Wednesday, September 02, 2009

 

The Quiet Month of August

August is our “quiet” month – not! True, we don’t have much programming going on, and we are definitely taking a breather from the madness of June and July, but those doors still open, and folks still come to us needing books, computer assistance, and information. So our circulation and walk-in traffic for this month are well within our respectable “average” month range. Looks like we will again have an overall annual increase this year, barring any unforeseen closings…

The Library Advisory Board met for the quarterly meeting at the Juanita Hargraves Memorial Branch in Winnie, and members were able to view that facility and a wonderful mural of summer reading photos that were displayed on the wall. Some of those in attendance had not been to that library since it opened, so it was a good chance to view our eastern branch. The board has now met at all three sites this year, and will return to the system offices in November.

West Chambers Branch was the site for what is becoming an annual event: our Library Orientation for Homeschool Parents. We continue to see increases in this particular group of library users; we had 14 adults new to homeschooling that attended this workshop. Library Technician Kim Hart, a homeschooler herself, walked the guests through the many services, both on site and online, that the library system offers to all its patrons, while Erin Hill, our new youth services person, entertained the children.

Staff members Melba Gmelch, Kim Hart, and Mary Abshire attended a workshop in Pasadena presented by the Houston Area Library System. This was a “train the trainer” program on teaching people to use computers, and since each of our branches holds such a class every month, it was an ideal opportunity to give these women new ideas, techniques, websites, and information. Our own classes should improve as a result, and we’re looking forward to a good year.

We didn’t have scheduled children’s programs this month, but the Alpha Day Care at Mont Belvieu made a couple of scheduled trips to the library; the YA/Tween book club met at Mont Belvieu and the Book Discussion Group for adults met at Anahuac; the Writers’ Interest Group met for its two sessions during the month; and movies played at Anahuac and Mont Belvieu.

And finally, our large group of corporate sponsors for the summer reading club received letters and notices about books donated in their names at the three libraries. The Friends of CCLS underwrite this effort on behalf of the library system, and it’s greatly appreciated by the staff and by the sponsors.

Like I said, with 14,881 visits by patrons, who checked out 20,910 items, August was a “quiet” month – NOT!

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?