Director’s Office
Rochester Public Library
115 South Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604-1896
Phone: (585) 428-8046  Fax: (585) 428-8353  [email protected]
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
RPL Board of Trustees
Patricia Uttaro, Director
March 29, 2017
Monthly Report – March, 2017
Action Items
Wicked Squid Studios Professional Services Agreement (Agenda Item II.4)
Joshua Pettinger, owner & operator of Wicked Squid Studios will conduct an eight-week audio production
workshop series for the Central Library’s imagineYou digital media lab. The workshop is an introduction to a
variety of concepts integral in building a career in music production. Teens will have an opportunity to visit a
working recording studio to gain insight into how it functions and produce a 3-5 minute track involving all
members of the team. In addition, participants will build sound panels to be used in the imagineYOU’s control
room and learn about acoustics and basic studio design. Teens will have a constructive instructor and peer
review on individual work. The final project will be played on a variety of local radio shows.
Board Action Requested: Approval of an agreement with the above entity for the services described for an
amount not to exceed $4,000.00
Report Items
Patricia Uttaro, RPL Director
RPL Strategic Priority Highlights
Education & Engagement
 Chester F. Carlson Patent and Trademark Resource Center - Deb Nevin met with 10 people to start
them on their searches for prior art and one more to explain the general process, and handled 4 phone calls
and 2 emails. There were 123 patent questions. Nevin writes: “One of my inventors, Jeff, already has his
patent and wants to set up a foundation, whereby he will lease his patent to them so they can produce and
sell the item. The catch is that he wants this to benefit veterans and (the business must be owned and run
by vets). The item is a device that can be attached to a wheelchair that cleans the wheels so the person’s
hands don’t get bruised by stones that get imbedded in the wheels. He created it for a veteran friend and
doesn’t want to make money off it. I’ve been helping him figure this all out. Steve Nash found out who he
should talk to in the veterans’ organization to get the word out. It’s been so nice to work with Jeff on such
a positive project.”
 The Quilts of Gee’s Bend – Central Library’s Arts Division hosted a lecture to celebrate Black History
Month. Janet Berlo, an Art History professor at the University of Rochester, and authority on American
quilts, spoke about the Gee’s Bend Quilts and the women who created them. Gee’s Bend is a small hamlet
in rural Alabama that has always had a population of no more than about 750. Gee’s Bend is well known
for the legendary African American quilters who created vibrant quilt masterpieces known for their
innovative designs and bold use of color. The quilts date from the early twentieth century to the present.
These quilts were created by poor women using recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks and fabric
remnants. 58 library patrons listened to Janet talk about Gee’s Bend and how it became famous for these
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
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historic quilts. She showed images of the quilts and described how the Farm Security Administration
photographed the people living in Gee’s Bend and brought their quilts to the American public. She also
showed how the quilts are known for their simplicity in design, and how African fabrics and patterns
influenced the quilt patterns. Gee’s Bend quilt patterns have influenced contemporary fabrics, printmaking,
and contemporary ceramics like floor tiles. Some who attended had never heard of these quilts, and
expressed how glad they were that the library had introduced them to this part of quilt history.
The Toy Library had two special programs during the month with presenter Drew Beeman, Director of
Progressive Early Leaning. He brought STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering And Math) materials
and set-up five different stations for hands-on exploration. These programs were promoted on our
Facebook page and the posting was shared a couple of times. Both programs were 2 hours in length and
Drew did an awesome job with a constant stream of kids arriving and joining in. He offered his programs
at no cost to the Toy Library which was great since the STEAM topics are so important for the children we
serve.
St. John Fisher College sent two groups of students to work with children at Maplewood. One group began
another session of “Seuss to Success.” The “Seuss to Success” program provides a fun way for the children
to practice their literacy skills. The other group volunteers to assist in the Homework Help program.
February was the South West Common Council’s annual meeting, at which the co-chairs shared a
presentation of all of the successes the Council achieved in the past year. Arnett and Wheatley were
featured in the presentation, not only for their own services and programs, but also for hosting Common
Council meetings and community events like RocSOUP. This was the last slide in the presentation:
 Jim Lynch, who provides TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion) tutoring at Wheatley, Arnett and
Monroe, shared this news:
Yesterday, a student at Lyell, Wheatley, and Monroe came in to show me her TASC Diploma. She had
been enrolled in OACES HSE Program at the Family Learning Center. She had passed all but the
"Writing-Essay" section of her TASC Exam. I worked with her for a few months; she failed it a second
time. Next, I provided extensive materials for her to work on at home, and engaged her in several essay
writing exercises to strengthen her composition skills. She passed the section the third time, and came in
to thank me.
