1966-Annual Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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Cary Memorial Library Service and lively activity are the key words at Cary Memorial Library. Despite continuous weeding, holdings of magazines, records and books increase yearly, the latter by 10,000 volumes. Circulation has increased by 3,000 over 1965. Circulation refers to the number of items borrowed; it does not measure other services, such as reference. In any one day, about fifty questions from students, adults and industry are answered by our reference staff. Individuals carrying out their own research are in constant attendance at the library. Some innovative programs have been discontinued: a Saturday night film series, adult education classes and Sunday afternoon concerts have been dropped because low at- tendance indicated that the needs were already being met in Lexington. Others have suc- ceeded famously: business and science /technology services, print rentals, multiple copies, art exhibitions, a training course in the use of the library, and a play- reading series. The library's 1966 expenditures amounted to $52,252 for all expenses from books to brooms, and $157,159 for salaries. This was augmented by state aid of 25 cents per capita, or $6,922.75 (1960 census). The trustees have abided by the spirit of the state aid law, to extend and improve library service, and in 1966 this money went towards rental of a Xerox, purchase of a microfilm reader /printer, and purchase of multiple copies of books in high demand. The library also received the back - handed support of delinquent borrowers, who contributed more than $15,000 by paying fines for overdue and lost books. This money was used entirely for books and records. In January, the trustees retained the services of Kenneth Shaffer, Director of Simmons School of Library Science, to develop guidelines for planning the library's future. In brief, Mr. Shaffer agreed with our goal of building a strong book collection such as one might find in a small liberal arts college, but advised that no further expansion in cultural activities be undertaken. An annual increase of at least $5,000 in the book budget was recommended to strengthen the collection, in addition to normal annual increases to meet rising costs of books. Mr. Shaffer also urged closer cooperation between the school li- braries and the public library to insure the efficient use of staff and plants to avoid costly duplications. In line with modern trends in library organization, he suggested a relatively small increase in administrative personnel to direct the work of a considerably augmented clerical staff. These, among other recommendations, are envisaged as part of a twenty to twenty -five year growth and development plan, to enable the library to keep pace with the demands of an expanding population. A copy of Mr. Shaffer's report, "Challenge of Excel- lence," is available at the reference desk. Our library's activities are dramatized by a comparison with other towns in 1965: Per Capita Budget as 1965 % of Total Population Circulation Volumes Budget Town Budget Lexington 31,500 13.2 3.5 $ 5.90 2.00 Brookline 54,004 7.9 6.2 10.45 3.60 Arlington 52,482 8.8 2.9 6.77 2.83 Wellesley 26,297 12.5 3.7 6.92 1.48 Winchester 21,891 10.7 10.1 5.94 1.25 It will be seen that, while circulation is very active, our book collection and pur- chasing power are relatively small. Lexington residents really use their library. 14