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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Packet - 2026-07-08 AGENDA LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD Wednesday, July 8, 2026 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Library 706 Fourth Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034 The Library closes at 7pm, please arrive prior to 7pm Staff Contact: Donna Harlan, 503-697-6583, dharlan@lakeoswego.city 503-697-6583 706 4TH STREET PO BOX 369 LAKE OSWEGO, OR 97034 WWW.LAKEOSWEGO.CITY Virtual Access This meeting will be held in person. To participate remotely, please email the staff contact at least 24 hours before the meeting. ADA Accommodation Requests lakeoswego.city/accommodation 503-635-0282; Relay 711 Please allow four business days to process your request. Translation Services Traducción o interpretación 翻译或传译 통역혹은번역 503-534-5738 Patrick Walsh, Chair ∙ Seth Pauley, Vice Chair ∙ Lilisa Hall ∙ Joy Fabos ∙ Liberty Planck ∙ Rebecca Lemmons ∙ Gus Gordon Melissa Kelly, Staff Liaison ∙ Andrew Kunjummen, Youth Liaison ∙ Jacob Lin, Youth Liaison ∙ Rachel Verdick, Council Liaison ∙ Jim Wolper, Alternate ∙ Anton Ternovykh, Alternate 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. SAFETY PROTOCOL In case of emergency, evacuate the building using the stairwell closest to our meeting location that leads to the parking lot. Using the public stairwell and exiting through the front door is an alternate route. The meeting spot is on the 4th Street sidewalk between the parking lot driveway and E Street. The library has an AED machine on the main floor next to the front door, on the left side. 3. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES June 10, 2026 5. PUBLIC COMMENT The purpose of Public Comment is to allow community members to present information or raise an issue regarding items not on the agenda or regarding agenda items that do not include a public hearing. A time limit of three minutes per individual shall apply. Public Comment will not exceed thirty minutes in total. If you are unable to attend the meeting and prefer to provide public comment in writing, please email the comment to the staff contact listed above at least 24 hours before the meeting. 6. CITY COUNCIL UPDATE – Councilor Rachel Verdick 7. DSA PRESENTATION 8. LDAC UPDATE - Lilisa Hall Page 2 503-697-6583 706 4TH STREET PO BOX 369 LAKE OSWEGO, OR 97034 WWW.LAKEOSWEGO.CITY 9. DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Melissa Kelly 8.1 Council Meeting updates 8.2 LAB goals review 8.3 Talking Points review 8.4 Library updates 10. OLD BUSINESS 9.1 Voter Data Analysis – Liberty Planck 11. CHAIR REMARKS – Patrick Walsh 12. YOUTH LIAISON REMARKS 13. FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY REMARKS 14. ADJOURNMENT Next meeting August 19, 2026 CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO June 10, 2026 Library Advisory Board Library 1 503.697.6583 706 Fourth Street PO BOX 369 Lake Oswego, OR 97034 www.ci.oswego.or.us Present: Patrick Walsh, Mark Pontarelli, Lilisa Hall, Liberty Planck, Joy Fabos, Jessie Pan, Jim Wolper, Anna Lee Staff Present: Melissa Kelly, Donna Harlan Absent: Councilor Rachel Verdick, Patricia Walls, Seth Pauley Guest: Councilor Jackie Edmunds Manz 1. Call to Order The Library Advisory Board (LAB) meeting was called to order at the Lake Oswego Public Library (LOPL) on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 7:00 pm. 2. Introductions Introductions were made around the room for Guest Councilor Manz and future board member Gus Gordon. 3. Minutes Motion to approve was made by Hall and seconded by Pontarelli. The May 13, 2026, minutes were unanimously approved. 4. Public Comment – None 5. City Council Update – Councilor Manz • Councilor Manz introduced herself and updated the group as to upcoming City events including the 1-year celebration of LORAC, Juneteenth and the July 4 parade. • Councilor Manz will be meeting with Kelly to learn more about what LAB is currently working on. 6. DSA Presentations - Melissa Kelly • Kelly presented Distinguished Service Awards to Lee and Pan for their active participation in LAB for the past year. • Kelly also presented a Distinguished Service Award to Pontarelli. Pontarelli was thanked for his 6 years of service to LAB and the many ways he participated in LAB and served the Library. • Kelly shared that she will present a Distinguished Service Award to Walls at the next meeting, since Walls will continue attending meetings as the Friends of the Library liaison. 