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Director’s Office Monroe County Library System 115 South Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604-1896 Phone: (585) 428.8045 Fax: (585) 428.8353 [email protected]

TO: MCLS Board of Trustees

FROM: Patricia Uttaro, Director

DATE: March 17, 2014

SUBJECT: Monthly Report – March, 2014

Report Items

Patricia Uttaro, MCLS Director

Collaboration:

World Book Night Update – The system team planning for World Book Night 2014 has met and is

working on a variety of projects for the event on April 23. Givers are listed on the WBN Rochester

website – http://wbnrochester.com – along with information about the books being given this year. The

Friends & Foundation of RPL is a major partner this year, providing t-shirts for givers and helping

coordinate a READ poster campaign that will be unveiled the week before WBN. Posters in the style

of the American Library Association READ posters will be done featuring local people, including

Mayor Warren, many of our state legislators and local politicians, and others. The posters will line the

windows on the first floor of the Bausch & Lomb Public Library building along Broad Street and

South Avenue. Additionally, the FFRPL will purchase and have installed streetpost READ banners

that will surround the Central Library.

Training & Development:

Ready to Read at NY Libraries – I continue to participate on the advisory council for this statewide

grant. The focus of the grant for 2014 is training a cohort of trainers across the state on best practices

in early childhood literacy. Tonia Burton, Anne Hicks (Henrietta), and Shelley Matthews (RPL) will

be our trainers, and have their first session in Albany at the end of March. Tonia, Anne, and Shelley

will train local librarians in areas such as:

Community Needs Assessment

Strategies for Successful Outreach

Promoting Early Literacy

Creating Early Learning Spaces

Every Child Ready to Read, Part 2

Serving Young Families

My participation on this advisory council is to review and analyze the results of the training, and

advise the State Library on future directions for the project.

Let’s Talk Conference – The first MCLS support staff conference, “Let’s Talk,” was successfully

delivered on February 26-28. More than 100 staff attended over the three days, which focused on

communication: with patrons, with each other, and with directors. Chad Cunningham, a Clerk at the

Gates Public Library, developed the grant and led the team that put the conference together. The team

included Declan Ryan (Gates), Ashley Armstrong (Gates & RPL), Arlene Rose (Webster), Cynthia

http://wbnrochester.com/

MCLS Director’s Report – March, 2014 (Continued)

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Dana (RPL), Kristin Shepherd (Henrietta), Linda Dingman (Henrietta), Gunjan Mathur (Pittsford),

Aubrey Huber (Gates), and Jen Jacob (Gates). The conference was funded through a Harold Hacker

grant and received unanimous positive evaluations from all participants.

Communication:

Toronto Public Library Impact Study – A copy of this study will be sent to you with this packet

electronically, but not in print due to its length. The study has some merit in determining the economic

impact and value a library brings to a community. There is much to be learned from this process, and I

am considering asking Center for Governmental Research to review the process used in Toronto to see

if it could be easily adapted for MCLS. I would be interested in reactions and questions from trustees

once you have an opportunity to read the Toronto report. Would such a study have value in Monroe

County?

E-Newsletter Change – In 2008, MCLS began using a product called “BookLetters” to add staff

selected content in newsletter form to the MCLS website. These newsletters could be viewed online or

subscribed to by patrons. Recent analysis of the use of the newsletters by patrons revealed a low

number of subscribers and online visitors. At the same time, several town libraries began using a

product called “Constant Contact” to develop regular e-newsletters for a lower cost and better

distribution model. Discussion with MCLS member library directors resulted in an agreement to

discontinue BookLetters in favor of Constant Contact, which will provide each member library with

the ability to develop and distribute their own e-newsletter. Purchase of Constant Contact, however,

depends on the final amount of state aid received by the system this year, which we will know when

the state budget is finalized.

Central Doll Collection Website – The Central Library Children’s Center has been home to the George

W. Cooper Doll Collection since 1940, when students from School #43 donated the collection they had

amassed through an international exchange program developed by their School Principal, Mr. George

W. Cooper. Recently, through the efforts of Arts Librarians Nanci Rosenberg-Nugent and Melissa

Manczuk, each doll in the collection was photographed and the photos developed into a mini-website.

