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FACILITIES-MATERIALSMANAGEMENT

ANNUALREPORT

2012-2013

FACILITIES

Itishardtobelievethatournewlibrarybuildingisalmostfiveyearsold!Eachyear,itsthebuilding

thatprovidestheenvironmentforalltheamazingthingsthathappenhere.

TheCommunityRoom,withitseasyaccess,ampleseatingandcuttingedgetechnology,hasindeed,

becometheplaceforourcommunitytomeet.Thisyearithasbeenthesiteofseveralpublicforums,

includingonediscussingGunsinAmericawithAttorneyGeneralGeorgeJepsenandCongressman

JimHimes,aBoardofEducationcandidatesdebatesponsoredbytheLeagueofWomenVoters,a

presentationbyRepresentativeTerrieWoodsofficeonAccessHealthCareandthenewhealthcare

regulations,andaninformativelegislativewrap-upsessionalsopresentedbyRepresentativeTerrie

Wood.Anoverflowcrowdofmorethan400peopleattendedatownmeetingheldbyCongressmanJim

HimesandSenatorRichardBlumenthalonthequestionofmilitaryinterventioninSyria.Inthe

aftermathofSuperstormSandy,DarienFirstSelectmanJaymeStevensonusedtheCommunityRoomto

provideanupdatetothetownontheprogressofthestormrecoveryefforts.TheFederalEmergency

ManagementAgencyalsoutilizedourspacetoholdpublicsessionsafterSandy.Dozensofnon-profit

communitygroupshaveusedtheCommunityRoomandthemezzanineConferenceRoomformeetings

andevents.

OfcourseLibraryprogramsarethemostfrequenteventshappeninginthemeetingrooms.Countless

culturalandeducationalprogramsincludingauthortalks,discussiongroups,films,plays,danceand

musicalpresentations,yogaandmeditationclasses,healthpresentations,andpuppetshowshavetaken

placehere.SomeofthemoreunusualguestsintheCommunityRoomhavebeenamagnificentwhite

wolfandanassortmentofliveseacreaturesliketurtles,crabs,andseastars.Itsnotjustthemeeting

rooms,however,thatprovideenvironmentsforfunandinterestingevents.Everypartofthebuilding

providesaspaceforsomethinggreattohappen.TheChildrensLibraryhashostedsleepoverpartiesforkidsandstuffedanimals,theReadingCourtyardhashadmusicalconcerts,anastronomyprogram,a

rubberduckyregattainthepool,ateenrockconcert,andachildrensmini-carnivalwithface-painting,

gamesandanicecreamtruck.Also,outsideintheparkinglotwehostedoursecondRedCrossSave-a-

LifeBusblooddrive.The2ndfloorMainReadingRoomistransformedeachyearintoapartyplacefor

theLibrarysmajorfundraisinggala.Eventhetraditionalbookstackshaveprovidedtheperfecthiding

placesfortheChildrensLibrarySpySearchscavengerhunt,anddancingplatformsforMaterials

ManagementstaffperformingfortheLibrarysownvideoversionofDarienLibraryDoesGangnam

Style(Yes,really.Seeithere http://vimeo.com/53440355).DuringDarienHighSchoolmid-termand

finalexamperiodsweextendoureveninghoursandourbuildingaccommodateshundredsofhigh

schoolstudentswhogatherheretostudy,bothindividuallyandcollaborativelyinstudygroups.

Similarly,thebuildinghasaccommodatedhundredsofpeoplefromthecommunityduringnumerous

stormsandpoweroutagesoverthepastfiveyears.Atthosetimes,whenwewerefortunateto

maintainourelectricalpower,weextendedhoursandremainedopenforpeopletohaveawarmplace,

outletstore-charge,andlotsofbooks,programs,andgoodcompanytoenjoy.Lastfall,Superstorm

Sandycausedourfirstmajorlossofpowerandwehadtoclosefor1days.Fortunately,wewont

havetoworryaboutthathappeningagain.Atthistimeweareinstallingalargecapacitygenerator

whichwillbepowerfulenoughtoruntheentirebuildingduringtimesofpoweroutages.

Thisterrificbuildingthatallowsustodosomuchisgettingevenbetter!

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MATERIALSMANAGEMENT

Justasthebuildingsupportsthemyriadofactivitiesthathappenhere,theMaterialsManagement

DepartmentsupportsthemyriadofservicesprovidedbyeachLibrarydepartment.Matmanisthe

behindthescenesdepartmentthatisresponsibleforacquiringnewmaterials,cataloging,processing,

andkeepingall146,319itemsinorder,bothonlineinthecatalogandphysicallyontheshelves.This

yearweadded22,014newitemstothetotalcollection.NotallofthoseitemswerebooksorDVDs.We

havecatalogedandprocessediPads,headphones,e-Readers,flashlights,andbinoculars.Whilemostof

ourbooksarereceivedpre-processedandshelfready,anincreasingnumberofspecialordershas

resultedintheMatmantechnicalstaffmanuallyprocessingandadding2157 itemstothecollection.A

newcollectionfortheMuseumofModernArtinitiativewascreatedand160 MoMAartbookswere

catalogedandmanuallyprocessedinMatman.ChildrensLibrarystaffcompletelyre-organizedtheir

non-fictioncollectiontoincorporatethesubjectheadingorglademodelthathasbeensosuccessfulin

theadultsection.MatmansupportedthiseffortbyworkingwithPolaris(theLibrarysystemwhich

managesallpatronandmaterialdatabases)tohaveseveralthousandcatalogrecordsamendedto

reflectthechanges.Matmanhasparticipatedinandsupportedmanyotherprojectsincludingcreation

ofnewcollectionsforgraphicnovels,foreignfilmlanguagegenres,academictest-prepbooks,circulatingreferencebooks,14-Daybooks,andseparateArtandLiteraturecollections.Inventorieshavetaken

placeinboththefictionandnon-fictionareas.Matmanshelversre-shelved501,298returneditemsand

managed18,869requestsfrompatronsforavailableitems.Theyalsoperformedamoreunusual

inventoryrecently,bytaggingandloggingallthefurnitureinthebuildingforauditingpurposes.

MaterialsManagementhashadthehelpofsomenewtechnologythisyeartoincreaseefficiency.New

spinelabelprintersreplacedtheoldslowmodels,handheldscannerscoupledwithnewacquisition

featuresfromourvendorsenableustoscantheoutsideofdeliveriesforcontentswithoutevenopening

them,andaColibribookcoveringmachinemakesitasnaptoaddaprotectivearchivalclearcoverto

anybook.WearelookingforwardtoanothersoftwareupgradeinPolarissoonwhichwillallowusto

continuetomakegreatstridesforwardin2014.