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Darien Library

Report to the Board of Selectmen


January 2011
[Updated February 7, 2011]

Budget Summary

The Library’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2011-2012 calls for expenditures of
$3,186,016, an increase of $54,088, or 1.7%.
This matches last year’s increase in the Library budget, and it is the smallest for
at least the last quarter century. We understand the continuing financial
difficulties the taxpayers of Darien face, and we have worked hard to reduce this
budget proposal to the lowest possible amount.

In order to do so, we have taken aggressive actions to reduce personnel costs,


including:

 a third year of no increase in administrative salaries,


 no increase in the salaries for any employees (in exchange for a return to
a 37.5 hour workweek for full-time employees),
 a small reduction in FTE’s based on efficiencies achieved in the
organization of our services.

We have found the basis to reduce a number of our operating accounts in order
to partially offset unavoidable budget increases in two building operating
accounts – electricity use and maintenance and service.

These, and other actions, are detailed later in this report.

The table below outlines the major categories affecting the budget proposal:

Category Increase % Budget


Increase
Personnel $6,948 0.3%
Operating Accounts $50,724 1.6%
Health Insurance And Retirement ($3,584) (0.1%)
Total $73,278 1.7%

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Summary of Budget Increase Components

% of Total Contribution
Budget to Budget
Increase Percentage
Darien Library Staffing Decisions
Total Staffing Decisions $ 6,742

FICA $ 206
Total of Staffing Decisions $ 6,948 12.8% 0.2%

New Darien Library Operating Adjustments


Operating Accounts
Life Insurance $ (127)
Unemployment $ 2,681
Electricity & Gas $ 10,393
Water and Sewer $ 3,200
Insurance $ 670
Building Services $ 11,708
Maintenance/Service $ 17,500
Postage $ (1,000)
Printing $ (650)
Staff Development $ (4,500)
Internet/Telephone $ 2,400
Outsourced Cataloging $ 8,450
Total $ 50,724 93.8% 1.6%

Total of Operating Increases $ 50,724 93.8% 1.6%

Externally Determined Appropriations


Health Insurance $ (16,549)
Retirement $ 12,965
Total $ (3,584)

Total of Externally Determined Appropriations $ (3,584) -6.6% -0.1%

Total Budget Increase $ 54,088 100.0% 1.7%

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Community Usage of the Library

Statistics on use of Darien Library for the fiscal year 2009-2010, the first full year in
the new building, show a significant increase across a broad spectrum.
 Visits increased 8.3%
 Circulation increased 17.2%
 Attendance at programs increased 29.1%
 Computer usage increased 60.6%
 Reference and Reader Advisor questions answered increased 73.0%
Despite this increase in usage at one of the most intensively used libraries in the
nation, we have continued our efforts to operate the Library at the least possible cost
to the citizens of Darien by making another reduction in staffing.
The reduction in staffing levels continues the trend we began in fiscal year 2006.
Darien Library has become a model for library operating efficiencies, and we have
been visited by a number of other libraries for the sole purpose of studying how we
perform so cost-efficiently.
One of our vendors tells us that the set of our initiatives has become known in the
industry as the “Darien Model.” Library staff members have been asked to take part
in a number of nation-wide on-line seminars to present our organizational
management strategies for analysis by other libraries.

Budget Development Details

Staffing

To hold our budget increase to the smallest possible amount, we have taken the
following actions with respect to staffing costs:

1. The administrative leadership of the Library – Director Louise Berry, Assistant


Directors Alan Kirk Gray and John Blyberg and Head of Finance and
Accounting Alison Fisher -- will take no salary increase. (This will be the fourth
year at the same salary level.)
2. Other staff members have elected to take no increases in salary or hourly rate,
in exchange for returning to a 37.5 hour week. (Two years ago staff members
accepted an increase in the workweek to 40 hours in order to support a salary
increase of 2.0%.)
3. The return to a 37.5 hour week requires the addition of a number of part-time
staff hours in order to make up for lost time from full-time employees. We have

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

offset that increase in part-time staffing by the reduction of one half-time


support employee.
4. One Library employee has received her MLS in Library Science, and will be
placed on the CT Library Association minimum salary level for master’s
degree holders.
5. We continue to outsource a broader range of acquisition services for new
items, reducing internal staff requirements.
Total staffing will equal 29.1 FTE1 for the 2010-2011 budget, a reduction of 0.6 FTE
from the staff allocation in place when we moved into the new building in January
2009.