This is the first time, to my knowledge, that each doll in the collection has been photographed

individually and assembled into a website. You can view the site here -

http://www3.libraryweb.org/dolls.aspx?id=484074. This is a wonderful effort to communicate a unique

and lovely piece of the Central Library collection to the community.

Technology:

Edge Impact Study – I completed the Edge assessment for RPL, including the Central Library. Our

initial assessment score was 635 out of 1,000 total points. I will be reviewing the assessment with the

library’s management team to make sure I answered the questions correctly. We have until March 31

to make changes. Clearly, we have some work to do, especially in the area of Organizational

Management revolving around staff development and services to special needs populations. A copy of

the initial assessment will be included with your packet.

Pittsford is also doing this assessment, and Greece has also expressed interest. The benefit of this

assessment is that it shines a light on areas that we need to work on, and, eventually, will benchmark

our libraries against others in the country to identify strengths and weaknesses in service delivery.

http://www3.libraryweb.org/dolls.aspx?id=484074


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ILS Committee – Brie Harrison and Brenda LaCrosse are forming a small team to begin researching

integrated library system software (ILS) currently available to library system the size of MCLS. The

system contract with The Library Corporation for the Carl ILS expires December 31, 2016, so we are

beginning to look at and evaluate what is out there. Staff from all levels and libraries will be called on

to identify potential products and research pros and cons; at the same time, they will be talking to

patrons and identifying strengths and weaknesses of the Carl system. This will prepare us to release a

Request for Proposal in 2015 or early 2016 asking for bids from qualified vendors.

MCLS Office

Sally Snow, Assistant Director

MCLS Statistics & Outputs

System Circulation – 593,901 (-62,625)

Ebook circulation – 24,927

VIP Pass Circulation (2013-present)

GeVa – 88

George Eastman House – 366

Genesee Country Village & Museum – 318

Rochester Museum & Science Center – 490

Memorial Art Gallery – 435

Total for all VIP Passes – 1,609 (2013-present)

Website Statistics:

Unique Visitors – 67,715

Total Visits – 150,201

Total Page Views – 288,567

Most Requested Pages:

o Home Page

o Hours

o Advanced Search

o Download

o Kids

o Ebooks

o MCLS Library Listings

o Databases

o Central Library

MCLS Mobile Statistics – February 2014

Unique Users & Queries by Device

Device Users Queries

iPhone 458 38,634

Android 451 33,155

iPad 303 23,471

iPod 48 4,765

Browser 8 38

Windows Phone 0 0

TOTAL 1,268 100,063


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Library Automation Services Statistics:

Closed 223 Helpdesk tickets this period; 35 tickets currently open.

Took action on 70 emails from Patron Inquiries account.

Assisted 26 patrons through the overdrive.inquiries email account.

Assisted 57 patrons and staff members through the webmaster account.

Assisted 16 EBL patrons.

Created 19 new email accounts and removed 1

MCLS Office Outputs

Email / phone - 341

Member contacts – 82

Suggestions, comments, feedbacks – 259

Complaints - 8

Policy - 63

Miscellaneous - 27

Collection - 38

Reports - 123

Blocked websites – 93 (42 returned mail)

Communications Outputs

MCLS Web Stories Created - 18

MCLS Cold Call Inquiries and Contacts - 22

RPL Facebook re-posts and links - 25

MCLS Twitter Posts and RT’s - 131

Other RPL/ MCLS Social Media mentions - n/a

Twitter Followers - 1,237

Twitter Following - 527

MCLS/RPL Photos/Albums Created & Archived - 9

Community Print/TV/Press/Media Mentions - 21

Graphics:

46 new projects with 90 elements

164 printing requests

44,685 copies printed

Central Library

David Creek & Sally Snow, Assistant Directors

Good Food Collective at Central – Creek is meeting this this month with Brian MacDonald, the new

Pre-Box Manager at the Good Food Collective, who wants to discuss making Central an official drop-

off location for the Collective’s pre-boxed shares. Each location is required to have at least ten

members in order to participate. He will be dropping off promotional materials and discuss setting up

information sessions. Participants purchase a “share” of produce, which is delivered weekly through

the Good Food Collective network. Spring, Summer, and Fall shares typically include foods like


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greens, vegetables, and fruits, many of which are organically grown on area farms. The Arnett Library

was a pick up point last year with great success.

