Budget Bite

As I have alluded to before, I find budget preparation time to be a particularly unpleasant exercise.  This year, like most everywhere in the world, HPL will be facing a poor budget outlook.  Despite what your particular tax statement might have said, property valuations are down overall.  Our budget is based primarily on property taxes collected within the city limits of Hutchinson.  As that base shrinks and the values lower, we have to cut back like everyone else.

This year too, we face unprecedented costs for a variety of things.  For example, last August we began a little experiment we hoped would save on our electric bill.  We began leaving the majority of the building's lights off until right before opening to the public, about 5 hours less light bulb use per week.  We were happily surprised to see a drop on average of 160 kilowatt hours per day.  At the same time, though, commercial electric rates rose enough to entirely offset any monetary savings.

Here's a link to wake you back up after that not-so-exciting example.  The link leads to our newly redesigned downloadable book site.  Please let me know what you think!

So, back to the budget.  Unfortunately for us, the timing of this budget shrinkage is about as poor as it could be.  We have been looking forward to some great changes in our space and some continued changes to our services.  Now, some projects will undoubtedly have to be shelved and others scaled back.  The question is, how do we keep our momentum and avoid lapsing into stagnation?  We will truly test our ability to perform as a staff team this year, pitching in and helping each other out.  Perhaps a gut-check is what we need to find out where we are on the cope-with-adversity scale, although honestly, I could probably get by without knowing that.  I am confident in the greatness of the people who work here and their creativity and flexibility.  I hope that they will trust me to help lead the library through some tough times and work with me to come up with ways to make some, at least, of our vision for the library come to into being regardless.

Midsummer Round-up

I know, it is not technically "midsummer", but in our library world we're just past half-way with our summer programming.  As an "evil administrator" type, I have mixed feelings about summer.  I look forward to it with a combination of excitement and dread with a little envy mixed in.  I always get very excited at the prospect of a new Summer Reading Program, and this year's theme was ready-made for fun.  So far, kids have painted a mural, decorated an art car, created "altered art", made puppets, made experimental films and of course, heard lots of stories and checked out books!  By the way, if you did not make it to the parade on the fourth of July, here's one of the great things you missed.

The "dread" part of summer for me is that it means budget time.  We prepare our next-year's budget the summer before, essentially making a guess as to what the world will be charging for things 12-18 months into the future.  The process this year is especially "dreadful" in that the future of the economy is so murky.  I will say though that HPL has an excellent staff and an excellent board and together we will make it work with whatever is available.

Envy...I did mention that one earlier, didn't I?  That is a simple one to explain.  I always loved summer break as a child.  It was a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day fun-fest complete with staying up late and sleeping late (the former I still sometimes do but the latter, sadly, is a thing of the past).  I also envy the staff of the Children's Department because they get to do all the fun stuff at this time of year! 

Finally, a pitch.  Please check out our newly-revamped "Downloadable Books" link at the top of our website.  A group of staff members, our "Promoting OverDrive" team, put a lot of time and effort into the new downloadable book site and are working to advertise the service through many methods.

I hope everyone finds some rest and relaxation this summer and I hope at least some relax using the services of the Hutchinson Public Library!

Rolling Art

It is nearly time for the 26th Annual Patriots Parade. This year, HPL will have an entry created for fun, whimsy, and to support our Summer Reading Program for children. I hope there is a great turn-out this year, and not just for selfish reasons. It is always nice to see folks from all walks of life participating in something. Here's a little sneak-peek of our entry.

The best part about this project is that children who came to the Summer Celebration added tons of fantastic art work to it; then members of our staff, all of whom are creative, but some of whom are especially talented, added their work.  It turned out to be quite a collaboration!

Where ARE we going?

It's funny how ideas seem to coalesce. A member of the reference department brought me an article today about the evolution of the book. Specifically, this article was about the upcoming fight some are predicting between Amazon and their Kindle book reader, Apple computers and a rumored "device" they may be planning, and the publishing industry, which seems to be caught in the middle.

Shortly after reading the article, I received an email from SCKLS announcing a new teen-oriented website being launched by a book publisher, Simon & Schuster called Pulse It.  It seems that this publisher, at least, is trying to build a rapport with younger readers by appealing to the familiarity social networking websites and offering a carrot of 2 new S&S books per month available to read free online.  Obviously, the goal is to have these readers share their impressions with their peers on other websites and help to increase sales of S&S titles.  This publisher seems to be trying new things (better late than never) to sell more books.  I can't imagine that other publishers will be far behind.