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
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During the entire month, neighbors dropped off new
socks at Arnett to be collected by the Families in
Transition (FIT) Program, Rochester City School
Homeless Education Liaison. One night, Arnett
Manager Bruce Tehan’s wife, Sheri Tehan, asked him
“Hey, what is this I hear about a sock donation at the
library?” While answering her, Bruce mentioned that he
heard that the Lyell Branch Library was collecting a lot
more socks than Arnett. Sheri then went on a social
media site followed by lots of generous 19th Ward
residents and posted, “I have learned from a reputable
source that Lyell Ave. is kicking our butts on sock
donations. Please consider donating at the Arnett
Branch in the next two days!! Ends February 28th. Go
19!!!” The socks started pouring in at that point!
Sustainability & Resources
 Local History staff received word in February that
Humanities New York has approved yet another grant in support of the library’s 2017 Woman Suffrage
Centennial initiative. Following a Vision Grant ($1,500) and a Reading & Discussion Grant ($600), the
Action Grant ($5,000) is the third grant Humanities New York has provided for this effort in the past
year. Funds from the Action Grant will be put toward expenses for the suffrage exhibition that will be
installed in Hacker Hall this summer.
 2017 NYS Woman Suffrage Centennial Celebration & Exhibition – Christine Ridarsky and Michelle
Finn continued to work with community partners on plans for commemorating the 100th anniversary of
New York State’s suffrage amendment this year. This planning includes the development of a major
community-wide exhibition with traveling and online components, companion exhibits, and related
programming in the Central Library, branch libraries, and other community spaces throughout the area.
 Service Certificates – We delivered several milestone service certificates to staff in February. Please
join me in congratulating these staff members and thanking them for their service.
 Nanci Nugent, Central Arts/Lit Division - 30 years
 Joe Born, Central Media Center - 30 years
 David Bamann, Central Arts/Lit Division - 20 years
 Martha Ruggeri, LAS - 20 years
 Thomas Grande, Business Division - 15 years
 Courtney Schumacher, Science Division - 15 years
 Jacob Yaple, Circulation Services - 15 years
Stewardship & Curation
 The Local History & Genealogy Division in February assisted in an important research project related to
construction of the new housing project overtop the former subway tunnel just south of the Rundel
Memorial Building. Peter Whelehan, of DGA Builders, needed to determine the method used to
construct the subway tunnel in order to determine whether the tunnel walls would be able to withstand
the weight of soil once the old Lehigh Valley Railroad platform is demolished, as planned. He feared
that the tunnel had been built in tandem with the supporting beams and mass of the pillars in the railroad
platform; if so, the tunnel could collapse without reinforcement. Librarian I Brandon Fess was able to
show Whelehan the evolution of the structures using plat maps and images in the newly acquired Mayor
Clarence VanZandt Subway Photo Collection, which show various stages in construction of the walls in
that area. Based on this information, Mr. Whelehan is confident that the tunnel walls were constructed
independently of the railroad structure and that they will stand after the removal of the adjacent
structures.
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
Facility and Capital Updates
Brie Harrison reporting
The RPL is waiting on the second draft of the City’s Capital Improvement Program, with the expectation of
restoration of annual branch facilities and furnishings allocations. The final CIP will be shared with all
proposed operating budget changes in May. Several project updates are as follows:
 Rundel structural repairs, Phase IV/South Avenue: RPL administration had a kickoff meeting with design
firm LaBella Associates in February. The RPL has helped to draft participants in a Project Advisory
Committee (PAC) to continue discussions surrounding the Rundel North Terrace, as well as an aqueduct
development solution that meets cultural, safety and access needs of the public as well as downtown
stakeholders. A first PAC meeting is March 23rd. As of now, the schedule for structural repairs to the North
Terrace is no earlier than late 2018. The level of aesthetic improvements to the North Terrace, and phasing
of said improvements, are dependent on the level of structural deterioration of the terrace infrastructure,
which will be known in the coming months.
