Library Managers Report May 2025
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Library Board Community Services Date: 5/20/2025 To: Library Board From: Courtney Allen, Management Analyst Subject: Library Managers Report _________________________________________________________________________________ Overview Community Bookshelf at TRC Expansion As part of the expansion at the Tumbleweed Recreation Center (TRC), a new Community Bookshelf has been established within the reading nook space. This inviting feature aims to promote literacy and engagement by offering free, accessible reading materials to all visitors. Bookmobile Progress The much-anticipated Bookmobile is nearing completion. While we are still awaiting a confirmed delivery date, we are excited about the possibilities this mobile resource will bring in expanding our reach and services throughout the community. Arizona State Library Funding Outlook The impact of recent federal cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on the Arizona State Library remains uncertain. However, we are relieved to report that the staff layoffs previously slated for May have been postponed. We continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep the Board informed as new information becomes available. Gratitude to the Friends of Chandler Library A heartfelt thank you to the Friends of Chandler Library for their ongoing support. Their generosity and advocacy are vital to our continued success and ability to serve the community effectively. Heat Relief Services Chandler Libraries are four of eight locations that will be providing heat relief services. The City of Chandler opened a respite center and eight cooling locations that began May 1, offering residents a safe place to recover and cool down from the extreme heat. This effort is in partnership with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health and Maricopa Association of Governments’ Heat Relief Network. The eight cooling centers will offer water, snacks and a reprieve from the heat. The library cooling stations will operate during regular business hours. For additional information about heat relief services including locations throughout the region, heat safety tips, or to make a donation of water and other supplies, visit chandleraz.gov/HeatRelief. This news release also is available online: https://www.chandleraz.gov/news- center/chandlers-heat-relief-services-begin-may-1. Thank you for your continued support and commitment to our mission. Branch Updates Basha Branch Things are great at Basha!! We welcomed three jazz performances in April. Two of the performances were a joint effort with Chandlers Cultural Development team, showcasing young jazz artists in the Chandler area. The other was the PHXJazz group with an all-aged Pop Meets Jazz show. They were a hit! Read to Succeed is coming to an end here at Basha. We’re looking at pivoting towards a Reading Buddies program next year. More details to come. Our STEAM Club is starting to gain traction. A huge shoutout to our new youth library specialist Shiragi who also led Ready Set Kindergarten and did a phenomenal job. We also wrapped up a great TAG season here at Basha. Library specialist Jen Hubbell held an end-of-the-year party for the teens. None of the teens wanted to leave with all the fun they were having. Jen also streamlined the process for summer volunteering with all new communication efforts to students and parents. We received word from the school that they are going to be looking for solutions to alleviate the parking issues we’ve been seeing over the past year. This past week Amandeep and Bibianna visited a Chandler elementary school and spoke with all 2nd and 3rd grade students about the Summer Reading Challenge. The kids were pumped, and everyone went home with SRC info bookmarks. We’re looking forward to a jam-packed summer of programs, reading and fun! We've reapplied for the Writers in Residence grant. Because of the recent IMLS funding cuts, we're not sure yet if the grant will be available this year. If approved they will have residency from July- Sept and February- April. We’re partnering with a Basha student for a summer series where he’ll offer hands-on help with tech-related topics like computers, the internet, AI, and cybersecurity. During the Summer Reading Challenge, we’re partnering with The Walter Hive Collective, a nonprofit arts organization that focuses on promoting healing, resilience, and creativity through the arts. Downtown Branch Kalea Hungerford has been hired as our new full-time Circulation Library Assistant. Kalea has been an intern since January through a partnership with CGCC. Chris Koeth, downtown part-time Library Specialist, is retiring after 30 years. Chris shared her passion and creativity with the community, launching well-loved programs like Craft After Dark, Adult Coloring, and a Book Group for city staff. She will be missed! Our children’s programs at the Downtown Library continue to be popular. Parents & kids love our bilingual storytime. The Downtown Library will offer free lunches for children 18 and under. The lunch program runs Monday through Thursday from June 2 to 30. Hamilton Branch Memory Café- Jan Sandwich performed A Jazz Duo with 36 seniors in attendance. We will be doing outreach in the Chandler schools to promote Summer Reading Challenge. We have loads of fun programs this summer to Color Your World. Our renovation project is moving