Fiscal Year Report 2013-2104

2013-2014

NPL NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Fiscal Year report

Nashville Public Library Mission Inspire reading, advance learning and connect our community.

Vision All members of our diverse community are empowered through limitless learning opportunities to enrich their lives.

We Value Extraordinary Customer Service Love of Reading Lifelong Learning Intellectual Freedom Innovation Excellence Inclusiveness

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE KENT OLIVER LIBRARY DIRECTOR It is our pleasure to present Nashville Public Library’s (NPL) annual report for the 2013-2014 operating year.

While this report is certainly a “data” summary, it is first and foremost an important snapshot of how NPL makes a difference in the lives of thousands of Nashvillians each year.

Nashville Public Library is your public library - a vital learning resource for meeting community needs, one person at a time. Our strength is in our staff and in the vital collaborations we develop with our partners in Nashville and Davidson County and, indeed, all over the world.

We are intentionally developing services and programs that focus on the needs of our rapidly changing city. The directions our library is going are exciting and dynamic. If you have been following us recently, you already have an appreciation for this evolution - if not revolution - in public library service.

Nashville Public Library is a living example of the fact that public libraries are beyond just nice for a thriving community. Rather, they are necessary.

Happy reading and best wishes,

Kent Oliver Library Director

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE 2 STATISTICS

4-5

LOCATIONS 6 - 7

MILESTONES

8 - 13

COLLECTIONS 14 - 16 PROGRAMS & SERVICES

17 - 20

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

21 - 25

LIBRARY SUPPORT 26 - 28 LEADERSHIP 29

3

BUDGET STATEMENT July 1, 2013 - June 30, 2014 State and Federal Grants 144,198 NPLF support 778,947 General Fund appropriations: Personnel 14,906,412 Utilities 1,672,152 Professional & purchased services 520,383 Travel, tuition & dues 52,629 Communications 599,155 Repairs & maintenance services 523,389 Internal service fees 1,263,284 All other expenses 1,888,724 Total General Fund appropriations 21,426,128.00 Total FY14 Non-Capital Budget 22,349,273.00

Capital Budget Bond funds - City libraries maintenance & upgrades New Bellevue Branch construction New Southeast Branch construction Limitless Libraries school library renovations 4% funds - Ongoing materials purchases Total FY14 Capital Budget

4

2,253,767 4,334,985 12,065,462 341,599 2,736,650 21,732,463

STATISTICS

IT’S ABOUT THE NUMBERS TOTAL CIRCULATION

4,663,347 2,117,252

TOTAL MATERIALS

POPULATION SERVED

658,602

NUMBER OF LOCATIONS

22

NUMBER OF LIBRARY CARD HOLDERS

NUMBER OF PUBLIC COMPUTERS

321,168

575

TOTAL NUMBER OF STAFF

312

NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS

676

TOTAL VISITS

3,501,710 TOTAL PROGRAM ATTENDANCE

302,133 5

OUR BRANCH LIBRARIES

East Branch Library

Edgehill Branch Library

Edmondson Pike Branch Library

6

Main Library

Bordeaux Branch Library

Goodlettsville Branch Library

Bellevue Branch Library

Donelson Branch Library

Green Hills Branch Library

22 LOCATIONS Hadley Branch Library

Hermitage Branch Library

North Branch Library

Southeast Branch Library

Inglewood Branch Library

Old Hickory Branch Library

Thompson Lane Branch Library

Looby Branch Library

Pruitt Branch Library

Watkins Park Branch Library

Madison Branch Library

Richland Park Branch Library

Talking Library

7

A YEAR OF MILESTONES Hispanic Heritage Month Launches September 2013

Artober Launches October 2013

Hunger Awareness Month Launches January 2014

Final Four Launches March 2014

8

Library-wide Milestones African-American History Month February 2014

Nashville Reads Launches March 2014

Community of Many Faces Launches April 2014

Summer Reading Launches June 2014

9

A YEAR OF MILESTONES Civil Rights Room turns 10 December 2013

NPL Breaks Ground on New Southeast Branch Library June 17, 2013

Wright Middle School Library Reopens August 16, 2013

Main Library Reopens on Mondays October 14, 2013

NPL Breaks Ground on New Bellevue Branch Library October 22, 2013

10

Location Milestones Old Hickory Branch Library Reopens January 16, 2014

Edgehill Branch Library Reopens January 24, 2014

Pruitt Branch Library Reopens June 9, 2014

Metro Archives moves to the Main Library September 2014

11

A YEAR OF MILESTONES StoryCorps Comes to NPL October 2013

NPL Wins Agency of the Year Award for Accessibility October 2013 NPL Hosts Tribute to John Egerton December 8, 2013