 Branch Improvements: Lincoln Branch lighting upgrades, led by the New York Power Authority (NYPA)’s
energy efficiency program, was delayed from October based on a need to re-bid the project. Construction is
anticipated to begin in April. Work will now correspond with carpeting replacement and other Toy Library
improvements, funded from a grant from Senator Joe Robach.
 Master Space Plan Phase 2/3 Completion: We are pleased to announce that construction of Teen Central,
ImagineYOU and Rundel first floor improvements are complete! There are small projects that will be
completed in the coming weeks, including additional signage, self-check units and final lobby lighting, but
we look forward to publicly celebrating this phase of work later this spring. More to come on this soon.
 Technology Updates: The FY18 round of federal E-rate program was bundled under the Monroe County
Library System, and includes bids for new network cabling in Central to prepare for the Technology Center,
and public wireless access at Central and branches. These projects will receive between 85-90%
reimbursement, with the balance of wireless costs funded at the system level. The balance of Central
network cabling is funded from MCLS capital. Approvals for vendor contracts will go to the MCLS Board
in March and April.
Central Library Highlights
Sally Snow, Assistant Director; Tolley Reeves, Ed.D., Assistant Director
Social Media (Alicia Gunther Reporting)
Facebook
 Page views - 314
 New page likes - 58
 Post Reach – 63,476 people
 Post engagements – 8,309
 Checked-in and mentions - 13 People
 Facebook Events Calendar - Individual
events reached our visitors through the
events calendar 4,908 times. Visitors went to
our full events calendar 370 times, and 267
people engaged with the event on Facebook
or linked to our MCLS page through the
event
 Video Views – 10,221
 Responded to 6 messages on Facebook
Twitter
Profile Visits
 Rochester Public Library - 636
 Monroe County Library System - 859
New Followers
 Rochester Public Library - 27
 Monroe County Library System - 21
Engagements
 Rochester Public Library - 116
 Monroe County Library System - 45
Favorites
 Rochester Public Library - 50
 Monroe County Library System - 28
Mentions
 Rochester Public Library - 25
 Monroe County Library System - 19
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
Constant Contact Newsletter
 Subscribers who opened newsletter – 675
 Click-throughs – 47
 New subscribers – 32
Instagram
 New Followers - 14
 Likes - 306
 Comments on a post - 3
 Mentions - 1
YouTube Channel
 Video views – 224
 Videos added to playlists – 7
 New subscribers – 4
 Shares – 3
Tumblr
 New Followers - 1
 Notes - 1
Children's Services Consultant (Tonia Burton reporting)
MCLS Trainings/Meetings/Outreach
Tonia hosted the MCLS Children’s Librarians’ meeting. Kathy and Miranda attended. The topic was STEAM
(Science, Technology, Engineering And Math) programs. Staff presenting were: Vinise Bobrov (Pittsford).
Cathy Kyle & Jill Sutter (Chili), and Kelly Rosengren (East Rochester). Kelly was out sick but sent her
information to be shared. This was a great way to share how staff run programs and gave everyone a chance to
see how the topics were presented and share successes/failures/alternative suggestions.
Program Highlights
We offered 17 programs in the library with 680 attendees. We had movies, music and more.
RYSAS: Rochester Young Scholars At Saturdays
The Rochester Young Scholars Program is a group of college students attending SUNY Geneseo to become
Secondary School Teachers. They’ve been tutoring teens in Teen Central on Saturday mornings for years. They
have found that many of the teens are bringing their younger siblings because they have to sit for them while
parents are otherwise employed. Starting this month, we started a pilot program, so that these younger siblings
can be tutored one-on-one with tutors going to school to be Elementary School Teachers. The first week, there
were five elementary school kids who were registered. Every week, more and more people are signing up their
kids. On February 25, there were 15 kids.
Take Your Child to the Library Day
This celebration is held across the country each year to celebrate libraries. MCLS and systems across NYS use
this day as an advocacy opportunity. Member libraries were given postcards for patrons to fill out and let us
know what they love about their library. These postcards are delivered to state representatives in Albany, NYon
Advocacy Day. Central Library hosted Lego Lab and Rethunk Your Junk programs to give families programs at
different times of the day. All together, we had 104 people participate.