Darien Library Budgeted Staffing (State Report FTEs


adjusted through 2008-2009 and for 2011-2012)
35
Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Staffing

31.1 31.4 31.4


FTEs
30.6
29.7
30 28.3 29.2
27.5 28.2 29.1
26.6
Totals

26.3

25

Fiscal Years

As a result of the actions we have taken with respect to staffing, total personnel
compensation costs, including FICA, will increase by $6,742. The total salary budget
for the Library in fiscal year 2011-2012 is less than the total salary budget for fiscal
year 2009-10, despite a sustained increase in usage of the Library.

29.1 FTE is less staffing than the Library had in the three fiscal years between 2002
and 2005 when it was in a building half the size providing fewer services. Beginning
with fiscal year 2006, the Library began a systematic and rigorous annual, zero-
based review of staffing that provides the basis for operating efficiencies while
continuing to provide extraordinary customer service to the community.

1
FTE: Full Time Equivalent, a measure of staffing that accumulates the hours of part time employees
into an index.

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Operating Accounts

The Library’s Operating Accounts are budgeted to increase by $50,724, primarily as


the result of increases in three areas, Electricity and Gas, Building Services and
Maintenance/Services, and an increase in one other account, Outsourced
Cataloging. We have been able to make decreases in a number of other accounts
that provide a partial offset.
We are in the second full year of operation in the new library building, and we are
starting to develop experience with the costs of managing and maintaining the
building and its services.

The choices we made to install systems that would allow us to staff the building very
efficiently (fewer staff FTEs in the new building than in the old building half its size)
with a consequent reduction is personnel costs, provides a background against
which the maintenance and services costs can be evaluated.

Operating Accounts with Major Increases

Electricity & Gas


1. The cost of electricity is budgeted to increase by $10,393, or 8.6%, as the
result of changes made during the current year to optimize building operating
conditions. These adjustments have reduced the several extreme temperature
swings (both in summer and in winter) that caused patrons in some parts of
the building to be uncomfortable.

We operate the building as efficiently as possible – for example, this winter


public spaces have been set to 70° and staff spaces at 68° in most respects –
and overall demand is 40% less than a code-compliant building. But we have
found that during extreme temperature periods, we need to provide additional
HVAC to allow comfortable use of the building.

We believe that these latest adjustments will provide a stable basis for
proceeding with building HVAC services in the future.
Building Services
2. The increase in Building Services is the result of an increase in the allocation
for snow removal from $10,000 to $18,000, which reflects our experience
since we have moved into the new building, and a smaller increase in the
allocation for carpet cleaning.
Maintenance/Services

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

3. The Maintenance/Services Account supports primarily maintenance and


warranty services for the Library’s building equipment (elevators, HVAC
systems, geothermal pumps, generator, sorting equipment) and operating
services, such as the building management and integrated library service
catalog.

When the new building opened, much of the new equipment, and some
services, were on one-year or longer warranty periods as part of the
acquisition process. Now that the building has been open for more than two
years, the last of the warranty periods have run off, and we will be
experiencing full-year costs for service, maintenance and warranty for all
building equipment and services.

The increase of $17,500 in this account is related to these additional services.


Outsourced Cataloging
4. Outsourced Cataloging provides the funds for the services of third party
preparation of books, DVDs, CDs, Books on CD and other items to make them
shelf ready. We began this initiative several years ago, and it has proven very
cost-effective, allowing us to reduce staff time significantly in excess of the
cost of the outsourced services. We are increasing this account by $8,450 to
meet the needs of increased circulation, and in doing so we offset the need for
additional staffing that would otherwise be required.

As noted, the Library’s use of outsourcing is based on an innovative model


now being adopted by libraries, many of whom have visited Darien Library to
gain an understanding of the process that leads to significant cost-
effectiveness.

Health Insurance and Retirement Accounts

Health Insurance

Health insurance expenditures are projected to decrease by $16,549, or 4.6%,


because of the effect of having employees switch from one Town plan to another,
lower-cost, plan.

Retirement

We have budgeted the amount of Retirement contribution provided to us by the


Town, and this represents an increase of $12,965, or 10.3%.