ShareFest – Creek has been talking with Andre Primus of RocShare, an organization that promotes the

concept of a Sharing Economy. ShareFest, a three-day event, will work to introduce people to the

sharing economy resources around them, and to introduce people, organizations, and nonprofits

involved in the sharing economy to each other. Primus is looking for a location to host day three,

which would be a gathering of movers and shakers of the local economy, with roundtable discussions

and networking. Creek is working with Mr. Primus to determine if there is an opportunity for a library

to be involved.

Advocacy – Creek and Ove Overmyer attended Advocacy Day in Albany and met with Mark Johns,

Bill Nojay, Harry Bronson, David Gantt’s Aide, Joseph Robach, Ted O’Brien, Michael Nozzolio and

George Maziarz. The consensus was we have a very good chance of getting the $4 million cut from the

governor’s budget restored, with the possibility the Senate may add another $5 million, bringing total

New York State Aid up to $90 million. Thanks to both Creek and Overmyer for representing MCLS at

this important event.

In addition, Creek, Jeff Baker (Chili), Jen Lenio (RPL South Coordinator),Overmyer, Bruce Tehan

(Arnett) and Jill Wynn (President of Chili’s Board of Trustees), met with State Senator Michael

Razenhofer on February 24 at Arnett to thank him for his member item support for libraris in his

district. Arnett purchased eight computers, two laptops, Google Nexus 10 with Wi-Fi, furniture and a

Balt Mobile Locking 10-Unit Laptop Charging Station. The computers were operational when the

Senator visited.

Outreach – (Larry Taylor reporting)

1. Selected, pulled, charged, and delivered 792 materials for 16 stations.

2. Selected and delivered 289 materials to 23 in-homes.

3. Did 353 reference queries, mostly readers advisory.

4. Conducted 1 JIC program for 3 people.


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5. Gave a presentation for 22 PRIME clients on what the Central Library has to offer for job

seekers.

6. Set up and organized 1 Basic Resume workshop for the Get Hired Workforce Development

Grant attended by 2 people.

7. Set up and organized 1 Resume Development Lab workshop for the Get Hired Workforce

Development Grant attended by 3 people.

8. Attended Adult Services Meeting to talk about how libraries can obtain and promote the digital

talking book players from Albany and discussed how individual libraries can download audio

book from BARD (Braille Audio Reading Downloads) for their blind and low vision patrons.

Emphasized that I am always available to show how to utilize BARD. Attended by 18

librarians.

Local History – (Christine Ridarsky reporting)

Local History continued to make progress on the Rochester Voices website. We have scheduled

a go live date of March 20 and will have a launch party at the Genesee Community Charter

School on March 28 for our partners and contributors, including the two classes of students we

have worked with from GCCS and the Young Woman’s College Prep School. We also signed

agreements with:

o Janan Guillaume, a web consultant, to guide future project development.

o RIT’s MAGIC Spell Studios, to hire students to develop educational games and

interactive for the web site.

Staff of the Office of the City Historian researched and wrote four articles for the Democrat &

Chronicle’s Retrofitting Rochester series.

Finished editing and design of the Fall 2013 issue of Rochester History, titled “125 Years of

Rochester’s Parks,” and sent it to the printer; it was expected to be available from the printer

for distribution the first week of March.

Local History opened a new exhibit, “Forging Alliances,” on loan from the Gay Alliance of the

Genesee Valley, which traces the history of the LGBT community in Rochester. Staff also

planned two associated programs that will be held in March.

Presented four sessions of the Family Detectives Club with a total attendance of 80 people.

Hosted 8 women from the Monroe Golf Club’s Garden Group, who visited the Division to find

out more about flowers and gardening in Rochester in the 1910s and 1920s (February 13).

Hosted a tour of women from Brentland Woods, an Episcopal home (February 21).