7. Director’s Report – Melissa Kelly Council Meeting Updates • Kelly updated LAB about her recent study session presentation to Council. o We will have parallel tracks for public engagement related to the future library site and the future of the existing site once the library is relocated. o Council has requested there be 2 Task Forces, and the timelines for these task forces will be extended. Kelly is looking forward to this process to bring in more community input for decision making. CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO June 10, 2026 Library Advisory Board Library 2 503.697.6583 706 Fourth Street PO BOX 369 Lake Oswego, OR 97034 www.ci.oswego.or.us o The June 2 study session with Council approved a resolution for the creation of the Library Site Reuse Task Force, with the task being to brainstorm reuse scenarios using Council’s criteria and bring a recommendation to Council. o Applications are currently open for the Library Site Reuse Task Force where the majority will be residents within walking distance to the current library location. o We will need a LAB representative for the Library Site Reuse Task Force. o A facilitator will be hired, and the task force will start in August and continue tentatively for 6-9 months. o Other items: ▪ Possible deed restrictions have come to light that the City Attorney’s Office is looking into. ▪ An appraisal of the library will also be required. More information to come in July. o Council requested that a Future Library Task Force is launched sooner rather than later with a resolution to create this task Force anticipated in July. o The Future Library Task Force will include a broader community group with a tentative timeline starting in October and will continue for 9-12 months o The criterion for a future site is still being discussed but is anticipated to include being adequately sized, a location with more equitable access, one that is financially feasible with the potential to utilize urban renewal funding. o The July 7 Study Session with Council will include findings from the pre-building program study. o The July 21 Council meeting is anticipated to provide the formal adoption of site criteria and a resolution to create the Future Library Task Force. • LAB had a brief discussion related to the information Kelly shared. Communications Plan/Talking Points • Kelly checked in with LAB related to the talking points that were provided and requested to let her know if there are additional questions. • Walsh requested that LAB continue to review the talking points. Strategic Plan Survey Results for 2027-2029 • The Strategic Plan Survey will close on June 14, and we have already reached our goal of 600 responses. • Information should be compiled and analyzed by August and ready to be presented to LAB. • The 27-29 Strategic Plan will be presented to City Council for approval in November. Other Updates • The Bookmobile launch party is this Saturday, June 13 from 5-7 in the parking lot. • The first painting events for the Respond to Racism art project are scheduled . o June 26, 10-Noon at the Festival of the Arts in the Youth Activity Tent. o July 14, 3-7 pm at Sundeleaf Plaza in conjunction with Pints from the Past o The committee is working on confirming the 3rd event. • Boulders, related to the Respond to Racism art project, are being delivered and the artist will etch them with quotes. CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO June 10, 2026 Library Advisory Board Library 3 503.697.6583 706 Fourth Street PO BOX 369 Lake Oswego, OR 97034 www.ci.oswego.or.us • Kelly explained that LINCC-wide autorenewals are tentatively scheduled for implementation late summer/early fall, with a communications plan in development. Kelly provided additional information as to how the autorenewals process would work. 8. Old Business Community Garden Presentation • Walsh, Pauley and Kelly will be presenting on June 14 as part of the Seed Library 101 event and Plant Swap. Kelly shared the presentation slide s with the group. • Planck mentioned that she checked with a connection she has with an Eagle Scout and relayed that it takes up to a year to finish all steps. She will reach out with the goal for a possible project for next spring. Voter Data Analysis – Mark Pontarelli • Pontarelli shared his statistical analysis of historical data and how we might interpret the data in a forward looking way related to a future library. The most recent May 2026 voter results were not yet available to add to the analysis • As Pontarelli reviewed and discussed the slides that were shared with LAB, he suggested that we should include the 2026 voter data, possibly expand the information to outside the city boundaries and have a professional analysis. He also stated that polling is an important follow up. • In his analysis, a big takeaway was identifying two strategic approaches to two types of voters. o The people who support bond measures are the people that you mobilize their efforts and encourage them to vote. They don’t need much convincing. o The neighborhoods where bonds are not passing with a high rate are areas where voters may need more education to persuade them . A good way to do this could be by messaging a bond as complimentary to other investments in town. • There was discussion and questions as Pontarelli shared his findings. 