Kids Can Code
This program was a first for us in two ways: it was the first coding program we have ever offered, and our first
evening program. One of our substitute librarians, Nancy Cholewa, organized most of the program with Cara
Rager from WXXI. Nancy taped a grid on the floor and invented a “game” using a deck of cards. A two of
spades meant that we would move two spaces forward (forward for spades), while a five of hearts would mean
that we would move five spaces to the left (left for hearts). After we tried that a few times, special cards were
added: a Jack signified that we would jump up and down; a Queen directed us to twirl around.
Other activities included creating Morse Code bracelets, Squishy Circuits (provided by WXXI and staffed by
their volunteers), and we had tablets available for those who did not bring them to use PBS’s Scratch Jr. app to
create a simple game. About 50 people came to play and learn.
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
PopUp Toddler Storytime
On Friday, February 17, we had 3 families in the Children's Center with multiple toddlers and babies so, since
we had enough staff on duty, we offered to do a pop-up toddler storytime. We played with the egg shakers,
scarves and stretchy band. We sang the book Twinkle Twinkle and read Pete the Cat and his 4 Groovy Buttons.
There were 3 adults and 8 children.
Raising a Reader
Steve Shon, Amy McLean, Shawana Gibson and Toshia
Mitchell at school #53’s Science Fair.
In February, Raising a Reader grew by 40-plus families when
we added three classrooms from School #53 Montessori
Academy. This is the first Rochester city elementary school to
partner with the Raising a Reader program.
We attended the school #53 Science Fair and introduced
parents to the Raising a Reader program while children
explored technology with Little Bits and Google Cardboard, a
virtual reality headset.
Teen Central
February in Teen Central was an exciting month of…waiting…for our NEW SPACE!
We did stay busy by putting together a Black History month bulletin board display. Lydia Williams and Xandi
received suggestions for photos from teens, found images, graphics and duplicated the images. Lydia and some
teens put the display together, and created a great visual layout.
We also had a young reader who came to Central as part of the Biz Kids, when he saw our display of new books
he had to write down ALL the titles of the fantasy and steampunk books – so he could place holds on them at his
library. Then he made the mistake of making eye-contact with Xandi, who will be responsible for his future
involvement with this May’s Teen Book Festival at Nazareth College.
Also, as a result of hanging out at Teen Central, we have a young lady who will be getting her MLIS next year!
Lizzie and her friends came to Teen Central from the School Without Walls with a class visit…then to “hang
out” after school…then to volunteer, then to get involved with Teen Book Festival and go into college seriously
planning on a career in libraries. This month, Xandi wrote letters of recommendation for her to Simmons
College and the University of Toronto with a joyous heart.
imagineYOU (John Hylton reporting)
Green Screen Fun Dance Video
The green screen dance video was an idea that started from a
quick brainstorming session and was completed by the time the
library closed. The youth in this project led by youth volunteer
Justin Jackson were able to collaborate on an idea and quickly
create music, shoot video and edit in a short amount of time.
Life before Rock Stardom Screen Test and Auditions
Two of our Youth Volunteers are producing a web show that
will be shot mainly at the library and some other locations.
Justin and Ramon’s show is about teenage musicians who
attend the same high school and are trying to navigate the many
trials and tribulations of high school while being approached by
record companies. This is an ongoing collaborative project
which is preparing itself for production by doing auditions and
screen test.
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
Local History & Genealogy (Christine Ridarsky reporting)
Programs
The Local History & Genealogy Division hosted two programs and one teachers’ workshop in February:
 Historical Resources Consultant/City Historian Christine Ridarsky and PT Historical Researcher Amy Pepe
hosted a continuing education session sponsored by Monroe I BOCES for Webster Middle School teachers
(February 2) (13 teachers). Ridarsky and Pepe introduced the group to the variety of onsite and online
resources available through the division and led the group through a Civil Rights and Race Riots of 1964
primary source activity.
 The fifth installment of the 2016-17 season of Rochester’s Rich History featured nationally-known truecrime writer Michael Benson, who presented a talk on his book The Devil at Genesee Junction (February
18) (53 people).
 PT Staff Genealogist Koehler presented the fifth session of the 2016-17 season of her popular Think
Genealogy It’s Saturday (TGIS) series, which focused on using FamilySearch.org (February 25) (14
people).
