visits for the year. From July 2016 to June 2017, 2,160 new patrons registered for cards. Adults 38,617 Children 6,247 Restricted use* 332 Total 45,196 *Restricted use patrons have not provided proof of a current California address. They can use the Internet computers. Collection Physical books still account for the largest number of items in the collection. However, because of the Memorandum of Understanding with Hidden Hills and the School District, we continue to expand our digital collections. Books 66,843 Physical Audio 4,013 Digital Audio 7,585 DVD 4,079 Streaming Video 7,000 E-books 4,686 Digital comics/graphic books 16,000 Digital magazines (titles) 118 Physical Magazines (titles) 52 Physical Newspapers (titles) 9 Databases 14 3 Cloud Library E-book collection
As part of our agreement with LVUSD we have purchased additional databases to help students with their homework. These include Research in Context, World History in Context, Science in Context, Opposing Viewpoints, Testing & Education Reference Center and Gale Virtual Reference Library. These are in addition to General Reference Center Gold, Infotrac Newstand, the Health Reference Center and the Literature Resource Center. Full-text content of local and regional news is available through the NewsBank 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. The Career Transitions database helps users discover and target fast-growing careers and industries in their immediate locations -- 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. Mango Languages is an interactive language learning program. Circulation As the collections have changed, so have circulation trends. Physical items still account for much of the circulation. The most checked out items are DVDs, adult fiction and children s books. Retrievals of electric content, e-books, downloadable audio and database searches, account for much of our circulation. Circulation of Cloud Library e-books has increased this year as demonstrated by the chart below. This increase was due to the Library joining the Bibliotheca CloudLink system which connects our holdings with other library holdings throughout the state. Calabasas Library patrons are able to check out e-books from other libraries if the copies are available. 4
CIRCULATION Physical item 121,841 Digital content 9,893 Database retrievals 26,915 In-house 35,816 Total 194,465 Reference Librarians provide information, reader s advisory, booklists and pathfinders for assignments. They place holds or help patrons 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. They book the study rooms and monitor patron behavior. Reference help is provided in both the Adult and Children s areas. Technology The librarians typically answer about 50 questions a day at the desk and on the telephone (these do not include directional questions). The number of reference questions this year was close to 30,000. The reference staff aids patrons in using the computers and downloadable materials. Technology questions numbered 1,300. The Library has 15 computer stations for adults and five for children. Beside Internet access, these computers have Word, Excel and PowerPoint software. High speed Broadband Wireless access is 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. The Polaris Integrated Library System provides more advanced searching capabilities and allows patrons more management of their library accounts. The Radio Frequency (RFID) system provides greater security for materials and allows quicker checkout to patrons. The self-checkout machine works with this technology to allow patrons to bypass lines at the circulation desk. The RFID system also facilitates the check-in and holds processes so that staff is more efficient. 5
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 100 4,630 School Age Programs 132 4,240 Young Adult programs 165 1,660 Adult Programs 87 1,510 Total 484 12,040 Programs for Children Statistics show that reading aloud to children from a very early age improves literacy later in life. This year we increased the number of preschool story times from two to three due to a large demand. The library has two story times per week 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 craft programs, family movies, music, magicians and animal shows. Children also receive prizes for reading. Our Summer Reading Program (SRP) theme in 2017 was Reading by Design. During the six week long program, 591 people signed up to participate and 1,737 people attended the events. We also have an online summer reading program. 6
School Year Programming The Library also has special events during the school year to entertain and educate children such as holiday crafts, game days, MakerBox programs and movies. Groups from the local public and private schools visit the library for tours, storytelling and research help. The librarians also have 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. Another popular program held on a regular basis is the Writers Corner Club. Led by High School volunteers, this club for 3 rd to 7 th graders encourages creative writing skills. Writers Club The Library sponsored a Pen Pal program for our young patrons. 7
Literally Healing In support of the Literally Healing Program at Children s Hospital LA, the Library hosted a reading festival for a third year. Held on the first Wednesday in December, the festival features guest readers, crafts, live music, face painting and a visit from miniature therapy horses. 8
