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Library reports rising circulation, popular summer events; acoustic study and hiring underway
Summary
Library staff reported June circulation totals and strong summer program attendance, announced an acoustic study at Mesa Public Library, ongoing hiring for multiple vacancies, and several upcoming community events and volunteer opportunities.
Library staff reported higher circulation and strong turnout for summer programming and outlined several projects and staffing actions during the board’s meeting held by Zoom.
For June the library recorded 22,566 physical checkouts and 10,043 digital checkouts, for a total circulation of 32,609. Staff described the digital portion as 31% of total circulation and said participation in summer reading and related programs is up compared with last year.
Gwen and other staff recapped recent programs: a music-and-movement series moved outdoors during summer drew steady attendance, a recent performance by Clan Tinker attracted about 187 people despite cool weather, and weekly “read with” programs (ranger, police officer) drew roughly 70–80 attendees per session. The library’s Beanstack-based summer reading program counted 208 adult participants, 419 teens and 177 youth participants in June.
Staff also reported operational items and projects: a contractor will perform an acoustic study at Mesa Public Library on July 15 to collect sound data and issue a report within about a month; staff said the study will test how sound travels through the building and inform possible mitigation measures. The library is conducting an RFP for new library software; staff said that process has delayed installation of checkout lockers in White Rock because the library does not want to configure lockers with the current vendor only to migrate them shortly after.
On staffing, the library has several open positions and active recruitment: there were five applicants for the senior librarian role and seven for a librarian role; staff said interviews will occur this month and hoped to report hires at the September board meeting. The manager also announced that Veronica Encinas joined as the staff liaison for the board and helped set up the ThriftBooks arrangement the Friends of the Library now use for withdrawals and surplus books.
The Friends of the Library reported the bookstore averages about $1,000 a week in receipts and last month received about $350 in proceeds from ThriftBooks for evaluated surplus. Staff noted that the White Rock Library will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a street-fair-style event July 26 and that the library will host author Hampton Sides on July 30 (limited in-person registration with streaming).
Board members were asked to volunteer for community outreach events including the White Rock Street Fair and the Atomicon weekend celebration over Labor Day weekend. A patron comment read during the meeting said, “this is clearly a town that loves its library.”