9. Chair Remarks • Walsh expressed his appreciation of Pontarelli and Walls and our youth liaisons for what they have done by volunteering and through their commitment to the Board. 10. Youth Liaison Remarks • Lee thanked LAB and shared how she enjoyed being part of the Board, getting to know everyone and thanked them for making her and Pan’s voices feel valued and heard. • Pan echoed Lee’s sentiments and thought LAB was a great board and that great memories have been made. She always looked forward to the monthly meetings. 11. Friends of the Library Remarks • Kelly read the written update provided by Walls. o Booktique April revenue amounts were shared. o Booktique will participate in Portland Book Week. o City Hall Booktique lease has been completed. o The Friends are working on strategic planning work. CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO June 10, 2026 Library Advisory Board Library 4 503.697.6583 706 Fourth Street PO BOX 369 Lake Oswego, OR 97034 www.ci.oswego.or.us o Miriam Steierman and Susan Braun have joined the Friends Board as Treasurer and Member/Director, respectively. o The Friends continue to send out their newsletter Watermarks, building their subscriber base. 12. Adjournment Motion to adjourn was made by Pontarelli, seconded by Hall. The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 pm. The next LAB meeting will be held on July 8, 2026. Respectfully submitted, Donna Harlan Library Advisory Board 2026 Goals Work with Council and other advisory groups to define the most compelling positioning for a new community center anchored by a Library of the Future. Develop an informational and partnership strategy to continue engaging the community around the need for and development of a Library of the Future that serves as an all ages and all activities community hub. Identify and assess potential locations and service models for this facility. Lake Oswego General Information Number of new borrowers/patrons added 370 3,394 Number of registered borrowers 27,155 27,155 Books and other print items Number of physical units owned 121,455 121,455 Number of physical units added 1,371 12,411 Audio Materials Number of physical units owned 15,421 15,421 Number of physical units added 49 713 Video Materials Number of physical units owned 17,858 17,858 Number of physical units added 88 867 Other library materials Number of physical units owned 948 948 Number of physical units added 10 48 Total physical items owned 155,682 155,682 Total physical items added 1,518 14,039 Magazine Issues Number of physical units owned 1,822 1,822 Number of physical units added 135 1,455 Holds Placed 13,790 160,706 Holds Filled 11,013 131,192 Holds Expired 32 313 Holds Expired on shelf 1,502 18,493 Circulation of library materials at all facilities for the fiscal year Library2Go & Advantage Circulation Combined 17,068 189,703 E-book Reader Circulation with material type of CHILD 11 55 E-book Reader Circulation with material type of YA 1 11 Number of Circulation of Electronic Materials 17,080 189,769 Adult Checkouts 17,405 208,910 Adult Renewals (via WorkFlows and PAC)9,897 124,564 No Longer Used -- June 2026 Fiscal Year to date ending June 2026 Lake Oswego June 2026 Fiscal Year to date ending June 2026 Adult Renewals (via Shoutbomb)384 5,116 Adult Renewals (via TeleCirc)56 811 Adult Renewals (TOTAL)10,337 130,491 YA Checkouts 1,164 11,153 YA Renewals (via WorkFlows and PAC)488 8,744 No Longer Used -- YA Renewals (via Shoutbomb)60 415 YA Renewals (via TeleCirc)0 1 YA Renewals (TOTAL)548 9,160 Child 1st-time circ excluding E-book Reader uses 13,008 135,938 YA 1st-time circ excluding E-book Reader uses 1,163 11,142 Child Checkouts 13,019 135,993 Child Renewals (via WorkFlows and PAC)6,442 83,336 No Longer Used -- Child Renewals (via Shoutbomb)683 6,968 Child Renewals (via TeleCirc)1 62 Child Renewals (TOTAL)7,126 90,366 Total 1st-time circulation 48,656 545,759 Total renewals 18,011 230,017 Total circ of Adult materials 27,742 339,401 Total circ of YA & Childrens materials 21,857 246,672 Total circ of YA materials 1,711 20,302 Total circ of Childrens materials 20,145 226,359 Total circ 66,678 775,831 Self-Check Circulation Self-check checkouts 26,827 301,097 % of physical item checkouts at self-checks 85.0%84.6% Check Ins items CHECKED IN via book drop or circ desk return 31,404 377,510 items CHECKED IN from "in transit" status 22,032 274,690 TOTAL items checked in 53,436 652,200 Lake Oswego June 2026 Fiscal Year to date ending June 2026 Items loaned to other libraries Items loaned to other libraries within resource-sharing network (LINCC)15,857 192,871 Interlibrary Loans - Items Loaned to All Other Libraries (OCLC)181 2,478 Total loans to other libraries 16,038 195,349 Items borrowed from other libraries Items borrowed from libraries within resource-sharing network (LINCC)14,122 174,024 Interlibrary Loans - Items Borrowed from All