April 2016 Report...Square Foot and Container Gardening: Demonstrator, Art De Smet and Judi Janowski 30 4/4/2016 Tween Yoga Part 1 of 3: Demonstrator, Little Om, Big Om - Delight 9

April 2016 Report

Presented at the May 10, 2016 Library Board Meeting

1. STATISTICS Circulation: Adult YA & Juv. Total Year to Date 2016 33,105 3,420 + 20,019 56,544 202,825* 2015 32,766 3,668 + 19,297 55,731 229,572 2014 35,096 3,653 + 20,356 59,105 245,769 *2016 YTD numbers are impacted by the February roof repair closure

Self-Service checkouts: ITG ITG#2 ITG #3 Total % of total 2016 12,317 5,834 7,810 25,961 45.91% 2015 11,950 6,247 7,671 25,868 46.42% 2014 11,533 7,831 7,607 26,971 45.63%

Library cards issued: Adult Juv. Sr. Org. Total 2016 85 36 4 0 125 2015 59 16 7 0 82 2014 82 23 7 0 112 Resource Sharing: Loaned to other LINKcat Borrowed from other LINKcat 2016 18,142 18,526 2015 20,294 17,887 2014 19,193 17,772 (+/-2015/16)

Miscellaneous: ILL Visits Study rooms use Walk-in device WI-FI 2016 70 29,164 639 Hours / 450 Bookings 5,935 2015 103 28,831 553 Hours / 374 Bookings 553 2014 41 29,345 544.5 Hours / 389 Bookings 654 Public Computer Usage: Total Computer Sessions: 9,979 Total Computer Hours Used: 10,832 Total Printed Sides: 8,500 b/w: 573 color Fax: 37 Sessions, 130 Pages

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2. LIBRARY PROGRAMS / TOURS / PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES

Date Program Attendance

4/1/2016 Bilingual Spanish & English Storytime : Demonstrator, Katy Shannon 35

4/1/2016 American Family Children's Hospital (AFCH) (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry

3

4/2/2016 CD of the Month Club - April : Demonstrator, Brendan 30

4/2/2016 Lego Brick Party! : Demonstrator, Sally 48

4/2/2016

Square Foot and Container Gardening : Demonstrator, Art De Smet and Judi Janowski

30

4/4/2016 Tween Yoga Part 1 of 3 : Demonstrator, Little Om, Big Om - Delight 9

4/4/2016 Teen Advisory Committee: Pancakes and Poetry : Demonstrator, Rebecca V.

8

4/5/2016 TechTuesday for Middle School Age : Demonstrator, Brian Miles 10

4/5/2016 StoryTime - Toddler : Demonstrator, Lori 26



4/5/2016 Drop-in Job Help : Demonstrator, Marvel Brown, Worksmart Network 2

4/6/2016 Northside ECC 8:45am class (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 8

4/6/2016 Northside ECC 12:15 class (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 7

4/6/2016 Babies and Tiny Tots : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 14

4/6/2016 Babies and Tiny Tots : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 30

4/6/2016 Tales and Tunes Story time : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 35

4/6/2016 Yoga & Pilates: A Beginner's ToolKit, part I : Demonstrator, Linda Mundt

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http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7033&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7034&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7035&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7036&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7037&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7041&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7042&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7043&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7038&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7039&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7040&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7048&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7049&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7050&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7045&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7046&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7047&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7056&q=

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4/6/2016 Techno Minutes : Demonstrator, Amanda Brzeszkiewicz 1

4/7/2016 High School Trivia Night : Demonstrator, Rebecca V. 5

4/7/2016 3DS Club : Demonstrator, Chris & Jill 10

4/7/2016

Minecraft Club : Demonstrator, Brian Miles

22

4/7/2016 West Middleton 9:30am 4k class (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 16

4/7/2016 Tales and Tunes All Ages Story time : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 21

4/7/2016 Baby and Tiny Tot Story time : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 25

4/7/2016 Baby and Tiny Tots Story Time : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 27

4/7/2016 West Middleton 1:00pm 4k class (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 13

4/8/2016

Acts of Kindness : Demonstrator, Rebecca V.

