Director reports staff hires, rising circulation and winter-reading gains at Friendsville Library

During the meeting the library director delivered a combined November–December report covering staffing, programming and performance metrics. The library hired a part-time/day clerk who now manages social media and marketing efforts, which the director said has helped program visibility and increased online interactions.

Performance figures highlighted by the director show circulation up about 1,000 items in 2023 compared with 2022; device loans increased to 144 from 131 the prior year; Canopy streaming plays rose to about 154 and the winter-reading program produced roughly 4,000 more minutes read this year than last despite lower overall signups. The director said program attendance increased even though the total number of programs offered was slightly lower.

The director also described outreach activity including a school night at HP Williams, a homeschool-visit at Hendersonville Public Library that inspired a teen/tween magazine pilot, sprinkler testing, and an award recognizing five years of board service for a trustee. She proposed more frequent quarterly 1:1 staff check-ins (moving to monthly) and noted upcoming training opportunities (customer-service and IT roundtables) organized by the regional office.

The board discussed performance measures and questions about interlibrary loan activity; one board member suggested Amber might have more precise statistics on interlibrary loan fulfillment. The director encouraged board involvement in a state image evaluation checklist and set a goal to review the evaluation by the March meeting.