Bringing Books to Life Wins TN Reading Award December 9, 2013

NPL Launches Lucky Day Collection December 2013

Nashville Public Library’s

Lucky Day Collection NPL Launches Seed Exchange February 2014

12

More Notable Moments NPL’s Liz Atack wins Teacher of the Year February 18, 2014

NPL’s “Picture Me” Wins National Bullying Prevention Award February 25, 2014

Library Opens First Studio NPL April 7, 2014

Dollar General Literacy Foundation Limitless Libraries $350,000 Grant May 7, 2014

NPL Launches New Americans Corners June 2014

new

americans corner

Library Welcomes NAZA July 24, 2014

13

COLLECTIONS We serve our American democracy by providing free, equal access to information.

Our diverse collections are key to NPL’s mission of inspiring reading, advancing learning and connecting community.

Collections that Launched This Fiscal Year

Lucky Day NPL Makes Patrons’ “Lucky Day” To put high-demand titles into patrons’ hands more quickly, NPL launched the Lucky Day collection, giving patrons yet another reason to check Library bookshelves often.

Extra copies of popular titles, bearing a “Lucky Day” sticker, would appear without notice - and get snatched up quickly. Patrons lucky enough to get them first could borrow them for up to two weeks.

Nashville Public Library’s

Lucky Day Collection 14

Library’s Collection Goes Green – Literally

StoryCorps Comes to NPL

Seed Exchange

StoryCorps

NPL launched a Seed Exchange, stocking its supply of heirloom seeds with donations by area farmers and food cooperatives.

NPL launched “Nashville’s New Faces,” a year-long oral history project, in partnership with StoryCorps @ your library.

In the first five months, patrons “checked out” more than 4,000 packets of seeds.

They were encouraged to bring in new seeds from what they planted, in order to grow the Seed Exchange collection and Nashville’s access to a sustainable, local seed crop.

The project was designed to expand NPL’s oral history collection to better represent Nashville’s changing demographics, including new immigrants and first-generation Americans.

NPL recorded 69 interviews and forged 9 community partnerships through this project.

COLLECTIONS Collections That Excelled This Fiscal Year

Civic Pulse Throbs In Civil Rights Room, Collection

Art Thrives at NPL

Digital Exchange

Civil Rights

Art

Digital Collection Drives Up Total Circulation Tech-savvy patrons of all ages streamed or downloaded 915,317 items (up 62 percent from last fiscal year). In fact, these streams and downloads accounted for 20 percent of NPL’s total circulation.

NPL also added free streaming music, video, television shows and movies with Freegal, Hoopla, and Overdrive subscriptions for patrons.

Award-winning journalist and writer Michele Norris headlined the 10-year anniversary of NPL’s Civil Rights Room and Collection, discussing her book and the Race Card Project. Nearly 20,000 scholars, visitors, patrons and students came to, studied in or attended a program as part of this one-of-a-kind space and collection.

Through a book art exhibit called “20 Collaborations,” the Library showcased top artists currently working in Nashville. With a second exhibit, “First Flight Out,” the Library partnered with the Metro Nashville Airport Authority to display works by major Tennessee artists.

15

COLLECTIONS

PROGRAMS & SERVICES Celebrating the Written Word

Collections That Changed This Fiscal Year

Salon@615

Metro Archives Metro Archives Moves, Forming Downtown Research Zone Metro Archives, which houses 5 million historic documents, moved to the Main Library in downtown Nashville. One floor up from the Library’s Special Collections Center - and less than a half-mile from the Tennessee State Library and Archives – the relocated Metro Archives formed a research quadrant. In this zone, researchers and patrons could more easily do scholarly work and trace their personal histories.

High-quality programs, free and open to all, are another cornerstone of how NPL fulfills its mission. As we bring people together, we also inspire them to read, encourage them to learn and help them connect as neighbors.

Moreover, as we provide programs and services, we keep our eye on diversity and accessibility.

For example, this fiscal year, NPL increased the number of its multilingual staff and expanded accessibility services with more real-time captioning of public programs. NPL also received the Agency of the Year Award from the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People With Disabilities.

16

Connecting Readers and Writers The Library joined the Nashville Public Library Foundation, Humanities Tennessee, and Parnassus Books to bring top-selling authors to Music City.

