Library circulation up, sharing continues to climb in 2009 according to annual report

Kids will have an opportunity to read to Bailey the Dog 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the library classroom. By reading to Bailey, new readers improve skills.

The Friends of the Library meet at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 15. If you are not already a member of this fine support group for the library, consider joining us. Membership forms are in the Friends corner – to your left as you come in. Besides helping the library and meeting new people, another benefit to membership is being included in the Friends mailings and e-mail alerts.

The children’s library has been collecting coins in a big glass jar for several years, and with a little help from the Friends, they have purchased an aquatic cube, a fun activity toy for the story boat. Thanks to everyone who dropped money in the jar.

I have been working on the annual report for the state library. In 2009, the library and branches checked out 405,988 items, compared with 395,524 in 2008. This is the first year the library has not seen a decrease in checked-out items since 2004. We hope this trend continues. Another upward statistic was the number of adult programs sponsored by the Friends. They went from sponsoring eight in 2008 to 13 in 2009. A statistic that continues to grow steadily every year is the number of items we borrow and loan from other libraries. In 2009, we borrowed 25,729 items and loaned 26,093.

New non-fiction includes: “The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half,” “The Easy Way for Women to Stop Smoking,” “Comfort Food Diet Cookbook,” “Sunday Rides on Two Wheels: Motorcycling in Southern Wisconsin,” “Suddenly Frugal,” and “Googled” by Ken Auletta.

New fiction includes: “Remarkable Creatures” by Tracy Chevalier, “Merry Wives of Maggody” by Joan Hess, “The Unbearable Lightness of Scones” by Alexander McCall Smith, “Kisser” by Stuart Woods, “The Burning Land” by Bernard Cornwell, and “Death of a Valentine” by M. C. Beaton.

New YA books include: “Don’t Judge a Girl By Her Cover” by Ally Carter, “Purge” by Sarah Littman, “The Boy Book” by E. Lockhart, “Snow Queen” by Emma Harrison, “The Uninvited” by Tim Wynne-Jones, “The Indigo Notebook” by Laura Resau, and “Perfect Shot” by Debbie Rigaud.

New books on CD include: “Witch & Wizard” by James Patterson, “Peter and the Sword of Mercy” by Dave Barry, “Abigail Adams” by Woody Holton, and “Going Rogue” by Sarah Palin.

New children’s books include: “Melvin’s Valentine” by Jon Scieszka, “Weezer Changes the World” by David McPhail, “The Frogs and Toads All Sang” by Arnold Lobel, “Plum Fantastic” by Whoopi Goldberg, “Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine” by Herman Parish, “The Super Hungry Dinosaur” by Martin Wadell, “Green-Eyed Monster” by Carolyn Keene, and “Tiger Taming” by Julie Sykes.

Library hours are 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in Superior; 2-7 p.m. Monday and 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Solon Springs; and 2-7 p.m. Wednesday in Lake Nebagamon. Call 394-8860 in Superior, (715) 378-4452 in Solon Springs, or (715) 374-3477 in Lake Nebagamon.

Janet Jennings is the director of the Superior Public Library.

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