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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/30/1970 - Report - Bryan College Station Library System Advisory Board 4110 Bryan. Public Library Board of Trustees 1970-1971 Dr. Paul B. Crawford, President Dr. T. T. Walton, Vice President; Mrs. Alfred Casarez; Mrs. John McIntyre; Mr: W. D. Dunn; Judge W. T. Mc Donald; Mr. R. L. _ Peurifoy. Friends of Bryan Public Library 1970-1971 S Mrs. William Russell - President Mrs. Manuel Davenport - Vice President Mrs. John Paul German - Secretary Mr. Pat Newton - Treasurer Mrs. John Hutchison - Memorial Gifts Mrs. Earl Cunningham - Membership Mrs. James Holmes - Projects Mrs. C. R. Moorhead - Hospitality Mrs. Emmette Wallace - Publicity III/ Bryan Public Library Staff 1970-1971 Librarian - Mrs. Hazel Richardson Assistant Librarian - Mrs. Mary Eden Catalogers - Mrs. Esther Hauer; Mrs. Soon Kim Interloan Librarian - Mrs. Peggy Patterson Children's Librarian - Mrs. Marye Bozardt Asst. Children's. Librarian - Mrs. Melinda. Box Extension Librarian - Mrs. Linda Bloomer Secretary - Mrs. Lois Griffin Clerk - Miss Margaret Boxley. Library Assistant - Mr. Martin Munoz Desk Assistants - Mrs. Frances Halbtook, Mrs. Margaret Cahill, Mrs, Judith Golding; Mr. John Evans, Mrs. Julia Jones Driver Clerk - Mrs. Billie Farmer*, Miss Deborah Dockery Pages - Susan Todd, John Hamman, Bobby Shannon, Reginald Markowski Maid. - Mrs. Myrtle Robinson -6 Custodian - Mr. Jesse Head - - - Field Consultant - Mrs. Patricia Smith - - * Resigned 111111 I j Bryan Public Library Bryan, Texas Report of the Librarian for 1970-1971 Accomplishment in library service this year in all departments,and all library programs)must be considered from the effect a new building has had on services and programs. We have been in the new building a year and six months, long enough to make some conclusions. The citizens of Bryan and College Station are proud of the building and appreciative of the new services it has made possible and the extension of old ones. Visitors are impressed with its beauty and functionalism. The staff finds that the many hours which went into its planning have resulted in a facility which works. Its great flexibility for now and the future are realized every day and appreciated. ,,11111/,K-,,, ,� There have been some disappointments, but they are few, not great, and in r time can be easily remedied. As in the past years Mrs. Mary Eden, the Assistant Librarian, has pre- pared the statistics. I have used her figures in reviewing and evaluating the work of each department. Adult Services At the Main Adult Charge Desk we have circulated, this year 151,467 books. This represents a 141/2 % increase over last year. We have had (and. mostly answered) 27,180 reference questions. Reference questions, as well as increasing (5,851 more than last year) are becoming more intricate and, there- fore, more interesting. We have noticed an increase in the number of young adults, high school and college students using the Library in the afternoons, and evenings ,and on Saturdays. Evening attendance and evening circulation 1 2 have both boomed as the statiscs show. Serving a community whose 1970 population (Brazos County) is 56,079 we are proud of the fact that 36,107 of those residents are registered library borrowers. The Art Lending Collection continues to be -- now in its sixth year -- one of the most popular of the library programs. It should be noted here that we have had no loss and only minute damage to the 159 prints in the Adult Collection. Rountree Room For Children Mrs. Marye Bozardt became Children's Librarian on the first of July with Mrs. Margaret Ourts as her assistant. Mrs. Ourts left in December and Mrs. Melinda Box became the assistant. The Wednesday morning pre-school hour, begun by Mrs. Hanna, continued its programs with singing games, puppet shows, stories and movies. The Sat- e urday program was changed to Friday during the summer to prevent conflict with week-end activities. These programs were varied and brought many talented performers from the community: The Haltom Singers (gospel songs) ; Mrs. Rebecca Landman told stories; Dr. C. C. Doak gave a nature talk; Mrs. Fern Hamman a Halloween show; Dr. Richard Baldauf gave a talk on Ecology with slides ' and musical background; Mr. Dan Warden gave a magic show; Mrs. King presented her choir from Neal Junior High; Mr. Hobbs, band from A & M Consolidated gave a stirring program; Professor Griffiths gave a talk on Africa with slides and movies; and Dr. Michael Herron a talk on pets and their care. Several graduate students from the A & M Wildlife Department gave live pro- grams for the children, bringing animals to illustrate their talks. There were two well received melodramas during the year, one given by Mrs. Foy's Girl Scout Troup and one by a talented group of teenagers. 111! The summer reading program consisted of two reading clubs, the Bookingham Club for the younger children, and the President's Club for those in grades 3 four and up. There were sa.X hundred fifty participants. At the end of the summer all readers who read fifteen or more books received certificates. About two hundred children attended the party which was held on the lawn of the old library building. Mrs. Tess Young conducted a puppet workshop during the school year after the Saturday morning program. In the summer the recreation department under the direction of Mrs. Aline Winch conducted a creative dramatics workshop every afternoon. In December Mrs. Bozardt and Mrs. Box began the project of changing the collection in the Rountree Room from Reader Interest to the Dewey Decimal classification. This was seventy-five percent completed on July 1. It was to be expected that attendance at programs would go down and that circulation would fall off in the first year of Mrs. Hanna's retirement as Children's Librarian. Mrs. Hanna's immense popularity; her personal in- volvement with every parent and child, her own knowledge of and experience with books made her an extraordinary Children's Librarian. However , the de- crease in circulation cannot be solely attributed to her retirement. A big part of the loss in the Rountree Room circulation is in classroom collections to teachers. As the schools build up their libraries the teachers will depend more upon their collections. Part of the decrease in circulation must also be attributed to the children's increased use of the school libraries. Extension Our Bookmobile , which serves all the elementary schools in the county, two shopping centers, several county stops, Crestview, and