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Englewood library board hears rising visits, staff updates and bot-inflated catalog counts
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Summary
Board members heard that daily visits now average about 207 per day, staff reported full staffing and program growth but warned catalog page-view counts are inflated by bot traffic; the board scheduled a May 8 in-service closure, called for volunteers on a space-study team and introduced a new school liaison.
Members of the Englewood Library Board met to review usage, staffing and programming updates, and to hear staff concerns that library catalog page-view counts are being inflated by automated bot traffic.
A staff member reported that visitor totals are increasing and said the February-to-March daily average works out to about 207 people per day. The staff member cautioned, however, that reported catalog page views “are bots,” after consulting Marmot system staff, and that there is no precise way to separate automated from human traffic. "They said that that's a problem that they increasingly see on their servers," the staff member said, adding that bot traffic can cause pages to crash and sometimes prompts extra firewall checks for patrons.
Kirsten Hannigan, adult services supervisor, outlined how the department’s services are used, saying about 30% of visitors use public computers and that last year adult programming included roughly 102 programs drawing about 1,300 adult attendees. "About 30% of all visitors to the library use our public PCs," Hannigan said, and she described program categories—creative arts, community building, technology and innovation, humanities/civic engagement, and life skills—that structure offerings and outreach.
Staff also reported human-resources and collection updates. A staff member said the library reached full staffing recently, reported as 25 employees (12 part-time, 13 full-time), though one part-timer resigned this month. Staff said vendors are beginning to deliver books in more complete, 'shelf-ready' condition but employees still need to add barcodes and labels before items go on the shelves.
Operational items included a call for volunteers to join an internal space-study team ahead of an external bid and notice that the library will be closed for an in-service day on May 8. Staff described efforts to collect patron stories to support outreach and to standardize training and onboarding across the library and with city supervisor systems.
Hannigan also described partnerships that bring services into the library, including a visiting Arapahoe County harm-reduction team that offers needle exchange and testing, and potential visits from mobile units such as laundry/shower services and a DMV mobile unit to improve access to services.
Board business was routine: a board member moved and another seconded approval of the March minutes; the motion passed by voice vote. The board introduced Dani Herman as a new school liaison; Herman said she is a local attorney and former teacher and looks forward to working with the library and schools. Members also thanked longtime board member Marie for her service and noted she is moving away; the board encouraged filling the soon-to-be-vacant seat before a gap develops.
The board’s next steps noted in the meeting record include recruiting for upcoming vacancies, completing the internal space study work before the external bid, and continuing to monitor program attendance and the impact of bot traffic on reported digital metrics.