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

The Library’s Central Role in Darien

The Library is the community’s most actively used resource.


19,559 residents of Darien -- 97.1% of the population --have an active Library
card. Members of the community on average take out 31 books, DVDs, books
on CD or other items each year, and this is far and away the highest circulation
rate of any library in the state, and one of the highest in the nation.

82.2% of Darien seniors use the Library, more than any other organization or
program in the community, according to a survey by Aging in Place/The
Community Fund in the fall of 2009.

The table below lists the five organizations or programs most highly used by
seniors, according to the survey:

Program/Service Use Now Will Use in Next 5 Years

Darien Library 82.2% 85.0%

Place of Worship 64.8% 68.4%

Darien Community Assoc 36.3% 41.5%

Darien Senior Center 30.0% 44.9%

YMCA 24.4%

Aging in Place in Darien 52.1%

At the other end of the age spectrum, the Library is used by young children and
their parents and care-givers – often the Library is the first public space a young
child ever visits, and by a growing number of middle school and high school
students who have made the Library the place to visit for studying, especially
during midterms and finals, when the Library remains open until 10:30 or 11 pm,
allowing students to study alone or in groups.

For everyone of all ages, the New Darien Library is a community center; a
distribution center for books, magazines, DVDs, videos, books on tape,
technology and other materials; a cultural center for programs for all ages; a
haven for study and research; a busy technology and continuing education hub;
a resource for Town government and many community organizations. Library
users constantly ask that we extend our hours.

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Recent use trends build on past successes. For many years the Darien Library
has proven to be a high-profile example of extraordinary customer service
provided in a remarkably cost-efficient manner.

The latest HAPLR study released in April 2010, ranked Darien Library tenth in
the country among libraries its size, and highest in the state. (This survey was
based on objective statistical measures such as the number of books owned
and circulated, the number of visits made by residents, and the cost
effectiveness of the Library’s operation; Darien Library has been ranked in the
top 10 in each of the survey’s ten years.)
As noted earlier, the Library has seen extraordinary levels of increase in the use
of the Library this year since the opening of the new building.

Service to the Whole Community

The Library collaborates with many Darien and other organizations to provide
services to the community. The expanded Library’s many meeting rooms have
been made available at no expense by Board of Trustees policy to the Town of
Darien and its Boards and Commissions.

A list of programs and presentations provided by the Library for the benefit of
the community includes:

Area 9 Cable Council


Darien Arts Center
Darien Board of Realtors
Darien Chamber of Commerce (together with SCORE)
Darien High School classes (extra credit films, and review sessions)
Darien Land Trust
Darien Rotary Club
Darien Senior Men's Association
Darien Planning & Zoning (and SWRPA) Rt. 1 Corridor Study
Darien Soccer Association
Darien YMCA Pioneering Healthy Communities
Darien Youth Hockey Association
Girls, Inc.
Junior League
League of Women Voters
Literacy Volunteers

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Middlesex Genealogists
Nursing and Homecare Association (blood pressure clinic)
Nursing and Homecare Association (flu vaccine clinic)
Obie Harrington-Howes Committee
ONS Foundation (Paddle Tennis Injury Prevention group)
SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives)
Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities
Smart Women Networking
Southwestern CT Counsel on Aging - Long Term Care Forum
U.S. Census Bureau

The Library plays a central technology role in the on-line presence of the
community, assisting more than 35 community non-profits to maintain their web
presences. The library makes available technology to help non-profits with their
activities, for example by lending notebook computers to assist with registration
drives, and video projectors to assist in public presentations.

The New Darien Library provides a much greater range of resources to the
community – meeting spaces, quiet study areas, accessible collections,
services to the young and mature alike – as an extension of its role as the
cultural center of Darien. A broader range of community residents, from Senior
Citizens to young children to Middle and High School students who fill the
Library to study, from community residents who use the Library for enjoyment or
as support for their work, all find support and resources available to their needs
and interests, matched by extraordinary customer service that has a national
reputation for excellence.

The Community’s Foremost Example of a Public-Private Partnership

The New Darien Library’s Second Anniversary

This year, January 10, 2011, was the second anniversary of the opening of the
New Darien Library. The $28 million project to fund construction of the New
Darien Library, which opened that day, is the largest gift to the Town by any
measure, and stands alone in terms of commitment to the future of the
community and its residents.