Other Libraries (OCLC)67 1,137 Total loans from other libraries 14,189 175,161 NET ILL using a shared catalog of automation system (LINCC)1,735 18,847 Adult Services June 2026 Monthly Report In June, we launched the Adult Summer Library Challenge program , and 481 adults have registered so far! The theme this year is “Plant a Seed, Read,” making this a perfect opportunity to promote our Seed Library. We also celebrated Pride Month with a whimsical book display and a bookmobile presence at the Pride LO festival, and we celebrated the bookmobile at the Bookmobile Summer Launch Party. It was a busy and joyful month! Here’s a closer look at our work in June: • The stairwell gallery featured Jessica Norman’s colorful Pacific Northwest and California landscape art inspired by early 1900s travel posters. • We created book displays in honor of Juneteenth, Pride Month, and National Garden Week. • Along with staff from other library workgroups, we took the bookmobile to Hunger Fighters, The Springs Senior Living, Mary’s Woods, Pride LO, the LO Farmer’s Market, and the Adult Community Center. • Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Library, we hosted the following events: o First Tuesday Music featuring A Musical Journey to Persian with Hossein Salehi. Hossein demonstrated the santoor, a traditional Persian hammered dulcimer. o Two Ancestry Answers sessions, in which volunteers assisted patrons with their genealogy research. o An Oregon Humanities Conversation Project on What Does Freedom Depend On? with Jennifer Alkezweeny. We received a grant from Oregon Humanities to host this project, which coincides with the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The project invites participants to consider our shared history and discuss the values we hope to carry forward into the next 250 years. o Two Senior Scholar Programs at the ACC – Social Media & Society with Dr. Donna Z. Davis from the UO School of Journalism and Communication and Who Tells the Story? with Dr. David G. Lewis, OSU Indigenous Studies scholar and a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. o The Genealogy Interest Group met in-person at the ACC and online. o Together with several staff from other workgroups, we hosted the Bookmobile Summer Launch Party, in which we invited the community to celebrate our bookmobile and the start of the Summer Library Challenge with cotton candy and other snacks, live jazz music, games, and a very talented juggler and face painter. o A Bookish Affair met to discuss The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod. o Two Adult Summer Library Challenge events: ▪ Seed Library 101, Library Gardens, & Plant Swap in which our wonderful Seed Library Team (Shannon Sedell, Rachael Hyde, and Alicia Yokoyama) presented on the LOPL Seed Library and Melissa Kelly and LAB members Seth Pauley and Patrick Walsh presented examples of inspiring library outdoor spaces across the country, and participants swapped plants and seeds. ▪ A Hypertufa Planter Workshop in which patrons crafted a simulated- stone planter. o A Third Tuesday Author Talk with George Sorenson, author of The Cello Who Loved Me, which recounts George’s experience walking the Camino de Santiago and learning to play the cello. o A monthly Poetry Group meeting. o Our monthly BYO Mystery Book Group. o Our monthly Building Bridges Book Group, which met to discuss The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai. o A presentation on Getting Started with AI: What ChatGPT Can and Can’t Do with Terrence Scott, Instructional Design Manager and Adjunct Instructor at PSU and Shaw Millerman, Technical Program Manager and data-systems specialist. o A presentation on Be SMART: A Discussion on Gun Safety in which volunteers from the non-profit organization Be SMART explained how secure firearm storage works and how to ask about unsecured guns in the homes that your child/teen visits. Stats Reference & Readers’ Advisory Interactions: 1,763 Programs for Adults: 19 Adult Program Attendance: 382* Programs for All Ages: 12 All-Ages Program Attendance: 1,301 * NOTE: Does not include the number of views of our recorded events. Patron Holly sent these photos of her squash and runner beans, planted with seeds from the Seed Library. She said “Here are pictures of my runner beans and squash babies. For the babies, maxima is on the left and moscato the right. I talk to them and play classical music (and jazz), while I’m gardening. I’m excited to see them grow up – though those teen years can be a challenge. 