Minutes of the Patchway Library Users Group Annual General Meeting
And Ordinary Meeting held on Thursday 10th October 2011.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
1. Public Session: none
2. Present: Robert Sharp (Chair), Marjorie Graupner (Vice chair), Stephen Wightman,
John Abraham (Library Area Manager, north), Emma Fisher (Librarian Patchway and Filton), Marilyn Goodman, Tim Bowly, Kathy Hemmings, Cllr Sam Scott.
3. Apologies: Cllr Eric Gordon, Elaine Tayler.
4. Chairman’s Report, 2010-11
There have been many changes which have occurred during this year in Patchway. Primarily, there was the move from the Library’s temporary home in the Casson Centre of the Patchway Community Centre to the “ Hub “ in Rodway Road.
I must convey my grateful thanks to the staff of South Gloucestershire Library Services for maintaining a good Library service to Patchway residents this year. In particular I wish to thank those who worked in the cramped rooms in the Casson Centre and those involved in the move to the new building in the “ Hub “.
I must commend the effort made to getting the new Library up and running to accommodate our growing needs.
I certainly am proud to have been associated with the current Patchway Library Users group who have championed the first rate layout we have today. The provisions for the disabled users are much appreciated.
The numbers of users coming in / joining and rejoining this Library together with the attendees at the opening events auger well for a busy, satisfactory time ahead.
With only a few minor adjustments I can see this new Library being able to provide the books / audio and visual needs for this growing town. Also this Library should be able to cope with the future expansion to accommodate the needs of the new residents of Charlton Hayes.
It is hoped the necessary changes to public transport links will soon overcome the current difficulties for local residents in getting to Rodway Road.
5. Minutes of previous AGM and matters arising: none
6. Election of Officers: Robert Sharp elected Chair and Marjorie Graupner elected Vice chair.
ORDINARY MEETING
1. Public Session: Agreed to move future meetings to 7:15pm on Tuesday evenings to tie in with the late night opening at the library.
2. Present: Robert Sharp (Chair), Marjorie Graupner (Vice chair), Stephen Wightman,
John Abraham (Library Area Manager, north), Emma Fisher (Librarian Patchway and Filton), Marilyn Goodman, Tim Bowly, Kathy Hemmings, Cllr Sam Scott.
3. Apologies: Eric Gordon, Elaine Tayler.
4. Matters arising from minutes of meeting 11th July
Item 9:
The BookStart scheme will continue but the packs (18 months – 2 years) will no longer be distributed via the library – they will be targeted at particular families instead.
The Library Users survey will take place in the 1st 2 weeks in November. The questionnaire has been changed following feedback from July’s meeting. For example, Question 1 no longer asks people to grade their responses from 1-10. Rather, a simpler scale is used asking people to rate services from ‘very good’ to ‘very poor’. Any volunteers to help hand out the surveys would be most welcome.
5. Correspondence: none.
6. Librarian’s Report
NEW LIBRARY
It is hard to believe that it is only 3 months since we held our last meeting at the Casson Centre. The new Library opened to the public on 6th September and has proved very popular with our users. Since reopening we have joined nearly 200 new members which is a very positive start.
To mark the reopening of the library and promote the library within the community we have held a series of events and have more planned throughout October. On 20th September we held an open evening which was attended by Cllr James Hunt (the Executive Councillor, Communities), Jack Lopresti MP, members of our library committee, local PCSOs, teachers and representatives from SureStart and the Volunteer Centre amongst others.
ACTIVE MIND MONTH
Active Mind Month is a series of events taking place throughout South Gloucestershire aiming to encourage people to become more active and involved with their local communities. Patchway Library is taking part and using this as an opportunity to promote the new library. Events at Patchway Library have included:
The Great Poetry Postcard Project: poet Sara-Jane Arbury spent a day in the library talking with local residents and creating poems from their memories. The poems will be displayed in the library.
Crime panel with Matthew Hall & Gerard O’Donovan: This really enjoyable event was attended by 17 people.
Meet the Artist: Patchway Water colourists invited users to a talk by a professional artist which included a demonstration of the artist’s work and a chance to learn new styles and techniques. 26 people came to the event.