playgrounds and parks during the summer, added Sherwood Nursing Home this past year. Circ- ulation at Redmond Terrace more than doubled. The number of reference ques- tions answered went up by fifteen percent, reserves and interloan questions by fifty percent. The drop in circulation must, as in the case of the Rountree Room, be III attributed to the increase of adequacy of the school library collections. Mrs. Bloomer, the Bookmobile Librarian, reports only two perrenial prob- lems; lack of enough books to satisfy patrons' needs and keeping the Book- mobile in running condition. Too frequently important stops have had to be cancelled. The Bookmobile is twelve years old and is well into its second hundred thousand miles. Interloan and Reference Referral Upon Mrs. Cardwell's retirement in December 1970, Mrs. Peggy Patterson became Interloan Librarian. She has found it a stimulating position and notes that the more people find out about this service the more it is used. Inter- loan requests filled were 3,098, a gain of 909 over last year's 2,189. Our reputation is getting abroad that wecan get 'any piece of information or any P book. This is almost true. At any rate, the image is that our collection and resources are limitless. Put the request on the network and in a matter of days we are able to get a book on how to dig a deep well, teach a parrott to talk or play the guitar, or we can locate and borrow an old fashioned romance , long out of print, which a patron remembers reading in his youth. Many A & M. students are taking advantage of this service as it is not avail- able to undergraduate students at A & M. From the interloan requests we be- come aware of books which we should have iii our own collection, and add them to it. During the year we called upon all the Major Resource Centers in Texas as well as the libraries of Lubbock, Waco, Baylor University, the University of Texas, the University of New Hampshire, Texas A & M, New York City, and the British Information Center in New York. 5 • Federal and State Aid We received $13 ,000 in the year 1970-1971 under Title I. The entire amount was spent for books. The State Library has given us every aid and cooperation. Their work- shops, some of which have been held in our library, have been of the greatest benefit in the training of our library staff. Our Field Consultant, Mrs. Patricia Smith, has lent us prompt and efficient help and advice. It was disappointing that funding for the Texas Library Systems Act was only token. However, there is always hope, and in the meanwhile the progress of the me.t work goes ahead, continuing to be successful in spite of lack of funding. News Media The Bryan Eagle is always interested in Library activities and gives us excellent publicity, publishing Bookmobile schedules, the calendar of events 111 in the Library, the activities and programs of the Rountree Room. They give full page coverage once each month to the Bryan-College Station Art Club's Artist of the Month display in the Library. The new publisher of the Eagle asked the Librarian to consolidate her Sunday (ten years old) book review into a once a month column. Shortly thereafter, the Pictorial Press asked the Librarian for a Sunday book review, so we still have every week a column which will publicize our new and worthwhile books. KBTX-TV gives us daily publicity. The Bookmobile schedule and all ac- tivities of the Library are announced on Fern Hamman's Town Talk. Every Friday on this program the Librarian reviews and talks about new books, authors, and the Library's programs. Mike Mistovich continues to promote the Library over KORA and to make any announcements of our activities and schedules. 1116 In this age of McLuhan where the Medium is the Massage we appreciate every opportunity we get to publicize the resources of the Library. Friends of the Library The Friends of the Bryan Public Library now number 800. They are fast approaching their membership goal of 1000. This year as in the past years their big and most popular money making project was their annual Book Sale. Books given to the Library by our patrons are shelved in the old Carnegie Building and put on sale for a week. The Friends made $600 this year. Money from the sale is given to the Library and used to buy new books. This year part of the money was used to buy books for the Rountree Room in honor of Mrs. Hanna. The Friends contributed $375 toward payment on the piano. They paid for the publication of all brochures, National Library Week pub- licity, and memorial book publicity. They gave their yearly reception during National. Library Week. It was the most successful and well attended in their history and brought to Bryan an outstanding speaker, Dempsie Henley. The Friends sponsored two delightful and well attended poetry readings by Victor Wiening. For all these events they furnished the hospitality, as well as for work- shops held here and for the Children's Reading Club party. They always stand ready in every crisis or need to give money or moral support. Library Board The Library Board worked tirelessly and with enthusiasm to launch the new programs made possible by the new building. Mr. Peurifoy was successful in getting the best sort of equipment for the Auditorium and getting it in- stalled and working. He spent many hours in the inauguration of Saturday 4IPAfternoon At The Opera and A Music Appreciation series. 8 books to put on empty shelves. They have been represented at all library functions and have generously given their time to introduce the Library's III/ new programs. The Board and I wish to thank the outgoing Commission: Mayor Zubik, Mrs. Parker, Mr. Bell, Mr. Faulk, and Mr. Herrera for their contribution to the new Library. We look forward to working with the new City Commission. They have already shown their interest in the Library in their careful appointment of new members to the Library Board: Mrs. Gerry Holmgreen, Mr. Edsel Burkhart, and Dr. Tom King. Mr. Burkhart and Dr. King served on the Board during the planning of the new building. It is a great satisfaction to have their re- turn. Mrs. Holmgreen is one of the Library's most devoted and interested patrons. Finally, I wish to thank Mr. Fred Sandlin, the City Manager , who in the ten years I have been City Librarian, has been attentive to all of my library 1r),- problems. His advice and decisions have proven in most instances to be right. His attendance at all Library Board meetings has greatly facilitated my work and that of the Library Board. Reppectfully submitted, cn Mrs. zel Richardson Librarian HR:g 0