Gave a bus tour of the Cobbs Hill Park area to approx. 30 seniors from the Brighton Senior

Center (February 27)

The consultant working on our Documentary Heritage Program Grant finished processing and

developing a finding aid for the League of Women Voters Collection and began work on the

Urbanarium Collection.

Tested several forms of new electronic equipment, including three overhead patron scanners,

one flatbed scanner, and two digital microform readers with the goal of selecting equipment to

be purchased for the new Walter F. Becker Digital History Center that will be funded by a

generous donor (via the FFRPL). We hope to have our purchases in place and be able to

dedicate the center this Spring.

Filled 15 Life Record orders

High Falls Center & Interpretive Museum updates:

o 285 visitors

o Closed February 21-28 for winter break


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o Hosted more than 60 high school and college students on two separate field trips: RIT’s

English Language Center’s International Immersion Program (approximately 30

international students) and the Solvay High School 9th

Grade Honors Class (32 students

and chaperones) (both February 12)

o Opened the Center the evening of February 9 for RIT’s “Big Shot” event; 39 people

visited the Center that night.

o Installed a temporary exhibit, “Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button” (on loan from

the Local History Division of the RPL); promoted same through the reactivation of a

button blog and the blog of the Local History Division

o Hosted a meeting of “Visit Rochester” staff and volunteers (February 12); made cross-

promotional plans for the coming year.

o Jeff Ludwig continued to supervise St. John Fisher intern Corinne Giller in planning an

exhibit on the history of the Center.

Youth Services – (Tonia Burton reporting)

Take Your Child to the Library Day kicked off the month of February, with activities in the Children’s

Center and all around MCLS on Saturday February 1. More than 115 patrons filled out postcards in

support of libraries that were delivered to state representatives on February 26. Central Graphics

created and printed bookmarks and postcards for participating libraries. More than 130 families came

to the Central Library for crafts, library cards, and a magic show.

As an outgrowth of Take Your Child to the Library Day, RPL began offering a Pre-K library card for

children ages 3-5, which will assist parents in developing regular book sharing habits with their young

children. This is a limited card that allows very young children to borrow up to 2 children’s books at a

time.

General Children’s Center News –

The Tail Waggin’ Tutors program was featured on CityWise (Channel 12) and Time Warner News.

We had 16 programs that brought 677 patrons into the Central Library. Patrons enjoyed magic,

learning about the cello and playing the cello, Tops Cooking School offered Beach Treats, Tohper

Holt energized with two music shows, and the Sunday People in Your Neighborhood series

featured a local pediatrician who answered kid’s questions and brought a variety of her “tools” so

the kids could play doctor.

We had 14 outreach opportunities and reached 203 children with storytimes and a Lego program.

Several MCLS staff also had the chance to attend a Lancers game and talk to 216 people about the

services MCLS offers. This game capped off a MCLS reading program that awarded one lucky

winner a limo ride, shirt, tickets, and a seat on the bench during warm ups. Before the game,

recognition was given to the MCLS Children’s Librarians for their dedication to literacy in our

community. Anne Hicks, Stacey Martin and Jason Poole represented the MCLS Children’s

Librarians on the field while Gina Wells and Jane McManus worked at the MCLS table.

ImagineYOU Update - The ImagineYOU (YOUmedia team) traveled to Nashville for a conveying of

YOUmedia teams from across the country. The team presented a five minute video created by teens

with the help of Justin Ortiz, ImagineYOU video mentor. The video was an interview of the

ImagineYOU team and teens and highlighted the goals for the program. IMLS and Urban Libraries

Council staffs at the convening were very happy to see the progress we have made and that we are

working with teens from the inner city. Working with teens from the inner city has been a challenge in

other cities but is one of the main goals for this project. Upon returning to Rochester, Burton presented


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a brief talk about ImagineYOU at the MCLS Emerging Tech workshop. At this time the lab is just

about complete. We are awaiting the animation stand to be set up and some software downloads to be

complete.

General Teen Center Updates

Two GEVA programs that connected teens with theatre and moved them to tears and laughter

were offered in February thanks to the FFRPL.