More than 1,650 families donated $24 million – a measure of support beyond
anything this community has ever experienced. They responded to the history of
service the Darien Library has provided over the years, and expressing their
confidence in the future of the Library, and its place at the heart of the Town of
Darien.

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Annual Support
We remind you that each year the Library trustees raise all the money the
Library spends on books, DVDs, research services, programs and other
materials through an annual fund drive. We also pay for all on-going capital
expenses from the Friends Fund. (This year we expect to spend approximately
$300,000 on technology projects, as part of a total Friends’ expenditure of more
than $1,000,000.)

For years the community of Darien has been the recipient of funding that
replaces the use of tax dollars for the collection development, technology
initiatives, programs and services that have allowed the Darien Library to
become a community asset.

In addition, from this funding has come the investment in productivity measures
that has helped make Library employees the most productive in the region, at a
considerable savings in labor costs that would have been borne by the
taxpayers.

The Darien Library Budget Proposal

The major elements of the Library’s budget proposal are outlined below, and we
ask that they be considered in the context of three important considerations:

 Darien Library employees have moved back to a 37 ½ hour week while


agreeing to accept no salary or hourly increase. We do not seek to compare
their schedule to other employees of the Town or School District, but we do
know that our employees work harder, are more productive, and provide better
service than any other library. We ask them to do so with the understanding
that they will be provided the support necessary to match their efforts. This
year they continue to make extraordinary sacrifices in compensation while
they are providing extreme customer service at a time of substantially
increased use of the Library.

 The Friends of the Library made significant investments to promote


productivity and efficiency for Library staff, and they are committed to continue
their role in the Public-Private Partnership. The Friends gift of the New Darien
Library to the community was a watershed event in the history of this
community. The Public-Private Partnership between the Town and the Library
continues to provide a substantial benefit to the residents of the Town of
Darien.

 The Library’s administration has demonstrated over many years that it will ask
only for the resources it needs, and that it can be trusted to manage those
resources in an exemplary manner. The funding we request is the minimum

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

necessary to provide the community the services it requires to meet the


increased use of the New Darien Library.

Highlights of increases in this year’s budget request:

1. Salary Budget: ........................................................................... $ 6,948


 The Library staff has agreed to no increase in compensation, in exchange for
a return in their workweek to 37 ½ hours from 40 hours.
 The increase in part-time staffing that results from the reduction in the
workweek has been offset by reduction in a part-time support position.
2. Darien Library Operating Expenditures: ................................ $50,724
 Electricity and Gas line will increase by $10,393 to recognize adjusted energy
rate use in the new building intended to make the building comfortable during
extreme temperature variations.
 Building services will increase by $11,708 primarily because of an increase in
the allocation for snow removal to reflect experience in the building.
 Maintenance services for building equipment and systems will increase by
$17,500 to account for full year contracts for all building systems.
 These increases are partially offset by minor decreases in other operating
accounts
3. Health Insurance and Retirement Expenses: ........................ ($ 3,584)

 Health insurance expenditures are projected to increase of $12,887, less than


the amount that would result from the Town of Darien projection of an
increase in contract rate of 4.5%, because some employees will change
health care options.
 Retirement expenditures will increase by $12,965, per guidance from the
Town of Darien.
Total Budget Increase (1.7%) ....................................................... $54,088

The Board of Trustees of the Darien Library urges your support of this budget
proposal.

