5.5 LIBSR 01-26-20215.5
Library Services Coordinator Report -Board Meeting —126 2021
The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly had its effects on circulation at the library, with being closed fully
for almost a month from mid -March to mid -April and with doing curbside only for 3 months until we re-
opened in mid -July. We ended 2020 with a circulation decrease of 36.7 percent. However, for the
month of December 2020, our circulation was up 6.8 percent compared to December of 2019. So, our
trend is the right direction, and we hope to continue that trend.
Staffing at Elk River has also been greatly affected by the pandemic. However, we have recently
promoted one of our staff to fill an open library assistant position, and have hired a new employee in
our library aide position. We are currently accepting applications for two aide openings, and hope to
have those filled quickly. In the interim, we have been very fortunate to have experienced staff from
our Becker/Big Lake branches, as well as St. Michael branch, who have stepped in to sub, and have kept
the customer service experience seamless for our Elk River patrons.
Our focus and goals have shifted as we look at how we can continue to provide our core services of
access to the collection, as well as access to technology. Programs and events are not our priority focus
at this time, however, we have added back our monthly adult book club and our monthly "Schooled in
Art" program for school age children. Our next step will be exploring a virtual return to our storytimes.
Our goals for 2021 focus on access to core services, technology, and programs for our distance learning
students, homeschool families in our community, and other patrons where there may be a service gap.
We want to safely provide services while continuing to work within the limitations of the pandemic
mandates in order to mitigate the virus for our patrons and staff.