2009 Annual Report.pdf - Town of Milton

REPORT OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen: June 30, 2009
I have the honor of presenting the 136th Annual Report of the Milton Public
Library for the year ending June 30th, 2009.
April 2009 marked on of the most significant milestones in Milton Public
Library history, with the opening of the new Main Library. The month opened
with an evening celebration with over 1000 people viewing the new library,
continued on April 2nd with our public opening, and culminated with the dedication
ceremonies on Sunday April 5th.
The opening celebrations were made possible by an immense volunteer effort
on the part of the Library Trustees, the Friends of the Milton Public Library,
and the Milton Library Foundation. Their work made for a very
memorable and entertaining opening for all.
I would also like to commend the library staff on how they handled the
transition to the new building. Not only were there new offices, space and collection
layouts, but new computer systems, self-checks, automated returns, new
public computer sign-up, alarm systems, etc to deal with. They took this deluge
of changes in stride and made the transition much smoother than could reasonably
be expected.
Usage of the new library in April, May and June broke all previous records
for those months. Milton became the second public library in Massachusetts to
install an automated checkin and sorting system. The staff completed a project
of tagging all materials with a radio frequency ID system, another major accomplishment
of the year. The tags are encoded with the books barcode, and a
security flag which tells whether a book is properly checked out. In the presence
of a reader plate, the tag is activated and sends the barcode number to the
reader. The sorting unit has a built-in tag reader, and checks the materials in as
your return them into the exterior book return slot. Milton is the third library in
the Old Colony Library Network to tag its collections. Books borrowed from
Plymouth and Cohasset will also check in automatically when returned through
our book slots. The RFID tags are also used when checking out materials at the
new self-check stations in our lobby. Early numbers showed that 30% of materials
checked out of the library were signed out at the self-check stations.
The Milton Historical Society has also moved their collections out of temporary
quarters and is back operating out of the Milton Room. Many of their
archive materials are now available in an office with a table near the Milton
Room, instead of being in a musty closet in the library basement.
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