The Westchester Public Library Board decided Thursday that Thomas Library patrons should have access to a public telephone.

By consensus it was agreed to add an additional dedicated phone line for local calls only, and that callers will be encouraged to keep their conversations brief.

Library director Phil Baugher said problems have arisen since the Thomas public pay-telephone located in the lobby was removed by the vendor when it no longer was profitable to supply. That led to a significant increase in patrons asking to use the library telephones on staff desks.

The library tried to restrict such calls to emergencies only, said Baugher, but the term “emergency” was loosely defined by patron callers. Thomas only has three voice telephone lines, he noted, which often are tied up with library business.

The Library Board discussed several options including having staff make emergency calls after obtaining information from the patron, but that was perceived as an imposition for WPL employees. “It puts them in a position I’m sure they’d rather not be in,” said member Sharon Robbins.

Member Claire Jolie asked the board to keep in mind some of the patrons are children who need to phone to arrange rides home. Robbins agreed the library should be a safe haven for children.

The new patron phone will be located in the lobby, not at a service desk. Baugher said some times patron conversations have become animated and/or heated and board president Vern Odom said that would be unsettling at a service desk.

Baugher said a local-calls-only patron phone line at the separate Library Service Center has worked well there; a payphone previously was removed at Hageman Library in Porter but that hasn’t created problems, according to the director.

In other business, the board voted 5-0 with Rick Hokanson and Karen Nash absent to adopt a preliminary 2010 budget for publication. With WPL in a relatively strong cash position despite the lack of a final budget order for 2008 or 2009, Baugher said he anticipates being able to operate throughout 2010 without borrowing, and to invest cash not needed for daily operations.

WPL’s current operating hours, staffing levels, material acquisitions and programming services would be maintained next year under the proposal, which includes 3 percent budgeted for employee raises.

Based on a preliminary formula, said Baugher, the total amount that can be spent next year is $3,049,050 with $2,794,065 of that in the operating fund and $254,994 in the capital projects fund.

A planned $572,456 transfer into the non-reverting library improvement reserve fund could be reduced if budget cuts dictate.

Ongoing computer upgrades are planned at WPL next year. Recently, additional public access terminals were added at Thomas, and patrons using wireless access there are encouraged to use the large tables relocated to the newspaper room.

Wireless access also is offered at Hageman. Last month at Thomas, adult and juvenile computer use jumped 22 and 23 percent, respectively.

WPL is considering offering computer classes to the public again this fall. Whether to provide laptops during class is being discussed; laptops recently were acquired for WPL managers to use for presentations and other library purposes.

Baugher experienced a fatal hard drive failure on his office computer, prompting him to take steps to increase back-up protection so WPL computers are in his words bullet-proof across the system.

June statistics were released showing a 10 percent overall increase in circulation over 2008 and 8.4 percent year-to-date. The biggest increases were other media and juvenile non-fiction at Thomas with the children’s summer reading program in progress, and juvenile non-fiction and games/toys at Hageman.

Last month WPL system-wide circulated 37,478 items and 193,584 year-to-date. Total visitor count this year at Thomas, Hageman, the LSC and the library-operated Westchester Township History Museum is 102,253.

Each time a patron is extended an individual occasion of service is listed as a public service unit. So far in 2009 the PSUs total 467,568 including 110,419 visits to the WPL website or a 15 percent increase.

Posted 7/10/2009