The new mask mandate poll results are very interesting! Be sure to add your voice to this important decision. Check your email for the link to a new Google Form that asks whether we should mandate masks in public areas, in staff areas, or both. (Yes, this is the second survey- thanks for participating again!) So far we have 38 responses. That's 50 short of full participation. Let's be sure this decision that affects everyone is decided by a true majority.
Some of you are stating in the poll comments that a mask mandate for staff should be matched by a mask mandate for the public. While I have the authority to make staff rules, I need a higher authority to create mandates for the public. The Library Board can make that decision or a local government leader like the Mayor or County Executive can declare a mask mandate for their jurisdiction. Clearly it is easier for us as staff to respond to angry patrons that we are following the city rules when we ask them to wear a mask. Several alderpersons have asked to add a mask mandate to the Council agenda scheduled for the first week in September. The issue did not make next week's council agenda. Our next Library Board meeting is September 14th, after the Council takes up the issue. Let's see how the Council votes and we can take it up with our board, if necessary.
If you've been reading the library board packets or attending board meetings, you've noticed that I'm presenting graphs comparing our 2021 statistics to 2019, the last full year of "normal" library use. Circulation has rebounded better than library visits, and children's library materials are returning to normal use faster than adult materials. The trend is a little different for the SHARE libraries overall. Here's a message from Jim Novy at Lakeshores Library System that summarizes the comparison between use of libraries across the whole SHARE membership 2019 vs. 2021.
"Overall circulation is hovering around 75% when comparing July of 2019 to July of 2021.
DVDs are way down, both in circulation ( 47% of 2019 ) and items added ( 56% of 2019 ). This is likely due to a combination of fewer being released, some releases only being available on streaming platforms and an increase in the use of streaming platforms by patrons.
Book circulation is hovering around 85% of what we did in 2019.
If we break book circulation out by item category 2, we see that adult circulation is closer to 90% and juvenile circulation is closer to 80%. That trend of adult items circulation recovering faster than juvenile circulation is present in most other media types as well.
Audiobooks are down more than print books, whereas playaways are doing comparatively well. This has been a slow trend for a while as many new vehicles lack CD players so patrons are moving to playaways or downloaded audiobooks.
Overall, I think what we're seeing mirrors larger trends that have been reported throughout society. The pandemic has been particularly hard on families, caused a major disruption in the motion picture industry ( amongst others ), and accelerated a shift in audiovisual media consumption from physical to digital. I think it's too soon to say that we're clear of it and on a straight path to normal, but overall circulation has been ticking a couple of percentage points closer to what it was each month."
Bright Spot Nominations:
From Marcia and Jennifer:
"I would like to nominate Jeff Linders for Bright Spot. Jeff very quickly acted on the safety recommendations delivered to Northside and Outreach. He created a tool to make it easier to lock and unlock our carts in the Wifi van, added high vis tape to our vehicle steps, and he replaced the safety pin on our lift that was so difficult for many of us to get in and out. He's just a super friendly co-worker that is never bothered by our requests for help."
Jennifer seconds Marcia's nomination: "Jeff has been so incredibly helpful since coming over to Northside, across the board. He did so much work to get our delivery room updated following the CVMIC visit, has been quick to get our requests done on the clipboard, and is always offering helpful solutions."
From Erin Mendoza:
"I cannot express how helpful Alejandria is on a daily basis. I have always been impressed with her professionalism and organization. While preparing for a long vacation, I asked for help from Alejandria with a couple projects. She was more than happy to lend a hand and took the time to clarify several details. Her ability to coordinate multiple projects (from various staff) with her many teen volunteers is outstanding and I am so thankful for her on our YFS team. "
"I would like to nominate Brent and Max for a Bright Spot. During the power outage on Monday, when the server failed they upheld the true definition of Tech Support: A person who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data. Also see: Wizard, Magician."
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