Bruce Ferguson
President, Board of Trustees

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

A Recurring Side Note on Non-resident Use of the Library

As one of the finest libraries in the nation – renowned for its customer service,
collection, lending practices and innate friendliness -- it should be expected that
Darien Library is visited by some residents of adjoining communities exercising their
right under state regulations to use the services to which they are entitled –
borrowing books, DVDs and other items, using reference resources, logging on to
the Library’s computers.
However, it is important to note that non-resident use, which is concentrated in a few
areas of the Library’s collection and services – DVDs and Books on CD in particular
– is at the same level as it was when we began tracking use 20 years ago.
Most importantly, non-resident use of the Library has an insignificant effect on the
Library’s tax-supported budget. Specifically, the only expenditures in the prospective
Town budget that can be attributed to non-resident use are approximately $1,000 for
paper supplies and $1,470 for RFID tags.
The Friends’ budget pays for all books, DVDs, Books on CD and technology – so the
additional items acquired for increased circulation are not a Town expense.
More importantly, the Library has not increased staff in any way because of non-
resident use, and, if all non-resident use went away, would not be able to reduce
staffing positions or hours.
All Library staffing decisions are based on a system that calculates position
requirements from a zero-based model allocating service positions and tasks, not
hours. We staff for service positions – Reader Advisors Welcome Desk, Children’s
Room, Information Services, and Teen Center and Power Library – and for tasks --
ordering and processing books, program development and delivery, web page
development and update, circulation back office tasks, for example. None of these
would change if non-resident use declined or even went away.
We staff for service positions and for tasks, and then we automate those tasks (with
funds from the Friends’ budget) so that volume increases do not require increased
staffing. For example, though circulation has increased by more than 50% in the past
six years, we are making fewer, not more, telephone calls to patrons because we
have provided upgrades to our ILS that email notification. We have automated and
outsourced our book ordering so fewer personnel purchase and process more books.
The other elements of the Library’s town budget – lighting, heating, telephone,
janitorial services, payroll, and all personnel benefits, for example – are not related to
the profile of use by non-residents.

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Proposed 2011-12 from 2010-11


Budget Actual Budget July-Dec % of Budget $ %
2009-10 2009-10 2010-11 2010-11 Budget 2011-12 Increase Increase
Salaries
Administrative 340,368 340,368 340,368 170,185 50.0% 340,368 - 0.0%
Member Services 1,226,400 1,231,904 1,210,152 593,046 49.0% 1,228,478 18,327 1.5%
Support 383,569 395,238 389,400 194,228 49.9% 377,815 (11,585) -3.0%
TOTAL 1,950,338 1,967,510 1,939,920 957,459 49.4% 1,946,662 6,742 0.3%
Fringe Benefits
Social Security 146,146 149,197 145,196 70,297 48.4% 145,402 206 0.1%
Town Retirement 112,736 112,736 126,182 126,182 100.0% 139,147 12,965 10.3%
Health, Dental and LTD 329,102 314,453 357,707 172,518 48.2% 341,158 (16,549) -4.6%
Life Insurance 4,662 3,179 3,597 1,771 49.2% 3,470 (127) -3.5%
Unemployment Comp. 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 100.0% 4,181 2,681 178.7%
TOTAL 594,147 581,065 634,182 372,268 58.7% 633,357 (824) -0.1%
Building Operations
Electricity & Gas 87,984 97,108 120,566 64,328 53.4% 130,959 10,393 8.6%
Water & Sewer 6,200 2,558 3,000 4,395 146.5% 6,200 3,200 106.7%
Insurance 34,781 20,250 31,790 19,041 59.9% 32,460 670 2.1%
Building Services 120,000 124,855 138,369 58,673 42.4% 150,077 11,708 8.5%
Maintenance/Service 122,000 121,279 120,000 76,574 63.8% 137,500 17,500 14.6%
TOTAL 370,965 366,050 413,725 223,011 53.9% 457,196 43,471 10.5%
Library Operations
Library Supplies 30,000 29,759 27,000 17,010 63.0% 27,000 - 0.0%
Janitor Supplies 11,000 13,120 11,000 6,606 60.1% 11,000 - 0.0%
Postage 5,000 4,455 4,000 2,870 71.8% 3,000 (1,000) -25.0%
Printing 2,000 1,970 2,000 0.0% 1,350 (650) -32.5%
Staff Development 8,000 4,934 6,000 989 16.5% 1,500 (4,500) -75.0%
Internet/Telephone 12,600 14,990 12,600 10,927 86.7% 15,000 2,400 19.0%
Audit 13,250 13,450 13,450 13,450 100.0% 13,450 - 0.0%
Outsourced Cataloging 64,050 64,046 68,050 33,237 48.8% 76,500 8,450 12.4%
TOTAL 145,900 146,724 144,100 85,089 59.0% 148,800 4,700 3.3%
TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS 3,061,349 3,061,349 3,131,927 1,637,827 52.3% 3,186,016 54,088 1.7%

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Salary Budget Staff members will receive no increase; FTEs have been reduced by 0.1.

