Librarian’s Report to the Board

March 21, 2007

 

 

Fisherman’s Library

is now in place at Englund Marine.  One range of books – five shelves contain fun fiction paperbacks, videos, and nonfiction titles on knot tying, boat repair and other how-to topics.  Sea Grant and Small Business Assn. pamphlets are arranged in files on the bottom shelf.  It’s an honor system that encourages fishermen and their families to come to the library for a much broader selection.  Posters are in businesses and restaurants along the bayfront and bookmarks are available at the library.  It was featured in an article in “Port & Starboard,” the Port of Newport newsletter in March.

 

Leadership Lincoln

venue for arts and culture this week included the library, parks & recreation, the performing arts center, history museum and a medical information center from Georgia-Pacific.  I talked about the library, our relationships with other agencies and special programs we offer.  Zorro rules!

 

Downloadable audio books

will be offered through our online catalog in the next few months.  Through our consortium we signed a contract to participate in a larger consortium for audio books that you can download to your computer or MP-3 player at home.  All you will need to do is look up the item in the library’s catalog through our web site.  The service is set to begin in July, and we’ll keep you posted as to when the audio books will start to show up in our catalog.

 

This is a service we had planned to offer next year anyway and are pleased to be able to do it through the consortium without having to raise our consortium fees. 

 

National Library Week - Month

is April 15-21, 2007.  We will request that the Mayor proclaim National Library Week in Newport at the April 16th Council meeting.  In April the Library is featured on the City’s First Tuesday Radio Show, April 3 on KNPT at 9:00 a.m. and for Coffee With the City on the First Thursday, April 5.  The Coffee With the City will focus on the community read program, NEWPORT READS ZORRO! and will take place at 9:00 a.m. in City Hall.

Adult Programs

in April will include the Oregon Book Award authors on April 12th reading at 7:00 p.m. at the Newport Library.  The authors include:

 

  • George Aguilar, winner in creative nonfiction for WHEN THE RIVER RAN WILD! Indian Traditions on the Mid-Columbia and the Warm Springs Reservation

 

  • Edwin Battistella, finalist in nonfiction for BAD LANGUAGE: Are Some Words Better than Others?

 

  • Gina Ochsner, winner in shot fiction for PEOPLE I WANTED TO BE

 

  • Floyd Skloot, finalist in poetry for APPROXIMATELY PARADISE

 

Canyon Way will bring books to sell.

 

Bridges to Literacy – Tamora Pierce

ends this year with Tamora Pierce visiting the schools and presenting a program at the library April 6.  Pierce is a popular science fiction-fantasy writer for young adults. 

 

No Gala-Gala

is a nonevent planned by Michele Longo Eder, leader of the fundraising committee.  It will be a mailing that goes out right after National Library Week in April and will also be printed in the News-Times.  This is the first time the Foundation has tried this sort of fund raiser where patrons donate what they did not have to spend to come to a fundraising event. 

 

Problem patrons

abounded this month in the library.  I received 4 letters in two successive days from patrons who were angry at having been asked to leave the library or at a number of other items.  In the same week another was confused and disoriented, and removed by paramedics.  We have the ability to ban for a period of time patrons who are disruptive or refuse to act appropriately in the library through the policy on Prohibited Conduct, 5.10 in your policy manuals.  Patrons who are at this time trespassed from the Library number three, two adults and one teen.

 

Police Chief Mark Miranda will meet with staff April 4th to discuss these issues as well as carrying out the recent sex offender ordinance passed by the City Council.  The ordinance requires a registered sex offender to stop at the desk and let staff know of their status when they enter a City building such as the Library.

Library Budget – Bob Gazewood

 is the Interim Finance Director for the City.  I met with him this week to review the library budget.   We are requesting a generally status quo budget with increased materials budgets, $2500 for teen programs, and four hours a week of staff at the circulation desk on Wednesdays in the summer and Saturdays in the winter.  The budget request is attached.

 

Library 2.0

includes such interactive web sites as LibraryThing (a place to catalog your own collection), MySpace (where some libraries have links), and Second Life (a site where you create your own avatar and explore the cyber world – Kansas State Library is in the cyberworld on Second Life.  Sheryl Eldridge has been teaching staff about these opportunities for virtual contact with others.  Her handout is on our web site.  You can get there by logging in to www.newportlibrary.org/library2.0

 

Statistics

For the month of February show a decline of 3% in circulation with an increase of 12% in daily attendance, a 36% increase in use of the Internet and a 19% increase in use of interlibrary loan.  We held 30 children’s programs with a total attendance of 1870, including the OMSI school visits.  Adult classes and programs totaled six with attendance at 35.   Most adult classes are Internet classes with 2 to 6 attending each session.

 

OVER FOR APRIL CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April Library Calendar:

 

3rd, Tuesday               KNPT Radio, 9:00 a.m. Kiera Morgan interviews Wyma Rogers

 

5th  Thursday              Coffee With the City, 9:00 – 10:00 City Hall on Zorro

 

6th  Friday                   Tamora Pierce appears at the Middle and High Schools  and

                                    at the Library

 

10th Tuesday              KNPT Radio with Nancy Jane Reed – Richard Kilbride on

                                    Zorro

 

12th Thursday             Oregon Authors speak at the Library, 7:00, includes

 

16th Monday               Mayor proclaims National Library Week at Council Meeting

 

19th Thursday             Panel Discussion on Zorro led by Dr. Kayla Garcia at High

                                    School, 7:00 p.m.

 

21st Saturday             Costume party and Silent Film of Zorro at Atonement

                                    Lutheran Church, 6:30 p.m.

 

23rd - 27                      No Gala-Gala invitations go out this week