Finances: At the beginning of the year, the city allocated $1,193,619 for library operations. This represents 7% of the City's 2012 general fund budget. By the end of the year, a frugal spending approach and reductions from the Levels of Services and Priorities review generated returns of $62,039 back into the general fund.
Supplemental Funding: The library received $22,000 in supplemental funding from the Friends of Neill Public Library, service organizations, and community businesses. This amount includes generous donations from the Pullman Kiwanis Club ($750) to fund newborn literacy packets to the Pullman Regional Hospital, Washington Trust Bank ($1,000), and Walmart ($300). Funding from Washington Trust Bank and Walmart is earmarked for the adult and children's summer reading programs and enhancement of the adult collections of the library.
Staffing: Staffing levels dropped in 2012 and turnover averaged 24%. Staff spent 1,094 hours training and $3,657 dollars to advertise and hire new employees into repeatedly vacated positions. To meet budget constraints, five positions were left unfilled at the end of 2012. See Appendix A for illustrative charts.
Library Visits, Reference Help, Circulation: In 2012, patron visits (309,105) and circulation (337,823) each fell by 7%; the number of reference assistance transactions fell by .2%. See Appendix A for illustrative charts.
A strong connection can be made between the decrease in library usage and the reduction of services. Due to staffing shortages, children's storytimes were suspended from October – December and budget shortfalls necessitated the reduction of open hours in November. These service reductions were an unfortunate but necessary response to meet budget and staffing constraints.
Downloadable circulation: The use of downloadable e-books and e-audiobooks rose from 2% of the library's total circulation in 2011 to 4% in 2012. In 2012, Neill Library ranked 4th out of 31 libraries in the Washington Anytime Library consortium for the highest number of downloadable checkouts. See Appendix A for illustrative charts.
Registered borrowers: In 2012, patron accounts with no activity for three years were purged. This review will occur annually to keep our records current. In 2012, 1,773 new patrons were added bringing the total number of registered borrowers to 18,677. 80% of the total borrowers live in Pullman.
Community Programs:
In 2012, Neill Library offered 337 programs to the community with 14,666 in attendance. This is a 49% decrease in programming and a 34% decrease in attendance from last year.
The Youth Services department offered 252 programs with 12,588 attending. The Adult Services department offered 85 programs with 2,078 attending. Despite the decrease in numbers, the library's summer reading program for both children and adults continues to be extremely successful in our community. The Youth Department offered 41 summer reading programs with 3,050 participants. The Adult Department offered 5 programs with 771 participants. In total, 46 summer reading programs were offered and 3,821 people participated. Special guest readers for the Youth Services program included the mayor, Police and Fire departments. A special thanks to city maintenance staff for their hands-on support for library programming.
Throughout the year, library programs were made memorable thanks to the generosity and in-kind donations from numerous local merchants and the hard work from city staff, volunteers, and enthusiastic library patrons. Great job, everyone!
Advisory Committees & Grants:
Neill Library was invited to serve on the Washington State Library's mobile application committee. Together, with 7 other libraries across the state, we developed a list of core requirements that lead to an RFP for a mobile app. The State Library received a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to fund both the development of this app and full implementation costs for participating libraries through January 2015. The projected launch date is on or before December 31, 2013. While grant funds subsidize this project, Neill Library will participate.
Neill Library received a $4,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Washington State Library to bring a shared circulating collection of eReaders to library patrons. Incorporating six library systems in a five-county area, the project goal for eReads in eWashington (Encouraging Reading, Expanding Access and Device Sharing in Eastern Washington) is to demystify the eReading experience for patrons and staff, and position public libraries as a resource for digital access of popular materials. Core components include circulation of shared grant-funded eReaders, instruction classes, and patron access to grant-funded eBook collections. The term of this grant runs August 2012 – August 2013.
Community Input:
Neill Library is committed to providing the best value of service to its users. With a weak general fund and limited monies, we spent most of 2012 working with community members to prioritize library services and redefine the library's role to address the current needs of our community. Input was collected in a variety of ways:
- Open forum with library management and the Board of Trustees to discuss which library services mattered most to patrons
- Two surveys regarding service hours and times of access
- Presentations to local community groups
- Strategic Plan: Neill Library kicked off its strategic planning process for 2012 – 2017. A community advisory committee was formed to evaluate the current needs of our community and identify the library's role in meeting those needs. The composition of the committee was well-rounded and included members from various facets of our community. Preliminary work was finished in 2012 with the remaining work slated for 2013.
Volunteers:
The library has a wonderful, dedicated support team of community volunteers. In 2012, 78 volunteers generously donated 1,000 hours of their time and talents to enhance library programs and services. Volunteer activity can be summarized into two categories and is listed below, in alphabetical order:
1. Special Projects:
- Community Planning Committee, Strategic Plan
- Teen R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Summer Reading
- Book delivery to homebound seniors
- ESL Conversation Classes
- Friends of Neill Public Library
- Library Board of Trustees
- Special collections and services, Youth Services and Administration Departments
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