For Black Pearl Sings we had 19 teens and adults who were very interested to hear about WPA

music ethnography and one 8th

grader took her chaperone to task at the performance, saying

“Why’d you bring us to a play that makes us cry?” That is the power of performance!

For Clybourne Park Delores Jackson-Radney lead a spirited table read (17 teens) that made

some teens realize they might have a “hidden” talent for being dramatic.

Teens were celebrated Chinese New Year’s with traditional crafts and discussion about culture

& the Chinese Zodiac and participated in Iron Chef Battle: Snack Monster!

During February Break we entertained a crowd of 37 teens with a creative cuisine competition.

Secret ingredient: Curly Kale! This featured teams that used a mix of healthy (grapes) and less

healthy (Peeps) snacks…and the bravest teens tried wasabi for the first time.

Art/Literature – (Marty Steinhauser reporting)

Our Brown Bag Book discussion this month was about the book The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. This

book was chosen for “If All of Rochester Read the Same Book,” the Writers and Books program.

Eowyn Ivey will be at the Central library on March 20 to read from and discuss her book. Nine people

attended the lunchtime series this month.

The “Caution: Artist at Work” program took place on Saturday, Feb 15 from 1-3 p.m. and featured

Randy Pollok and the Rochester Ukulele Support Group. A lively musical presentation with many

musicians performing took place. Several people got to try playing a ukulele. Twenty two attended

the program.

Collage Contest:

The Arts Division made the decision to do away with the

picture file as we saw a decrease in its use over the years due

to the numerous images that can be found on the web.

Before we did away with the files entirely, we selected images

that would be valuable to other Library Divisions. Historical

images dealing with Civil Rights and various wars were given

to the History Division. The Arts Division also kept pictures

of ethnic costume that we still get questions about. The

Monroe Branch chose many folders of pictures to use for lending to patrons and to do programs.

The Division then had a collage contest for the public. Patrons could gather images from our files,

makes collages and submit them for the contest. We had a number of entries and library director Patty

Uttaro offered three prizes. First prize was $50.00 and a set of PrismaColor Pencils. Two other prizes

of $25.00 each for honorable mentions were awarded. Entries were kept on display in the division

until March 5.


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Film Presentations - We had two film presentations this month:

(Art) The Horror! In the Library film series continued with a showing of “The Thing,” the

classic 1982 horror film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell on Sat., Feb. 22

from 1-3 p.m. in KGA Auditorium. It was attended by 22 people.

(Lit) Only the Best: Academy Award Winning Films: “Gigi” was shown to an audience of 22

people. This 1958 American musical romantic comedy starring Leslie Caron, Maurice

Chevalier, and Louis Jourdan and directed by Vincent Minelli won several Academy Awards:

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score and Song amongst several others. It was

shown on Sat., Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. in KGA.

Literature’s Write Your Life: A 6-Part Writing Series continued and had 10 people attending on

Saturday, Feb. 1, from 10:30-noon in Rundel Auditorium. This program has been a success and we

intend to continue having Jennifer Blanchard do additional writing programs in the near future.

Our Poetry for Lunch series was held four times in February with a total of 23 people attending. We

may need to substitute a new leader for a little while because Kitte Jospe, who has been doing a

wonderful job, may have to tend to ailing parents.

Everybody Dance Now series: This month we had the English Country Dancing group perform in

Austen era costume to an audience of 33. Many participants of all ages learned several dances and

were not shy about participating.

The Self-Published Book Festival, held at the Central Library on Saturday, February 8, was very

exciting and a great success. This festival was the culmination of almost six months of work by a team

of 10 librarians from Central and the Branches. The festival included four educational programs,

designed to help people learn more about different aspects of self-publishing. The programs, held in

both auditoriums, covered topics such as Self-Publishing Basics, Marketing Strategies for the Self-

Published Author, and Self-Publishing an eBook. A panel discussion on self-publishing, featuring four

self-published authors with diverse backgrounds and experience, was one of our most popular

programs.

