With limited space in its stacks, the Bella Vista Library Advisory Board is helping develop a policy about weeding books. The members discussed weeding, a process to decide which books to keep and which to remove, at its regular quarterly meeting on Wednesday, July 15, at City Hall.
"We don't have the shelf space," said Susan Santos, board member and president of the Bella Vista Library Foundation. As part of the collection development policy, Santos said the policy will outline what can be taken off the shelves and what can't.
Librarian Roxie Wright told the committee that she and Argie Willis, assistant librarian, along with Jason Kelley, staff attorney, also have been working on a volunteer policy manual for the library.
The project basically is starting from scratch, she said, and she is seeking suggestions from the board, who reviewed a proposed policy.
Wright said one of the biggest changes will be that teenage volunteers must be 18 years of age to work at the circulation desk. She said some patrons have had issues with teens.
Maturity is the issue with younger teens, she said; however, there will be other things for younger teen volunteers to do.
Santos disagreed with the change, saying that working at the desk is great experience for teens.
Board member Sally Benson pointed out that people at the circulation desk also handle more than just checking books in and out.
In other business:
n PLANNING MEETING -- Wright met with volunteers, patrons and some members of the advisory to develop a five-year plan for the library.
Some of the items that likely will be incorporated into the next plan include parking issues and another street access to the library; expanding evening hours to include Tuesday and Thursday; starting evening story times; more homebound services; adding a children's/youth librarian; literacy and GED classes/tutoring; and adding radio frequency identification technology.
n SUMMER READING PROGRAM -- Wright reported there were 109 kids who are 12 and under who participated in the Summer Reading program this year. The program ended July 16. There were only eight to 10 teens participating this summer in a separate program.
She said the 109 kids read 1,222 books.
Next summer, the library staff will focus on junior high school students and try to grow the teen program that way, she said.
n OVERDUE BOOKS -- With the introduction of a new overdue book policy last year, the number of overdue books have dropped to 662 on July 6, 2015, compared with 861 a year ago.
Community on 07/22/2015