Adult Services at Guilderland Public Library

Increased patron visits and circulation, more computer-use sessions than ever before, Storytime attendance in record numbers, and reference staff always busy answering patrons’ questions.

The cause of these increased demands does not matter; what matters is that the Guilderland Public Library was there to meet them.

This extract from our Annual Report provides you, our patrons, highlights of the many events and changes that 2008 brought to your Library. The Annual Report also serves as a report card of sorts, as we use it to measure our progress against goals set in our Strategic Long Range Plan. From Community and Cultural Activities to Technology, here are just some of the accomplishments of 2008:

Technology:
User-Friendly Website: In order to improve service to our patrons online, the Library launched a redesigned website that’s organized according to patron interests. Now by going to www.guilpl.org, adults, teens, and children can directly access content tailored to their needs.

Playaways: These mini digital audio players with a book preloaded proved to be immediately popular. (Think of it as a pre-loaded iPod featuring your favorite book.) All patrons need to do is turn it on and listen!

Downloadable Books and Videos: Patrons can now download hundreds of digital audio books, eBooks and videos to their home computer, mp3 players and iPods right from our website.

Online Summer Reading Club Signup: Making the SRC signup process Internet based made it easier for parents to get their children involved in this vital, educational support program.

Community and Cultural Activities:
Putting Back Issues of The Altamont Enterprise Online: After a year’s worth of work by Library staff and support personnel, a century of the Altamont Enterprise is now available through the Library’s website. Accessible to anyone with an Internet connection, this project transformed fragile, primary-resource material into a fully searchable online resource. It’s proven a boon to serious and casual researchers alike.

Isaiah Sheffer

“Selected Shorts” at GPL: The Big Read is an annual event that inspires reading.
The title for 2008 was Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Age of Innocence. Isaiah Sheffer, host of national Public Radio’s “Selected Shorts,” and Patricia Kalember, star of the “Sisters” television series, came to the Library and read from Wharton’s novel. It was an extraordinary event that played to a packed house in the Helderberg Room.

At right: Isaiah Sheffer, top, host of NPR’s “Selected Shorts,” and Patricia Kalember, bottom, read excerpts from The Age of Innocence at the Library in April as part of The Big Read.

Museum Passes: The Library expanded one of its most popular offerings: the Museum Pass program. The Adirondack Museum and the Basketball Hall of Fame are just two of the latest additions where Guilderland library card holders can get free or reduced admission.

Learning Issues:
English as a Second Language Grant-Funded Programs: The Library took advantage of a number of grant opportunities. Notable among these was “The American Dream Starts @ Your Library” provided by the Dollar General corporation. The Library was one of just 34 across the nation to capture this grant, which funded an increase in literacy services and materials for adult English language learners. WAMC radio broadcast a special feature about the grant.

Programs for Tweens: The Library appointed a Librarian to meet the programming and services needs of youth ages 9 to 12. No longer children but not quite teens, these young people now have a Librarian who is responsive to them.

Health and Wellness:

Consumer Health Information: From Medicare Counseling and Gluten Sensitivity Seminars, to Red Cross Blood Drives and Mammography Van visits, over a dozen health-related programs were held at the Library to ensure members of the community have access to current health information and select wellness services.

Supportive Services:
Parenting Programs: In cooperation with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Albany County, the Library hosted an innovative program for parents and parents-to-be. The presentation covered topics such as bonding with baby, building baby brain power, creating good habits, and more.

Video Eye

VideoEye: Library patrons who have impaired vision (or who just want to get a better look at that really tiny type in a magazine ad) can now take advantage of the VideoEye, a video device that uses a camera to magnify text and objects onto a computer monitor.

At right: Easy Reading. A staff member demonstrates the ease with which patrons can use the VideoEye to magnify difficult-to-see text.

Homebound Services: Delivery of books and other Library materials to our homebound and older adult patrons doubled during 2008. This ensures that lack of mobility does not mean loss of Library services.

Business Activities and Assistance:
Small Business Series: Teaming with the University at Albany Small Business Development Center and the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce, the Library held a series of Small Business Workshops designed to help current businesses or people who were considering a business start-up.

Joseph E. Persico

Special Events:
The Library is noted for its author events, and 2008 was no exception. In July, author and historian Joseph E. Persico spoke about his latest work on Franklin Roosevelt, and the year closed with a very special appearance by Will Moses, folk artist and great-grandson of world-famous artist Grandma Moses.

Above: Joseph E. Persico, far right, author of Franklin & Lucy, spoke at the Library about the complex relationship between Franklin Roosevelt and Lucy Mercer. Famed folk artist Will Moses, at right, held a holiday-spirit Notable Author Event the evening of December 12. He spoke about his art, his great-grandmother, Grandma Moses, and how his paintings reflect his vision of the world.

Did You Know?

Two-thirds of the people who live in Guiderland have Library Cards. It’s true: 2005 census figures show the chartered population of the town to be 34,570, and 22,855 have full access to all services thanks to their Library Cards.