Library Director’s Report -December 2008
Due to budget reductions the Redwood City School District decided not to fund their half of the School Media Specialist’s contract. Library staff and School staff met to strategize on how to continue to support the school’s libraries within our current budgets.
Library events and programs flyers and email blasts have the same look and feel as Parks, Recreation and Community Services. The two departments are also cross posting programs.
Thank you, thank you, to the incredible work of the Parks staff! The “Ray of Light” bird bath has been installed at the new Redwood Shores Library. Paid for out of the GR Cress Fund, this is the first acquisition and installation of public art which also functions as a working bird bath. The vision of Mr. Cress for the care and feeding of birds in Redwood City, along with the vision of the Civic Cultural Commission to enhance the aesthetics of our City through public art, has created a wonderful new attraction for birds and people alike. Another installation is in the planning stages next to the Downtown Library, across from City Hall.
Our annual Fair Oaks Library La Gran Posada del Ano was a great success. Approximately 1,000 people attended the different activities throughout the afternoon including a picture with Santa, bilingual storyteller, Victor Hugo Santos, an outside procession asking for lodging at the Fair Oaks Community Center, and more festivities with food and piñatas. Fair Oaks Branch Library also made it at the 11:00 pm news– the Spanish Television, Univision 14, aired about 5 minutes of this wonderful celebration.
The $325,000 Redwood Shores Environmental Interpretive Center is set for a January installation. All funds have been raised from corporate and community donors. Festivities slated for February.
Sarah LaTorra taught a class on Trends in Young Adult Literature at Canada College. Dave finished grading papers for his Issues in Public Libraries class at San Jose State!
We celebrated the accomplishments of the 2008 year with a Holiday staff luncheon; it was well attended by library staff.
Santa Claus was the special guest at all four libraries in December. Over 100 children made his acquaintance at Downtown, Fair Oaks and Schaberg libraries, and over 300 met him at the Shores library! He made himself available for photos ops and distributed candy canes to all.
The monthly Family Night program found 150 children and family members enjoying the antics of Nick Barone Puppets. The show featured monster puppets ready to perform a Halloween show quickly adapting their show to a Christmas/Hanukkah theme.
The monthly Seaside Storytime presented by the Marine Science Institute featured sharks, including a live leopard shark for the kids to touch if their psyches allowed. The presentation was so popular the MSI crew repeated it immediately after the first presentation for late comers.
The monthly “Dad and Me @ the Library” program featured a truncated version of the Carnival of Chaos. Usually a two person troupe, the juggling/magic/unicycle program was presented by one member as the other was laid low by a bad back. The audience of nearly one hundred was still mesmerized by the performance, especially when Mark rode an 8-foot tall unicycle while juggling five rings.
Five preschools brought their young charges into the library in December for stories and orientation. More than one mother told Chuck she remembered coming to the library when she was in preschool and/or elementary school to hear him tell stories and sing songs. Just how many more than one Chuck refuses to divulge.
The city’s Youth Forum group was audience for a presentation on what services and programs the library has to offer the city’s youth and their families. They seemed impressed by the number and types of programs the library has to offer.
Jan Pedden completed distributing 770 holiday books to the Traveling Storytime sites and spoke to a group of Redwood Shores Girls Scouts about volunteering found a placement for them at the Sequoia Adult School.
53 teens volunteered for a total of 140 ¼ hours in the month of December. The Library Teen Council planned events for the next 5 months. They created posters for the Gingerbread Houses and created flyers for the upcoming Twister event.
Here’s a preview from Roz Kutler of highlights of adult programming to come:
Authors – Upcoming Highlights
Thursday, January 29, 2009
7:00 PM
A Unique Evening with South Asian Writers
…of both fiction and poetry, representing Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India. They are the face of the a new wave of South Asian writers, tackling complex issues and challenges, both political and artistic, while resisting their work to be influenced by mainstream expectations. With: Pireeni Sundaralingam, Neelanjana Banerjee, Tanuja Mehrotra & Moazzam Sheikh
Saturday, February 7, 2009
2:00 PM
Meet the Author: Meg Waite Clayton
Bestselling Author of the Wednesday Sisters
Thursday, February 26, 2009
6:30 PM
Bluegrass Authors Symposium
With Brenda Hough, Bay Area Bluegrass Music Critic & Author, Lisa Aschmann of Nashville, TN, Creativity in Bluegrass Songwriting and Roger Siminoff, Arroyo Grande, CA, author of The Lore of Loar.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
7:00 PM
Meet the Authors: Jen Myers & Shannon
Can I Sit With You Too?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
7:00 PM
Meet the Author: Pearl Sofaer
Bagdad to Bombay In the Kitchens of My Cousins
Thursday, April 23, 2009
7:00 PM
Meet the Author: Richie Unterberger
The Golden Age of Soul
Film
I’ve attached the film schedule for the February – July 2009 Film Schedule for the Downtown Library, including the Heist Film Festival, the Bluegrass Film Festival and a film for teens, selected by Sarah LaTorra. To add interest and unique content to the program, the festival will be introduced by a filmmaker and a local film professor. The Heist films were chosen by popular survey, offered on the Library Website.
Health Programs
The successful Kaiser and Stanford Health Lecture series will continue, with new program content beginning in January from both institutions. Community health organizations continue to offer complementary therapy programs, such as meditation and yoga, which we will offer as scheduling and demand allows.
