Summer - Ramapo Catskill Library System

Trustee FYI
Ramapo Catskill Library System
Summer
Serving Public Libraries in Orange, Rockland, Sullivan and southern Ulster Counties since 1959
What’s
Inside
2 Mark Your
Calendar
2 2016 PageA-Day Book
Lover’s
Calendar
2 System
Orientation
3 Candidates for
RCLS Trustee
4 The Power of
Trustees to
make a
Difference:
ADVOCACY
5 2014 RCLS
Statistics
Available
6 RCLS Trustees
on the Road
this Summer
2015
“Analytics” - The New Buzzword
Jerry Kuntz, RCLS Electronic Resources Consultant
For the past three years, the term “analytics” has popped up in library literature
with increased frequency, to the point where it can now be called a buzzword—a hot
topic. It is a fancy label for a simple concept: “Analytics is the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data. Especially valuable in areas rich with recorded information, analytics relies on the simultaneous application of statistics, computer
programming and operations research to quantify performance. Analytics often favors
data visualization to communicate insight.”
In practical terms, analytics is composed of data tracking, reporting, and graphing
of the resulting data. None of these are new to library management, having existed
before automation. What has changed is the development of more refined reporting
and graphing capabilities, which can incorporate data from more than one computer
system.
The term “analytics” has been popularized in recent years by the service Google
Analytics, which is an enhanced form of web server log analysis. Google Analytics
collects more information than the standard web traffic reports, and has graphing capabilities to help highlight trends. Such services existed before Google Analytics, but
Google has been able to leverage their huge Internet presence to create this very successful service. And it goes without saying that the Google corporation is just as interested (for their own
reasons) in analyzing businesses and
services as managers of those are.
In the library
world,
Harvard
University Library
led the way in
adopted analytics BCA Chart depicting Sunshine Hall Free Library’s (Eldred) patrons
with their open broken down three different ways: by Patron Type, by Age, and by
source Analytics their Library Standing Status.
Toolkit in 2011.
While offering impressive graphing capabilities, the Harvard software would involve
quite a bit of work for other institutions to adopt, since it would involve exporting and
configuring reports from a library’s disparate computer systems.
In the past year, library vendors have entered the fray with their own Analytics
products: Springshare LibAnalytics, Cengage’s Analytics on Demand, and SirsiDynix’s new BLUEcloud Analytics. Each of these products is designed to integrate
Continued on page 4
1
Trustee FYI
Mark Your Calendar
 Monday, September 7
Labor Day
RCLS CLOSED
 Friday, September 18
RCLS Legislative Breakfast and
Annual Meeting
Mt. Fuji Restaurant, Hillburn, NY
9:30 a.m.
 Monday, October 12
Columbus Day
RCLS CLOSED
 Wednesday, October 14
The Power of Trustees to Make a
Difference: ADVOCACY
RCLS 5:00 p.m.
 Monday, October 19
RCLS Board Meeting
RCLS 6:30 p.m.
 Wednesday, November 11
Veterans Day
RCLS CLOSED
 Monday, November 16
RCLS Board Meeting
RCLS 6:30 p.m.
 Thursday, November 26 and
Friday, November 27
Thanksgiving Holiday
RCLS CLOSED
 Monday, December 21
RCLS Board Meeting
RCLS 6:30 p.m.
 Thursday, December 24 and
Friday, December 25
Christmas Holiday
RCLS CLOSED
 Friday, January 1
New Year’s Day
RCLS CLOSED
2
2016 Page-A-Day Book Lover’s
Calendar
The Advocacy and Fundraising Committee of the RCLS
Board of Trustees is presenting an opportunity to purchase the
2016 Page-A-Day Book Lover’s Calendar for use in homes
and offices or as gifts for friends and
loved ones. The calendar sales will
benefit the RCLS Vehicle Reserve
Fund
A bibliophile’s dream come true every da y brings a spot -on
recommendation. Readers who love
Dan Brown are instructed to check
out The English Girl by Daniel Silva.
Cormac McCarthy devotees are
nudged toward William Gay’s debut novel, The Long Home.
And sci-fi lovers learn they must pick up Rick Yancey’s The
5th Wave. Plus famous last lines,
literary quizzes, and surprising facts
about our favorite authors are
included.
