West Bend Community Memorial Library

WBCML Annual Report for 2004:

2004 was a celebratory year for our library and our patrons.  First and foremost, on October 10, 2004, we commemorated the dedication of the Alyce and Elmore Kraemer addition to our library.  The trend of previous years has continued with the library experiencing an increase in the attendance, reference questions answered, number of registered borrowers, amount of times that our meeting room were used by members of the community, and the number of residents served by our Outreach Services program. 

WACCOOL Consortium - Total circulation for all five libraries for 2004 was 1,142,060, an increase of 2.97% over the 1,109,119 of 2003.  The genealogists through the county who use our libraries were pleased to discover that they now have in the library use of Ancestry.com along with HeritageQuest.com with which to do their online research.  On another forward looking note, all five libraries within Washington County have agreed in theory to join together, through the assistance of our library system (MWFLS), with the library consortiums of Dodge County and Jefferson County to create a single, shared online catalog with which to better serve the partons of the 27 libraries.  Two committees have been formed, one being an RFP group and the other a Governance group, to work through the issues that need to be resolved before such an enterprise can be undertaken.  It is anticipated that the new consortium (MIDAS) will begin within 2005.

MWFLS System Resource Library - The Library's resource library contract with the Mid-Wisconsin Federated Library System is renewed yearly.  The payment decreased for 2004, a drop of $1000 to $36,500, reflecting that library systems throughout Wisconsin are being affected by cuts to the state's biennial budget.  The money still assisted us in the payment of salaries and fringe benefits ($21,500) and the acquisition of reference and non-fiction materials ($15,000).  Unfortunately, a further decrease in payment will happen during 2005.  On the plus side, however, during the latter part of the year, we began participating with libraries throughout the country and the world in a "virtual reference center" that provides 24/7 reference services not only to MWFLS patrons but also to anyone who requires ready reference services.

Technology - The library maintained its collection of PC's in 2004 by upgrading seven new Dell Pentium computers for library staff members.  In addition, three new printers were acquired (one being a color printer that's used by our Children's Librarian for promotional materials such as posters, flyers and handouts.)  Our total number of PC's stayed steady at 57.  The library had more than 284,000 uses of its various electronic resources. 

Outreach Services - Our Outreach Program experienced a personnel change in mid-year.  Suzanne Curasi, who began the Outreach program, retired in June.  Nancy Larson is the new Outreach librarian.  She, along with her very capable assistant, have continued to maintain the established program.  Currently, visits are made weekly, biweekly, or monthly to 26 facilities (retirement communities, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, senior centers, in-hospital activity programs, and senior day programs) throughout Washington County (primarily in West Bend, Hartford, Germantown and Slinger).  The number of homebound participants, that is those who must be visited in their home or apartment and have materials selected for them, rose to 17 in 2004.  In addition, our Outreach program hosts weekly adult story programs at the library for clients of the Threshold.  Lastly, seventy-percent of this Librarian's salary and benefits are paid for by the combination of Washington County, the City of Hartford, and the Village of Germantown.

Children's Services and Programs - 2004 saw the library providing 135 regular story times (104 morning and 31 evening programs) with an attendance of 5,182 (children and adults).  As with previous years, there were 11 special story times for visiting preschools, Head Start and day care facilities that were attended by 175 participants.  The star programs of the year are those monthly special entertainment programs sponsored by the Kiwanis Early Risers plus other special family programs (amounting to 19 in all), were attended by more than 2,700 people.  Our librarians gave tours to elementary and middle school students, children who are schooled at home and groups of scouts.  Our Youth Services librarian organized and oversaw 21 book club programs, including some PYOB (Pick Your Own Book) sessions.  There were again intergenerational book discussions that were attended by Silverbrook students and senior citizens.  In a similar vein, the Milwaukee Bucks Reading Challenge was again offered; no numbers are available at this time since the Challenge doesn't end until March 5, 2005.  The Summer Reading Program, "Discover New Trails @ Your Library," had 1257 registered participants, 295 of which were ages five years and younger.  17 student and adult volunteers helped with this program.  The goal of 15,000 hours of reading was exceeded even thought the total number of participants was down from 2003.  There were 6 drop-in craft sessions during the summer reading program with 330 participants.  Our Youth Service librarian represented the library at the Celebrate Families Day at the Washington County Fair Park.

Adult Programs - During the year, the library hosted 30 programs that were attended by 650 adults.  These programs included monthly meetings of fiction and non-fiction book discussion groups. 

Circulation Statistics - In 2004, the library had 49,443 registered borrowers, and increase of 8.14% over the previous year.  Our circulation was 573,418 items which, compared to 555,531 items for 2003, represented an increase of 3.21% over the previous year.  That means our patrons each averaged 11.59 items checked out per year.  This is the fourth consecutive year that we exceeded the half-million mark.  Our circulation to County residents totaled 251,387 items compared to 239,227 for 2003, an increase of 5%.  In terms of checked-out items that we are reimbursed for by Washington County (230,266), the library accounted for 55.18% of that total for 2004.  That's compared to 219,418 for 2003 (or 55.2%).  In total, of the 1,142060 items circulated by all five of the libraries in Washington County (up from 1,109,119 in 2003), we accounted for 50.2% of that number.

Staff - At this time we have 31 people who are employed by the library

Michael Tyree, Library Director
January 28, 2005