Writers such as David Baldacci, Anna Quindlen and Robin Roberts joined those who have come to Nashville for Salon@615 book talks and signings.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES Night at the Library

Writer’s Circle Connects Emerging, Premier Authors

Citywide Campaign Inspires Reading Across the Map

Meanwhile, diverse after-hours events drew people into the Library; these Night At the Library programs featured political historian Keel Hunt, Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat, comedienne Annabelle Gurwitch and the Neelys, a celebrity chef couple.

Writer’s Circle

Nashville Reads

This series, created for people with a “serious intent to write,” gave emerging authors the chance to learn from acclaimed writers. The Library paused this programming upon the death of its founder and leader, the late and beloved John Seigenthaler.

NPL joined the Mayor’s Office, the Nashville Public Library Foundation, Humanities Tennessee and Parnassus Books, encouraging residents to read Karen Joy Fowler’s “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.”

Readers engaged in community dialogue about this tale of family and science. They participated in more than 40 programs and book events, a short story contest and two social media promotions. In April, Fowler visited NPL for a book talk and signing.

Salon @ 615 Nashville Reads Edition

17

PROGRAMS & SERVICES Celebrating Music

Courtyard Concerts Library Creates Community Through Music NPL’s summer Courtyard Concerts made a popular return as performers brought the musical spectrum – everything from gypsy jazz to classical music – alive in the Main Library’s Robinson Courtyard.

18

Virtuoso Showcase Classical Guitar Series The Library’s Virtuoso Showcase Classical Guitar Series also made an anticipated return, featuring international musicians at four free Sunday-afternoon concerts.

That Nashville Sound

Finally, NPL revived its That Nashville Sound series. Fans flocked to the Library to hear country music icon Ralph Emery interview Grammywinning musician Ray Stevens.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

Celebrating Lifelong Learning

Wishing Chair

Using Puppets to Inspire Learning Wishing Chair Productions, the Library’s troupe of professional performing artists, performed 500 literacy-based puppet shows.

Their audiences numbered a total of 67,361 people.

Wishing Chair also gave popular return performances of “String City,” a 70-minute, 90-puppet musical production that tells the story of country music in Nashville.

In June, the troupe was the only American ensemble invited to perform at the International Puppet Festival in Magdeburg, Germany.

Wishing Chair

Productions

Program Puts The Brakes on Summer Break Learning Loss

Summer Challenge

Library Advances “21st- Century Learning”

Studio NPL

NPL opened its first A team of determined “makerspace,” called librarians headed into Studio NPL. summer 2014 with a mission: This ultra-modern space for to mitigate “summer slide.” art and digital This learning loss occurs invention opened in the when students stop reading Library’s Green Hills location. during school break.

Readers of all ages were challenged to earn a citywide total of 500,000 Summer Challenge points by reading, visiting parks, doing science projects, and otherwise “discovering their way” through summer vacation.

Nearly 23,000 people stepped up to the challenge, earning prizes and library fine amnesty. What’s more, NPL’s team of dedicated children’s librarians took programs to more than 3,500 kids in the community.

Studio NPL is designed for local middle and high school students to discover new interests and develop their current passions through mentor-guided activities and programs of their choice.

The opening was the first step in a plan to build more Studio NPL spaces across the system and to take a traveling Studio NPL into the community.

19

Programs & Services Celebrating Community Pride

Promoting Female Athletes

Showcasing Nashville’s Diversity Here are some of the programs NPL offered to celebrate the diversity of our great city:

Final Four

Community Outreach

NPL took advantage of having the NCAA tournament in Music City by hosting free movie screenings and tournament poster making, as well as a special exhibit on Middle Tennessee’s women’s basketball legends.

Hispanic Heritage Month: A celebration of Latin American and Caribbean art and culture

Artober: A month-long celebration featuring free arts and crafts, writing, music, theater and dance experiences for all

Community of Many Faces: A spring celebration of Nashville’s linguistic, cultural and ethnic diversity

20

NPL is committed to our neighborhoods and our neighbors. We provide high-quality programs and services at our 22 locations across Davidson County. We also make a deliberate effort to get outside our Library halls and walls and into our community.

Community Outreach Students Stand Against Bullying

Nurturing Young Bookworms

Food for Fines

T.O.T.A.L.

BBTL

Every year, when temperatures drop and local food bank supplies are depleted, we give patrons an opportunity to wipe out library fines and support neighbors in need.

NPL is serious about offering programs and services for teens, designed by teens. Our team, called Totally Outstanding Teen Advocates for the Library (T.O.T.A.L.), led anti-bullying workshops for their peers across the city.