The afternoon Book Fair was held in the Kate Gleason Auditorium, and featured 32 self-published

authors from the Rochester area who were selected from over 100 authors submitting work. The

authors’ books included an outstanding array of novels, short-story collections, poetry, memoirs, and

non-fiction. Our authors were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet other self-published authors in

the community, as well as to interact with the public. It was truly exciting to see this talented group of

local writers having a venue in which to promote and sell their books.

We had 170 people attend the various programs, with an additional 100 people attending the Book

Fair.

Some of the comments we received on our evaluations were:

“Excellent – let’s do this again.”

“These presentations were more than helpful; they were outstanding.”

“Great speakers – lots of good advice.”


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“Very nice to talk with the individual writers. There was something for everyone. Please do this

again.”

“Wonderful way to gain information, inspiration, and contacts.”

“I wasn’t even going to stay for the afternoon. It was all so good I stayed and am glad I did.”

We received such wonderful feedback that we would like to host a Self-Published Book Festival again

in the future. The University of Rochester has expressed some interest in partnering with us the next

time around, which is very exciting. We hosted this festival on a tiny budget of $300. We hope to

gain additional funding next time around to make it even bigger and better.

Business/Social Science, Science/History – (Carolyn Johnson reporting)

“When to call 911” was the Got Health series topic for February. Monica Seaman, MS, RN, Nurse

Educator for the Emergency Department at the University of Rochester Medical Center, spoke about

what happens when someone makes a call and what to expect in the emergency room.

In addition to the regular monthly orientation to the Foundation Center materials, Darlene Richards

arranged for a special program titled “Winning grants: what do funders want?” The program

discussed strategies that address funders' concerns in order to increase the competitiveness of

proposals. The presenters were Robyn Miller and Edie Steele, both professional grant writers. Robyn

Miller has been a regular user of the Grants collection and has proven valuable in making other grant-

writers aware of the materials here. The program was attended by 37 people

There is still a great deal of confusion about the transition to the TASC (Test Assessing Secondary

Completion) from the GED as the means for obtaining a high school equivalency diploma. Sandra

Erickson prepared a handout listing contact information and websites for obtaining information about

the process. This was sent to member libraries for use with their patrons.

In recognition of the Go Red for Women campaign by the American Heart Association, Sandra

Erickson put together a special “BookLetters” selection of books from both 3d and the 4th

floors

covering health, diet, cooking, and personal stories.

Steve Nash was able to attend the monthly meeting of Chapter 20 of the Vietnam Veterans to bring the

group (about 90 in attendance) on the activities of the Vietnam Learning Center at the library. He also

displayed a presentation board of pictures and information for the veterans to view. It was also an

opportunity to distribute the new tri-fold brochure describing the display on the 3d floor.

Carolyn Johnson and Jennifer Byrnes attended the information session on the Center for Urban

Entrepreneurship in their temporary location in the Rochester Educational Opportunities Center on

Chestnut. The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship is focusing its activities on companies that are in the

stage after their initial startup and are looking to move to a higher employment level. Since the Center

does not expect to have their own library, this seems to be an opportunity for partnership with the

Business Division. Ebony Miller, Program Manager / Managing Director met with Jennifer to learn

about the resources here.

Lee Harris Hecht, a “talent mobility firm,” brought a group of 12 displaced executives to the Business

& Social Sciences Division to learn about the in-house and remote resources useful in an employment


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search. Carolyn and Jennifer demonstrated the databases available from the library website and those

available just at the Central Library.

Carolyn Johnson and Deb Nevin arranged for a representative from the local Social Security

Administration to attend a system Adult Services meeting. The purpose was to provide background

information on the new myssa online portal where people can obtain information and access services

without having to go to a SSA Office.

International Trade was the topic of the small business “First Wednesday” program for February. The

speakers included Leah George, Managing Director, International Trade, Greater Rochester

Enterprises, Tim McCall, Director, U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, and

Virginia Smith, Branch Manager, U.S. Small Business Administration. Despite the poor weather

outlook, 34 people attended.

Jennifer Byrnes presented at a class in the Entrepreneurship program of the Urban League. Stephanie

Miles, the director of the program asks the library’s small business librarian to speak each time the

program is run. She also met with Gayle Jaegel of the Young Entrepreneur’s Academy on a

partnership to provide the participants with some techniques on library research for business

information that would be useful once they leave the program.