8

4/8/2016 Bilingual Spanish-English Storytime : Demonstrator, Katy Shannon 23

4/9/2016 Family Technology Day - 3D Printing : Demonstrator, Brian Miles 10

4/11/2016 Outreach Visit - Gio's Garden (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 4

4/11/2016 Read it & Eat : Demonstrator, Lori 18

4/11/2016 Tween Yoga (part 2 of 3) : Demonstrator, Delight from Little Om, Big Om 10

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4/11/2016 Techno Minutes : Demonstrator, Amanda Brzeszkiewicz 1

4/12/2016 Meriter Hospital Mother/Baby Hour (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry

15

4/12/2016 #TechTuesday for Kids : Demonstrator, Brian Miles 10

4/12/2016 Drop-in Job Help : Demonstrator, Jon Kreger, Dane County Job Center 1

4/12/2016 Special Edition Storytime with Communication

Innovations : Demonstrator, Communications Innovations 50

4/13/2016 Baby and Tiny Tot story time : Demonstrator, betsy Bermant 24

4/13/2016 Baby and Tiny Tots STory time : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 30

4/13/2016 Tales and Tunes story time : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 35

4/13/2016 Yoga & Pilates: A Beginner's ToolKit, Part II : Demonstrator, Linda Mundt

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4/14/2016

Stephen Kantrowitz: "Who Freed the Slaves?" (Scholar'd for Life

lecture series) : Demonstrator, Professor Stephen Kantrowitz, UW-Madison History Professor

65

4/14/2016 Baby and Tiny Tots Story time : Demonstrator, Betsy Bermant 25



4/14/2016 Clubhouse for Kids 4k (Katie S's AM class) (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry

22

4/14/2016 Clubhouse for Kids 4k (Katie S's PM class) (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry

14

4/14/2016 Thursday Papertrix: Envelops and tags made with maps and other

paper items : Demonstrator, Sally 4


4/15/2016 Pooh Bear 4k am class (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 18

4/15/2016 After School Specials: Library Scavenger Hunt : Demonstrator, Lori 14

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4/15/2016 Pooh Bear afternoon 4k class (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 11

4/16/2016

Krafty Kids: Down on the Farm : Demonstrator, Kathy R.

62

4/18/2016 Tween Yoga Part 3 of 3 : Demonstrator, Little Om, Big Om - Delight 8




4/19/2016 iPad Academy Part I : Demonstrator, Amanda Brzeszkiewicz 8

4/19/2016 YMCA Northside Elementary (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 15

4/20/2016 Voss Haus (Senior and Disabled Section 8 Subsidy) (Outreach)

: Demonstrator, Amy Perry 19

4/20/2016 Creative Writing Group : Demonstrator, Kathy Steffen 9




4/21/2016 La Petite Gammon 4k class (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 13




4/21/2016 Adult Book Discussion : Demonstrator, Jenny Carr 18

4/21/2016 YMCA Sunset Ridge Elementary School (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry

21

4/21/2016 Pie & Politics: Earth Day : Demonstrator, Rebecca V. 3

4/21/2016 Youth Center Spring Showcase (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 38

4/22/2016 Plant a Seed: Bring Earth Day to Life : Demonstrator, Lori 120

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4/23/2016

Yarntastic! : Demonstrator, Rebecca V.

7

4/25/2016 Early Literacy Apps : Demonstrator, Lori 4

4/25/2016 Gio's Garden : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 8

4/26/2016 iPad Academy Part II : Demonstrator, Amanda Brzeszkiewicz 10

4/26/2016 #TechTuesday : Demonstrator, Brian Miles 15

4/26/2016 Drop-in Job Help : Demonstrator, Joe Krueger, Dane Co. Job Center 1

4/26/2016 Storytime - Toddler : Demonstrator, Lori 16



4/26/2016 Lunch Bunch @ Kromrey Middle School (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry

28




4/27/2016 Youth Center (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 18

4/27/2016 Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser : Demonstrator, Professor 42

http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7108&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7107&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7111&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7109&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7122&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7127&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7119&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7112&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7113&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7114&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7115&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7116&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7117&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7118&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7120&q=http://www.midlibrary.org/library/staff/eval_detail.asp?ID=7121&q=

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Kimberly Blaeser, 2015-16 WI Poet Laureate

4/28/2016 Minecraft Club : Demonstrator, Brian Miles 14

4/28/2016 Minecraft Club : Demonstrator, Brian Miles 14

4/28/2016 Outreach Visit - YMCA Sauk Trail (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry 28

4/28/2016

Craft Supply Stash Swap (with bonus mini-craft!) : Demonstrator, Sarah H., Rebecca L.

