Item 3C Southlake Public Library
Board Report – December 2009
Services
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Volunteer hours – We have had a strong start for our volunteer program this year with 531 hours for
October and November alone. Volunteers are used to perform mission critical tasks in the library and as
a result staff can pay particular attention to customer interactions allowing us to provide superior
customer service to our citizenry.
Library Cards for Computer Use – Public Use Computer usage has soared over the last few years with
close to 10,000 users last year. The service however is not used heavily by residents, but mainly by non-
resident customers. We have seen some low levels of abuse related to printing documents and then
skipping out without paying. We want to make sure we get a handle on that before it becomes a
problem; therefore, we are going to require customers that use our computers to get a library card which
will require them to pay a non-resident fee to use our resources.
Case Study – Working closely with the City Managers office and particularly Alison Ortowski, a case
study was developed for the Transforming Local Government conference regarding the Southlake
Library’s Virtual Branch with Sabre which is the first of its kind nationally. The case study was one of
17 chosen to be presented at the Transforming Local Government conference in Las Vegas in June – it is
quite an honor that the library and city be recognized on a national level.
Interlibrary Loan – Did you know that the Southlake Public Library can get almost any book that has
been printed and is being held in a library? As with any library we have limited resources and it means
we can’t get everything that is out there, but we have agreements and can get access to just about
anything that has been printed. Last year we brought in close to 800 items that we did not have in our
collection to satisfy customer needs. Keep us in mind if there is ever anything you need but can’t find.
Visitor Stats – Year to Date:
Checkouts:
The Library has seen a 14% increase in checkouts thus far this year with 46,563 items
checking out vs. 40,800 last year. We had seen a 12% increase last year ending with over 300,000 items
checking out. We are close to reaching maximum limits on our traffic levels due to space limitations and
parking – despite those limitations traffic for the year is up with a bit over 19,000 visiting the library this
last year.
Programming:
Storytimes and youth programming are up this year with 3,662 attending for this fiscal
year (Oct & Nov), which is a 20% increase over a very strong year last year - quite an accomplishment
given our limited space.
Any questions please contact Kerry McGeath (8384)
Respectfully submitted by the Southlake Public Library Board:
Wanda SchaferLori BurrVicki KightEmily Galpin
Brenda FloresKim RobertsJune Koelker
Southlake Public Library
- Board Report - 12/15/09 - Page 1 of 1