Programming and Outreach
- Teen programs: 10
- Teen attendance: 98
- Teen room attendance: 279
- Teen Volunteer hours: 45
- Children’s programs: 64
- Children’s Attendance: 1487
Story time in March was baby central! All the babies have come out for some fun. Other story times see lots of families, but babies are definitely the big crowd this month. Spring story time will conclude in May to make room for upcoming summer reading school visits.
The cold weather was keeping folks at the library for sure- and programming was a hit. The usual after school programming was well attended and fun. Kristine hosted Lepa, from the local police department and had a great turnout for bookmark bunch.
Alex is trying out some new afterschool and evening programming aimed at readers. Its off to a slow start, but innovation requires time and investment. Kate and Katie are trying out a story time program for adults. The first session didn’t garner much interest, but they plan to keep trying. Kate is also continuing to offer her Sensory Play in an afterschool slot.
Laura brought in local Leah Ferrone of the Brave Lion Mindfulness Movement to talk about Creating Intentional Screen Time for the Family and it was very well attended for a parenting program. She also hosted Jeannine Laverty for a multi-session storytelling workshop for adults.
Kristine joined Jen O. on a trip to the Greenfield Literacy Night event at the school where she was able to make some great connections. She took Library goes to Town to the Firehouse in Greenfield and had a great time.
Technically Spring break was in April, so it’ll be discussed in the April report, but it was a busy week!
Updates and Projects
The updates for the WACG new guidelines have been consuming quite a bit of time for several of the librarians and AnnaRae in particular. She took the lead on working on the majority of the department’s guides and has done a fantastic job assessing the materials and making the needed updates. Brendon’s hard work and feedback has been essential to getting everyone up to speed to get the project done.
Stewart’s Awarded us with $1250 from their Holiday Match grant to be used towards our summer reading program. They mentioned that the award fluctuates based on how much money is donated and how many requests they receive. The librarians have plans to put it to good use.
AnnaRae continues to work with 2-3 interns from BOCES each week. She provides different projects for them to work on and ensures they have a positive experience.
AnnaRae also mentioned that we have a full roster of volunteers this Spring. She’s had a lot of requests from seniors who need to finish their service requirements and we do not have enough work to accommodate them. It has been a good time to mention our Teen LibGuide for community service though.
Collections and Display
Teen book displays were “Luck of the Reads,” “Monochrome March” and the Teen advisory board display “Center Stage Stories.”
Kids book displays included St Patrick’s Day, Women’s History, Ramadan, Bears, Sun and Sand, Historical Fiction. There were author spotlights on Leo Lionni, Dr Seuss, and David Shannon.
Continuing Education
- Alex attended webinars on weeding and the NY talking book and Braille library as well as the Dinosaurs 101.
- Kristine reviewed the ICE Operations webinar and attended ECR2R 2011Workshop.
What We’re Reading
- Alex is reading Mystery at the Manor (Montgomery Bonbon #3) by Alasdair Beckett-King.
- Kristine is reading The Experiment by Rebecca Stead.
Respectfully submitted by Catherine Brenner, Head of Youth Services