Patrons Unite in Service

During our January Food for Fines campaign, patrons earned $1.00 in “fine forgiveness” with every non-perishable food item they donated. The Library collected nearly 41,000 pounds of food for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.

These events featured photography and essay writing, channels for participants to process their own experiences and educate others about bullying.

The project, called “Picture Me,” won the 2014 Exemplary National Bullying Prevention Award from the School Safety Advocacy Council.

The Library’s early literacy outreach team, called Bringing Books to Life, brought workshops to more than 40,000 students, parents and teachers at more than 250 schools and childcare centers across town. These literacy events also included popular visits from the Library’s traveling puppet truck.

In February, the National Center for Families Learning recognized Bringing Books’ leader, Liz Atack, as the 2014 Family Teacher of the Year – the first librarian-based educator to ever win this award. BBTL also received the Tennessee Reading Association’s Literacy Award in December 2013.

21

Community Outreach Library Reaches Students On Campus

Limitless Libraries Limitless Libraries (LL) is a shared program of NPL, the Mayor’s Office and Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). From their school libraries, students order from NPL’s catalog, and the Library delivers daily.

MNPS students and teachers at 126 schools borrowed 128,000 books, movies and CDs through LL during the 2013-2014 school year. Nearly 20,000 students signed up for the program, and about 7,000 teachers joined.

Additionally, through LL, the Library poured $1 million into public school libraries, purchasing laptops, books and learning databases for students. In May, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded LL $350,000 to buy more resources for kids.

Finally, NPL brought its expertise in library design to the LL partnership. The

22

Library worked with school leaders and architects to renovate the school library at Wright Middle School, part of the LL network. Thanks to a generous donation from John and Stephanie Ingram, Wright Middle’s library reopened in August 2013, bright, modern and unrecognizable from its old self.

Library Reaches Kids During Critical After-School Hours

NAZA

The Nashville After Zone Alliance (NAZA) is a network of coordinated after-school sites. There, Metro middleschool students do homework, study, read and participate in enrichment activities during after-school hours that studies show are critical to kids’ safety and success.

The program, which launched in 2010 in the Mayor’s Office, moved to NPL in a strategy to ensure NAZA’s sustainability and boost students’ reading scores.

Community Outreach Library Gives Patrons Better “Shopping” Experience

In A Changing City, Library Emerges as Diversity Champion

Library Opens Its Doors to Healthcare Information Initiative

Online Catalog

Pathway to Citizenship

ACA

NPL unveiled a new online catalog, which made the online browsing process more like the Amazon or Google experience. Through this open-source system, developed by Marmot Library Consortium, e-book checkout and browsing became possible.

Users no longer had to go to a separate website to browse e-books; instead, they could borrow from NPL’s digital collection and get similar reading recommendations on one screen.

Nashville joined the federal government in a Pathway to Citizenship partnership, becoming one of only three U.S. cities to belong to this network.

For its part, NPL established New Americans Corners, information kiosks with free information on learning English and earning U.S. citizenship. NPL also partnered with local organizations to host 26 ESL classes, nine EL civics classes and four U.S. citizenship classes.

NPL joined a network of sites across Davidson County where residents could get information about healthcare coverage from certified volunteers. ACA volunteers helped 1,200 people at the Library.

23

Community Outreach NPL Engages Talented People Fifteen interns and practicum students completed projects at the Library, while 677 volunteers contributed 27,769 hours of service to NPL.

NPL Pushes Forward in Creating “Tomorrow’s Libraries” The Library moved forward in an unprecedented renovation, modernization and construction campaign, reopening three branch libraries – Old Hickory, Edgehill and Pruitt – after modernizing these locations.

Old Hickory Branch Library

24

Meanwhile, NPL broke ground on two new sites in Bellevue and Southeast, both busy areas where growth had far outpaced existing facilities.

Finally, NPL hosted community input meetings at two regional branch locations, Bordeaux and Edmondson Pike, to gather feedback on redesigns and upgrades planned there in 2015.

Edgehill Branch Library

Bordeaux Branch Library

Pruitt Branch Library

Edmondson Pike Branch Library

Community Outreach Library Leads The Way to Digital Access, Digital Literacy and Employment People came to NPL to use free public computers 808,419 times and free Wi-Fi 223,850 times.

What’s more, NPL helped people of all backgrounds and ages build their technological literacy during 166 free computer skills classes.

In today’s digital world, most career building must be done on a computer. That’s why NPL also helped local job seekers build their resumes, search online job listings and apply online for employment during 97 free jobs help sessions.