Priced at $10.00 each, a savings
of $3.99 over the retail price, the calendars are available for purchase
from RCLS. Download an order
form f r o m t h e R C L S w e b s i t e
a t http://www.rcls.org/sites/default/files/BookLoversCalendarA20150618_0.pdf a n d i n d i c a t e t o w h i c h l i b r a r y t h e
c a l e n d a r s s h o u l d b e d e l i v e r e d . Calendars will also be
for sale at the Legislative Breakfast and Annual Meeting on
Friday, September 18.
Don’t delay – this special offer to purchase these calendars
is available for a limited time only.
System Orientation
Learn more about RCLS and what it does for your library
by attending System Orientation on Wednesday, October 7
from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. System Orientation introduces member
library Trustees, staff, Friends and others to RCLS staff
and familiarizes them with available services. Register
today by using the RCLS online calendar at http://
rcls.evanced.info/signup/EventCalendar.aspx
and clicking on the event.
Trustee FYI
Candidates for RCLS Trustee
Three seats on the RCLS Board of Trustees need to be filled at the Legislative
Breakfast and Annual Meeting on Friday, September 18 at the Mt. Fuji Restaurant in Hillburn, NY  two from Orange County and one from Rockland County.
No nominations were received by the Wednesday, August 19 deadline.
However, nominations may be made from the floor of the Annual
Meeting by a Trustee of one library and seconded by a Trustee of a
second library in the counties having the vacancies. The nominees
need to indicate orally at the Annual Meeting or in writing of their
willingness to serve if elected.
Anyone, other than a salaried employee of the System or any
RCLS member libraries, is eligible for election or appointment as a
voting member of the System Board of Trustees. Potential trustees
must reside in the county, which such trustee represents.
A term on the RCLS Board is five (5) years. A Trustee may serve
any number of terms as long as not more than two (2) are consecutive. One Orange County seat is to fill an unexpired term that ends December 31,
2017. The candidate filling this seat will not be eligible for a consecutive term.
The RCLS Board generally meets at System Headquarters in Middletown at
6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month. For January and February it meets
on the third Tuesday due to the Monday holidays. Attendance at meetings is a
prerequisite for continued service as a Trustee.
The RCLS Board is entrusted with the governance of the System. It adopts
Bylaws, a Plan of Service, and amends them as necessary, establishes such policies as will insure the achievement of the System’s objectives, employs an Executive Director, supervises the expenditure of the System’s funds, discharges all
such responsibilities as provided for in the Bylaws, and exercises such other responsibilities as may be appropriate.
Anyone who anticipates being nominated from the floor and wishes to provide a biography, he/she may send it to Ruth Daubenspeck at RCLS by Friday,
September 11 for copies to be made and distributed at the Annual Meeting.
Last Call for Legislative Breakfast and Annual Meeting
Check-in for the 28th Legislative Breakfast and 56th Annual Meeting will
begin at 9:00 a.m. with the continental breakfast ready by 9:30 a.m. While waiting to be served, advocate with your State
and county legislators about current issues
facing libraries. The business meeting will
consist of a presentation of the 2016 RCLS
Budget, election of three RCLS Trustees,
presentation of three awards and drawing the
winner of the “I Love to Read” quilt and
books.
Use the RCLS online calendar at http://
rcls.evanced.info/signup/EventCalendar.aspx
to register today. Deadline for reservations is Friday, September 11. For information, contact Ruth Daubenspeck at RCLS (ext. 222 or [email protected]).
You won’t want to miss this occasion!
“I Love to Read” Quilt to
be raffled at event
3
Trustee FYI
The Power of Trustees to Make a Difference: ADVOCACY
Wednesday, October 14 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Trustees have one of the strongest voices among library advocates. Through
advocacy every trustee has the power to change laws, increase library funding,
and educate others about the impact libraries make in their communities.
Terry L Kirchner, Executive Director of the Westchester Library System will
share tips on how to be an effective advocate. Learn what changes have been
made already thanks to the power of trustees, how we can continue making advocacy efforts effective for the future of our libraries and why NYLA Library
Advocacy Day is important.
Buffet Dinner is served at 5:00 p.m.
Our Speaker: Terry L Kirchner, Executive Director, Westchester Library
System states:
“I have a deep passion for lifelong learning, which is one of the aspects that I
love best about librarianship. Throughout my life library resources and library staff have helped me to discover and explore new options for personal and professional growth. Most of my educational and professional
activities have focused on helping individuals to successfully function within
their ever changing environments.