Darlene Richards worked directly with a number of organizations on foundation/grant information

including: Urban Choice Charter School, SUNY Brockport, His Branches, Chili Library, Mendon

Library, St. Ann’s Community Foundation, Sojourner House, Ohio State Central Ohio Tech College,

Full Circle Home, Urban Choice Charter School, Original Soap Box Derby.

Central Library Reorganization

Jeff Levine, Reorganization Manager

Technology and Physical Space (Project manager, Brie Harrison)

(Team members: David Bamann, Joe Born, Corinne Clar, Xandi DiMatteo, Brenda LaCrosse, Jay

Osborne, Gabe Pellegrino, Christine Ridarsky, Judy Schewe, Gene Siembor, Cara Suskie)

1. Phase 1, Reynolds Media Center update:

a. Off-site storage for media has been mostly completed with 20 ranges of shelving installed

by Maintenance in C2

b. Bids for Phase 1, the Reynolds Media Center are set to go out this month.

c. Computers currently located in BLB1, will be relocated the week of March 23rd

. Two pods

will move to BLB3, and one will be relocated outside of the Computer Lab on BLB1.

Staffing plans to support these computers is now completed.

d. Construction is set to begin on the Reynolds Media Center in May, however, the City’s

Purchasing Department can slow the award process so this date is still questionable

according to Brie.

e. Newspapers will be distributed from BLB Circulation until the Media Center opens, then

will be relocated to Rundel Circ.

f. A soft opening is scheduled for June

2. Phase 2 and 3 update:

a. RFP’s for Phase 2 and 3 are currently being drafted by the City’s Architectural Services.

An outside architectural team will be retained to provide programming.


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b. Depending on funding, these two phases may be done simultaneously.

c. Brie distributed the proposed project schedule through August 2014.

d. Tonia and Marty will meet with Brie later this month to discuss what programming input

should be forthcoming from their staffs in advance of the architect consultant coming on-

board.

e. The goal is to produce a preliminary program statements by July 2014

3. Literature space update:

a. As of February 24th

, 2014, Andrew Coyle has cleared about 20 ranges in the south-west

corner of the literature collection which will hold Literature’s large print books once they

are shifted from Hacker Hall.

4. Children’s Center

a. On February 18th

, Gabe Pellegrino received notification from Baker and Taylor that account

numbers for both fiction and non-fiction titles had been established which will enable the

direct shipment of materials to the Children’s Center. They are still awaiting quotes for the

addition of Cutter numbers and as of this date, March 3, 2014, shipments have yet to arrive.

The Children’s clerk, Matt, will monitor the flow of materials and will track the additional

time it takes to process the material and how long it takes to get new material on the shelf.

Supervisory and Staffing (Project Manager, Ana Suro)

(Team members: Gail Boldt, Cindy Dana, Sue Meyers, Darlene Richards, Jan Buckner)

Workflow analysis continues for the Circulation/Router/Link staff. A meeting to review tasks will be

held on March 13th

.

Customer Service Team (Project Manager, David Creek)

Team members: Andy Coyle, Cindy Dana, Alla Levi, Carol Moldt, Melanie Lewis, Mary Fraser)

February 20th

, rollout of video number 4, “Know Your Documents”

February 25th

, team met to discuss next program; will not be a video, but rather a group

discussion with Phil LaPorta difficult customer service moments”

On February 26th

, the RPL Board viewed the first customer service video, “Delivering

Excellent Customer Service”

Reference and Collections Team (Project Manager, Jeff Levine)

(Team members: Xandi Dimatteo, Nanci Rosenberg, Dennis Williams, Bob Scheffel, Cathy Wolf,

Carolyn Johnson, Marty Steinhauser, Melissa Manczuk)

As of the end of February 2014, over 200 journals have been marked for de-accessioning. Currently,

Jeff and Donna are checking for title changes and whether or not titles are still being received by the

Divisions or if they are no longer subscribing (dead). For “live” titles, space will have to be allotted in

Stacks for future use. Dead journals may be shelved without the need to leave additional space.

