eva's Blog

CPL Wins National Award

eva — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:01:35 +0000

We have great news to share with you! The Canton Public Library has been named the inaugural recipient of the 2013 LibraryAware Community Award, co-sponsored by industry magazine Library Journal and LibraryAware, part of EBSCO Publishing's NoveList Division.

The award "emphasizes the library's engagement with the community," and is an acknowledgement of the tremendous accomplishments of the library staff. Since I became library director in 2008, we have focused on the community through our partnerships, volunteers, programs, and services. The strategic vision of our library board guides our work; the support--moral and financial--given to us by the Friends of the Library is essential to our success; and our partnerships with the Township, area schools, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations help us Connect Your Community. My staff uses these connections to provide you with programs, collections, and services that improve Canton's quality of life.

Most importantly, we owe our successes to the patronage and support of our community. You are the key to what we do every day, to the tune of nearly 600,000 visits and 1.8 million items circulated annually.

I am proud of my staff for their hard work, and thrilled to see them recognized on a national level. We are planning a Community Celebration on May 10 (details to follow). Please mark your calendars and plan on joining me in congratulating our fine library staff on winning this award!

Best,

Eva M. Davis, Director

Reciprocal Borrowing 2012 - Board Presentation

eva — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:34:46 +0000

At the Board of Trustees meeting on February 21, 2013, Circulation Services Department Head Nancy Szczepanski provided an overview of reciprocal borrowing. Nancy reviewed 2012 checkouts from our library by residents of other communities, and vice-versa, particularly since the board approval of changes to our Circulation Policy last year. The updated policy affirmed our commitment to sharing with and supporting our neighbors while preserving primary access to Canton taxpayers.

Nancy's presentation, attached here as a .pdf, gave the Board good background on checkouts of our materials by patrons of other libraries, and I hope that you find it useful and interesting, also.

Best,

Eva M. Davis, Director

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Reciprocity Presentation.pdf	1.15 MB

Welcome to the new Library Board of Trustees

eva — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:06:20 +0000

On November 6, the people of Canton elected six residents to the Library Board of Trustees. Nancy Eggenberger, Sommer Foster, Michelle Farell, and Thomas Hartnett joined incumbents Jim Fausone and Kim Schulz on the board, all of whom were sworn in on November 15 by Canton Township Clerk Terry Bennett.

The Library Board is responsible for the governance and financial oversight of the library. They hire, evaluate, and fire the Library Director, and ensure that the library meets the needs of Canton Township residents. The library has successfully weathered the economic downturn so far, largely because of the successful direction and guidance of these dedicated trustees.

I thank the trustees for volunteering to serve in these unpaid positions for the next four years, and hope you will join me in congratulating them on their elections. I would also like to thank Michael Siegrist, George Snow, Don Turner, and Colleen Van Auken for their years of service to the Library Board; we wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Best,

Eva M. Davis, Director

2011 Annual Report

eva — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:05:59 +0000

Canton Public Library Connects Your Community.

For CPL, 2011 was all about people. A great library is a reflection of a great community, and it all boils down to people: hardworking staff, dedicated volunteers, loyal supporters, and a community that values and uses their library. Use of the library in 2011 was heavy, with a whopping 565,046 people coming through our doors. We remain the busiest single-location public library in the state of Michigan, with employees who demonstrate time and time again their commitment to serving our residents with excellence.

These 565,046 visitors checked out materials, gathered with colleagues, made new friends, used our computers, and were assisted by our highly-trained, expert staff. Our 2011 Annual Report provides highlights of our fantastic year with an emphasis on how people used the library, and how our staff made that possible through creative management of our resources and responding to the feedback we got from you, the users. We hope you enjoy this report on your library and we look forward to continuing to meet the needs of our community.

Sincerely,

Eva Davis, Director

2012 Budget Hearing

eva — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:17:31 +0000

Our Library Board of Trustees will hold the required Public Hearing on Thursday, September 15, at 7:30pm at the library to take public comment on and approve the library's 2012 budget (attached, with a comparison to our approved 2011 budget), levying a millage rate of 1.5437 mills to generate total revenue of $4.9 million. This is a reduction of about $40,000 compared to our 2011 budget, and a total reduction of about $1.9 million compared to our 2008 budget — 2008 was our "high-water" mark as far as revenues; the recession led to declining property values, which leads to reduced property tax collections and a smaller budget for library services.

