610 Quincy St. ź Rapid City , SD 57701
605-394-4171 ź www.rapidcitylibrary.org
DIRECTOR’S
REPORT: MAY 2008
BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
ADMINISTRATION
Community,
Governmental and Interlibrary Relations: G. Chapman facilitated two meetings with the elementary school
librarians and also a meeting that include the school administration for
discussion regarding the pending funding cuts to the school district budget.
The Board will make a final decision of funding cuts on May 15. The librarians
gathered a number of information resources identifying outcomes for students
and communities from elementary school libraries. One of the challenges facing
the district is the need for improved coordination between the separate
teaching of technology, literacy and libraries. The primary function of the
libraries is only with printed resources. While that is important, technology
and literacy are foundation pieces of library services as well. The librarians
and administration expressed appreciation for the support and facilitation
provided. Communications amongst the three parties remains open for future
discussions of library services provided to the public and elementary students.
G. Chapman attended an SDLA Board in Chamberlain that was unable to achieve a
quorum but fiscal and procedure documents were reviewed. A conference call is
being scheduled to take have a quorum for action items on agenda. The new
Public Works Director Robert Ellis was given a tour by G. Chapman as a new city
department head. The annual spring SDLN Advisory Council
statewide teleconference was held 5.7.
FACILITIES
·
Phase
two sidewalk replacement project in progress, to replace several areas on
·
New
paint colors are complete on main floor.
·
Installed
new shelving end panels, furniture, and magazine shelving as part of the space
use upgrade.
Public
Information and Programming:
PUBLIC SERVICES
Collection
Development:
·
A
quarterly update meeting was held for selectors. 1st quarter ordering is on track
for the calendar year.
·
In
order to serve as an information hub for local interest and events, the underground lab wiki was
launched.
Programming:
·
The Big Read activities were well received,
with a total of 966 people attending the various events.
o
For children, local firemen read stories, and
showed their equipment and trucks. Students participated in an essay and
artwork contest, with prizes provided by the Friends of the Library.
o
For adults, the film Fahrenheit 451 was shown and discussed, and a book discussion was
also held. The fire theme continued at
the Lunch and Learn, with information about wildfire prevention.
o
Other Big Read events: the Chamber of Commerce mixer served as the
kick-off for the event, with an attendance of 350; patrons wrote short essay
answers to the question “What Book Would You Save?”; and the Rapid City Fire
Department competed to see which shift had signed up for the most library
cards.
·
National Library Week’s theme was “Discover
the World”. Events included a
“Presidential Party” for individuals and families, who used clues to answer
questions about the presidential statues; and a travel program presented by
Bridget Malachek from Roam n’Around.
·
The annual Spring Poets Coffeehouse was
presented in conjunction with the Highplains Writers, and had 35 people in
attendance.
Publications: Created brochures, fliers,
and other advertising for the month’s events.
The Kids’ Page
on the RCPL website was also updated.
CIRCULATION-TECHNICAL SERVICES
·
Staff
proposed and implemented a modification to the scheduling for RCPL North; this
accommodates patron service needs, while maintaining current staffing levels.
·
The
magazines and newspapers were moved to new shelving near the coffee shop as
part of the space use plan; this allows for easier access to these popular
materials.
·
CTS
staff also outlined a reorganization of the Technical Services work area, in
order to improve workflow; the reorganization is currently being implemented.
Outreach and
Volunteers
- Outreach:
Homebound deliveries were made to 5 institutions and 73 patrons. 4
new patrons were signed up. OVC visited one nursing home to promote
the program.
- Volunteer: 23
volunteers contributed 249 hours during the month of April. Planning
was implemented for a volunteer recognition to coincide with National
Volunteer Week.
NETWORK SERVICES
·
Finished
installing software at RCPL North which allows us to efficiently enter the
patron into our database, and allows the patron to access the public computers
immediately. This is an improvement in public service, as the initial set up
with the school district’s computers inserted a one-day delay in patrons’
access to those computers.
·
We
are researching the use of virtual server for RCPL. This allows us to use 1
physical server to run multiple virtual servers thereby energy consumption.