Young Adult Programs Teen participation is integral to the running of the library. Thirty eight 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. They run a successful fundraising event called the Fun Fair which features crafts, games, face painting and refreshments for children. Other programs for teens included movie nights and virtual reality sessions. The Library continues to sponsor the Calabasas Library Study Buddy program. High school students help younger students with their homework every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 3:30 to 4:30 in the Library s Multipurpose Room. Between 15 and 20 students attend each session. The Peer Counseling program, run by Calabasas High School students from the National Honor Society, provides academic help for middle and high school students. They meet in the Young Adult section of the Library. Love to Learn Tutoring is run by Viewpoint students on Saturday afternoons. Teens also helped patrons with technology issues every Sunday. 9
Adult Programs The library sponsored 87 adult programs this year. The Lunch at the Library program continues to be popular. These hour programs include participatory events like yoga and bingo, cooking demonstrations or educational seminars on health, nutrition, literature and local history. The Calabasas - Las Virgenes Historical Society co-sponsors many of the history programs. For the City s 25 th Anniversary the Historical Society curated a museum display of Calabasas History. The Library also hosted a Founder s Panel with some of the first City Council and Library Commission members and sponsored a Calabasas book signing by authors Cim Castellon and Council Member James Bozajian. Once a month the library shows a movie geared to adults. Patrons bring their dinners and eat while they watch and then discuss the film after. For Veterans Day we presented a series of war movies on Friday afternoons. The library also hosts two book clubs for adults; one on the third Wednesday of the month in the morning and the other on the second Thursday of the month at 6:00 p.m. The Friends of the Library hosted a Valentine s Day event to honor current members and recruit new members. The also sponsored the One Book, One City event, a party and dance based on The Great Gatsby. 10
Creativity Corner Library staff applied for and received two grants that allowed us to design a Makerspace. Called the Creativity Center, it is housed in the room behind the Senior Corner. One grant allowed staff to buy items for Makerspace boxes for STEM (science, technology education and math) programs for students. We also purchased a 3D printer. The other grant sent us two virtual reality systems for patron use. Patrons of all ages can utilize the Creativity Corner. The picture below is a card making group of seniors. 11
Special Collections Room The Calabasas - Las Virgenes Historical Society s collection of books, maps, pamphlets, photographs, journals, and oral history is housed in a small room off of the Quiet Room in the Calabasas Library. The original archive came from the private collections of Ruth Loring and Kathleen Beachy. The collection is open to the public by appointment. The Calabasas-Las Virgenes Historical Society has lectures on the fourth Thursday of each month at the library. The lectures are led by a variety of authors, researchers, historians, or Historical Society members. Friends of the Library The Friends of the Library, a non-profit group, are responsible for fundraising activities. They have monthly board meetings, sponsor special events, fund a teen scholarship program and hold 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. 12
The Library Commission The City of Calabasas Library Commission hold meetings 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 The current members of the Library Commission are Ellen Pangarliotas, President, Theresa Compton, Vice President, Britt Aaronson, Bob Hill, Denise Lee, Mark Shear, and Nura Esmailizadeh, Student Member. Library Staff /Professional Development The Library is part of the Media, Library and Information Services Department (MLIS). Deborah Steller is the Director of MLIS and Barbara Lockwood is 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 Mary Jones, Kerrie Mierop, Mohsen Rahnamaie, Caroline Russom, and Kathy Thomas. Other hourly staff includes Shanta Williams, Library Assistant, Part Time, Megan Richardson, Library Clerk II, Nataliya Sobchuk, Library Clerk II, Alyssa Ford, Library Clerk I, Shaya Hosseini, Library Clerk I, Linda La Maina, Library Clerk I. Andy Hong is the Library Information Systems Assistant. 13
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. Staff also provides outreach to the community. For example, Jill Nevins visits every elementary school in Calabasas LVUSD and has a presence at the Chaparral Farmer s Market each year. Barbara Lockwood meets with School District representatives on a regular basis and has presented in front of the school board. Karilyn Steward is the liaison to the Historical Society. Library Budget Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Revenue Secured Property Tax $1,986,946 Fines & Recovery 22,964 Hidden Hills Library Funds 335,108 Interest Income 5,088 Miscellaneous 1,864 Copy Machine revenue 246 Total Revenue $2,352,216 Expenditures Staff Expenditures $ 981,998 Collection 165,447 Other 663,238 Total Operating Expenditures $1,810,683 14