Your Library Connection

What has your Investment Accrued?

Many organizations issue an annual report to their stockholders at the end of the fiscal year.  We've been concentrating so much on the building project this year that I didn't communicate an annual report to you for fiscal year 05-06.  I feel it is important and thought February, being Library Lovers' Month, was a good time to share the report.  An annual report can help individuals see a return on an investment and show a picture of what has happened during the year.

The Independence Public Library provided many services and also began a fundraising campaign for a new library facility in July ‘05- June ‘06.  Here is a snapshot of the year:

• 3% of the library's income was from the state, 3% came from fines and fees, 18% came from Buchanan County residents, and 76% came from the residents of the city of Independence.
• Of the total budget of $150,406, 10% of the library budget expenditures was put towards building operation (heat, AC, electricity, phone), 67% was expended as salaries, 2.5% of the budget was used for non-print library materials (DVDs and audiobooks), 15% was allocated towards print materials, and 5.5% of expenditures went towards technology, supplies, programming, and professional development.
• 44,393 people came through the doors, which averages 145 visits each day.
• The 5,523 cardholders checked out 61,764 materials, with 41% being adult books, 31% being children's books, 19% being video recordings (videos or DVDs), 6% being audio recordings (books on tape or CD), and 3% being periodicals.
• While adult fiction had the most checkouts, video recordings in the collection had the most turnover, averaging over 9 uses per video and DVD during the year.
• Your library loaned 219 items to other libraries and received 623 from other libraries in return.
• Computer usage climbs with 26,221 uses.  There were 9,451 in-house uses of the 7 library computers available to the public, 3,070 uses of the in-house library card catalog, and 13,700 visits to the library website <http://www.indylibrary.org>.
• The library's total number of materials available for check out and reference was 29,508.
• 36 adult programs, like the Around the World in 90 Minutes Travel Program, computer classes, author talks, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and October Sky (Riverside Cinema), Buck the Wolf, and a Mark Dvorak concert attracted 851 people.
• 5 young adult programs including 2 planning meetings for the teen section in the new library, Law and the ER, and A Series of Unfortunate Events and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Riverside Cinema) brought in 490 people.  A teen trivia contest with prizes was also offered during Teen Read Week.
• 88 programs for children, including events like story times, summer reading program events, storytelling festival, a visit from author and musician Bonnie Koloc, preschool visits, a wintery make and take craft time, and Riverside Cinema's Dennis the Menace drew 3,011 participants.  
• The children's summer reading program participants were 382, up 63% from the summer of '05.
• 119 volunteers put in 1,281 hours of work to benefit your library.

• Board members, staff and volunteers on the building committee spent hundreds of hours of their time working with an architect and the community to design a library building appropriate for the city of Independence.
• The volunteer leadership team was gearing up to begin raising money for a new library facility of 14,200 square feet with a total cost of approximately $3 million at the end of the 05-06 fiscal year with the promising results of widespread community support from a campaign feasibility study. 
• The library received the following grants:  State of Iowa Building Consultant Grant $300, Iowa Arts Council Grant $250, Wal-Mart Bonus Grant $1,000.  Planning was done for application to grants for the library building project.          

For not quite $19 per resident, many services, opportunities, and materials have been provided.    If you would like a copy of the full annual report, please contact me at the library, 334-2470 or lblaker@indytel.com.  I’d be happy to get one to you!

Thank you for the incredible support for the new library building project that really started to shine during 05-06!   I can hardly wait to report to you on the current fiscal year (2006-07) with the 478 contributors we have so far to the library capital campaign.  It will be exciting to see the return on your investments in the next several years, both through your tax dollars and through the generous donations we continue to receive for a new facility.  Though this report may not be the best reflection of it, you are much more than a statistic to us!  

 
Other Building Project Articles:
Donation Form
Fundraising Event - SPELLBOUND!
Library Campaign Passes $2.5 Million
Library Campaign Awarded CAT Grant!
How Can I Help the Library Reach Goal?
Answers to Capital Campaign Questions
Frequently Asked Questions and Thoughts about the New Library
Building Plans Detailed
Elevations and Floor Plan
Campaign Chair Selected
Site and Architect
Children's Area
Top 10 Reasons a New Public Library is Needed
Young Adult Area
 

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