Over the years I have earned several degrees: MLS, MBA in Industrial/
Organizational Psychology and a PhD in Human & Organizational Systems. I
am currently getting certified to be an executive coach, another avenue for me to
help others discover and develop their strengths.”
“Analytics” - The New Buzzword
Continued from page 1
disparate data sources, such as:
 E-Journals & Database Usage
 Gate Counts
 Website traffic
 Circulation System Statistics
 Interlibrary Loan Activity
 Library Expenditures & Revenues
 NCES Library Statistics
 Reference Statistics
 Accounting System Reports
At RCLS, the data sources that most interest our member libraries are circulation, collection, and inter-library loan statistics, so it made sense for us to be
most interested in the analytics service that is based upon this data,
SirsiDynix’s BLUEcloud Analytics. BLUEcloud Analytics is an enhanced version of a long-time SirsiDynix report generator, WebReporter. However, where
BLUEcloud Analytics differs is that it is configured to pull out more discrete
elements of the Symphony system database files; and makes visualization
(graphing) of report data easier to create.
BLUEcloud Analytics was purchased with ANSER funds in the spring of
2015. It will be introduced for member library use in late summer, 2015.
4
Trustee FYI
2014 RCLS Statistics Available
The 2014 RCLS Statistics were compiled from the information provided in
the mandatory State Annual Reports completed by the member libraries. The
data in this statistical report is a useful resource for preparing budget submissions, annual reports for your communities or as an aid in planning services.
The 2014 RCLS Statistics are available on the RCLS Web site in PDF format and as an Excel file (http://www.rcls.org/?q=node/35). Copies can be printed using the PDF format at http://www.rcls.org/stats/RCLS2014Statistics.pdf.
The Excel file format allows one to sort data by county (county codes have
been added) and create specific reports that meet your needs. If you do not have
Excel, Quattro Pro and Lotus 123 can be used to access the Excel file.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (http://get.adobe.com/reader/) to view
and print the PDF version of the file.
In 2014, the Ramapo Catskill Library
System saw circulation drop for the fourth
consecutive year. Circulation decreased
by 454,136 items from 2013. Only 12
member libraries saw an increase during
2014. Four of the 12 had also seen an increase in 2013. A comparison of circulation over the last five years can be found
on page 22 of the document. Our member
libraries saw a significant increase in program attendance (8,179) over the 2013
amount of 325,489. Although for the last
three years library visits have dropped
overall, during 2014 library visits increased considerably (40,706). Five-Year
Library Visits can be viewed on page 23.
Local financial support for the libraries was over $57 million in 2014. This
represents a 3.76% increase over the previous year. The total holdings of our
member libraries were nearly 9.5 million
items and over 5.3 million items were
borrowed.
The method used to calculate averages
and mediums is based only on the data
from libraries which report for these
items. There are several categories in
which not all libraries report data; for example (2.8) Uncataloged Books or (8.7)
Branch Hours. For item (2.8) Uncata- Five year circulation comparison
loged Books, only 21 libraries circulate
uncataloged books and for item (8.7) Branch Hours, just four libraries have one
or more branches. The averages and mediums for these two items are based on
the number of libraries reporting, not all libraries.
5
Trustee FYI
RCLS Trustees on the Road this Summer
Grace Riario, Assistant Director and Outreach Coordinator
RCLS Board Member Retreat
This summer the RCLS Board of Trustees went on the road to Rockland County and southern Orange
County. On Monday, July 20 the RCLS trustees visited the Valley Cottage Free Library (www.vclib.org) in
Valley Cottage, NY. Library Director Amelia Kalin, Board President Herbert Lerner, and Vice President Arlette Mooney welcomed the group and gave a tour of
the library. As the RCLS trustees walked through this
beautiful building, with natural lighting provided by
an abundance of glass windows, Herbert Lerner provided a historic narrative of how a small village library has become an important part of the community.