37

4/28/2016 Clubhouse for Kids 4k (Katie F's class) (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry

17




4/29/2016 Middleton Baby & Childcare Center 4k class (Outreach) : Demonstrator, Amy Perry

27


4/30/2016 Saturday Storytime : Demonstrator, Lori 21

Number of Programs / Total Attendance

Children's 68 / 1643

Teens 12 / 139

Adults/Friends/Other/All Ages 21 / 368

Grand Total 101 / 2150

DIY/Passive Program Total (this number included in totals above) 0 / 0

Outreach Program Total (this number included in totals above) 21 / 355

3. LIBRARY EXHIBITS

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Exhibit Case: Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens

Art Railings: PhotograpHERS – Images by Female Photographers in Middleton

4. STAFF DEVELOPMENT: MEETINGS AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

Date Department Staff Title

4/6/2016 Administration Brendan SCLS ILS Committee

4/8/2016 Teens Rebecca V. School-Library Program Coordination

4/29/2016 Teens Amy Perry & Rebecca Van

Dan

Filming for Summer Reading Promo Video

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5. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Highlights of April 2016:

The library circulated over 56,000 items in the month of April, increasing on last year’s April

total. Though our total circulation for the year is still down (owing to the roof repair closure),

the strong April numbers suggest that we are headed back in the right direction and should

not see any long-term negative effects from the prolonged period of limited services in

February. Middleton also continues to be the biggest lender in the system (outside of

Madison), sending out over 18,000 items to other SCLS libraries during the month.

Our public computer usage remains high as well, with nearly 11,000 computer hours used.

The library was open for 293 hours in April, so patrons logged nearly 37 hours of computer

time for every hour the library was open. That staggering number speaks to how busy our

technology areas really are and how increasing and improving those services is crucial to

maintaining our viability in the community.

Facility:

Beginning next month, we will have a new cleaning service for the library (and other City

buildings). Coverall will be taking over for Maintenance of Madison after Mark Goad

received multiple complaints at some of the other City facilities. (Indeed, Barbara

Henderson showed me several places this morning where carpets and other surfaces had

clearly not been even casually cleaned.) Mark negotiated a fair price for the library, which

will actually be less than our previous contract, so hopefully we can realize some savings

there without sacrificing quality of service.

Additionally, Mark is retiring in June. No word yet on how the City is planning to replace him

and how that new individual will work with the library (Mark has always been helpful and

available for our various facility needs.)

Staffing:

10

The transition in the Youth Services Department has gone smoothly. Lori Bell has taken on

more responsibility since moving to 100%, and Betsy Bermant has jumped right in and

found immediate success presenting Storytime programs.

Barbara Henderson is in the process on adding another Page I-Shelver to our workroom

staff.

Vijaya Raman has informed the library of her retirement, as she and her husband will be

moving to California to spend more time with family. Vijaya has been with the Middleton

Public Library in various capacities since 2004, and we wish her all the best in her future

endeavors.

Amy Perry continues to field more requests for Outreach Services than she has time for, a

welcome problem but a problem just the same. Until she can be moved to a 100%

Outreach Services position, this trend will most likely continue. As is, Amy does a terrific job

maintaining a library presence out in the community, increasing our exposure to various

demographics throughout the city.

