Annual report of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire

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LIBRARY REPORT
The Lane Memorial Library had an excellent year of service to the public
in 1 99 1 . We circulated 1 3 7,270 items, an increase of 3,1 47 items over 1 990.
We added 4,231 books, cassettes, compact discs and videos to our
collection and withdrew 4,752 old and damaged items to make room for
our new acquisitions. We borrowed 199 items on interlibrary loan and
loaned 1,350 items. We registered 906 new borrowers. As of January 8,
1992 we have 3,640 registered borrowers. We estimated that 98,176
people visited the library and that we received 1 1,908 reference questions.
Our town appropriation for 1 991 was $320,304.00. In April we accommodated
a $1 4,493 budget freeze by eliminating 1 weekly service hours
for the public. We are now open 50 hours per week.
We earned $21,005.01 in overdue fines, meeting room rentals, videocassette
rentals, computer use, book sales, fund raisers and donations. We
expended $20,337.24 of this money, mostly on books, audio books,
periodical subscriptions and videocassettes.
The Trustees' accounts earned $716.96 in interest. They expended
$9,155.62 on the Bibliofile automated cataloging system and the borrowers'
re-registration project. The balance in the accounts is $70,568.99.
Joanne Straight was promoted to the position of Assistant Children's
Librarian in September, following Pamela Jautaikis's resignation. 97 youngsters
completed the "Some Enchanted Reading" program in the summer
and read a total of 4,2 1 3 books. 3,826 people attended 1 68 programs. We
participated in the "Gift of Reading" program for the second consecutive
year and 59 Hampton children each received a new hardcover book and
an introduction to the library's resources, services and programs.
The Friends of the Library again purchased tickets to the Science
Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and to the Children's
Museum in Portsmouth.
488 people attended 1 3 adult programs. On April 2nd we celebrated the
library's 1
1 0th anniversary and in June we officially dedicated the Dorothy
M. Little Meeting Room. We received a grant from the New Hampshire
Humanities Council for a women's history program, "It Had To Be Done,
So I
Did It."
In September we began to re-register all of our patrons so they can
borrow items anonymously. We implemented this procedure to comply
with New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated Title 16, Chapter 201-
D:1 1
, which stipulates that library circulation records must be confidential.
In November we began cataloging books with the Bibliofile automated
cataloging system which has expedited our technical processing. The Trustees
are still considering how and when we will automate our circulation system.
We will endeavor to meet Hampton residents' information needs in
1992. I my appreciation to the staff, Trustees, volunteers, Friends,
Hampton Garden Club and library patrons for their support.
Respectfully submitted,
Bradley A. Green, Director
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