IT SUPPORT
Our new IT Support Volunteer Rachel started in October. Members of the public are able to book one to one sessions with Rachel on Friday mornings for tutorials in basic IT skills such as email, Word and using the internet. We are continuing to recruit more volunteers and will be offering more IT sessions in the future.
COMMUNITY LEARNING
From the end of September, Community Learning are using the new IT suite to run computer courses when the library is closed. Some of the courses available are: beginners IT, improvers, getting started, internet & email, publisher, spreadsheets and digital imaging. In addition, they are also running Maths and Literacy courses.
CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
The Summer Reading Challenge: The ‘Circus Stars’ theme captured the imagination of local children this summer. 94 Children took part in the Summer Reading Game this year and 54 children completed the challenge. This is an increase on last year despite being in the temporary library and closed for part of the summer due to the move in to the new library. Our most successful activity was the circus skills outreach event at Scott Park where 28 children learnt to juggle, spin plates and walk on stilts!
Rhyme times & story times: These regular events for pre-school children are proving a big draw in the new library. Numbers have increased dramatically, with 33 children coming to the latest rhyme time. Chatterbooks: Our reading group for Primary school children is starting again in November.
STAFFING
We are interviewing for the 2 vacant posts at Patchway Library this week.
COMING UP
Kissing Mr Wrong, Thursday 13th October, 7pm Come and meet popular author Sarah Duncan, author of Kissing Mr Wrong ‘short listed for romantic novel of the year 2011’ and other best selling novels, and learn the secrets of her success. Meet the Gruffalo, Saturday 15th October, 10am – 12noon Don’t you know there IS such a thing as a Gruffalo! Come and have your photo taken with this classic book character. Widen your Horizons, Wednesday 19th, 4 – 5pm Sample exotic foods, try a new language, take part in a traditional craft and learn about a different culture. An international workshop with students from the University of the West of England.
Comments on the report: Concerns were raised about the high number of people attending events e.g. 33 for story time and 26 to the water colour event. In particular it was felt that the water colour event interfered with the running of the library and that the planning of the event could have been improved. It was agreed that staff would learn from this and relook at the planning of future events.
Please could members of the group pass on their contact details if they have changed.
7. Performance News and Quarterly Statistics
Due to an upgrade of the library management system the quarterly statistics have only just been issued and thus details aren’t available for this meeting. Overall issues are up 3% across all libraries. The biggest change is in online renewals where there has been a 25% increase. Unfortunately the people counter is not giving accurate readings of the number of visitors and the method of collecting this data needs to be reviewed.
The committee were positive about the book displays and the new stock. Stock gaps include books on water colour painting. Please pass on any other stock suggestions.
Robert contacted Patchway Community College about any books they would like to see in the young adult section. The Users Group is keen to promote links between the school and the library and suggestions include: using the plasma screen in the teen area to push local activities and encouraging representatives from the school to join the committee. Robert is going to contact the Head Teacher.
8. Library Staffing Review and Organisation of Library User Groups
Following the Council’s restructure, Libraries will work in a new section called Community Cultural Services to include Community Learning, Skills, Heritage & Arts. This all sits within a new Division Safe and Strong Communities under the Environment and Community Services Department. John Abraham’s post changes to Operations Manager with responsibility for all branch, mobile and prison libraries. Clare Fletcher will be returning to Patchway & Filton in April (this post will be covered in the meantime) and Emma Fisher will become the Children and Young People’s Librarian. The frequency of Library User Groups will be reviewed in April.
There will be no library closures or reduction in opening hours this year.
9. Any Other Business
There has been an issue with the printer – a new printer has now been ordered.
There have been some issues with the new building but these are being resolved.
The Hub provides opportunities for different organisations to work together.
It was felt that not everyone is aware that the One Stop Shop is here.
The plasma screen is connected to the ‘My Patchway’ website with an ongoing updated events listing and BBC news headlines.
10. Dates and times of next meetings
Tuesday 17th January, 2012, 7:15pm
Tuesday 17th April, 2012, 7:15pm