😉” Fun at the Hypertufa Planter Workshop! Youth Services June 2026 Monthly Report June is a month of milestones: • June 1 – Summer Library Challenge registration opens – we had 207 registrations that day • June 5 – Teen SLC kick-off party – 41 tweens and teens party after-hours in the library • June 12 – last day of School – Lots of children here to claim their Summer Library Challenge prizes • June 14 – Summer Library Challenge registration numbers hit 1,000 • June 17 – first Program in the Park – 116 participants made critter feeders and got their faces painted But truly, every day in the children’s library is exciting in June. There is constant traffic, families coming and going, gathering reading material to take on vacation, or to occupy the lazy days of summer. Storytimes are very full and we welcome a range of ages (school aged siblings) and visiting family members. The ArtBar is busy and take-away crafts fly out the door. PROGRAMMING: SUMMER LIBRARY CHALLENGE Kids are ready to read all summer long! We’ve had over 1500 registrations. More than 2/3 of those kids have claimed their free prize book. Families love the Summer Library Challenge because it keeps kids’ minds active all summer, it promotes literacy and a love of books, and of course—it’s fun! 449 people have completed a scavenger hunt clue. 1,112 kids have completed an additional mission. PROGRAMS IN THE PARK We kicked off a summer full of great family programming at Rossman park by making critter feeder crafts one week and fairy gardens the next. Kids and their caregivers were delighted to get creative with natural materials and even plant a flower start as the base of their very own fairy garden. These programs continue to be a hit for our families in the summer, and we’ve been seeing lots of new faces already, with over 200 people attending our first two programs. OUT AND ABOUT IN THE COMMUNITY Youth Librarians were out and about on the Bookmobile, visiting regular stops at Mercy Greenbrae and the LORAC. We also made a special appearance at the Oswego Towne Square, LO Pride and The Farmer’s Market. The Towne square partnership was initiated by the property owners and will be repeated in July and August. The event included entertainment, free ice cream cones, and lots of interaction with families from the Northwest corner of our service district. The bookmobile is so much more than just an oversized van full of books. The Library staff that are also inside are the best part of our outreach to the community. And the official bookmobile Launch party, planned and executed by staff from every department was great fun! Families enjoyed cotton candy, juggling, face painting, and the opportunity to get on and explore the bookmobile. Our newest StoryWalk “Proud Dog” is an inclusive, heartwarming, and hilarious picture book that celebrates the joy of family. Westlake is always a fun StoryWalk location because of its proximity to the popular playground and sports fields. This month there was even a tie-in with the fire station – Proud Dog Dorothy is a Dalmatian. Unfortunately, the StoryWalk was damaged by vandalism causing us to remove it entirely from the park before the month was over. Comments from happy readers: • Loved Proud Dog (Cameron, age 2) • It was fun to read! (Audrey, age 5 OUTREACH: We were still visiting Elementary Schools in early June and by the time we’d finished had spoken to over 2100 kids. (at this point, 1500 of them are registered for the Summer Challenge). Allison S. visited Mayan Torah Day School where she always gets a warm welcome. In June we partnered with a teacher from Lakeridge Middle School to find ways to connect students participating in the Spanish Immersion program with the Library. We provided information on how to sign up for the Summer Library Challenge and receive prize books in English and Spanish (Mandarin, too!). We are also supporting the school’s mini-Battle of the Books (Duelo de Literatura) program in Spanish by purchasing books from their booklist for our Spanish collection so that students have easy access to each title. Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts: Our annual event at the festival was extra special this year. We were joined by artist Sahara Aylanna Defrees for the first of four community events revolving around Echoes of Belonging, a community-centered public art installation to be installed at the Library. People of all ages participated in a guided painting session, "Paint the Story: Communities in Color" ART BAR AND TAKE-AWAY CRAFTS: June’s Art Bar and take-away craft projects both honored Pride Month with a rainbow bracelet craft made of pipe cleaners and beads at the art bar and a paper rainbow to take-away. It feels worth acknowledging that we give away 200 take-away crafts each month and often run out before the very last day. This is a service that is clearly very much appreciated in our community. TEENS AND TWEENS: The first two weeks of June were a busy time for teens and tweens! We celebrated the start of the Summer Library Challenge at the Teen Kickoff Party, which was attended by a record 45 middle and high school youth. They enjoyed pizza, boba tea, giant games, karaoke, trivia, and raffle prizes while we helped participants enroll in the SLC and claim their prize books. The two-part Paper Mache program