Annual Report FY08
The use of library services continues to grow in Seekonk. Our customers borrowed 248,549 items, and we registered 924 new customers. The amount collected in fines and fees that turned over to the town's General Fund was $24,460. Fines remain at fifteen cents a day. Out of State borrowers are charged $55.00 per year for use of the services of the Seekonk Public Library.
The building is now over 30 years old and much has changed since the building was designed. In the past year, the library was retrofitted to gain more space for new and growing collections. Service desks were consolidated and more shelving was added to the children’s room.
The Youth Services Department offered 153 children’s programs (a 10% increase from last year), which were attended by 4,195 children and their families. This summer 313 children and their families registered for the 2008 summer reading program. Our online summer reading software program, which was eagerly embraced by our customers last year, is still very popular. In addition, because of the landfill capping surrounding our building, we offered a new online program, Seekonk Safari Camp, this summer for children as alternative programming in the event we closed for safety reasons. We used a “wiki” format and developed a six-week long online travelogue providing links to educational and entertaining websites where children and their families could learn about different countries, their cultures, flora and fauna. We also contracted for a local author to “serialize” an original story for us which we included on each week’s wiki page.
The Adult Services Department was relocated to the front of the library in March. An increase in the number of questions has been seen since the move. 4,743 questions were answered in FY08 resulting in a 13% increase over FY07. The library’s website (www.seekonkpl.org) had 73,721 hits on the homepage. There were 102 adult programs held at the library with 2,158 people in attendance.
Three online databases were added to the library’s website allowing our patrons access to new sources of information from their home computers 24/7. Novelist helps the user find new books of interest to read. Testing and Education Reference Center provides searching for colleges meeting the user’s needs, practice on popular standardized tests such at GED, SAT, GRE, and many more. MyLibraryDV lets library card holders download episodes of popular PBS programs for children and adults.
Adults were offered the opportunity to participate in the summer reading program for the first time. 44 adults registered and became eligible to win prizes from local businesses.
The library offered computer instruction classes to 289 adults. The classes were designed to help the participants gain confidence and feel comfortable using computers to find information, communicate with friends and relatives, and use computers effectively. Aside from basic computer classes the Adult Services Department taught Internet skills, Word, Excel, and use of popular sites on the Internet.
The library added 10,530 items to its collection last fiscal year. This amount includes both print and non-print media; purchased as well as donated items. The library also aggressively weeded its collection because of limited shelf space. A total of 6,807 worn and out-of-date items were removed last year. The library’s total collection of materials is slightly over 95,000 items.
The Seekonk Library Trust continues to work to grow the library endowment. The Trust raised $8,165 for the 2008 New Century Fund. As of June 30, 2008 the remaining balance of the Smart Memorial Trust was $34,499.70.
We apologize for any inconvenience the retrofit project, the roof replacement and the landfill project have had on our service to you. All three projects were needed and we appreciate your patience.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michael Durkay, Chairman
Seekonk Board of Library Trustees