along. Construction should run July-October. Two of our teens provided their spectacular art for the 50th Anniversary Event of the Fall of Saigon at the City Hall Atrium on April 26. Lorelei Huang provided digital art that was printed as bookmarks that were shared with everyone at the event. And Sara Zhang used acrylic paint to create an amazing piece of art that touched on some of the historical events of the Fall of Saigon, pctured below. Thuan Nguyen, our amazing teen librarian, coordinated the teens’ involvement in the project. Sunset Branch Sunset Library presented a five-week Healthy Eating Challenge for adults in March. We had an average of 18 people in each session with an overall attendance of 30 people. We received very positive feedback; with many attendees requesting we offer the program again. We presented a six-week Ready, Set, Kindergarten! program in March and April to 15 four- and five-year-olds and their grown-ups. Our regular children’s programming wrapped up in April with very high attendance all around. We will resume those programs in June. We hosted two great jazz performances for April’s Jazz Appreciation Month. One in the library, and one in the park. In May we are offering multiple Arts and Crafts programs for all ages as we get ready for the Summer Reading “Color Our World” Challenge. Summer Reading kick-off on June 2 will be a two-hour Magic & Balloons Community Fair. Training is in progress for dozens of Teen Volunteers to join library staff to facilitate the Summer Reading challenge and programs throughout the summer. July will mark the launch of a new StoryWalk for Schools initiative where teachers will be able to check out a StoryWalk to display at their school for three weeks. Outreach Library staff attended 46 individual outreach events in March, April, and May and interacted with nearly 4,000 residents. Staff visited 24 schools to promote the Summer Reading Challenge. Outreach will host a booth at the Tumbleweed Recreation Center's Grand Re-Opening on May 17, offering library card sign-up and promoting the upcoming book lockers. Programming Chandler Library's 2nd Annual Local Author Fair on March 1st and 2nd featured 28 authors and had approximately 140 people attend the book display tables, activities, and speaker sessions. AARP and VITA Tax Help hosted 94 sessions total, with nearly 2,000 people receiving free tax assistance preparation. In-n-Out Burger’s Spring Reading program encouraged youth ages 4 to 12 to read over March and April! Nearly 2,000 children participated in the reading program, with over 12,500 books/ 315,000 minutes read! Jazz on the Move performances included eight live music performances around the system in April. Over 350 people enjoined live jazz! Chandler Library ran four Water-Wise Workshops this spring in partnership with Water Conservation, covering heat resilience and landscaping design topics. Always a popular series, we had an attendance average of 40 people per workshop. May will include a series of Tiny Art Drop-In sessions throughout the system, at which participants will create mini canvas masterpieces and then submit for the June 7 Tiny Art Show to kick off Summer Reading Challenge. Summer Reading Challenge starts June 1. Online pre-registration opened May 1. The theme is “Color Our World”! Staff and volunteers are planning art-themed decorations and programs all summer! Each branch holds a big kick-off event the first week of June, capped by the Color Our World Tiny Art Show on June 7. Our goal this year is to register 12,000 individuals (last year we registered almost 13,000). We want to see at least 50 percent of those who register hit those 1000 points! Participants earn prizes along the way, by age level, at 500, 750 and 1000 minutes read. You will see many of the same point prizes as last year, but also some new prizes. In addition, the adults will be entered into weekly drawings. We have new finisher drawing prizes for all ages, with art and recreational themes, thanks to our community business partners. The challenge wraps up on August 1. Visiting our Summer Reading Challenge page will provide all the information you’ll want to know about this year’s program. Reading Buddies is happening at Hamilton and Downtown Libraries. Teens pair with kids ages 5-9 to mentor and share the love of reading. Our hope is to continue through summer and maybe at all branches. Read to Succeed had their final celebration on May 8. See pictures below. There were nine students at Basha Library and 24 at Downtown Library. We utilized 10 volunteers to work with the kids two times a week October – May and saw some great improvements in the kids' reading scores. Three therapy dogs from Gabriel's Angels came in April to support the kids’ reading to the dogs. Collections and Statistics Active Cardholders February 1, 2025 72,238 March 1, 2025 72,363 April 1, 2025 72,683 May 1, 2025 72,957 Physical Item Checkouts January 2025 101,541 February 2025 92,324 March 2025 117,764 April 2025 100,707 CloudLibrary Checkouts January 2025 21,540 February 2025 19,643 March 2025 22,831 April 2025 16,760 MCLD MAX Usage January 2025 221 Borrowed, 204 Loaned | 1.08 L/B February 2025 174 Borrowed, 167 Loaned | 1.04 L/B March 2025 235 Borrowed, 215 Loaned | 1.09 L/B April 2025 191 Borrowed, 188 Loaned | 1.02 L/B IT The first CPL holds locker has been ordered from Lyngsoe Systems and will be installed at Tumbleweed Recreation Center this summer.