Director’s Report for July 2009

July proved to be the most creative month yet for the Children’s Department. The creative themes of the programs had the staff and patrons dancing, singing, graffiti tagging and wrestling all through the month. During the “Art Attack” program children drew pictures of books and cartoon characters and wrote messages on the steps of the library about how much they loved the library. People passing by stopped to write their own message and inquired how the budget cuts might affect the library. Children sang and danced with musician Steven Courtney. More than 140 children came to see the Tucker’s Tale puppet show, The Creative Duck. During his visit, pro-wrestler Lightning Mike Quackenbush spoke about his love of wrestling and his love of books, read to the children, and gave autographs. Reporters from Channel 69 were among the attendees. For the craft, participants made wrestling championship belts. Many children wore their belt to the library the following day.

Representatives from the Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center, including Smokey Bear, visited the Young Adult Department and the Children’s Department to stress the importance of trees in the environment. Teens also visited with pro-wrestler Mike Quackenbush. Participants had a great time during Family Night “Dance, Dance, Dance Revolution.” The Supervisor presented a career tour to the teens from the Opportunity House. Library employees from most departments spoke about the functions they do on a daily basis. The staff hosted library tours for teens from PACE Institute and from the Children’s Home.

Musician Steven Courtney performed at the Northeast Branch during Bilingual family night. A staff member almost gave Steven a parking ticket and he actually wrote a song about it. He sang it during his performance. The children and adults loved the song and his show. The children laughed out loud during the Tucker’s Tales puppet show, The Creative Duck. Ceramic evening was a big hit. The program had a limit of 45 children. All 45 children attended to paint bears, frogs, flowers, and pigs. The staff noticed more parents accompanying their children to the library this year. Last year most children visited the library by themselves. A staff member translated the HELP form into Spanish to spread the word that the library is in financial trouble. Many patrons seemed concerned.

Many children and families came into the Northwest Branch to escape the heat, read, play board games, and use the computers. The children continued to enjoy the Creative Science programs and Chess Club. Musician Steven Courtney and the Tucker’s Tales Puppet show delighted the audiences. Volunteer Grandma Betty provided a helping hand by filing tickets, dispensing tokens, preparing materials for crafts and other small but important tasks. The Branch received new flat screen monitors. The smaller monitors provided additional space at the circulation desk. The Branch also received a new rug for the children’s area.

The most popular programs at the Southeast Branch were the Creative Science program, Elementary Story Hour, Craft Night, and Walk-in Craft days. Many of the young patrons enjoyed musician Steven Courtney’s performance and the Tucker’s Tales Puppet show. The children continued to participate in the Summer Reading Program.

The City of Reading provided the Circulation Department with four summer interns. The interns are high school students working with the Summer Youth Employment Program through the Economic Stimulus Plan. Since this is their first job, they received basic employment training through CareerLink. The interns cleaned shelves and books, and pulled damaged materials.

The staff of the Reference Department weeded several sections of the main library, attended a budget meeting at City Hall, attended the Ethics Training Session at the Fire Training Center, designed a report of circulating statistics for the branches, taught two basic Internet classes, one intermediate Internet class, and one resume class, and conducted two library tours. In addition, staff members visited the Brandywine Community Library and the Exeter Community Library to evaluate their reference collection. The Interlibrary Loan Department received 1,054 requests. The PA Room assisted 63 visitors.

The Technical Services Department added more than 11,950 items to the collection this year. Discarded items increased because the State Library informed the Reading Public Library that the collection was “too old,” meaning too many old copyrights. The staff provided support to other departments and Branches who required additional personnel. The Supervisor noted a team effort and cooperation among staff and volunteers of this department.

The Bookmobile manager reported that there was an increase in the number of patrons at the Oley and Mulberry stop and the Glenside stop compared to June’s numbers. Even though the number of young patrons who visited the Riverside Elementary stop for the migrant program was less than July of last year, the circulation number was higher. The coordinator of the Bookmobile Outreach Program requested new material from the Main Library and the Southeast Branch because the patrons of the Outreach Program cycled through the new collection on the Bookmobile. The patrons from the Senior Homes continued to enjoy not only the library’s materials but also the visit from the coordinator as well. Due to budget cuts, all patrons expressed concern about the program’s future.

The Maintenance Department assisted the city electrician in replacing the emergency light fixtures at the Northwest and Southeast branches. Other duties of this department included: delivering books to the cops and kids drop-off, fixing shelves at the Main Library, picking up supplies at Sam’s Club, packing discarded books, and inspecting all fire extinguishers. Four Star Security installed a panic button in the Young Adult Department.