August 2009

Storytime resumes Thursday Sept. 3.
Preschool story time will be back at 10:00, the first Thursday in September and will continue weekly. These programs are geared for all younger children. Finger plays and reading aloud plus theme related craft activities and (usually) a snack. Parents are welcome to stay with their children. No registration is required. Programs last about 45 minutes with time afterwards for checking out library materials and socializing for both children and parents.

Read with Me, the library’s preschool summer reading program had 52 children enrolled. Children kept track of hours of reading to them and received MacDonald coupons for both child and reader upon the completion of 8 hours of reading. The program was very popular and seemed to achieve its goal of encouraging reading to young children. Parents did comment that it was difficult to keep track of the time so books read will be used next year. Summer story time programs had a total attendance of 152.

Chip Richter, songwriter and musician, entertained 83 children and forty some adults for the closing program of Summer Reading. 123 children had enrolled in the program and 61 completed ten hours of reading which earned them a prize ticket for the drawing which concluded the program. All 1357 hours of reading are chronographed in pointillism on our paint by number poster of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette by George Seraut. First through sixth graders enrolled in the summer reading programs totaled 123 and total program attendance was 295.

Forty teens signed up (bribed with a candy bar) and 17 of them read at least 5 hours with a total of over 555 hours. Five teens braved a dark and stormy night to attend Teen Night and deemed it well worthwhile.

Fifteen adults turned in 69 reviews. Cindy Shamp again topped the list with the most books read. Three men participated this year, one with a very negative review of a requested book. (Don‘t believe all the publisher’s hype.) . Approximately 1000 fiction and non-fiction adult books were checked out during that time period so participation is limited. Those reviews are appreciated . Maybe we should expand the candy bar offers.

Donations of prizes, supplies, and volunteer help all contribute toward our summer programs. This year the help has been especially needed and we are especially grateful.

Encyclopedias for sale. Make a bid on the Academic American (1995) or The New Book of Knowledge 1993). These are full sets and have not circulated. Bids can be made until Sept. 1.
Kids Discover and Cobblestone magazines have been moved to the juvenile reference shelf. History and a variety of science related topics are covered in individual copies - suitable for both school reports and general reading. This resource should now be more visible and accessible.
School supply lists for BVEE are available online and we have printed copies at the desk. It’s almost time to replace the puppet theater in the children’s room with the school bus.

The Bookmark Society will meet on August 27 at 6:30 at the library. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, a novel about Frank Lloyd Wright, is the book for discussion. Copies are available. Anyone who likes to read is encouraged to attend.

Library supporters who contacted state legislators and officials were also especially needed. We were amazed at and appreciative of the patrons who responded. The response across the state was overwhelming - an often overused term but very descriptive in this case. In the budget’s final version library funding was cut by an additional 11% - not the originally proposed 30%. This was accomplished by reducing the library funding from 2.22% of the general revenue to 1.97%. This is called a temporary measure and does mean that as the economy improves, library funds should increase - just not as much. Keep in mind that funding was “temporarily” reduced in 2002 and then frozen until this past year when reduced tax collection meant that libraries experienced a 20% cut in funding. As a more explicit example The Wornstaff Library received $170,368 in 2001; basically $156,000 years 2002-2008, and a projected $134,770 for 2009 (half of $142,614 for Jan. - June 2009, and half of $126,926 for July - December 2009). The Wornstaff Library has been supplementing state funds with reserves since 2004 and it is time to make some big cuts in expenditures. The library‘s biggest expense is staff. Significant reduction will probably be made in staff time, the purchase of new books and movies, and some programming. Copier costs have risen and our charge to patrons no longer covers them. Copies will probably be increased to 15 cents. We hope to maintain hours and general service.

How the library works addendum to above. The library uses taxpayer money to purchase materials that can be used by everyone. Materials that are not returned are a loss to everyone. Thirty-four patrons have 74 items (14 DVDs, 60 books) due between Nov. 2008 and April 2009 worth over $1000. Not returning library materials steals from everyone.

The Library Board meets on August 10 at 7:30. All meetings are open to the public. Comments and suggestions on how best to cope with this decreased funding would be welcome. It’s your library, here to provide services to the community.