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There are many little children that visit Topsham Public Library every week. Some are just babies, and some are moving on their own: creeping, crawling, jumping, walking, and running. Some are fast, and some are slow, but once they start moving they make their way to the doorway that leads to the staff offices. They are very curious and want to know what’s going on back there. Well, I’m going to tell you. In the next few weeks, I will highlight various staff members and what their tasks are above and beyond the normal circulation desk duties.

Not everyone gets to see the new items before they are put into circulation, but Helen and Lynne are lucky because they are two of the few who do. When you look into the staff offices and see the shelves full of new stuff, you are looking at Helen and Lynne’s responsibilities.

Helen’s main job is cataloging all items: books, dvds, audio books, graphic novels, and magazines. Cataloging is a specialized task and a cataloger must be a stickler for detail. If something is not cataloged correctly, library staff and patrons alike will not be able to find it. Cataloging is also a way to make sure dvds are listed as dvds and not books and books are not listed as dvds and magazines are not listed as audio books and audio books are not listed as books, etc. To stay on top of cataloging protocol Helen attends or watches the catalog meetings (via the internet) that take place at Maine State Library.

Magazines require some extra attention to ensure subscriptions stay up to date, and that is one of Helen’s tasks. Not just to make sure we are getting what we ordered, but also to make sure that the magazines we get are relevant to our patrons. Helen is also responsible for ordering movies – new releases, movies that are in high demand, plus any other movies the staff thinks is needed. Helen also gives recommendations to Emma, the Adult Services Librarian, of any new horror books coming out. Helen loves horror!

Of all that she does, Helen enjoys cataloging the most because she gets to see all the new items.

Lynne also catalogs, but she is responsible for all the items in the children’s collection. She, too, is meticulous and ensures items are entered into the system correctly so we can find what we want and need.

Lynne is the Circulation Manager. This entails overseeing all the duties at the circulation desk as well as communicating with patrons and other libraries when issues arise, such as damaged or lost items and extra renewal requests.

Have you ever requested an item from another library, and it just never comes? (I’m not talking about new and popular items.) Well, Lynne keeps track of holds and assures that they are fulfilled in a timely fashion by contacting other libraries to let them know a hold is “stuck.” Three to four times a year, Lynne attends circulation meetings to stay on top of issues and new protocols. Any book that has been withdrawn from circulation, Lynne deletes from the cataloging system. She also stays on top of book resources and suggests titles, and she compiles and organizes invoices for book orders.

Lynne also conducts a Reference Survey four times a year and once she has compiled the statistics from that survey, she gives the results to Susan Preece, Director of Topsham Public Library. There is a specific definition of what the reference survey covers and these surveys are mandatory at the state and federal level. These are core statistics that portray how well used our services are.

But her favorite thing to do is to assist Mariah, Children’s Librarian, with the Parent/Child Workshop. These workshops run periodically throughout the year and they bring children, parents, and professionals from local agencies to play and create and spend quality time together. And as Lynne says, “Who wouldn’t love playing with toys and doing crafts with kids?!”

This is just a friendly reminder that we are closed Friday, November 11, 2016 in honor of Veterans Day. I hope you enjoy your day, and for those who have served, Thank You!

Veterans Day was established as a national holiday in November, 1938. It was originally called Armistice Day in reference to the ending of World War I. In 1954, the day was changed to Veterans Day and became a day to honor all veterans from all American wars.

If you haven’t heard the news yet, Topsham Public Library’s 2016 Annual
Report has been released! You may read it by clicking here, or by looking in the center section of November’s issue of The Cryer, or by picking up a copy at Topsham Public Library.

The Development Committee has been working on the annual report since July. They used our long range plan to think about and discuss what we hit and what we missed. They reviewed numbers – financial numbers, numbers the staff collected about program participation, services used, and numbers of patrons served, and numbers of new patrons, and all kinds of numbers. Then they organized all this information into an 8-page report with graphs and photographs and reports. As you will see when you get your copy, a great deal of time and thoughtfulness went into the annual report.

But why? Why spend so much time on an annual report? Why should people read it? The term “annual report” sounds dull and boring and sleep inducing, but Susan Preece, Director of Topsham Public Library, thinks every member of Topsham, every patron of the library, should be eager to read the annual report “because,” she said, “this is our report to the community about what we’ve done with their tax dollars.” The annual report is a way that keeps Topsham Public Library accountable to the townspeople and to those who use our services and come to our programming. The community can see and evaluate how Topsham Public Library is doing.

Not only is it a way to keep Topsham Public Library accountable, but it is also a great way to recognize all of our volunteers. Topsham Public Library receives 60-70 hours a week in volunteer support. Our volunteers are our unsung heroes and we want to give them credit and a big Thank You, so we dedicate space to them in the annual report.

The annual report is also a place we thank our donors – from Whitten Society Members to our Business Roundtable Members. These individuals and local businesses donate significant amounts of money to keep Topsham Public Library growing and accessible for all community members.

In short, the annual report is a snapshot of what is going on and gives readers a sense of what we are doing and why we are doing it.

As we were finishing our discussion about the annual report, Susan said something that I had not thought about before and I liked it. She said, “This [Topsham Public Library] is the people’s living room. We want to be as transparent as possible so that people feel comfortable to come and get the services they need and want.”

So as you’re reading The Cryer this month, pay special attention to the Topsham Public Library insert. Find out what’s happening, read about what we’ve done and what we plan to do, and know that Topsham Public Library is a community center for all, and we have something for you.