Technology and Careers
We’re seeking a consistent perfect partner to sponsor programs at the library. The Regional Occupational Program office on Main Street has closed, so they are no longer a Downtown neighbor, but may still be interested in working with us. I’m also in contact with Peninsula Works. The organization that offers resume classes for teens at the library focuses only on youth. This is an area where we urgently need more energy in 2009. See this article:
More people using libraries in tough times
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Nona Nangalama checked out a dozen books from the San Francisco Public Library this week, saying that in better economic times, she would have gone to Borders to shop for the items.
The San Francisco resident and unemployed mother of two is using public libraries even more in these tough times. She is checking out books instead of buying them, and using the Main Library’s job and career center to begin her search for employment.
“I live right near the Borders South of Market, so that would be easy for me to go there,” Nangalama said, holding 12 books on mastering algebra and geometry that she had checked out for her daughters. “You come here and get advice, guidance and books – all for free.”
As the economy slides into a recession and families are cutting back on expenses big and small, libraries in the Bay Area and beyond are experiencing a big increase in membership and circulation.
But as demand rises, libraries are also seeing a squeeze in funding. Libraries rely on property taxes, and city coffers everywhere have been hit by the bad economy. Library officials from San Mateo to Marin County are beginning to look at ways to cut costs without reducing services.
“We’re trying to be conservative looking at the next fiscal year,” said Martin Gomez, director of library services for San Mateo County, which has 12 libraries in 11 cities. “All of our numbers, in terms of visits and circulation at branch libraries, are up by around 5 percent. But real estate drives our revenue, and property taxes are down. We’re not looking at layoffs or reduced hours of operation, but we know the economy is going to take a while to bounce back.”
San Francisco’s public libraries have seen a 27 percent increase since July in the number of people seeking library cards, and a 12 percent increase over the same period in the number of materials checked out. That amounts to 32,000 cards issued and 3.8 million books, CDs and DVDs checked out.
“We are seeing a significant increase in folks coming into the library to access our computers, to visit our job and career centers, and find information on government aid and look up credit ratings on financial institutions,” said Luis Herrera, city librarian for San Francisco, which has 27 branch libraries and the Main Library at the Civic Center.
“When the economy is down, library use is up,” he said.
More library cards
More Americans have library cards than at any time since 1990, according to the American Library Association.
“Across the country, in every kind of neighborhood and community, library use, by various measures, is up,” said Jim Rettig, president of the American Library Association, which has 66,000 members and promotes libraries and librarianship. “At this point, we have an entire population affected by the recession. People are discovering they can save money by using libraries, and they can develop their knowledge and seek employment.”
Rettig said the 2 billion items checked out from U.S. libraries this year is 10 percent more than during the economic downturn in 2001. But books, DVDs and other material are only part of the story, he said.
“In 73 percent of U.S. communities, the only place a person can get free Internet access is libraries,” Rettig said. “Libraries in areas hit hard by factory closings are playing an especially important role in the economic recovery. Most job applications are now submitted online.”
Branches closing
Rettig noted that a number of cities, including San Diego, Philadelphia, Trenton, N.J., and Mesa, Ariz., are looking at closing branch libraries. “Public libraries are facing the most severe cutbacks in decades,” Rettig said.
He said the American Library Association will submit a proposal to Congress early in the new year seeking $100 million in stimulus funding. The funds would go to enhance services and materials; extend hours of operation; and offer more classes and workshops focused on financial literacy, housing counseling and small business development. He also hopes a portion of the funds would go to renovating and upgrading facilities.
San Francisco’s Herrera said the city’s funding for libraries is holding steady.
“We have support through a set-aside in the city’s general fund and property taxes,” he said. “But we are going to be very prudent in how we approach spending. San Francisco is really committed to providing library services for free.” In fact, Herrera said, San Francisco has been increasing hours and services. In November, seven of the 27 branches opened for an additional day each week. Four libraries are under renovation. The number of public computers at libraries has increased by 48 percent in the last two years.
Job seekers
Susan Cohen, a librarian for 15 years who now runs the job and career center on the fourth floor of the Main Library, is seeing more people come in asking for help with resumes and job searches. She said applications for most jobs – from dishwashers to civil service positions – are submitted online.
She has worked in recent months to increase the number of books on how to find a job, start a small business or change careers.
Standing next to stacks of job-related books, with titles including “Jobs Directory,” “Resume Book,” “Your Next Move” and “Hire Me, Inc.,” Cohen said she’s doing what she can to help those who are struggling.
“I chose this job because I thought I could be useful,” Cohen said. “It’s as satisfying as it’s ever been. But I can feel that times are tougher. There’s a nervousness that people have over the economy. I’m happy I’m in this position to be helpful.”
Popular picks at the library
The most frequently checked-out books, CDs and DVDs at San Francisco public libraries in 2008:
Fiction books
“Lao Fuzi,” by Wang Ze
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” by J.K. Rowling
“A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini
“The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: A Novel,” by Michael Chabon
“The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini
Nonfiction books
“The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals,” by Michael Pollan
“Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia,” by Elizabeth Gilbert
“The World Without Us,” by Alan Weisman
“In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” by Michael Pollan
“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life,” by Barbara Kingsolver
DVDs
“Ba qian li lu yun he yue (Eight Thousand Li of Cloud and Moon), part 2″
“The Little Mermaid”
“Ba qian li lu yun he yue, part 1″
“SNL (Saturday Night Live)”
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”
Spoken word CDs
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” by J.K. Rowling
“Ying yu jiu bai ju xing; English 900,” by Edwin T. Cornelius
“A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini
“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” by J.K. Rowling
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” by J.K. Rowling
Music CDs
“Loose,” Nelly Furtado
“Not Too Late,” Norah Jones
“Stevie Wonder: The Definitive Collection”
“Help!” the Beatles
“Love,” the Beatles
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