The budget for 2012 is a very tight budget and reflects a number of cuts to every department and area of the library. As the recession continues and the library budget declines even more, we will be considering furlough days, layoffs, charging residents for certain library services, and further diminishing or discontinuing services, programs, and collections to meet our legal mandate to present a balanced budget. Thank you for your suggestions on how we can continue to provide the excellence you expect given the bleak financial outlook.

Our Friends of the Library have been invaluable partners and supporters, committing to a donation of nearly $25,000 to pay for library programs and events, ensuring that you and your family continue to have quality experiences at storytimes, computer classes, and enrichment programs for all ages. These donations are made possible by your purchases at the Secondhand Prose used bookstore, which is run by the Friends and is their main fundraising effort.

I continue to be proud of my staff for their teamwork, grace under pressure, suggestions for balancing the library budget, and their dedication to this community. I am privileged to work with a library board that is forward-thinking and dedicated to their roles as sound financial stewards of your tax dollars. I am grateful to the Friends for their advocacy and support. These are tough times, and I know I speak for everyone here when I thank you for your continued patronage of the library.

Eva M. Davis, Director

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2012 Budget.pdf	5.1 KB

Connect Your Summer Feedback

eva — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:20:41 +0000

Our new Connect Your Summer program reinvented the Canton Public Library's traditional summer reading program. Connect Your Summer simplified and streamlined participation by creating one program for all ages that could be completed singly or as a group, team, or family. While we continue to offer a paper-based format, Connect Your Summer was primarily designed to be completed online—so you could complete your log at anytime, from anywhere—and allowed library staff to provide more meaningful interactions with you through our increased programming and events. Badges could be earned by reading as well as other means. Our overarching mission is "Connecting Your Community," and Connect Your Summer focused on community partners, community events, and shared experiences, with the library serving as the hub.

Because Connect Your Summer is a new approach to summer library programming, we are asking you to provide feedback to help us learn from and improve it:

If you participated in Connect Your Summer, Share your feedback
If you did not participate, Share your feedback

Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts with us!

Sincerely,

Eva Davis, Director

Troy Public Library to Remain Open

eva — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:10:29 +0000

Congratulations to our colleagues at the Troy Public Library! After several years of cuts and threatened closures by city council, previous failed millage votes, and a dire economic situation, Troy voters passed a dedicated library millage of .7 mills annually for five years on August 2. This new dedicated millage means that TPL will not close, and will allow them to maintain library services to their community at state-mandated levels. Troy is a great community that deserves a great library. Everyone at Canton Public Library sends our best as the TPL board and staff work over the next several months to rebuild TPL. Congratulations!

Update on Services to Garden City Public Library Cardholders

eva — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:13:35 +0000

Congratulations to Garden City residents, and to all Garden City Public Library cardholders, on the July 18 reopening of the Garden City Public Library.

The Garden City Public Library has announced that they will be open for thirty hours, five days per week, from July 18 through at least the November millage election. Unfortunately, these hours will not meet the minimum requirements for state certification. As a result, the Canton Public Library will not resume reciprocity with Garden City Public Library at this time.

For Garden City residents, this means that CPL will continue not to accept Garden City Public Library cards. When the Garden City Public Library is brought into compliance with minimum state requirements — among them, to be open at least 50 hours per week — we will reconsider the question of reciprocity.

Until that day, while Garden City cardholders may enter our library and use our services and materials in the building, you will not be able to checkout our materials or register for our programs. As always, non-resident cards may be purchased to receive full services at the Canton Public Library only, at a cost equivalent to what the average Canton property owner pays in annual taxes to support Canton library services. That rate is currently $170 per year.

Garden City has already made great strides in continuing public library service to their residents, and I am confident that they will soon be able to meet minimum standards and provide their residents with the library services they deserve. At that time, the Canton Public Library will revisit the issue of reinstating reciprocal borrowing with Garden City.

Sincerely,

Eva M. Davis, Director

Welcome to Connect Your Summer!

eva — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Connect Your Summer 2011, our new Summer program that encourages you to connect to the Canton community through reading and activities.

