-

report

W E S T V A N C O U V E R M E M O R I A L L I B R A R Y

LIBRARIAN: JOHN MARTIN

ANNUAL REPORT 1972

WEST VANCOUVER MEMORIAL LIBRARY

The illustration on the front cover is a woodcut showing an early printing press.

BOARD 11 E~1BERS

Alderman r1. Kerr (Chairman) Mrs. G. Rees Thomas !k . E. Keate '~ ,, r. H. Bennett [·Jr. R. Hobson

STAFF AT DECE~1BER 31 , 1972

Mr. John M a r t i n Librarian !l-1 rs . Ruth Stott, Deputy Librarian Mrs. Doreen Sullivan "'lrs . Ruth Park Nrs. Diane Pearson

~ i s s Glennie Robson ·~ ; ss !rfendy Carter >~rs. Norma Be nay ~ r s ~ Lucille Fisher 1rs. Patricia Dumond t ~ r s . Anne Langley Mrs. Phyllis Woodman · ~ 1 r s . 11abe 1 i''li ku 1 i k Miss Susan Cartwright ~~ ; ss Penny Berta f1 rs . I rene Gammon Miss El izabeth Lankenau t·1rs . Edna Smith Miss Nelda Jones

MRS. MUSTO'S R E S I G N A T I O N

nrs. Elizabeth Musto gave up her position as Chief Librarian at ~ J e s t Vancouver f~emorial Library in February of 1972. In January, she suffered a coronary and on medical advice went into early retirement.

~ks. ~ftusto came to ~!est Vancouver in 1951 to open the l•lest Vancouver r·1emorial Library. t'J ith little money, books and fev1

staff, a library service developed out of one room into the three-floor building that exists today.

The library service which became independent of Vancouver Public libraries in 1962 grew out of all expectations into the busiest little library in the world. This was due to a combination of ~1rs. ~1usto' s hard work and a 1 oca 1 coiTITiunity with a vigorous cultural awareness.

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Mrs. Musto had vision and in many ways was ahead of her time. Over the years she improved and s i.mp 1 ifi ed the sys tern imposed by Vancouver Public Libraries. She was a dedicated librarian whose main interest was her work. ~est Vancouver is richer because of her dedication. The Library and staff wish her well in retirement.

ISSUES

577,290 books circulated during the year. While the use of the Junior Library increased by .02%, adult lending library usage fell by 6.85. It is tempting to blame external influences such as television, increased investment in social, cultural and recreational facilities elsewhere, a booming economy (in times of economic recession library usage invariably increases). But the sad fact is that the ~Jest Vancouver ~·iemorial Library is .· falling behind, particularly in replacement volumes, and new books.

TovJards the end of the year when most of the bookfund was being spent, the staff reported an increase in complaints about in-sufficient new books coming into the library to satisfy demand.

Books become obsolete with age and use. At present about 20% of the stock needs discarding because the books are dirty, worn, out of date, no longer of any use, non-circulating.

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This situation is an accumulation of insufficient stock revision over a number of years.

In spite of increases in the cost of books (an average book costs the library between six and seven dollars), the bookfund for 1972 was only $500 more than in 1969. In spite of increasing book prices, the library had $6,500 less to spend on books in 1971.

The lack of investment in library materials results in diminishing use of the library. In 1969 each resident of \'~est

Vancouver borrowed on an average 18 books per year. By 1972 the average use was only 15 books per year, but this is still almost bJi ce the p~r capita usage for any other 1 i brary on the North American continent.

There is a strong case to be made for preserving the community•s considerable inves tment in library service, rather than l2t it become obsol ete.

BOOKSTOCK REVISION

Early in the year a start was made on weeding and discarding the many worn and obsol et e volumes. The shelving arrangement was altered so that for the main part the non-fiction stock ran in consecutive sequence . This was done to display library material for easier public use.

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The weeding ~nd discarding necessitated spending a large proportion of the bookfund on replacement volumes and on filling subject gaps. Coupled with the fact t hat the bookfund was some $6,500 l ess than the previous yea r ~ spending the bookfund on stock revision sharply reduced the amount of money available for more popular books and best-sellers.

ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION

!!Jrs. Stott took over as Acting Administrator in February. During this time a start was made on weeding the stock, a photo-copier was acquired , a suggestion box v1as introduced and a meet the author programme begun. A reception was held for Alice r ~unro, author of Lives of Girls and Women, and was very well supported by t he pu~lic.

In November a new Librarian ~.<Jas appointed to take over direction of the li brary. The last two months of the year \.'Jas given over to organizational adjustments.

It was felt that t he responsi bility for control and running of the library should bG shared by the professional librarians and the cl erical staff, and by spreading decision-making throughout the system, encouraging a feeling of participation and personal involvement.

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A library policy statement was formulated so that Board members as well as members of the staff will have a clear view of the purpose and direction of the library.

The duti es and responsi biliti es of the professional librarians were enumerated so that t hey could function within ~ departmental framework . Differences between professional and clerical duties were defined to ensure that hi gh ly paid workers were not spending time on routine cl erical duti es.

Operations such as t he ordering procedure and the overdue pro-ceduro were simplifi ed and reduced to a time-saving routine with the aid of multiple stationery. A work-flow system was intro-duced for the handling and processing of books, reducing both time spent and space required for this.

f.I.CQU ISITI ON OF t1ATERIAL

!'-1ost li brary materials come from the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom. In 1972 the li brary decided to become its o\'m importer, claiming t hG duty-free privileges of an educational institute .

By doing t his it can save as much as 30% on t he price of a book obtained from the United States. This releases more funds for the purchase of C~nadiana.