for tweens was full both weeks and the tweens made critters and other objects of their choosing: a snail, a snake, a unicorn, a fish, a baguette, and more! We put out snacks and study kits for high school students the weekend before final exams. Jackie went to LO Pride with Alana on Rover, engaged with over 500 community members, and promoted tween and teen programming to lots of new young folks! Many of our teens attended Summer Library Challenge training to help with the summer Library Challenge. And the tweens are eager to be old enough to volunteer. This new cohort of tweens is so engaged that we imagine we will have a steady stream of volunteers for years to come. STATISTICS Reader’s Advisory/reference – 764 (includes 1000BBK and New Parent Gift bags) Program attendance – 31/1313 (does not include Rover outings, does includes storytime, special programs, outreach and LEGO club) HIGHLIGHTS • Frog Pond Farm (featured in the photo on the next page) was added to our growing list of Cultural Passes, venues that can be visited for free with an e-pass reservation through LINCC. We encourage patrons to visit this Wilsonville treasure between the months of May and October. • The Circulation department welcomed several new employees to the team, including Shelvers Jessie, Brooklyn, Cecilia, and Cindy. We also had Adrianna and Monty join the Library Assistant team. We look forward to helping them adjust to their new roles. • The Rover Bookmobile was officially launched publicly on June 13, with many community members braving the heat to attend the launch party in the library’s parking lot, among festive vendors, music, and food. In addition to those visitors, Rover served more than 1,000 people this month at various scheduled stops. Some notes/comments from visitors: CIRCULATION SERVICES o A Librarian visiting from Illinois loved the Bookmobile, took photos, and said she was going to “pitch this as an idea back home.” o A patron was excited to learn she could return her materials to Rover and other remote library bookdrops. o One patron was gleefully reminded of the Bookmobile at her local library in the 60’s. o A patron who was new to the area learned about our many offerings and was excited to start attending Storytime at the library. o From staff at the Pride LO event: “Overall, people were happy to see us, glad we were there, and talked about how much they love the library!” Part of the interactive petting zoo at Frog Pond Farm. Pride LO set up. NOTABLE STATISTICS • The Lake Oswego Public Library was closed Friday, June 19, 2026, for Juneteenth • *We will be investigating the accuracy of these numbers in July • Correction to seed library statistics for April: 324 (report with date prompts was set incorrectly) OUTREACH STATISTICS Total outreach circulation: 284 Total items checked out at outreach: 278 Library cards created at outreach with a home library of LO: 17 Library cards created at outreach with a home library of LO Bookmobile: 5 Total library cards created at outreach: 22 Total circulation Items checked in Items sorted by AMH Items renewed Items borrowed from outside the County Items loaned outside the County Items borrowed from LINCC libraries Items loaned to LINCC libraries Holds filled Held items not checked out Total library cards issued to new members eCards issued Home Deliveries Carts shelved Average daily carts shelved Cultural Pass reservations Seed Library Checkouts Indoor Visitors Curbside Visitors Self-checkout 66,678* 53,436 43,002 18,011 67 181 14,122 15,857 11,013 1,502 370 48 46 877 29 168 226* 14,175* 7 85% Technical Services Department June 2026 Monthly Report Labeling Change Makes New Books Easier to Find in Youth Services Old ‘New’ labeling (green dots) → → → → → → → New ‘New’ labeling (yellow tape) For many years, the Library used simple colored paper ‘dot’ stickers on the spines of books to indicate new materials. Because the ‘New’ status is temporary, the readily- available and inexpensive dots were a simple solution. A red dot on the spine label of a book in the Adult collection formerly meant that the item was new to the Library; the Children’s collection used green dots for the same purpose. (Historical processing trivia: the red dots were placed at the top of the Adult spine labels, but for children’s books the green dots went on the bottom of the spine label.) Around 2000, when pre-printed Library-specific labels became more common and more cost-effective, the Adult collection was switched to pre-printed yellow ‘New’ stickers to replace the red dots, which made it much easier for staff and patrons to identify new materials. The green dots in the Children’s section persisted, though, until just this month when the Technical Services Department started using a new product: essentially, a colored masking tape with the word ‘New’ printed on it. The new labelling is an economical way to help readers find their next new favorite book.