Connect Your Summer is truly a community-wide program. Like our logo, the library is the hub of Connect Your Summer, with spokes leading out to our partners: the Friends of the Library, Canton Leisure Services, the Canton Downtown Development Authority, the Canton Chamber of Commerce, the Cherry Hill Village Theater, the Michigan Philharmonic, and others.

Sign in to your individual, family, pair, or group account to start earning virtual badges for reading, attending community events, attending library programs, attending programs put on by one of our partners, visiting places in our community, using the library, or for activities you come up with on your own. As you complete activities, click 'Claim' next to the appropriate badge to get that badge. Publish your earned badges and write reviews of your activities to share your experiences with other Connect Your Summer participants.

Connect Your Summer is designed to be completed online, at your own pace, when it is convenient for you. Want to mark your badge completed at 10:30 at night? No problem! Do you find it tough to keep track of reading logs for every member of your family? There are no more paper logs to keep track of (or lose!). Have you wished you could take a solitary activity and make it a group event? Now you can — create a new account to register for Connect Your Summer as a group, and because it's one program designed for all ages, you can earn your badges together.

I am proud of the work my staff has done to create this innovative new program that turns the traditional library Summer program on its head and allows for multiple ways to participate, at a level that you can tailor to meet your needs. Our overarching goal with Connect Your Summer is to encourage you to make connections within your community. I think that you, your family, and your friends will enjoy the variety of ways you can use Connect Your Summer to learn more about your neighbors and the entire Canton community.

Best,

Eva M. Davis, Director

Services to Garden City Public Library Cardholders

eva — Wed, 25 May 2011 23:40:46 +0000

To all Garden City residents and Garden City Public Library cardholders:

In preparation for their anticipated closing due to lack of funding, the Garden City Public Library has announced that the last day they will lend materials is Thursday, May 26, 2011. GCPL will remain open to the public to use materials within the building until June 25, 2011.

As a member of The Library Network cooperative, the Garden City Public Library had a reciprocal borrowing agreement in place that allowed you to use neighboring libraries. Because GCPL will not be lending any materials, that agreement is void. While we here at the Canton Public Library are happy to reciprocate with other communities, that reciprocity is based on mutual sharing; we cannot bear the financial burden of serving Garden City residents when Garden City is eliminating funding for their library. As a result, the last day that Canton Public Library will honor Garden City Public Library cards is May 26, 2011.

Beginning May 27, 2011, while you may enter the Canton Public Library and use library resources within the building, we will not honor Garden City Public Library cards for checkout of materials or for program registration. As always, non-resident cards may be purchased to receive full services at the Canton Public Library only, at a cost equivalent to what the average Canton property owner pays in annual taxes to support Canton library services. That rate is currently $170 per year.

If you have concerns regarding library services in Garden City, please contact your Garden City City Manager and Council.

It is a sad day when a community closes its library. All of us here at the Canton Public Library remain hopeful that the Garden City Council will find a way to continue to provide much-needed library services to their residents. When library services are once again established in Garden City, we welcome the opportunity to discuss resuming reciprocity between our communities.

Sincerely,

Eva M. Davis, Director

Update on Services to Romulus Public Library Cardholders

eva — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Congratulations to Romulus residents, and to all Romulus Public Library cardholders, on the Romulus City Council's recent decisions to establish a PA 164 independent city library and appoint a five-member library board.

The newly-created library board's announcement that they will open the Romulus Public Library for eight hours, one day per week, through the first week of July, and their plan to fund the library at .12 mills after that for service three days per week, is a great start to getting the new independent library started.

However, with these hours, staffing levels, and funding levels, the Romulus Public Library will not meet the minimum requirements for state certification. As a result, the Canton Public Library will continue to enforce the April resolution by the CPL Board of Trustees not to honor Romulus Public Library cards, until the Romulus Public Library meets minimum requirements — among them, to be open at least 40 hours per week (assuming Class 4 public library status); to employ a full-time library director holding an ALA-accredited master's degree and who is certified by the Library of Michigan; and to establish local funding at a minimum of .3 mills.

Until that day, while Romulus cardholders may enter our library and use our services and materials in the building, you will not be able to checkout our materials or register for our programs. As always, non-resident cards may be purchased to receive full services at the Canton Public Library only, at a cost equivalent to what the average Canton property owner pays in annual taxes to support Canton library services. That rate is currently $170 per year.