Getting back to the title of the post - what is happening here?  The bottom line is that publishing and the "printed" word is in the throes of a revolution.  There is little doubt about this fact.  Nevermind that "ebooks" and their various readers have yet to reach critical mass; the way we will get the latest novel or the newest "book" on gardening is changing.  I personally do not believe the paper book is on its way out though.  Publishers can move to print-on-demand systems for paper books.  Amazon does huge volume in printed material.  Apple does not, as the article above states, have a history of trying to usurp the role of publisher or control content like Amazon does.  Rather Apple is known for creating elegant "things" people want to buy.  Any clash of these titans will have some fall-out but I think that publishing companies, if they are shrewd, could come out in a better position in the aftermath.

What does this have to do with libraries?  As usual, I'm not exactly sure.  One thing is clear though, and that is HPL and all libraries will need to continue their awakening to the benefits of evolving technologically and otherwise.  After a thirty-odd year slumber, the past decade has seen libraries embracing new technologies as quickly as they arrive.  Some libraries are better at it than others, but none can afford not to try.  Will we be reduced to a kiosk holding a bank of Kindle-like devices?  I doubt it.  Will we circulate books on some sort of kindle-like devices?  Probably.  Will we still have paper books?  I imagine for a long time to come.  Should libraries be test-beds for new gadgets in the future?  I sure hope so!  Are you listening Jeff?  Where's my "beta" Kindle DX?

The Art of Playing Catch-up

My topic today is the Summer Celebration and the fun that was had by over 500 children and adults on June 5th.  This update is a week late, I know, but I have a good excuse - I was taking a bit of much-needed R&R.  Our Summer Reading theme this year is "Be Creative @ HPL" and there was some real creativity on display.  If you come in to the Children's Department, you can see the mural that was painted by the kids during the celebration.  The Art Car is very nicely decorated as well and you will see that if you come down town for the 4th of July parade.

Now storytimes are in full-swing, we have reading programs going for all ages, and everyone is busy with the Summer rush.  Tomorrow is staff day for adding their decorations to the art car too!  I finally cleared my inbox this afternoon, got the tree trimmer scheduled to remove the fallen tree in my backyard, but thankfully, the library sustained no damage from Monday evening's storm.  So all-in-all, life is good for me. And do you see what I did there?  With the title and the post topic?  "Art" - we're doing art.  I'm playing "catch-up" after a vacation...  OK,  I know, lame.

The Return of the Self -Check!

I know I have been using a lot of exclamation points lately, so I apologize for my reckless enthusiasm. In my defense, there has been an avalanche of things to be excited about. Not least is today's arrival of our new self-check machines. Here are a couple of pictures of the new machine over in the adult area:

We will install the second unit in the Children's Department after our big summer reading program kick-off celebration this Friday.

These machines are very easy to use with simple, touch-screen instructions. Besides checking out items, you can log in to view your account status using your PIN. Next time you are in, give them a try. Please do not hesitate to ask for help should you need it!

Be Creative! Summer Fun

School is out, the days are warm - Summer Reading and Summer Celebration at the library are upon us!  One of the biggest, most time-consuming, and most rewarding and fun activities that the library does is happening next Friday, June 5th.  Hutchinson Public Library's Summer Celebration happens from 9am to 11:30am on that day.  We use this big launch party each year to get kids excited about reading during the summer.  Our goal is to keep children interested in reading during summer vacation.  Our theme this year is "Be Creative" at  the Hutchinson Public Library.  We're going to feature a wide variety of arts at the Celebration and throughout the summer programming.  We are even creating an art car for the library to enter into the Hutchfest parade!

The Summer Reading programs are recommended for children ages 3-8.  In July we will also have Family Times twice each week with fun for the whole family.  Please check out what is available - and it is all free!

We also have a program set up for young adults - May 26th through July 30th.  Prizes and fun for tweens and teens when they come in and sign up.

Did you know that there is also a summer reading program for adults?  This summer we will be encouraging grown-ups to "Master the Art of Reading".  Adults can sign up to read and become eligible for fun prizes.

I feel tired just reading back over this list of activity!  But it is a good tired because I know that what we are trying to do here is emphasize the fun of reading, even if you might accidentally learn something new or improve your skills in the process!