These issues will be important when the Upper Stack collection is shifted.

At the February MCLS Board meeting, funding was approved to join the Empire Shared Collection

group. Jeff will meet with the consortium on March 17th

.


13

MCLS Town Library Reports

Jeff Baker, MCLS Town Library Liaison

Brighton Memorial Library – The library’s Tech Tutor program is extremely popular and will be

expanding. Their book sale was a big success.

Brockport Seymour Library – Brockport has hired Abby DeVuyst as the fulltime adult librarian.

Chili Public Library – The library received 110 Impact Survey responses. The national survey is an

initiative from the University of Washington with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

It investigates how patrons use computers and the Internet at libraries. The Tech Tutors program is

extremely popular and will continue to grow to meet the demand. The Rotary Club of Gates-Chili

donated $100 for a Teen Summer Writing Program.

Fairport Public Library – The library’s proposed renovation will be on the town’s May 20th

ballot if

it is approved by the planning board and library board. The library has invested a lot of time training

their teen volunteers for a new Teen Tutors program.

Gates Public Library – The library’s thin client/virtualization project is being installed thanks to

financial support of Senator Joseph Robach. The library’s new logo and website should be ready in

April.

Hamlin Public Library – The harsh winter has caused construction delays of the new facility.

Henrietta Public Library – The town departments are showing their support of library programs by

offering assistance with banners, tables and encouragement. Three staff members will participate in an

upcoming health fair. Their Tech Tutor program is so popular that the library is expanding the

program.

Ogden Farmers’ Library – The library has a new logo. The library also has a “Print on Demand”

service available by Zazzle.com which prints their logo on a variety of items (cell phone, hats, etc.)

Parma Public Library – The Parks and Recreation is stepping up with ideas and support of library

projects. The library hosted a Winter Wonderland Break with Splat the Cat, face painting, balloons

and fun for everyone.

Penfield Public Library – The library will host Eowyn Ivey, the author of “The Snow Child” on

March 19th

as part of A collaboration with Writers and Books “If All of Rochester Read the Same

Book.” This exciting program will help launch the successful Penfield Library “Spring into Art”

series.

Pittsford Community Library – Over 1,000 people responded to the online Impact Survey.

Rush Public Library – A Tech tutors program will be available at the library. The Town’s Accessor

will set up a computer in the library with software so the residents can access their property

information. The library had a party to celebrate its 100th

anniversary; the big gala is planned for

June.


14

Selected Meetings & Outputs – Director (February 22 - March 10, 2014)

Brie Harrison, David Creek, Ned Davis, Sally Snow, Ana Suro - one-to-one meetings (monthly)

Central Library All-Staff meetings (monthly)

City Senior Management Team meetings (weekly)

RPL-MCLS Management Team meetings (weekly)

Jeremy Cooney, Mayor’s Chief of Staff – one-to-one meetings (weekly)

Let’s Talk: Communicating with Library Patrons MCLS Support Staff Conference

at Chili Public Library

Let’s Talk: Communicating with Library Colleagues MCLS Support Staff Conference

at Pittsford Community Library

Let’s Talk: Communicating with Supervisors and Library Directors MCLS Support Staff Conference

at Webster Public Library

Literacy Coordinator, Shelley Matthews at Maplewood Training Center

Anthony Mascioli Bequest – Program Planning with Scott Fearing, Gay Alliance of the Genesee

Valley; Curtis Hill and Samuel Nicolosi, SUNY College at Brockport; Laura Garrison and Kathy

Reed, WXXI; Ned Davis, FFRPL

Mayor Warren’s Early Learning Commission

MCLS Board

MCLS Directors’ Council at Greece Public Library

National League of Cities grant conference call

National League of Cities webinar

New York State Assemblymember Steve Hawley at Barclay Elementary School, Brockport

Roc the Future Conveners at Monroe Community College

Roc the Future at United Way

RPL Board

Rochester Regional Library Council (RRLC) Advisory Committee

Rochester School Library System Storytelling Festival at St. John Fisher College

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