25

NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION

When Andrew Carnegie helped Nashville establish its first public library more than a century ago, books were the only story. Today, Nashville Public Library serves the community in ways and in numbers that Carnegie couldn’t have imagined. The Nashville Public Library Foundation has been part of the library’s phenomenal success since 1997. Since the inception of this thriving partnership between local government funding and private philanthropy, the foundation has raised more than $30 million to enhance the library’s programs, facilities and collections.

Gifts to NPLF help create a more literate, educated and connected Nashville community by funding award-winning early reading programs, employment services, teen spaces, after school programs, outdoor concerts, author series and more.

Everyone can be part of the story at Nashville Public Library. Make a donation, become a member or volunteer your time. Your support will ensure that more than 650,000 Nashville children, teens and adults have access to free educational opportunities for years to come. Visit nplf.org to learn more!

In FY14, the Library Foundation allocated more than $2.4 million dollars to support the public library’s growing programs, facilities and collections. Outcomes from NPLF funding include: - Studio NPL now open at Green Hills Branch: Gifts to NPLF helped develop and create the first studio space for teens at the Green Hills branch library. The first of several such spaces to open in the library system, Studio NPL provides teens with mentor-based after school programming and access to state-of-the-art technology.

- Wright Middle School Library Renovation: Thanks to a generous gift from Stephanie and John R. Ingram to the Limitless Libraries - program, the Wright Middle School library received a major transformation including new books and materials,upgraded technology and a modernized space renovation to provide students with a fun place to hang, explore and learn. The library is also open after hours for parents and community members to learn English, take classes, read and more!

- - $14 Million Raised: With the support of campaign honorary co-chairs Mayor Karl Dean and Nicole - Kidman, NPLF announced it was just $1 million away from reaching its $15 million campaign goal to benefit the public library. For the first time, NPLF launched a grassroots community campaign to invite the entire Nashville community to help cross the finish line and be part of the story.

- - Literacy Programs in High Demand: Award-winning early reading program, Bringing Books to Life, saw a steady increase in demand for its services benefitting both children and adults. Gifts to NPLF funded the addition of an Adult Literacy component to the program, purchased a second Puppet Truck and hired new puppeteers to support greater need in the community. Thanks to the new truck and team, the library can provide more puppet performances to agencies serving children and teachers. In the afternoon, the truck does double duty as an Adult Literacy mobile lab.

26

Staff Tari Hughes, President Claudia Schenck, Director of Operations Elizabeth Sherrard, Director of Development Amanda Tate, Director of Corporate and Community Fundraising Mackenzie Grosser, Marketing and Communications Manager Rene Hill, Donor Database Manager Carra Jacox, Administrative Assistant Contact information: Nashville Public Library Foundation 615 Church Street Nashville, TN 37219 p: 615-880-2613 e: admin@nplf.org

In 2013, NPL awarded Robert K.Massie with the tenth annual NPL Literary Award. The weekend’s events raised a record $594,484 in support for the Public Library.

27

FRIENDS

Friends of the Library “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson Friends of Nashville Public Library is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization that supports the work of our wonderful public library. We are committed to enhancing the library’s rich resources and culture by advocating within the community, providing financial support for special programs and projects, administering gifts on behalf of donors to the library, and supporting volunteerism. Every branch library has Friends, and all are joined together under the group’s charter.

Friends host programs which enrich the library’s offerings, such as the Virtuoso Showcase Classical Guitar series and the Thinking Out of the (Lunch)Box series. The Friends of the Library also help by administering grants and directly financing several key library initiatives, such as volunteer support.

Friends also sponsor the Second Saturday Bookstore, held the second Saturday of every month at Donelson Branch. Proceeds from this sale support a myriad of projects throughout the year. This is in addition to smaller booksales that branch Friends of the Library groups hold at other area branches throughout the city.

To find out more about Friends, talk to your branch library manager, or visit www.friendsofnashvillelibrary.org.

28

LEADERSHIP NPL Administrators Kent Oliver, Director Susan Drye, Administrative Services Larry Price, Branch Services Tricia Bengel, Collections & Technology Services Elyse Alder, Community Engagement Jenna Schmid, Main Library Services

NPL Board of Directors Keith B. Simmons, Library Board Chair Lucy D. Haynes, Member Francie M. Hunt, Member Sepidiah C. Khansari, Member Ronert K. Oermann, Member Margaret Ann Robinson, Member Joyce Searcy, Member

29

30

NPL

NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

31

WE’RE ALL UNIQUE, BUT OUR LOVE FOR THE LIBRARY UNITES US.