Library usage statistics for June:
    210 people attended 35 meetings*
    2 ICN meetings were held
    181 people used our study rooms
    2,450 people used the Computer lab**
    365 new borrowers were added
    1,586 items were added to the library collection
    242 items were removed from the library collection
    Circulation statistics – 76,155 (down 2,975 from June 2007)***
   
    *We canceled several meetings to save space for the Cedar Rapids Public Library to use.
     **We weren’t able to use the PC Reservation software to check people into the internet for
         several days so this is number is much lower than actual use of the computer lab.
    ***We were on the stand alone system to check materials out to people for several days
         I believe that circ was actually much higher than what these statistics show.   
       
Budget – We are waiting for the final numbers for last year’s expenditures and are in the process of setting up the spreadsheet for this fiscal year.

The Cedar Rapids Public Library has been closed since June 12th because of the flooding in downtown Cedar Rapids.  The servers that run the check-out system and online catalog are housed in the downtown library so they were down as of June 12th.  Between June 13th and June 17th we had to check materials out using a ‘stand alone’ computer system.  Library users had to have their library card in hand to check items out.  Cedar Rapids Public Library staff were able to remove the check out computer from the downtown library and install it here at Marion.  We were able to use the regular check out system again on June 18th.  The online catalog is still down and probably won’t be back up until August.  The automated system to notify users of materials they have on hold is not working so we have to manually call everyone to notify them that they have an item to pick up.  We are not charging any fines for overdue materials.  We feel so bad about the devastating loss of the materials and resources at the Cedar Rapids library and are trying to help them out however we can.  For several days we were checking in materials from all the metro libraries here at Marion.  We were also calling holds for all of the libraries.  We have had two people from the Cedar Rapids public library working here to help keep up with all of this.  We are noticing that we are a lot busier.  Circulation is up.  Internet computers are in high demand.  We changed to one 30 minute session per day per user to try to accommodate the increased use.  We are at least twice as busy at the Information Desk.  Without the online catalog, people need more help while they are in the library.  Also, many people call in for assistance who normally use the online catalog to find their own materials.  Our staff here continue to do a wonderful job handling all this increased use. 

Jack Zumwalt and Susan Kling attended the Robins City Council meeting on June 2nd.  The library contract was discussed at this meeting.  Jack explained the rationale for the funding increase and that the amount of the contract would most likely continue to increase after the end of this three-year contract period.

Food For Thought – The discussion for June focused on Fantasy and Fairy Tales.  In July the topic will be ‘Reader’s Choice from Past Topics’.  Food for Thought meets at noon on the 4th Tuesday of each month.

Ben Leu and Dave Faribault are new Friends board members.  The officers for 2008-2009 are:
Mike Schmidt, President; Paula Pearson, Vice President; Pat Kress, Secretary; and Joleen Huguenin, Treasurer.  The annual meeting is scheduled for July 29th at 6:45 p.m. here at the library.

The Foundation golf outing was a huge success. Proceeds from the past 11 years total over $84,000.  The preliminary total of proceeds for this year is $11,081!  Many thanks to Larry Twachtmann, Tim Mooney, Leigh Enneking, Russ Miller, Nancy Miller and Cindy Bender for their help in planning this event.

The Out Loud Author Series John Sandford program originally scheduled for June 19th at Theatre Cedar Rapids was cancelled because of the flood.  This program has been rescheduled to July 22nd at 7 p.m. at Washington High School.  Monetary donations will be accepted for the Cedar Rapids Public Library.

We celebrated the following staff anniversary in June:
    11 years - Permanent part-time library page Roger Herrick (6/10/97)   
   
We did not have a staff meeting in June.