Town Retirement Allocation provided by Town Hall

Health Insurance We are in the Town plan, and will experience a reduction in costs because employees
are switching to a less expensive plan.

Unemployment Compensation We are increasing the budget by the amount necessary to fund an ongoing claim.

Electricity We are increasing our budget to match the electricity usage of the building as determined
by experience, and are budgeting the Town of Darien’s consortium electricity rates.

Water and Sewer Budget is increased to account for additional usage required by a switch to the use of
town water for irrigation.

Insurance We are using the rates advised by the Town.

Maintenance/Service Maintenance and service on the new building’s systems. This includes HVAC, the
geothermal system, elevators, building management, security and phone systems, and
the increase represents the full-year effect of maintenance and service contracts coming
on line after the new building warranties have expired.

Building Operations This includes contracted cleaning, snow plowing, grounds, cleanout of our water retention
system and other services. We are increasing our budget to reflect our experience in
snow removal costs and for carpet cleaning the actively used building.

Library Supplies We are reducing this amount to reflect experience.

Janitor Supplies Primarily light bulbs, cleaning supplies and paper products for the public restrooms..

Postage and Printing We continue to look to reduce postage by using electronic payment processes.

Staff Development We have further reduced staff development to an absolute minimum of staff hours.

Internet/Telephone This account provides funds for maintenance of our fiber connection to the State of CT CEN,
and our telephone lines and usage.

Audit Engagement fee for the Library’s GAAP audit.

Outsourced Cataloging Outsourced cataloguing services to reduce the need for staff hours. Increased demand
for books requires an increase in this account.

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

Darien Library
Fact Sheet
2011

 Darien Library has been designated a top 10 library for ten years straight
in a survey by the Hennen American Public Libraries Ranking Index. In
2010 it was ranked the tenth highest of all libraries its size in the country.
 Darien Library is the busiest library in Connecticut on a per capita basis.
Darien residents borrow more books on average (31) than any other
community.
 97.1% of Darien residents have library cards.
 Usage of the Library has increased significantly since the new building
opened.
 The Library’s services to the community’s senior citizens are broad-based
and significant:
o A recent survey showed that seniors rely on the Library more than
any other community resource for programs and resources.
 During the past year, there were 24,379 participants in Children’s Library
programs, such as Storytime, Born to Read, Sleepytime, Drop-in
Storytime, preschool, elementary and Middle School visits and
BookMANIA!. Attendance at Teen Programs was 2,870 and at Adult
programs was 17,635.
 Users cite superior personal service given by the library staff as the
primary reason they prefer Darien Library.
 The library is a model of excellence in the use of new technology and
hosts the web pages for 35 local community organizations.
 The Library’s Blogs are providing both information and entertainment to
those members of the community who wish to subscribe to a new form of
communication, and have gained national recognition.
 A study by the CT State Library in 2004 showed Darien Library had the
lowest cost per circulation item of all libraries studied. This is still the case.

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Report to the Board of Selectmen January 2011

THE DARIEN LIBRARY VISION

Our vision is to inform, educate, entertain and enrich our community .

THE DARIEN LIBRARY MISSION


The Library will provide access to a broad array of content, as well as training
and assistance to help people successfully navigate and use information.
The Library will provide a broad array of programs and services to educate,
entertain and enrich people.
The Library will be proactive and creative in anticipating and responding to
community needs for resources, programs and services.
The Library will be accessible: physically to people during convenient hours
and electronically twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and three
hundred and sixty five days a year, and without charge to the individual user.
The Library will be the heart of the community, providing flexible and
inviting environments within which to access and enjoy its resources .
The Library will be a customer-driven organization with friendly, professional
staff dedicated to creating a positive and fun library experience.
The Library will attract, develop and sustain a highly professional staff in an
environment where teamwork, high standards and esprit de corps support
excellence.
The Library will collaborate with other town agencies and community groups
to serve the needs of the community.
The Library will be a public-private partnership, funded annually by a
combination of taxpayer dollars and individual donations sufficient to
sustain a library of excellence.
The Board of Trustees will obligate itself to continually attract new trustees
who are accomplished individuals with diverse expertise who have the time,
interest, and dedication required to support the Library in pursuit of its
vision and mission.

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