Programs:

The Middleton Public Library hosted over 100 programs during the month of April, with over

2,000 attendees. Nearly 50 patrons attended our LEGO Brick Party at the beginning of the

month, and over 60 joined Kathy Rausch for her farm-themed Krafty Kids program on April

16th. Our Scholar’d for Life Lecture series welcomed Professor Stephen Kantrowitz from

UW-Madison, whose talk ‘Who Freed the Slaves?” garnered both good attendance and

some very positive reviews from patrons. Lori Bell hosted a ‘Plant a Seed’ program on Earth

Day (April 22nd) and brought 120 patrons into the library for the open house-style event. It’s

wonderful to see so many of our patrons committed to and interested in conservation and

the environment. Finally, we welcomed Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser near the

end of the month, the second time in recent years that we have had the current state Poet

Laureate here at the library. Thanks to Head of Adult Services Jim Ramsey for continuing to

schedule such prominent and engaging speakers for our community to enjoy.

6. LIBRARIANS’ REPORTS

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Patrick Williams, Head of Information Technology

A Windows 10 Pro PC image was created for the new Lenovo staff workstations. The image

contains Office 2016, along with other utilities and setups for the staff. 3 new PCs were

acquired and set up with the new image. They replace the oldest staff office workstations in the

inventory. One checkout station at the circulation desk was also replaced, and another older

staff laptop was refit for our new children’s assistant.

In preparation of moving the children’s & teen web pages off of the Drupal server, and onto our

main DNN server; a new online HTML editor was installed and heavily configured. It allows for

nice and easy document/picture drag/drop or copy/paste for auto-uploading and auto-linking;

from the user’s local PC, or from another website. I also added an online picture editor with

style effects, packaged page theme layouts, slideshow insertion, picture pop-ups, and all the

standard tools in the WYSIWYG editor. The whole page container is mobile aware, re-

structuring itself when viewed on smaller screen mobile devices.

Rebecca Van Dan, Head of Youth Services

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Collection: In April, we added and replaced signage in the Teen section, and added an extra

display for our new Teen slat-wall endcap. We tried to catch up with our ordering a little this

month and did some weeding of our multiple copies.

Programs: I ran the Tween Acts of Kindness program this month and the kids enjoyed making

plantable seed bookmarks and decorating mugs for our summer volunteers. I also helped

supervise one of the Tween Yoga programs. We tried a high school only Trivia Night this month

(TAC suggested program)—attendance was not great, but participants volunteered to help

spread the word for future events. We also had some highly motivated members at TAC who

gave us some great ideas (like a follow for follow on Instagram) and they loved the Poetry &

Pancakes aspect of TAC this month. Pie & Politics and the Yarntastic craft program also took

place this month and we worked to coordinate the multigenerational events for the Cinco de

Mayo program, and started working on collecting materials for SRP and planning out the

programs in more detail.

Supervision: We had three new teen volunteers start this month: Henry, Althea, and Mia. All

three have completed training and are doing a great job. Kathy had a very well-attended Krafty

Kids program and has been checking our collection against a list of the 100 Top Children’s

Novels; and Sally ran the Papertrix: Map Envelope making program for teens. Betsy also

started this month as an LA I and hit the ground running with some great storytimes-- patrons

are loving her energy and enthusiasm.

Outreach: Amy and I worked on a script and filming this month for a high school SRP

promotional video and we coordinated school visits for SRP. I was also contacted by an ELL

teacher to conduct a class tour of the library in May with time for the students to obtain library

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cards. Catherine (from the Cross Plains Library) and I coordinated a Skype talk with the High

School this month to discuss a wheelchair basketball program.

Displays: Voting, Politics & Activism, Picante: books with Latin American flavor, Art & Artists,

Earth Day, One Word Book Description Challenge

Sarah Hartman, Head of Technical Services

With 1,768 items added this month, we have been very busy. We are finally back to normal

volume, after a slow start to the year. The only libraries with more items added in April were

Madison-Central and Nekoosa, which is currently adding their entire collection as they join our

automated system. Included in this number is our third batch of Discovery Kits: Origami,

Ukulele, Rainbow Loom, Xylophone, and the Moon. I also ordered supplies to make five more

circulating Nintendo 2DS kits, which I will be putting together next month.

At the end of April, Rebecca Light and I hosted an extremely successful program, Craft Supply

Stash Swap, which brought in 37 people and went over so well that we are tentatively planning

to repeat it in the fall. Many attendees requested we hold it every six months. In order to

promote our collection, I created a bookmark to hand out at the event that gives the Dewey

number ranges for various types of crafting. This will be something we can have out at the

Reference Desk as well. As we are trying to increase the Library’s presence on Instagram, I

made sure to take photos and post them throughout the evening.

