Value Added Content

I was never very fond of (nor good at) math during my school days.  One could say it's the reason I've chosen to surround myself with books for a living.  But numbers are a very important factor in measuring the very lifeblood of the public library.  How many programs did we offer?  How many people came?  Is this better or worse than last year?  Last month?  How much better or worse?  How many items did we circulate?  How many do we own?

I adore numbers now!

I was thinking about value the other day.  As in, what is the monetary value of what we offer our community?  Our collection contains approximately 25,000 items.  If you estimate a value per item of $20 (which is low-balling it), we offer a half-million dollars worth of items to our community at any one time.  On a personal basis, if a person checked out the maximum 25 items, and did this every week for a year, they would have checked out $26,000 worth of materials.  Or, in other words, if they had wanted to purchase all of those items for their personal collection, that's how much money it would have taken them to do it.

By the end of 2014, we will have circulated somewhere around 110,000 items for the year.  At $20 per item estimate, that is over $2.1 million of value we brought to the community.  We have an annual acquisitions budget of $80,000 - or 26 times less than the circulation value to our community.

Granted, some items may circulate just a couple times in the year.  Some may circulate not at all.  That is why we are constantly evaluating our collection and weeding under performing items.  On the flip side, some items will circulate dozens of times in a year.  The hottest new movies, for example, can average one checkout per week all year long.  So, 52 circulations for an item that cost us $20.  The total value on that $20 investment is $1,040.

It's popular in the media to talk about the value of libraries and the sustainability of the current library model, as if the very existence of libraries is somehow tied to the popularity of the printed word.  And the caveat to all of this talk of value is that, were all of the libraries in Carroll County to suddenly vanish and no other alternatives took their places, would our patrons literally spend $2.1 million on the items they get from us for free?  Probably not.  A portion of it, but not the entire thing.  Many people would simply do without.  But the point is, they don't have to.

And that is the enduring value of libraries.  Communities need a repository for the informational and entertainment materials that they cannot afford to purchase for themselves.  They need a place where they can safely be exposed to ideas and not be judged for their interests.  And that is something that will never go out of style.

Thunder Biscuits

I have a special connection with all of the different collections housed within the library, but here's a secret: I like all of them, I respect most of them, and I absolutely adore a few of them.  One of those objects of my adoration is the library's music collection.  We recently did a little rearranging to open up the area just inside the front entrance and to give the music collection a little room to breathe (not to mention make it easier to browse).

It's a tough era for CDs.  I'll admit it.  CD sales have plummeted every year for the last several years, and many people exist in a purely digital soundscape, or have gone the other direction and are rediscovering vinyl.  CDs are not sexy.  But they are still a great way to possess actual physical copies of music, and lend them to the public (although we do have a pretty spiffy digital music library as well - did you know?).

One of my greatest self-imposed challenges is to continually strive to fill the library with items that will surprise and delight our patrons.  I love overhearing someone say, "Wow, what?  No way!" when they stumble across something unexpected.  I try to challenge people's ideas of what a library is and the types of materials/services that can be found there, and the CD collection is a sort of microcosm of that aspiration.

Dig deep and you'll find everything from country to rap, metal to jazz, rock to standup comedy to opera and classical.  Old stuff.  New stuff.  The hottest hits of today and the classics that form the foundation for all modern popular music.  Not all of it will be to everyone's tastes, but that's the beauty of a public library - it doesn't cost anything to try something new!

Spare a minute on your next visit to dig into our music collection - you may be surprised by what you find there!

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Summer is the bread and butter season for public libraries.  It is the most concentrated period of activity that most libraries see all year, with "reading programs" designed to occupy the time and energies of youth during the long summer months when they are out of school.

This year's theme is "Fizz Boom Read," for the kiddos, "Spark a Reaction" for the teens, and "Literary Elements" for adults.  The overall "umbrella" theme is science.  I didn't know how I felt about that theme at first, but I quickly realized how much potential was there.

We try to cater to every age group when we plan for our summer programming.  We have separate "programs" for kids, teens, and adults, each with individual events, challenges, and rewards.  A typical Summer Reading week breaks down like this:

Monday: 1PM - "Marquee" children's event (where we bring in an outside presenter/performer)

Tuesday: 6PM - Adult "marquee" event

Wednesday: 1PM - Children's Science program

                    4PM - LEGO Club

Thursday: 10AM - Pre-K Storytime

                11AM - K-3 Storytime

                  3PM - Teen Book Club

                  4PM - Teen Activity

Friday: 6PM - Teen Movie Night

Saturday: 6PM - Adult Movie Night

We have special events along the way, and on the first Saturday in August, we wrap everything up with a free concert on the parking lot.  It's a lot of planning and preparation, but it's tons of fun.  It's always a pretty big letdown when it ends, but we usually turn right around and start planning for next year!

All ages get credit for reading, attending programs, and doing activities on their own throughout the summer.  We stockpile giveaways and incentives throughout the year with the goal of giving them away during Summer Reading.  I have been very grateful to our local business partners for being so generous in donating materials to us for this cause!  

We still aren't completely locked in as to what the GRAND prizes will be this year, but we are leaning towards a learning tablet computer for the 3-7 age group, a large array of LEGO for 8-12, a laptop computer for the teens, and an e-reader/tablet for the adults.  It's easy to qualify - all a person has to do is participate.  The more a person participates, the better chances they have!  

Here are a few preliminary images I have worked up for this summer:

Our Children's Summer Reading game board, which can be used to track independent progress throughout the summer.

The  cover of theTeen Summer Reading independent activity booklet.

Suggestions?

 

Sometimes I get the question, "How do you decide what things to add to the library collection?"  This is an excellent question!

The library is fortunate enough to have a decent acquisitions budget to spend every year.  This money can be spent on things like online databases, e-books, hardcover books, music CDs, DVDs, etc.  Taking popular taste and trends into account is high on my priority list when adding materials to the library.  There is a list of over 120 authors whose works we automatically receive upon publication.  These include people like James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Catherine Coulter, Nora Roberts...the biggies.  This helps ensure that we don't miss anything people would want.

I also try to make sure we aren't missing volumes in series, as it can be frustrating to realize you started in the middle, or you are half-way through a long series and suddenly have to stop.  There are a lot of series, and going over them all is a constant project!  

With movies and music, I check weekly to see what has been announced as upcoming, and make sure we have those things ordered which I know will be in-demand.  I also enjoy digging deeper and broadening the collection with classic and foreign movies that people may not be familiar with.

I consult critical reviews and opinions when making decisions on what to purchase.  However, high demand for an item plays a very important factor, as well!  

I welcome any and all suggestions for materials to add to the library collection.  These suggestions can be made totally anonymously if desired, and left in our "comments/suggestions" box located just inside the library entrance.  I check the box every few days, and give every single suggestion thought, and try to order all that I can.

Adding materials to the collection is a large and very enjoyable part of my job, and my goal is to create a diverse and well-rounded library for Berryville.

Mark

Library Director