An Overview of Winnefox Library System Activities in 2004

Winnefox had a busy year in 2004. The continuing increase in use that libraries are seeing means more demand for Winnefox services.

Our WALS staff were probably the busiest in 2004. In addition to their regular work load maintaining the network and providing hardware and software support to our member libraries they continued to plan and successfully complete our migration from the old DRA automated system to the Sirsi Unicorn system. This task included upgrading the servers, training staff at all member libraries, and lots of work making sure the data was successfully converted and moved to the new system. Thanks to the hard work of both WALS & OPL staff this was successfully completed.

The dust hadn’t settled from this project when Fond du Lac Public Library joined the WALS system. Fond du Lac is the second-largest library in Winnefox and librarians have commented that the addition of their materials to the shared collection has been welcome.

At the end of 2004 only four libraries—Brandon, Campbellsport, Neshkoro, and Oakfield—are not on the WALS system. Campbellsport has started the process and should be up sometime this summer. In the summer and fall Karen Boehning and I met with the trustees of these libraries and the rest are hoping to migrate to WALS in late 2005 or 2006.

For the past several years we have seen increases in intra-library loan—loaning materials between WALS libraries. In 2004 lending was down slightly, 148,861 items compared to 152,973 in 2003. However the request system which allows patrons and staff to place reserves on items in the catalog was closed for 29 days for the system migration. Had this not been the case loans would have increased again.

Interlibrary loan—materials being loaned between WALS and non-WALS libraries—continues to be a well-used service (“non-WALS libraries” includes both Winnefox member libraries who are not part of the WALS network and libraries outside of Winnefox). In 2004 our ILL clearinghouse received 5,775 requests from member libraries, as compared to 6,568 in 2003. We are also seeing a growing number of requests from libraries outside Winnefox. In 2004 we received 22,988 requests from other libraries, as compared to 20,429 in 2003 and 17,817 in 2002. This seems to indicate that our member libraries do a good job of collection development. Of the 22,988 requests received from outside Winnefox we were able to fill 10,303.

With this many items traveling between libraries, the delivery service is the lifeblood of Winnefox. Our three drivers drove the two vans 66,111 miles in 2004 and made 5,890 stops to deliver material to member libraries, senior residences, day care centers, and the Redgranite Correctional facility. A total of 31,635 boxes were transported.

Use of electronic resources continued to increase in 2004. We started out the year with 10 databases; unfortunately we were unable to renew all of them and two—Lands & Peoples and America the Beautiful—were discontinued in February. Later in the year we were able to subscribe to OCLC WorldCat access for our libraries. For the second year in a row we ended the year with fewer resources than we had begun with. Because of differences in what each resource vendor counts—some count searches, some logins, some search sessions—it is difficult to provide one overall use figure.

In 2004 we continued to participate in the AskWisconsinLibrarians virtual reference project. Links were placed on library web pages and staff at Winnefox and Oshkosh PL took shifts as question answerers. 628 chat and email sessions originated from Winnefox member web sites.

We are participants in the WPLC NetLibrary e-book program which is seeing increased usage. In 2004 1,342 e-books were checked out.

Continuing education is important for our librarians. Not only is it necessary to keep informed about current developments but library directors are required to participate in continuing education activities to remain certified. In 2004 Winnefox sponsored 15 workshops or training sessions for librarians with 242 staff from Winnefox member libraries, staff from public libraries in other systems, and staff from school, academic, and special libraries attending.

Printing & graphics continues to be a popular service. The printing service made 891,395 impressions in 2004. In 2004 Renee Miller, our graphic artist, won several ‘Best of Show’ and ‘Honorable Mention’ recognitions from ALA for our original Summer Reading Program materials.

Winnefox provides member libraries with coordinated SLP support including bookmarks, flyers, custom reading records, and prizes. We also coordinated a system-wide end of summer program for SLP participants at Galloway House & Village in Fond du Lac. 1,361 SLP participants and family members gathered for an afternoon of historically-themed activities.

In 2004 Winnefox Cooperative Technical Services cataloged & processed 15,830 items for member libraries. Another service of WCTS is coordinating rotations of Audiobook & DVD circuits to member libraries and providing collections of large print books from the WCTS central collection. In 2004 they circulated 9,020 large print books. Many of these are used for library deposit collections in senior citizen residence, nursing homes, and other facilities.