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BGcause of t he high proportion of the budget expended on staff salari es (about 72%), it became necessary to simplify thG acquisition of materials. The major portion of materials are now obtained from three book jobbers , each one represented in the country where the material is bought.

Small quanttttss of specialized material are bought direct from publishers.

CHANGES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

During tl1e year, many of t he prohibitive signs were removed from the library. Dogs and smoking are still not allm11ed. People who damage books must pay for them. We still charge fines, but to remind mature adults of their responsibilities can become absurd, occasionally objectionable, and certainly often un-aesthetic.

Towards t he end of the year an increased number of paperbacks were introduced into the library. People on the move often like a book wh ich can be slipped into their pockets . They have proved extremely popular.

The stack arrangement was altered in the ref~rence department to provide seating for fifteen more peopl e . This was done to encourage additional students to make use of the facilities.

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THE CHILDREN'S DEPARTMENT

Basic library activities, the control of the book collection,

the answering of reference questions, and the provision of

readers' advisory service, have taken up the major part of staff

time in 1972. Hm'lever, there ttJere some reaching out activities.

For the first time since 1966, there was a programme of story­

hours, ¥Jhich were ��Jell accepted by childron between the ages of

3 and 8.

Young Canada's Book Week activities consisted of book displays

in the Park Royal shopping centre; a reception for David Evanier,

\>Jhose book The SWinging Headhunter 111as pub 1 i shed in British

Columbia this year; special story hours; and a visit to the

book-related film programme, Child's Own Theatre, at the

Community Centre.

The Library enthusiastically receives, but so far does not

solicit, visits from pre-school groups and school classes. In

1972 there were six such visits. The Children's Librarian tests

Brownies and Girl Guides for their Book Lover's, Writer's,

Native Lore and Citizenship badges. These added up to 48 in

1972.

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STAFF RELATIOf·!S

Because of the introduction of a systems approach to the everyday routines of the library) much staff time has and will be saved. Separating people from was t eful routines may be quite admirabl e from an effici ency point of vi ew~ but change, especially when it reduces the \.',-'ork 1 oad ~ 1 eads to fee 1 i ngs of insecurity among the staff. The staff ha ve b l~en assun~d that the ourpose of efficiency changes is to make their job mo }·e p ~ easant and to re 1 ease t hem for more creat ive work . It is certainly not an attempt to make them redundant. The cl erical staff Hho are most affect0d by the organizational changes have without except ion adapted extremely \l~ell, and enjoyed \"\lorking under these cond itions.

To ease the various changes~ the 1 i brary has bto staff meetings a week. A meeting for the professional staff (i. e . the librarians), and t he senior Clerical Assistant~ and a meeting of t he full staff.

REGIONAL CITIZENs • CONFERENCE

The library participat ed in t he Reg ional Citizens• Conf:;rence held at British Col umbia Institute of Technology on April 29th.

The purpose of the Conference , and of the other conferences held throughout B.C. was to stimul at e grass-root support for a better-planned provincial li brary service.

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In the Lower Mainland area, this resulted in the Bowron Report, the settinq up of a Greater Vancouver Reg ional Library Council, and of plans to coordinate local li brari es into a federated system with increased provincial aid.

THE SPACE PROBLEM

Various Li brary standards arc used bot h in the St~tes ~nd in Canada to determine approximate sizes of librari es serving different populations e .g. standa rds proposed by ~>!heeler, the Am-::-! rican Library Association, the i·Jevada State: System etc.

f4ak ing allmoJances for heavy use, ¥-'est Vanccuver r1emorial Library should have betl¥een thirty t housand and forty thousand square feet of floor space . It has only t en thousand square f eet.

The l ack of proper working space would not be tol erated in other public buildings. There is only so far to go i n switching furniture and books around~ and the bu ilding is certainly past temporary expedi ents.

The Li brary Board to\'!ards t he end of 1972 began the process of planning for a new bui lding. It is hoped that plans may become reality by 1975. It is essential that the plan for a new bu ilding is realized by 1975 for the Library to survive .

Respectfully submitted ,

John r·.Jarti n Chi ef Librarian

STATISTICS

1971 1972

Population Served 36,270 37,500

Hours Open Weekly 51 58 Hours of BooK.111obil e Service 11 11

Stock -Books

Total at January 1 89,619 84,344 Acquisitions 7,878 9,091 Withdrawals 13 '153 5,278 Total at December 31 84,344 88; 157

Paperbacks * 1 ,977 Recordings 1 ,420 1,420 Periodical subscriptions 35 32

Circulation (total) 627,806 577,290 ~·1ai n Branch 609,404 566,693 Bookmobil e 18,402 10,597 Adult 454,567 424,227 Children 173,239 153,063

Interli brary Loans 35 54

* Statistics not available.

FINANCIAL STATEnEIH

Building Maintenance Grounds f1a i ntenance Building Operation Books and Magazines Book Binding CartagE: Bookmobile Operation Salaries and Benefits General Expense Administrative Charge Insurance Stationery, P1icrofilm, Book Jackets Office Equipment and Expense Telephone Equipment - Capital

Library Development Commission

Public charges, fines,

Total operating reserve account

Budaet 1972 Expenditure 1972

$ 1,100 $ 1,005.49 1 ~200 1 '148. 71

12,500 12,382.11 36,500 37,966.15

300 293.06 250 171 . 55 750 270.23

154,000 156 '721 . 32 1 ,400 1,444.07 1,300 1 ,300.00 1,400 1,395.00 2,500 5,404.10

500 934.09 1,000 1,025.69

500 516.60

$ 215,200 $ 221,978.17

$ 5,383.00

$ 22,678.00

$ 173,293.00