On the prior Saturday, July 18, the library held the
first Comic Con event in Rockland County, called
“ValCon.” Nearly 300 attended the event including
Darth Vader and his stormtroopers. Most of the other
Rockland County communities were represented: Bardonia, Chestnut Ridge, Congers, Haverstraw,
Nanuet, New City, Nyack, Orangeburg, Pomona, Sloatsburg, Spring Valley, Suffern, Tappan,
Valley Cottage, and West Nyack. Some visiAt Valley Cottage
tors even traveled from afar: Cortlandt Manor,
Free Library
Crawford (NJ), Eldred, Fishkill, Harris, Lincroft (NJ), New Rochelle, and Tarrytown.
Read about the event in the Rockland County
T i m e s
a r t i c l e :
h t t p : / /
www.rocklandtimes.com/2015/07/23/universes
-collide-at-rocklands-first-ever-comic-convention/.
The RCLS Board Summer Retreat road trip continued
on
to
the
Tuxedo
Park
Library
(www.tuxedoparklibrary.org), in Tuxedo Park, NY. Library Director Diane Loomis gave the group a tour of this
historical, thriving library. The library maintains an extensive historical collection of 400 volumes of books, and
over 8,000 archival materials, including documents, slides
and photographs of the history of the Town of Tuxedo. As the tour continued,
one could not help but stop
to admire the art on the library walls and the number
Touring the Tuxedo Park Library
of people using their different devices as they take
advantage of the wireless
Internet. Rest assured that
in 1902 when the library opened, the town would never have imagined that its library would be on the cutting
edge of technology, while maintaining its historical charm.
6
Trustee FYI
RCLS Trustees Visit Our Legislators
The RCLS trustees continued to generously donate their time this summer by advocating for member libraries during a number of legislative visits with local state representatives:
 Tuesday, August 4 - Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther at her local office in Middletown
 Tuesday, August 4 - Assemblyman James Skoufis at his local office in Chester
 Wednesday, August 5 – Senator John Bonacic at his local office in Middletown
 Thursday, August 6 - Senator David Carlucci at the Pearl River Library
 Monday, August 10 - Assemblyman Karl Brabenec at the Albert Wisner Public Library
 Tuesday, August 11 - Senator Bill Larkin at his local office in New Windsor
 Wednesday, August 12 - Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski at his local office in New City
Trustees are the strongest voices among library advocates. During their visits, the RCLS trustees made the
case for the importance of increasing library funding and educated our legislators on the impact that libraries
make in their communities.
Thanks go to RCLS Board members Carla Randazzo Amthor, Martha Anderson, Carl Berkowitz, Norman
Gallagher, Roslyn Hurwitz, Bernard Marone, Helen Rados, Lynn Skolnick, Patricia Soto and David Zuckerberg for generously donating their time and speaking out on libraries’ behalf.
With Senator David Carlucci at the Pearl
River Public Library
At Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther’s office
At Assemblyman James Skoufis’ office
At Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski’s
office
7
Trustee FYI
Ramapo Catskill Library System
619 Route 17M
Middletown, NY 10940-4395
845.243.3747 · FAX 845.243.3739
www.rcls.org
RCLS Board of Trustees
Carla Randazzo Amthor
Martha Anderson
Carl S. Berkowitz
Norman R. Gallagher
Roslyn Applebaum Hurwitz
Bernard Marone
Helen Rados
Lynn Skolnick
Patricia Soto
David Zuckerberg
Tracy Allen
(non-voting representative of
the RCLS Directors’ Association)
Executive Director
Robert Hubsher
RCLS Mission
We deliver high-quality consolidated and cooperative services to support member libraries in meeting
the needs of their communities.
RCLS Goals
1. Coordinated Services – Offer a clearly defined set of cost effective coordinated or centralized and
consulting services designed to enhance local library service and maximize the return from local funds
expended.
2. Technology – Enhance and maintain existing automation services and assist member libraries in
implementing emerging technologies to improve library service and cooperation.
3. Resource Sharing – Coordinate Central Library and System services to provide a broad range of
services, library materials and online resources to support equity of access.
4. Professional Development and Continuing Education – Provide opportunities to member libraries'
staff, directors and trustees for the training and skills development needed to support excellent library
service.
5. Advocacy – Encourage and support member libraries in their efforts to increase community awareness
about public library programs, services and governance.
6. Communication – Maintain and promote effective means of communications with and among member
libraries to ensure accountability and cooperation.
7. Organizational Environment – Maintain an organizational environment that allows RCLS to be
responsive and accountable to member libraries.
Desktop Publishing  Printing by Ramapo Catskill Library System
8