The Romulus Public Library Board of Trustees has already made great strides in continuing public library service to their residents, and I am confident that they will soon be able to meet minimum standards. At that time, the CPL Board of Trustees will revisit the issue of reinstating reciprocal borrowing with Romulus.

Sincerely,

Eva M. Davis, Director

Services to Romulus Public Library Cardholders

eva — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:50:50 +0000

To all Romulus residents, and to all Romulus Public Library cardholders:

In preparation for their anticipated closing on May 1, the Romulus Public Library has stopped checking out all materials. As a member of The Library Network cooperative, the Romulus Public Library had a reciprocal borrowing agreement in place that allowed you to use neighboring libraries.

While we here at the Canton Public Library are happy to reciprocate with other communities, that reciprocity is based on mutual sharing; we cannot bear the financial burden of serving Romulus residents when Romulus is eliminating funding for their library.

Because the Romulus Public Library has stopped lending to Canton residents in violation of our reciprocal borrowing agreement, the Canton Public Library Board voted at their April 21 meeting to stop lending to Romulus Public Library cardholders, effective immediately.

While you may enter the Canton Public Library and use library resources within the building, we will not honor Romulus Public Library cards for checkout of materials or for program registration. As always, non-resident cards may be purchased to receive full services at the Canton Public Library only, at a cost equivalent to what the average Canton property owner pays in annual taxes to support Canton library services. That rate is currently $170 per year.

The Romulus City Council has before them a proposal led by Sylvia Makowski, the President of the Friends of the Romulus Public Library, to: Form an independent municipal library; appoint five members to a municipal library board; and levy at least .2 mills in order to restore library service to five days per week. To date, Council has not yet acted on this proposal.

If you have concerns regarding library services in Romulus, please contact your Romulus Mayor (734-942-7571) and Council Members (734-955-4506):

It is a sad day when a community closes its library. All of us here at the Canton Public Library remain hopeful that the Romulus City Council will find a way to continue to provide much-needed library services to their residents. When library services are once again established in Romulus, we welcome the opportunity to discuss resuming reciprocity between our communities.

Sincerely,

Eva M. Davis, Director

Losing Libraries

eva — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:46:28 +0000

Everyone here at CPL is sad and upset to see libraries in our state affected by the economy. In addition to the May 1, 2011 closure of the Troy Public Library, the Detroit Public Library will announce layoffs, and the Romulus Public Library may also be closed after a proposed millage failed earlier this week. Coupled with proposed funding cuts at the state level, libraries and library services in Michigan are in jeopardy. As I've discussed with you before, CPL is not immune from these cuts.

That's what makes an article like this one from Scott Turow such a mood-lifter for the CPL family. Our featured author at our 2010 Everyone's Reading program, Mr. Turow spoke to a capacity crowd at the Village Theater last February, staying afterward to answer questions, autograph books, and talk to fans. Despite the bleak outlook for the next several years, we here at CPL will continue to strive for excellence in programs, collections, and services, meeting the needs of our community, as Mr. Turow outlines in his article, while maintaining a balanced budget and living within our means.

How the Governor's Proposed Budget Affects CPL

eva — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:34:15 +0000

Governor Snyder released his budget proposal last week, and as expected, the news is grim. The cuts to public, school, and university libraries across the state are significant, and will affect the services that CPL will be able to provide to our community — namely, interlibrary loan and research databases.

The Governor has proposed cutting state aid to libraries to $3 million. The statutorily-required funding is $15 million. The current funding level of $5 million automatically qualifies the state to receive a federal matching grant of $5 million, which pays for MeLCat (statewide interlibrary loan) and the Michigan eLibrary (MeL — statewide research databases). Cutting state aid results in a cut to, and possibly a loss of, the matching grant, which puts MeL and MeLCat in jeopardy.

MeL and MeLCat exemplify the resource-sharing, aggregation of services, eliminating duplication of effort, and economies of scale that the Governor has emphasized over and over. More than 300 libraries — public libraries, K-12 libraries, and university libraries — pool this funding to provide services to Michigan residents. The $5 million investment by the state nets a $5 million matching grant, and saves taxpayers nearly $72 million annually, when you consider the cost to each library if they had to purchase these same resources on their own.

