Thursday, June 03, 2010

 

The Merry Month of May

Ah, May, when the humidity and the temperature rise, and the staff members churn themselves into a feverish pitch of activity, getting the last details ready for Summer Reading! This year, thanks to increasing populations on the west side and to the increase in promotions for the young adults, we printed over 12,000 sheets of paper to promote the children’s, teens, and adult programs for June and July. The flyers then had to be folded and distributed to the schools, and in several cases, staff members went to the schools to present previews of coming attractions.

In-house, the arrival of the reading incentives (coupons and treats from corporate underwriters), the prizes, the giveaways, and the program supplies provide lots of projects. Registration bags were stuffed, sponsor displays were created, signs telling kids how to earn coupons were made (by reading books, of course) and huge wall displays went up at every library site, extolling the theme of “Catch a Ride on the Reading Express”. Our new poster printer, purchased this year from the Loan [sic] Star Libraries Fund, has been in constant production, as Assistant County Librarian Valerie Jensen incorporated the theme clip art, the logos for sponsors, and various other signage through PhotoShop to create our exciting displays. Webmaster Kathy Fielding has been raising the bar on the homepage as she adds the summer activity schedules and additional new services.

The three branch librarians (Scott Crawford, Aquilia De la Cruz, and Kathy Fielding) attended a workshop at the lovely new Jones Library in Dayton on the 20th. This program, titled: “Creating space & promoting collections to underserved populations,” was a repeat of one done last year. The presenter inspired those attending on marketing their libraries to the customer, and each of our branch heads has taken some of those ideas to heart. Given the often tight spaces at the sites, it can be a challenge to continue to keep the libraries fresh and inviting, and these continuing education opportunities provide our line staff with new perspectives on service.

Anahuac held a National Children’s Book Week contest to create bookmarks, and nearly 100 entries came in! New Extension Agent Lindsay Pitre came to judge, and 3 winners had their bookmarks copied and distributed during the week.

Walk Across Texas is a statewide program through Texas A&M, and CCLS is proud to announce that once again, the Happy Bookers team is on the march. Over 200 miles have now been logged by our foot soldiers.

Thanks to changes in the tax laws, the Friends of CCLS were required to update their tax exemption status, which necessitated a huge amount of paperwork this month. Since the Friends were re-activated in 1995, they have poured thousands of dollars into the library system to the great benefit of the public. They are the major underwriter for the summer reading program. On to June!

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