Grafton Public Library's Director Publishes Report For June

Press release from Grafton Public Library:

July 25, 2021

The Grafton Public Library reopened to the public after over a year of curbside-only, 28 hours per week. We were open 25 days, 118 hours, and had 2,208 visitors, an average of 88 per day.

Director Beth Gallaway attended Town Meeting (the FY22 budget passed), posted vacant positions, worked on policy updates, managed reopening and relocation logistics, closed out the fiscal year, and compiled FY21 statistics. Additional work included program planning, setting up training sessions for staff on new systems, and updating procedures. Beth also facilitated a Zoom author visit with Pam Hollander, editor of a book of essays about Generation X titled: Gen X at Middle Age in Popular Culture (Generation X: Studies in Culture, Demographics, and Media Representation). The talk was not recorded, but visit Pinterest for a list of related resources.

Children’s Services

We were so happy to see familiar (masked) faces and we were shocked by how much our young patrons have grown since we last saw them!

Our Summer programming kicked off with many grab-and-go activities for children, teens, and adults. Kits are distributed evenly throughout the week, so If you miss something you have your eye on, please check back another day. We also have a selection of live Zoom programming coming up, so be sure to check out the event calendar and register for a free Beanstack account so you don’t miss anything.

June also brought some very hungry caterpillars to the library! We have already released one of our butterfly friends out into the wild, but we have two more chrysalides that we are caring for. Be sure to say hi and check on their progress next time you stop by.

Cyndi prepared and filmed the Ask Me Anything Series with Allison which aired on GCTV. They were able to film 4 segments. They were about an animal bakery, animal tracking, bee keeping and a K-9 officer. Watch on demand on GCTV.

The Children’s Room partnered with the Grafton Land Trust on a Mind and Body project that launched in June. Sarah created 13 graphics, one for each week June – August, scheduled to post to social media on Wednesday each week. The text of each post includes a link to the Grafton Land Trust trail maps page, the Grafton Public Library, and a link to a spotlighted book in the Library’s catalog. The content is cross-posted to the Land Trust’s Facebook page. We had our final preschool outreach visits to the school in early June. We wish all of our preschool friends who are graduating and moving up to kindergarten the best of luck!

Teen Services

Beth and Teen Librarian Allison Cusher took a meeting with Sean Padgett to discuss a potential partnership serving at risk tweens and teens. Allison kept summer reading running smoothly, managing Beanstack, EventKeeper, Social Media, and kit assembly and distribution as well as programs for teens and tweens.

Adult Services

Crescent Manor Bookwagon had fourteen participants with 38 checkouts, and six requests. We delivered nine items to four Home Delivery recipients.

There were 78 museum pass reservations, 60 were picked up and there were 16 no-shows. Passes continue to be a complicated juggling act of checking availability with both the museum and the library, entering the correct code for the correct day, and picking up the pass. Thanks to Sandhya for keeping it all straight!

Two adult volunteers put in a total of 36 hours. We received 8 new volunteer applications.

We issued 51 new library cards, and corrected 5 accounts for Grafton patrons after running the “Patrons with wrong home library” report, which we are now running monthly.

We featured adult fiction and non-fiction titles in our June displays, themed Pride and Juneteenth.

Cyndi notarized five documents.

Heidi promoted the Tails and Tales Summer Reading Program with a variety of creative costuming and online book discussions.

Technical Services

541 items were added in June.

Staff Update

Beth attended a webinar on Gift Acceptance policies, and a number of other programs and sessions during the American Library Association’s Annual conference, held online.

Staff attended an Introduction to RFID Gates and staffConnect Gate software on June 16.

Sarah Banister attended Discovery Museum Speaker Series “Putting Books to Work – Addressing Bias in Children’s Literature.

For a complete list of FY21 staff development, please visit https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Te8xRmHe-PITMBT-adC4_6DkeKXSvMipWkr85k26Bf4/edit?usp=sharing

YES Log

Yes, we can replace your library card.
Yes, we can place a hold for you even though you’re a Millbury patron.
Yes, we’re open!
Yes, someone will be available to put your hold out at curbside after 2pm. (patrons appreciated our continued flexibility.

NO Log

No, we haven’t got Southwick’s Zoo passes this year. -HF
No, we aren’t doing passports right now. HF/CZ
No, we don’t have kits for LEGO flowers. They are just a suggested build for at home. We will have LEGO kits this summer. AC

Patron Comments

6/29 “What’s up with the part time reference person posting I saw? I hope you aren’t leaving–I think you are an asset to the library.” -HF
6/29 “Thank you so much for putting that bag of books together for me. It was a lifesaver while I recovered from my surgery. And some of the books you included introduced me to authors I hadn’t read before. Now I am reading more of their books. I really appreciate it.” HF
6/26 “We spent so much money on books while you were closed (not that it isn’t a good thing to spend money on) but we’re glad you are back open.” -HF
6/26 “I must have spent $400 while you are closed. Now what do I do with all the paperbacks?” -HF
6/26 “I’m just so glad to be back at the library!” -HF
6/23 “I just want to say first, thank you for all you’ve done to help us” (during the pandemic). -HF
6/24 “You’re a rock star!” (for helping with a circulation issue). -CZ
6/21 “Are you a dinosaur? You’ve brightened my day already.” -HF
6/17 “You guys are the best. I don’t even live in town and I come here because you are the friendliest librarians.” -HF
6/15 “Library has been great during the pandemic with reserves and activity bags for kids. Much appreciated!”
6/11 “Sarah thank you so so much for continuing with storytime during such a strange year of school. I appreciate your flexibility through it all! Have an awesome summer! Let’s plan to schedule our monthly visits again for next year!”
6/8 Patron teared up a bit when looking for books with her son. “We’re so happy you’re back. It’s been such a terrible year. We’re so excited for the new place.”
6/1 “We’re so happy you’re back!”
6/1 “This (visiting the library) is a great way to socialize them. My daughter is 2 ½, she’s not used to the outside world at all. She’s never been to storytime. We can’t wait until it starts up again at the new library.”

Respectfully submitted,

Beth Gallaway

This press release was produced by Grafton Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.