Librarians Report,

05/02/2015

The library has been working towards meeting all the grant obligations which means
making the necessary purchases according to the grant. I have new library books
and other material coming in and have been busy processing these.
The library computers all have Microsoft Office, an internet filter, photo video and
film editing software on them.
The IMLS Grantors emailed me saying that they have accepted my request for an
extension and then Janet Allen helped push for getting everything corrected so that
the grant would go through. I am hopeful that everything went through on time but
I have not heard from the IMLS to verify that at this point.
There were some questions about my phone bill at the last council meeting and I
did not know much about the bills since they go to the City but I did know that I
apply for grants and other funding every year to help with this cost. I did a little
research and found that we only pay $20./month for our Internet and that the ERate Funding pays 164.82/month and the Owl Grant pays 148.18/month. Our phone
and fax gets a 70% discount and so we only pay roughly 25/month for two lines.
So, if you want to cut some out of the budget then it would be fine. The library only
spends approx. $540 annually. So, get me close to that and it will be good.
I felt like I should give you a broader picture of the library. I think much of the
problems that occur regarding the library are based in ignorance and or
misunderstandings about the library and the roles that we play. Here are some
statistic from last fiscal year:
We checked out $2,847 books last year and that is an increase of approx. 500 books
from the previous year.
We filled 334 requests for Interlibrary loans and the way this is recorded is every
time a patron asks for interlibrary loans the Anchorage library records this as one
request. However, we may have asked for 4-6 items for that one person. So, really
this figure is much higher.
We have checked out 297 audio books
We answered 780 reference questions
We had 37 programs for children and 35 programs for adults

I dont have an exact figure for you but at least once every two weeks we help
someone to apply for a job online, write a resume, and search for work.
We have several people in Nenana who are using the libraries internet to go to
college.
The library is an essential service and people depend on it. We had an annual
attendance last year of 6,656 patrons.
Some of you seem to think that the library is a non-essential. That is like saying
that education is non-essential or human development is non-essential.
A comment was made last meeting that perhaps we should start charging for library
services. I am a firm believer in equal access to knowledge. This is the very
foundation of a free society. If you have a society where only the rich can have
education or only the rich have access to information than what you have is tyranny.
An educated public is the only thing standing in the way of tyranny.
I understand that you want to make cuts, but last month it really looked like the
library was the main target of those cuts.
It also looked like my co-worker was a target of those cuts as well. This upset me
for numerous reasons but one of those reasons is the fact that Sharon only works 10
hours a week and if she no longer works at the library that is 10 hours extra that I
will have to work. I dont get paid for working overtime as I am paid salary, so this
is rather upsetting. I dont want everyone here to think that all the City Council
members are of this mindset, but enough members to be alarming.
The comment was made last council meeting that the library should just shut down
when I am unable to work or when I am on vacation. That would not be acceptable
to me or any of my patrons. Like I say, there are many that are dependent on the
library. I cant imagine myself being able to relax on a vacation when I know what
kind of hardship that I am putting on the community by being gone. I really think
that it is unfair to everyone involved.
I would like to believe that my employer or the City Council and the Mayor
appreciated the hard work and dedication that is given from a reliable employee. It
is sad to see someone so easily dismissed, without any thought of how hurtful this
would be to this employee. It is really hard to find someone like Sharon, who is
reliable, hard-working and honest. I would think that the City would want to hang
on to her as long as possible, because of her value.
It really bothers me that one persons wage is the object of scrutiny. It looks
personal. Why not look at every employees wages rather than having one
employee singled out like that. It is not right or just.
This is all that I have to report at this time,

Darcia Grace
Nenana Librarian