AUBURN - What a difference a year makes.
Since coming aboard last February, Sheila Anderson has implemented changes inside and out of the Seymour Public Library.
The East Genesee Street library has tried new ventures to bring in more users, such as a midnight party for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows,” the seventh and final book in the popular series.
Anderson took over as library director when Stephen Erskine retired in December 2006.
She served as library director for the Dover Public Library in Dover, Del., for six years.
Throughout the year of change, the library staff has welcomed community input. The facility has three places to fill out comment cards, one at the main desk, the children's desk, and another in the teen section.
Anderson also asked individuals to join focus groups to identify areas for improvements. Anderson would like to see the library work with organizations around Cayuga County.
The New Jersey native said she wants to make the library more user friendly. For example, the library no longer restricts the number of books to three for each call number. Now, patrons are limited only for holiday books.
“They're not doing us any good sitting on the shelf,” Anderson said of the thousands of books.
What readers can check out got a bit of a makeover too. Anderson worked to expand the collection, including books, DVDs and audio books. She looked at the collection's age, and targeted time-sensitive sections, such as law, health and social issues. Also, she added the option to download audio books.
The way the library handles bestsellers also shifted. Instead of remaining behind glass for the first two weeks, employees put reviews of new books in the display case. People can take the recently received books almost immediately.
She would like to see an increase in book budgets. Seymour's total budget is approximately $650,000. Workers have $85,000 to spend on books, and $15,000 on DVDs and audio books, figures lower than Anderson would like. She plans to continue to update the collection.
Some modifications were smaller to make the library more pleasant or efficient, such as buying a trash bin so staff no longer have to keep garbage inside until collection day or replacing worn carpet on the third floor.
On a larger scale, the library installed seven monitoring cameras last month. The Stanley W. Metcalf and D.E. French foundations donated the money for the technology. In September, someone was mugged during the afternoon. Another daytime mugging a few years ago sparked the idea for surveillance cameras for the facility that is open six days a week, sometimes to 9 p.m.
The Foundation Center, a national philanthropic resource organization, recently included Seymour in a program to provide grant writing resources and other materials to seek funding in the library's collection.
Other programs Anderson initiated aim to bring people back to the facility. The food for fines program allowed people to wipe their fines away by bringing in canned food for charity. This helped some patrons who had larger fines.
But Anderson isn't waiting for everyone to come to her.
“We've been doing more outreach,” she said. She spoke at the Boyle Center, participates in Leadership Cayuga, and is gathering focus groups.
“I'd love to remind people we have information here. They think they can just go to Google,” Anderson said.
She wants to offer more computer classes. She started stressing the importance of technology with her staff. When she began working, three of the 30 employees had e-mail. Now, all workers have e-mail addresses.
Bringing staff and patrons up to speed with technology has proven a challenge for Anderson in the beginning.
One small alteration that has had a big impact is the staff wearing nametags. They are getting more questions from patrons, she said. The two cats living in the library also wear collars with their names.
Users and residents are vocal on their opinions about the library and direction it's going.
“The community is very supportive,” she said. “It's definitely a well-loved library with a lot of history.”
Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net
The East Genesee Street library has tried new ventures to bring in more users, such as a midnight party for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows,” the seventh and final book in the popular series.
Anderson took over as library director when Stephen Erskine retired in December 2006.
She served as library director for the Dover Public Library in Dover, Del., for six years.
Throughout the year of change, the library staff has welcomed community input. The facility has three places to fill out comment cards, one at the main desk, the children's desk, and another in the teen section.
Anderson also asked individuals to join focus groups to identify areas for improvements. Anderson would like to see the library work with organizations around Cayuga County.
The New Jersey native said she wants to make the library more user friendly. For example, the library no longer restricts the number of books to three for each call number. Now, patrons are limited only for holiday books.
“They're not doing us any good sitting on the shelf,” Anderson said of the thousands of books.
What readers can check out got a bit of a makeover too. Anderson worked to expand the collection, including books, DVDs and audio books. She looked at the collection's age, and targeted time-sensitive sections, such as law, health and social issues. Also, she added the option to download audio books.
The way the library handles bestsellers also shifted. Instead of remaining behind glass for the first two weeks, employees put reviews of new books in the display case. People can take the recently received books almost immediately.
She would like to see an increase in book budgets. Seymour's total budget is approximately $650,000. Workers have $85,000 to spend on books, and $15,000 on DVDs and audio books, figures lower than Anderson would like. She plans to continue to update the collection.
Some modifications were smaller to make the library more pleasant or efficient, such as buying a trash bin so staff no longer have to keep garbage inside until collection day or replacing worn carpet on the third floor.
On a larger scale, the library installed seven monitoring cameras last month. The Stanley W. Metcalf and D.E. French foundations donated the money for the technology. In September, someone was mugged during the afternoon. Another daytime mugging a few years ago sparked the idea for surveillance cameras for the facility that is open six days a week, sometimes to 9 p.m.
The Foundation Center, a national philanthropic resource organization, recently included Seymour in a program to provide grant writing resources and other materials to seek funding in the library's collection.
Other programs Anderson initiated aim to bring people back to the facility. The food for fines program allowed people to wipe their fines away by bringing in canned food for charity. This helped some patrons who had larger fines.
But Anderson isn't waiting for everyone to come to her.
“We've been doing more outreach,” she said. She spoke at the Boyle Center, participates in Leadership Cayuga, and is gathering focus groups.
“I'd love to remind people we have information here. They think they can just go to Google,” Anderson said.
She wants to offer more computer classes. She started stressing the importance of technology with her staff. When she began working, three of the 30 employees had e-mail. Now, all workers have e-mail addresses.
Bringing staff and patrons up to speed with technology has proven a challenge for Anderson in the beginning.
One small alteration that has had a big impact is the staff wearing nametags. They are getting more questions from patrons, she said. The two cats living in the library also wear collars with their names.
Users and residents are vocal on their opinions about the library and direction it's going.
“The community is very supportive,” she said. “It's definitely a well-loved library with a lot of history.”
Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net
Citizen
Hot Jobs
New! Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are 1 comment(s)
tome8689 wrote on Feb 7, 2008 8:22 PM: