Library Board Reelects Officers, Gets Update

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio –The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County reappointed its current slate of officers to a one-year term yesterday.

Elected to a term expiring in January 2018 were Dr. David Ritchie, president, and Delores Crawford, vice-president. Library staff reelected as officers were Heidi Daniel, library executive director; Mark Mrofchak, fiscal officer; and Tina McBane, deputy fiscal officer and secretary.

The board held its annual meeting followed by its regular meeting Thursday at the Newport Library.

Also nominated to three-year terms were board members Crawford, Timothy Bresnahan, Terry Dimascio and Ron Strollo. Their current terms expire this month.

In her report to the board, Daniel said total circulation was nearly 1.69 million items, an increase of 8.8% from 2015 and higher as well than circulation in 2014.

“At last year’s January board meeting, I stated that our goal was to bring circulation back to 2014 levels and we managed to surpass the 2014 levels slightly, despite the closure and construction of the West/Michael Kusalaba branch library,” Daniel said.

E-book circulation was up 16% and use of Hoopla, the library’s online streaming service, was up 61.5%. “Use of Hoopla started out small, but its collection has expanded and our customers are beginning to utilize the service,” Daniel said.

Door count was 1.06 million, up 9% over 2015, and reference questions asked were up 6.6%, Daniel continued.

Computer usage decreased by 6.9% over the year, at 180,964 sessions for 2016. On average, there were 1,028 signups per branch computer. Main Library had the highest computer usage, with 37,866 sessions.

Library Wi-Fi recorded 86,168 sessions in 2016, the first year of tracking on the library’s new system.

Daniel reported that the second round of Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspots has been deployed. The system now has 60 units to loan – double the number available when it launched the service in November. All of the units are checked out, with a wait list of 272, she said.

The library launched a new online training and learning service, Lynda.com. The service offers online courses in a variety of subjects from Microsoft Word and Excel to more sophisticated information technology and programming courses to leadership and development programs, she said.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.