ThisWeek UA 06/09/2011
Even with financial cuts, the 2010 Upper Arlington Public Library annual report shows the UAPL to be a “robust library system.”
Previous annual reports focused primarily on financial reporting, but for the 2010 annual report, administrators chose to provide a broader view of the library’s operations, according to assistant director Kate Porter.
“This year’s annual report gives a full snapshot of our operations,” said Ruth McNeil, community relations manager. “We have the second largest collection [of materials] in Franklin County – only Columbus Metropolitan is bigger – and along with our circulation numbers, (they) represent what a robust library system we have.”
Currently, the library has 446,104 materials for loan. Those materials were loaned out 2,121,416 times during 2010. Of the loans, 50 percent were books and 47.7 percent were media loans. But Porter said that digital downloads, which only represented 0.2 percent of loans in 2010, are rising sharply.
“Already in 2011 we’ve seen the digital download option for material loans rise to 1 percent of our checked-out items, and it appears to only continue to rise,” Porter said.
McNeil said that the high book circulation lets the library know what is still its core market. She said she believes this report will be a benchmark for the changes taking places in how people are using the library.
“People are accessing the books and media more and more digitally,” she said. “This speaks to the changes we’re seeing. Along with the inter-library loans, we are making sure to keep up with the changing needs of our patrons – which include the digital items being available 24/7.”
In addition, the library’s meeting facilities are fully used 90 percent of the time, McNeil told ThisWeek. There were 1,909 reservations made during 2010.
“Our meeting rooms are at capacity,” she said. “It’s competitive even for staff to reserve space.”
Minor changes to the physical facilities occurred during 2010, according to the report, including expanded self-checkout and the recent addition of a “laptop bar,” which provides space and power outlets for laptop users at the Tremont library.
Porter said these infrastructure changes provide the library with efficiencies necessitated by budget cuts.
“Staff represents 60 percent of our budget, and we’ve reduced our staff by 20 percent due to cuts, including no pay increases since 2008,” Porter said. “We’ve delayed building maintenance as well and cut our open hours from 74 per week down to 63.”
McNeil said she believes that even with the cuts, the library is still meeting patron’s demands.
“This document is our report card to the community, and we’re going to continue to do this good work. We expect the community to use the annual reports as a benchmark for our continued improvement,” McNeil said. “An example of programming I think continues to get better and better is our summer reading club, which engages our schools, kids and families.”
The summer reading club’s theme for 2011 is “One World, Many Stories” and, according to Porter, is representative to the city’s growing, diverse population.
The 2010 annual report is published in the Summer 2011 edition of Library Link, available at the library or online at www.ualibrary.org.