The Michigan Library Association has released a response to the proposed 40% cut to state aid to public libraries, and the impact of these cuts to interlibrary loan services and research databases. MLA President Christine Berro, Portage District Library, states,

Libraries are the only community that has successfully achieved statewide group purchasing which the Governor has called for — saving the state $72 million — and that is now at risk. The MeLibrary, MeLCat interlibrary loan and MeL Tests and Tutorials — all resources used for research, education, job seeking and preparation — are in jeopardy. These services are invaluable to students at all levels and across the education spectrum.

For CPL, we estimate it would cost more than $300,000 annually — which we don't have due to our own budget cuts — if we had to subscribe to the MeL research databases on our own (every database listed here that has a purple box with an "M" is a MeL research database; that's 29 out of the 68 we offer). In 2009, 385,523,800 searches were made in MeL by 1,211,455 users.

Canton residents request about 18,000 books from other libraries through MeLCat interlibrary loan annually; without MeLCat, each interlibrary loan would cost a minimum of $5 (some go as high as $20), or about $100,000 annually.

We know how valuable these services are to you, and will continue to monitor the state budget proposals through the revisions that are sure to come.

Eva M. Davis, Director

2011 Approved Budget

eva — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:49:10 +0000

At its September Budget Hearing, the Library Board of Trustees approved the library's 2011 budget (attached, with a comparison to our 2008 budget, which was our last budget before the recession hit), levying a millage rate of 1.5437 mills to generate total revenue of $4.9 million. This is a reduction of about $300,000 compared to our 2010 budget, and a reduction of about $1.6 million compared to our 2008 budget.

$4.9 million is the size our budget was in 2004, when we served 15,000 fewer people, checked out 600,000 fewer items, and had 40% more staff. It is ironic that these library cuts come at a time when our community needs us now more than ever to help you cope with the down economy. In 2011, further cuts have been made to nearly all line items, notably staffing, materials, supplies, and programming.

These necessary cuts are a result of several factors:

Local property taxes account for 95% of our budget, and falling property values in the Township translate to fewer local property tax dollars coming to the library. Because of the falling values, the average homeowner will see a decline of about $8 in their library taxes paid in 2011 compared to 2010
Budget woes at the state level trickled down to mean less state revenue sharing to fund library services, both locally and at the statewide level for joint library services. The state legislature has not yet approved the FY2011 budget, so rather than anticipate revenue sharing that may never come, the library's 2011 budget reflects zero state aid dollars coming to us
Interest on our bank accounts and investments is way down compared to prior years due to lowered interest rates
Donations, again mirroring the economy throughout the nation, are also way down compared to prior years

The budget for 2011 is a very tight budget and reflects a number of cuts to every department and area of the library. As I reported previously, as the recession continues and the library continues to take a hit, we will keep doing our best to provide services with less funding. Unfortunately, the further cuts coming in 2011 will affect our services to you.

You will continue to see fewer staff assisting you when you visit the library. You will continue to see longer lines for service when you need assistance. You will continue to see increased wait times for popular materials. You will continue to see fewer copies of items. You will continue to see services diminished or discontinued — one-on-one appointments with librarians, roving staff who provide direct assistance on the public floor, magazine subscriptions, research sources and databases, on-demand in-depth computer assistance, and paid performers or instructors at programs. We will no longer be able to buy as many books or other materials you suggest for purchase. You will continue to see fewer sessions of computer classes, storytimes, and other programs, and the audiences will grow so that we can accommodate public demand with our reduced staff.

As this recession continues and our revenues decline further, we will be considering furlough days, layoffs, charging residents for certain library services, and further diminishing or discontinuing services, programs, and collections. Thank you for your suggestions on how we can continue to provide the excellence you expect given the bleak financial outlook.

Our Friends of the Library have been invaluable partners and supporters, committing to a donation of nearly $25,000 to pay for all library programs and events in 2011, ensuring that you and your family continue to have quality experiences at storytimes, computer classes, and enrichment programs for all ages. These donations are made possible by your purchases at the Secondhand Prose used bookstore, which is run by the Friends and is their main fundraising effort.

Eva M. Davis, Director

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Approved 2011 v 2008.pdf	15.46 KB