REFERENCE POINT

From the Director's Desk

Complaints about the lack of quiet study space have escalated. This summer we had parents tell us that they chose not to enroll their children in the summer reading club because of the overcrowding. For the first time, we have run out of creative solutions, as the rearrangement of the picture book area compounded rather than alleviated crowding. The staff has been meeting to discuss interim solutions to enable us to better meet your needs and will discuss several alternative plans with the board this fall.

Library use has continued to grow (our circulation increased another 8.5% over the past year). This community continues to be supportive of our efforts. Evidence of this can be seen in situations such as on June 29, when the Ice Cream Social was rained in and all 125 attendees, the band and the ice cream were crowded into the library. Or, when 85 of you filled the main room for the Invitational Poetry Reading in April, clearly to the detriment of those seeking to study. Thank you for your patience and your willingness to understand that such programs are central to the library's mission; that the point of library programs is to complement areas of the library's collection as well as to celebrate our cultural heritage; and this is best done in the library.

During the past year, the staff and the board have emphasized child safety in the library, requiring that children under the age of 10 must be accompanied at all times and that children 10-18 must have parental consent to use the Internet on their own. Children may now borrow videos if parental consent is on file, and we have revised our children's services brochure to describe all services and policies which relate to children.

In the ongoing effort to better serve you, we have adopted new Internet time limits so we can accommodate a greater number of information seekers. We have also pledged to develop services for the Spanish language speaking members of the community, including establishing a collection of Spanish language materials. We have had our reference collection evaluated by a system consultant and have made recommended changes. We established an Adopt-a-Book program, providing a list of needed items for prospective donors to select from. To date, about half the original list has been "adopted" and we are preparing a revision.

Discover 2000 Read was a Blast!

A series of special events made possible with a $1000 grant from Assemblyman Howard Mills were a hit with children and parents alike. A portable planetarium was set up to allow our young "stargazers" to get a glimpse of the July night sky; rocket science expert and teacher, Kathy Sahl conducted a rocket launch at Erie Street playground; storyteller, Madelyn Folino, held her audience spellbound with stories, new and old; and our final "Blast Off with Books" party included music by Beth and Scott Bierko. Children then presented Mr. Mills with an oversized "thank you" card created and signed by club members.

We would also like to thank the Friends of the Goshen Public Library for their ongoing financial support of the summer reading club and many thanks to the parents who provided refreshments for the final party. We were fortunate also to be able to use the Main Street School building for many of our programs; thanks to the Goshen Central School District for the use of this facility.

If your child missed this year's summer program, please keep in mind that we always register the week after school ends, so mark your 2001 calendar to remember to join us next year for 2001 A Reading Odyssey!

Teens Help Library with Summer Program

Spanish Storytime a Great Success

This program was funded by a grant from the Ezra Keats Foundation. In the future, we bplan to incorporate a Spanish langage storytime into our regular children's program schedule. The success of this program has caused us to evaluate the library's services to the local Spanish speaking population.

INCOME

Taxes       $473,792
Other         65,782
____________________
Total       $539,574


13.8% of revenue from sources other than taxes



EXPENSES

Staff               $349,738
Library materials     78,608
Building              30,028
Other                 81,200
____________________________
Total               $539,574



DONATIONS

Memorial book donations were received from Martha Bowman,
Karen Brock, Marie Merlo, Karen Krack, Pauline, Jaemi and
Christopher Kehoe, Judith Farrell, the Alic Galland Fund,
Rudy Krack, friends of Kenneth Hubley, Dr. Errol A. &
Pareece M. Wilson, Laura Engle, Tom & Betsey Reape and
Joan Goldberg.

A cash donation of $100 was received in memory of Norma
& Edward Blum.

All of the writings of Mildred Parker Seese were donated.



NEW SERVICES

* Friday evening hours

* Fifth public Internet station

* Access to four new electronic databases: Dialog@Carl,
  Ebsco Middle Search, Business and Company Resource Center,
  and Ethnic NewsWatch

* E-mail notification of overdues and holds

* Self renewal of library materials via our web site
  (purl.oclc.org/gplhs)

* Delivery to the home bound

* Indexing of the Independent Republican begun



STATISTICAL SNAPSHOT

* The library owns 42,434 books, videos, audio books

* 8,519 items were borrowed from other libraries

* 56% of GCSD population (8,464 residents) have library
  cards

* 147,294 items circulated

* 72,670 people visited:

     52% (37,804) used library materials to study or read
     22% (16,692) sought assistance from the reference staff
     15.7% (10,712) used the Internet or CD-ROM resources
     9.5% (6,868) attended programs

* 62 programs were offered for 1,752 adults; 262 programs
  were offered for 5,068 children; 9 programs were offered
  for 48 teens.

* The library was open 341 days, 66 hours per week
  (62 hours per week, June - August)



GRANTS

The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation gave $350 for Spanish
language story hours.

The American Library Association gave $1,050 for
poetry programming.

Orange County Arts Community Grants (NYS Council on the
Arts) gave $800 for summer lawn concerts.

Calendar of Events