INTRODUCTION TO DEPARTMENT

The library system has four buildings, a main library and three branch libraries that are connected by a computer network.  The staff has 51 full-time employees and approximately 52 part-time employees who are equal to 21.85 full-time equivalents (FTEs).

The library system is governed by a nine-member commission appointed by the Mayor to serve a term of three years.  One third of the commission is subject to appointment each year. 

The library’s operating budget is approximately $4.2 million.  The library’s largest service is lending materials for home use.  This year the library lent over a million pieces of material.  The second largest service is answering the public’s questions whether by telephone or in person.  Each year we process over 100,000 questions.  Our third largest service is programming.  We had a total of 572 programs with a total attendance of 17,256.  We also provide an outreach service to the homebound and deposit collections at seven senior citizen housing units.  This year we have delivered over 7,135 materials to the seniors and the homebound.

The Library Commission’s role is to deal with long-range planning, budgeting, policy and general oversight.  During the past year the Library Commission has:

Highlights of the Year

This year the library system has made progress in a number of areas that make the library more useful to the community.  The new three-year technology plan is keeping our improvements to the computer system on track.  The plan deals with all aspects of the library hardware and software.  Importantly, this year the library has added more computers for the staff and public to use.  We have planned for the replacement of the Dynix computer server by obtaining budget approval in the 2002-2003 budget.  In this past year, the library has upgraded the web site not only in the amount of information offered but also in making the format and design friendlier to the public. 

This year the Staff Net Committee worked on ways to convert our staff schedules from paper to electronic form on our internal web site.  All schedules appear on Staff Net and staff are keeping them current.  Electronic schedules reduce our use of paper and are more convenient.  All committee members of Staff Net are working on information pages that will aid other staff in working more effectively.  A great deal of experimentation is being done and successful work is being copied by the other agencies.  A new home page, index to manuals, a place for meeting minutes, and many other activities are leading the library to a more electronic environment. 

The Marketing Committee has had a 95% completion on the large number of undertakings in the prior Marketing Plan.  During this year, the Marketing Committee has developed a new three-year plan.  Rather than focusing broadly on facilities, services, collections, and staff training in customer service, the new Marketing Plan is based on creating a dialogue with over 200 community organizations.  The Plan started with building a packet of handouts regarding library services.  The second step was the creation of a strategy of reaching groups.   At the same time, the Committee put together a power-point presentation of the library services using many graphics to provide interest.  At this point, the program has been tested with 25 groups.   All the library agencies are involved in this long-term effort and we are developing a database to track our involvement with each community group.  We expect this marketing plan to keep us abreast of changing community interests so that we can respond well with appropriate allocation of our staff time and services to the public.    

In terms of the library facilities we have had a good year.  The Esper expansion is now completed and we are finishing the loose ends that always accompany a large project.  We have installed new lighting in Henry Ford Centennial Library and renovated the fountain with the gift from the Moon family.  Headsets for the hearing impaired have been purchased for the Henry Ford Centennial Library Auditorium and we are changing seating to accommodate wheel chairs.   The new landscaping additions at Snow Branch have brought increased attractiveness of the library exterior and complemented the new signage. 

The library continues to have the good fortune of a vital Friends group that is attracting new members and providing the library with funds for improvement.   Over the years, we have used the funds to provide new soft furniture for adults and children, to pay for staff training, and to provide for consulting for planned future improvements to our operation and facilities.  In addition, the library has had an increasing number of volunteers who work in our various agencies doing work from archive maintenance, to shelving, to processing new materials for public use.                

Our newsletters, published twice a year, are now complemented with the new bi-monthly Teen Email newsletter to keep the teens updated on materials of interest to them.  We also have been experimenting with an email reference service for the public. 

Our collections of materials continue to be updated and the collections are being used both in house and for checkout at ever increasing frequency.  In part, the collections are used more due to the citizens being able to place ‘holds” with notification going to the citizen when the checked out material is returned by another borrower.  This year we integrated the nonfiction materials in two agencies.  This enables the public to see all the nonfiction we have on a given topic. 

All of the staff has contributed to a broad range of initiatives to keep the library a vital community service.  Staff continue to develop new needed skills, to provide useful suggestions of new ways to work, and to integrate our services for the benefit of the public.  The staff are the key to our success.