Director's Report August, 2023

Report To The Board of Sherman Free Library

August 10th, 2023

Prepared by Kris Jarrett

What a great summer so far! We have been very busy with patron visits, collections work, social media, and talks. 

A few highlights…

Rummage Sale: Although this was the first one I have been part of, it certainly seemed like a success! Remaining items were donated to the thrift shop in Ticonderoga.

Traveling Exhibit: We are hosting a temporary traveling banner exhibit covering the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act thanks to the Lake Champlain Basin Program. This exhibit will match perfectly with the Evening at the Library talk scheduled for August, also with LCBP, to update our community on aquatic invasives.

Champ Day: We posted newspaper clippings from the Woodbridge Scrapbooks on Champ sightings and these performed very well on our page and the local history groups. We also had coloring sheets and stickers available, stickers courtesy of ROOST/Lake Champlain Visitors Center. 

Social Media & Web Presence: 

Our Facebook reach continues to grow with increasing speed. We continue to post history items as well as general library news to Facebook and now to Instagram as well (https://www.instagram.com/shermanfreelibrary/). 

Much of our early yearbook collection has been posted as albums on Facebook and people have seemingly enjoyed looking through them. We will be reaching out to the community to borrow and scan yearbooks missing from the collection.

Social Numbers Snapshot:

Current Facebook Numbers: 253 likes, 331 followers
Instagram Followers to Date: 64

Facebook Reach, Last 28 days:
Post reach: 4,607
Post engagement: 3,461
New Page likes: 6
New Page Followers: 10

Collections: 

Work has begun to photograph and edit into PDFs the Woodbridge Scrapbooks. Volume A has been completed and the file is available in the library for anyone interested to review. As these volumes are in a state of advanced deterioration, I feel that their digitization is a high priority and should be the last time they are handled for the foreseeable future. Current storage situation is likely as good as we can make it, but damage from acid and insects has taken a toll. 

We have finished scanning our yearbook collection up to the date where they become bound as books and will need to be copystand photographed. That process will be ongoing. Recently we took in another stack of early yearbooks not in our collection as a loan to digitize from the Historical Society. In addition we have a few other items loaned by community members for digitization. I have labeled a drawer in the map case to house these loaned items while they are with us. 

A new index of the Witherbee collection has been completed, and select treasures were scanned as the indexing was conducted, including five pages of an original unpublished manuscript by Verplank Colvin. Expect a talk on his work and these pages soon! Please see our Facebook page for highlights. 

I have begun to track down items from our lost list. Frankly, it’s not nearly as bad as I feared. We had about a page of items. I am first checking the shelves very closely, as things certainly slip past the scanner at times, and then making a phone call to see if folks have the items to return. Just this morning we received a very important package of rare history books (which were loaned some years ago from the in-house collection, something we should never do for anyone but an insured institution for just this reason) from one patron. All but one of that set were returned and payment was made for the remaining title. Especially in this case given the books missing, but in all cases, my preference and intent is to see the return of the missing items above receiving monetary replacement costs.

Events & Programming:

Evening at the Library III: John Neggie on WWII: Given the terrible weather that night we had a decent turn-out in the low twenties. The talk was live streamed on Facebook (333 views to date) and posted to YouTube (6 views to date). Arrangements are being made to have John come back into the library for a longer form sit-down history interview. 

Evening at the Library IV: Aquatic Invasive Species with Lauren Jenness, LCBP: Thursday, August 24th, 6 pm:

“Come learn about the state of aquatic invasive species (AIS) on Lake Champlain. Because about a dozen species in Lake Champlain have been documented to cause economic and ecological harm to our ecosystem, Federal, state, and provincial partners of the Lake Champlain Basin Program from New York, Vermont, and Quebéc have identified invasive species management as one of the highest priorities in the management plan for Lake Champlain.

Additional species, such as the round goby, are on our doorstep. Everyone who fishes and recreates on our region’s waterbodies can do their part to help prevent the spread of AIS by Cleaning, Draining, & Drying their boats and equipment.

Lauren Jenness is an Environmental Analyst at the Lake Champlain Basin Program who works closely with the Lake Champlain Boat Launch Steward Program.”

Physical Infrastructure:

I am in the process of writing the grant for our AC system. The timeline has been set back a bit due to my illness for a week, but things are on track still since there is no deadline. I will be working with the 2022 state report and Vicki to fill in our financial numbers and collect other supporting documents soon. 

Fire alarm system; checking in on where we stand. My notes say we asked the board via email to review the two proposals and vote to authorize one, but I am also waiting on more information from the contractor as to how thermostatic control for the heat pump/boiler system would work. Perhaps those questions need to be answered first and a quote selected prior to a spending authorization vote. 

Small stuff: Wonky lightswitch for the fluorescent has been replaced, bad ballast for one of the wall sconce lights replaced, and we need to purchase a few trash tags. 

There is a spot of soft wood in the floor in the kid’s area, I suspect from water damage back when the radiator was in use. I have a box over it right now; there is danger of a chair leg going through during an event. We should see about having a patch scarfed into the floor.

Staffing & Personnel:

Redacted for staff privacy.

Miscellanea: 

I have swapped the puzzles at the Senior Center and it appears they are being used and appreciated. I will discuss a micro lending library there next time I speak to Katrinka.
We have received our order for new book barcodes and Barbara is working to catch up on incoming books and DVDs. 

We have received a new box of tickets for the basket raffle starting where the numbers of the remaining stock will end. 

I have received the package of forms we need to complete to start with Payroll Matters. Currently debating if we should wait for the start of 2024 to keep things ‘simple’. Perhaps we should have a meeting/call with Pat. 
https://www.shermanfreelibrary.com/directors-report-aug-2023
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