Finally, some sad news for Technical Services: Vijaya Raman, a dedicated Library employee for

over 11 years, will be moving out of state and has announced her resignation. Her last day will

be May 24, so next month I will be working with Jason to plan for and hire her replacement. We

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will advertise internally first, as usual, and I have no doubt we will have some excellent

candidates who will make the decision difficult! Thanks to Vijaya for all she has done over the

years, in both the Circulation and Technical Services departments.

Jim Ramsey, Head of Adult Services

April was another busy month for events and other programming. Highlights include the second

lecture in our “Scholar’d for Life” series featuring Professor Stephen Kantrowitz of UW-Madison,

and a visit from Kimberly Blaeser, the 2015-2016 Wisconsin Poet Laureate. I spent a lot of time

firming up details for events in May and June, which also promise to be very busy. Also this

month I confirmed a month-long mini-series of health and wellness events for July that I’m

calling “Wellness Wednesdays” that will feature four different speakers presenting on topics

related to health.

Last month, I mentioned that we were increasing our job assistance offerings here at the library,

and in April we officially started offering drop-in sessions once a week with staff from the Dane

County Job Center and the Worksmart Network. Turnout for the recently added sessions has

been a bit low, but I’m confident that interest will increase as word gets out. I have a

commitment from both agencies to provide services through June, but I hope to continue some

type of regular drop-in training indefinitely.

I finally had a chance to tackle some weeding projects this month, starting with the adult fiction

collection on the main level. With help from our reference desk assistants, we’ve been able to

process withdrawn books fairly quickly and move them to the Friends’ book sale room.

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The New and Notable collection has grown to the size where I’ll have to consider a significant

weeding project in the near future. To weed this collection, I’ll rely less on weeding reports and

more on criteria like accession date and condition. Thus far, I’ve weeded mostly based on

condition and removed only a handful of titles of which we own more than 2 or 3 N&N copies.

I continue to prepare for our Trivia Night fundraiser which, at the time of this writing, is a little

over a week away. I finished the written questions a couple weeks ago, but the image and

music clues were prepared by a staff member at the Madison Community Foundation and

required considerable editing and reformatting to get them ready for the competition. As with

previous years, Rebecca Light and I will be joined by former Library Board President Jill Kubiak

and her husband Chris at the scorer’s table.

We officially started our used iPod drive for the Music and Memory project I mentioned last

month, and so far we’ve already collected 7 devices! I wrote last month that my involvement

with the Dementia Friendly Communities project continues to be strong. For the time being, the

Music and Memory project will be the library’s primary contribution to the Coalition, though I still

plan to attend monthly meetings and to help guide the future development of the Middleton

group.

Jenny Carr launched Middleton’s Seed Library for the second year late last month, and this year

the library borrowed a rack and grow lights from the UW Extension for a display that we hoped

would draw attention to the collection. Unfortunately, we also drew the attention of a thief who

made off with dozens of seed packets without checking them out. The discovery of this theft led

us to move the seed packets behind the circulation desk, which seems to have solved the

problem. Once again, Jenny has done an excellent job with the seed library. This year she also

organized two gardening workshops led by staff from the UW Extension: “square foot

gardening” class earlier this month and a program on composting at the end of June. The seed

library and all that goes with it can be very labor-intensive, and we’re very grateful for the time

Jenny has devoted to it.

Brendan Faherty, Head of Circulation Services

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**prepared by Barbara Henderson, Library Assistant III for Circulation**

Spring is here and with that in mind, the Circulation Department looks to tidying up and

reviewing our procedures and policies with staff. Circulation supervisors have put together a

check list to make sure we are all covering training topics with any new circulation service staff,

and providing some consistency moving into our busy summer season. This is the time of year

we typically add new patrons to the system and we want to make sure that experience is

positive and welcoming, even if a patron does not have the required information for a new card.

We have noted for staff all of the ways a new patron can verify basic address information.

We are continuing to distribute canvases for the Community Canvases project. To date, we

have collected almost $300 for the project.

We have supervisory staff attending regular SCLS meetings. In April the Delivery Committee

met and Sara Simpson is the representative for our cluster. The service on Saturdays was

reduced from two to one a few months ago, and the Delivery Committee is still trying to

determine the impact of that change. Circulation work flow on Saturday has changed a bit to

accommodate the altered schedule; it seems to not be a burden on staff or patrons. It was also

noted at this meeting that Middleton was one of the few libraries system wide with an increase

in delivery items for 2015.

Amy Perry, Outreach & Children’s Services Librarian

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In April, I made twelve preschool & 4k site storytime visits, five outreach visits to school age,

tweens, and teens (YMCA Sauk Trail, YMCA Northside, YMCA Sunset Ridge, Kromrey, and

Youth Center), as well as three adult outreach visits to the Voss Haus, AFCH, and the Meriter

Mommy/Baby Hour. I also attended the Youth Center’s Spring Showcase.

Highlights for April include visiting the Voss Haus offering checkout, return, library card sign up

and free book giveaways. I also enjoyed participating in the 2nd annual Youth Center Spring

Showcase where I hosted a library informational table and promoted library events.

Regarding Children’s Services, I shifted the ABC/123 collection from off of the top of the picture

book shelves to finally fit back onto the shelves. This was the last remaining overflow from the

January/February closure. This month, I also placed an order for new Playaway View titles,

which hasn’t happened in a few years. I’m sure patrons will enjoy seeing some new titles added

to this collection. I also worked with Lori Bell to figure out what play/learning items we wanted to

order for the soon to be revamped Play & Learn space.

I continue to prepare for the Summer Reading Program (SRP). Our prize certificates are arriving

and I’ve been purchasing book prizes as well. I’ve scheduled all of the school visits to all

elementary schools, Kromrey and Glacier Creek, as well as scheduling a taping for a

commercial for the high school.

I attended the Library Leaders meetings. I also took a short, much needed vacation toward the

end of March.

Lori Bell, Children’s Services Librarian

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With the new staffing configuration in the YS department, we worked to reorganize the

workroom to reflect the changes and better accommodate new and existing staff. We delegated

a desk for Betsy close to mine as we’ll be working closely together on Storytime preparation and

presentation. With Barbara and Patrick’s help, I made sure Betsy had all the equipment and

supplies she needed to hit the ground running. I feel we are already developing a wonderful

partnership, and I am appreciating her energy and creative ideas.

One major project I was happy to complete this month was the relocation of the large storage

unit from the Storytime Room to my cubicle area. This freed up some much needed space in

the Storytime/Play & Learn Room and provided me with extra storage in the workroom. I went

through the large collection of storytime books, dvds, flannels and puppets, weeding where

necessary and getting a better sense of the materials we have available. Weeded books will

either be used as SRP prizes or sold in the Friends Book Sales.

Using Katie’s Kids funds, I ordered the “Read with me” loveseat and audience chairs for the

Storytime/Play & Learn Room. The lime green audience chairs for grown-ups arrived quickly,

and Barbara facilitated the delivery into the Storytime Room. Amy & I have been unwrapping

and cleaning the chairs as time allows. So far we’ve received numerous compliments from

patrons regarding the color and comfort of the chairs. My goal is to have the Play & Learn

space in its new configuration with the new furniture and equipment in place before the summer

reading program begins in June.

I focused a lot of my attention on collection development and acquisitions this month as part of

my newly expanded job duties. My major goals were to fill in gaps in existing series, order the

newest titles available, and ensure we have plenty of copies of popular titles heading into

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summer. I asked Kathy Rausch to review our holding of children’s classics, and she put

together a thorough report which saved me a lot of time.

Storytimes were in full swing, and we continue to enjoy high levels of attendance including 21

people at April’s Saturday Storytime. Betsy and I have been working together to introduce more

early literacy concepts, and patrons have responded well. We both agreed to limit the time and

number of storytime “breaks” in the future. With this in mind, we set the summer schedule to

begin on May 24, and I created the handouts for distribution.

The April programs for Tweens included my first “Read it and Eat it” program. It went very well

with 18 Tweens in attendance. The kids were eager to discuss the books, and conversation

flowed throughout dinner from Noodles & Co. After dinner, we made closed terrariums using

materials from the family terrarium program in March. The 3 week series of Yoga programs for

Tweens presented by Big Om, Little Om had adequate attendance each week (8-10 tweens)

and was well received.

