Hello Library friends!
Your teen librarian has neglected the MySpace this summer. Sorry 'bout that. I will try to be better.
There are some changes happening at your Joplin Public Library that you need to know about.
1. Our hours of operation are changing--see below for details.
2. Our beloved Library Director is moving on to a job in Kansas City.
3. Our teen knitting program has moved from every Thursday to the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month from 6 - 7:30 pm
4. Our YAAC meetings have moved from the 1st Friday of the month to the 1st Tuesday of the month from 6 - 7:30 pm (school's getting out later this year which put a kink in our previous schedule)
5. Our manga/anime club has moved from the 4th Saturday of the month to the 3rd Saturday of the month from 3 - 4:30 pm
In the paper today is a long article about what the libraries in our area are going through and why our hours are changing. Check it out here:
http://www.joplinglobe.com/homepage/local_story_229213807.html?keyword=leadpicturestoryIn case you don't want to read the whole article, I will outline the hi-lights here:
1. The economy is a rough place.
* Prices of books, magazines, databases, and well... everything are going up.
* Our revenues (the money we get to spend on books and whatnot) are going down.
2. Because the economy is a rough place for everyone (not just libraries), more and more people are using libraries because they're (kind of) free. (In reality, libraries are paid for by citizens in their property taxes.)
* The Joplin Public Library (JPL)'s door count (the number of people who visit the library) will probably be more than 600,000 people this year. There are only 50,000 people who live in the whole town of Joplin.
* At many libraries including JPL the computers are in higher and higher demand because people are looking for jobs or have cut back on their own bills by not having internet at home.
3. To make up for the difference in prices going up, revenues going down, and more people needing to use our services, something has to give.
* Pretty much all libraries in the 4-State area are in the same boat.
* Each library's solution to this problem is different according to the needs of the community and the severity of the problem.
For JPL, this means that we're cutting 6 hours per week. Beginning September 1, 2009, we'll be open Mon-Thurs 9-8pm (closing one hour earlier); Fri & Sat 9-6 pm (no change) and Sun 1-5pm (opening an hour later and closing an hour earlier).
What's not giving at your Joplin Public Library is our materials (books, magazines, cds, dvds, etc) budget or programming. Which is good. We like materials and programming.
If you have any questions about these changes, shoot me a message.
See you @ the Library!