My Earth Day program, “Plant a Seed: Bring Earth Day to Life,” saw over 120 patrons make

their way through the assembly-style lines to plant 6 seeds in a seed starter tray. I had seeds

on hand from the Dane County Seed Library, as well as seeds I had purchased. Patrons could

choose any combination of vegetable, herb or flowers. The second part of the program involved

decorating the seed charts. As always, I was amazed at the creativity and focus our young

artists displayed. I am very grateful to my two volunteers, Josie and Jean, without whom the

program would not have been nearly the success it was.

Rebecca Light, Administrative Librarian

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This month I continued to work with several committees focusing on future library planning. The

Building Committee reached a critical point in our Space Needs & Building Study, a project in

progress for about 1.5 years: we had the opportunity to present findings from this study to

members of the Common Council during a Committee of the Whole meeting on April 26th. This

effort took much work and planning from the Building Committee, and I want to thank everyone

who participated for giving your time to this project. In particular, I’d like to thank David Reed

and Jeremiah Tucker for their role as presenters. I know we all look forward to continuing to

work with the council to plan for the future of the library and downtown Middleton.

I’ve also been working closely with the Library Director Search & Screen Committee to

coordinate the in-coming library director applications and assist in the hiring process.

Applications for the position were due on April 30th; the S&S Committee will next meet on May

16th to review applications and determine finalists. I’m optimistic that we will find an exceptional

new director.

In April, I finished much of the administrative work needed to transition vendor accounts to new

credit cards and contacts after Pamela’s exit. Jim Ramsey and I also picked new dates and

titles for our next season of Let’s Talk About Texts book discussions at Craftsman Table & Tap.

On a cheerful note, Sarah Hartman and I hosted our first ever “Craft Supply Stash Swap” on

April 28th with a fantastic response. We hatched this idea as a way for people to do a bit of

spring cleaning by donating old craft supplies they no longer use while picking up new supplies

and inspiration for future projects. It was quite a successful event, and we received many

requests to host this again (which we will, Nov 11th!). We were also able to make contact with a

woman who is interested in hosting some “mail art” programming at the library. Stay tuned for

more details on that.

8. AGENDA OVERVIEW

New Director Search/Screen Committee Update

Update on the process so far.

Madison Community Foundation Endowment Fund Application:

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Grant proposal was turned down, citing our current ‘management transition’

Building and Space Needs Presentation recap:

Discuss next steps following the presentation at the Committee of the Whole meeting on

April 26th. Discuss timeline for releasing the full study to the general public. City of

Middleton Bond Report will be distributed and discussed at the meeting.

Library Board Officers: President Tucker’s Nominating Committee will present a

slate of officers at the May Library Board meeting to be voted on at the June

meeting.

Bylaws of the Middleton Public Library Board of Trustees, Article III: Officers, Section 2:

“A nominating committee shall be appointed by the president. The nominating will

present a slate of officers at the regularly scheduled meeting of the board one month

prior to the last month of the current officers’ terms. Additional nominations may be

made from the floor.”

Madison Community Foundation Large Print Endowment:

The library received its annual disbursement from the MCF Large Print Endowment:

$1,374.40

Upcoming library-related events:

Dane County Trivia Night: The Dane Co Library Board is purchasing a table and issued

a ‘friendly challenge’ to all municipal library boards. Date is May 7th, at the Madison

Central Library. Tickets are $25 per person.

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra: Jim Ramsey is working on getting something on the

schedule for Fall 2016.

Author Mark Stein will be here at the library discussing How the States got Their

Shapes on Wednesday, October 19th.

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Madison Mallards: Saturday, July 30th, will be Middleton Public Library night at the

Madison Mallards game at Warner Park. Group ticket pricing available for the Tailgate

package.

Documents

April 2016 Report...Square Foot and Container Gardening: Demonstrator, Art De Smet and Judi Janowski 30 4/4/2016 Tween Yoga Part 1 of 3: Demonstrator, Little Om, Big Om - Delight 9