In addition, several staff members presented programs outside Central Library:
 Pepe presented a workshop on Civil Rights in Rochester and the 1964 Race Riots as part of an “inquiry
learning” professional development training session planned by Monroe BOCES I for Brighton Middle
School teachers (February 1) (2 sessions, 18 teachers total). Pepe shared a variety of Local History &
Genealogy source materials, such as newspaper clippings and audio recordings, to help the educators think
about ways of teaching their students that Civil Rights happened in Rochester, as well as how to use
primary documents. Pepe’s workshop also included a demonstration of the division’s online resources,
including Rochester Images, Rochester History, and RochesterVoices.org. Participants were “thrilled” with
the experience, and a number have reached out since the session for additional information. The group has
also scheduled a visit to the division to learn more (scheduled for April 27).
 FT Historical Researcher/Deputy City Historian Michelle Finn demonstrated RochesterVoices.org and
other local history resources to a group of graduate students in the teacher preparation program at St. John
Fisher College (Feburary 10) (17 people).
 Koehler taught an introduction to Ancestry Library Edition for patrons at the Webster Public Library
(February 8) (73 people). According to Webster staff, this was the largest turnout in recent history for any
program the library has offered, on any topic. Koehler fielded at least 25 questions during and after the
presentation. Library staff followed up with an email: “Thank you again Barb, for a wonderful presentation
last night! We still can't get over the number of attendees - wow! We had a lot of positive comments - folks
were super interested.”
 Ridarsky presented the film Rediscovering Frederick Douglass and displayed the portrait of Douglass that
was discovered in the library last year as a program for the Greece Historical Society at the Greece Public
Library (February 14) (97 people).
 Koehler taught an introduction to Ancestry Library Edition for patrons at the Irondequoit Public Library to
(February 18) (38 people).
 Koehler introduced the staff at the Webster Public Library to Local History & Genealogy Division
resources (February 28) (10 people). Director Terri Bennett sent the following email after the session:
“Thank you so much for your well-prepared and informative talk about all of the treasures in the Local
History & Genealogy division. My staff & I really appreciate the time you put in. The Central Library is
very lucky to have you on staff! We all learned a lot and will continue to refer patrons to your department!
We’re looking forward to working with you again!”
Outreach
 Ridarsky and Fess met with Max Schaible, historian of the Federation of German-American Societies, to
discuss the possibility of digitizing our collection of German-language newspapers (February 1). Schaible
hopes to convince the Federation and/or its some of its members to fund the conversion project.
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
 Osborne hosted a visit to the division by staff members from the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce
who are preparing to celebrate the organization’s 130th anniversary in 2017 (February 7) (3 people). It was
the group’s second visit to the division.
 Ridarsky met with the Veterans Memorial Executive Committee/Veterans United to update them on the
Rapids Cemetery Restoration Project (February 13).
 Ridarsky, Finn, Osborne, and Pepe represented the library and the Office of the City Historian at the
National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House’s Annual Birthday Luncheon along with several
representatives from the Friends & Foundation of RPL (February 15).
 Ridarsky represented the City and the library at meeting of the New York Cultural Heritage Tourism
Network in Auburn (February 16). While in Auburn, she toured the Seward House with Education Director
(and former RPL PT Historical Researcher) Jeff Ludwig and discussed possible partnership opportunities.
 Finn represented RPL at the Fellowship/Internship Open House at City Hall (February 16). She and
Cynthia Dana (Circulation) met with about 20 prospective interns to discuss possible opportunities
available to them at the Central Library. At least one of these students followed up with Finn after the event
to further explore these opportunities.
 Pepe represented the library at the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House’s Tea and Lecture
presented by Jane Oakes on “The Ladies of the Central Medical College” (February 27). Oakes is being
considered as a speaker for the 2017-18 season of Rochester’s Rich History.
 Ridarsky and Fess met with Evelyn Bailey, director of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley’s archives,
to discuss the possibility of partnering to host a conference that would highlight the GAGV materials
recently transferred to RPL and encourage researchers to use the material (February 28). We have
tentatively agreed to co-sponsor an event in March, 2018. Bailey is seeking funding via grant applications
to support the effort.
 Ridarsky met with Keith Suhr, Assistant Director of the Greece Public Library and newly appointed Town
of Greece Historian, to discuss the roles and responsibilities of a government-appointed historian (February
28).
Special Collections
Consulting Archivist Stephanie Mathieu continued to make progress on our New York State Archives
Documentary Heritage Fund grant project. This month, she completed arrangement and description of the
Harold Hacker papers and began working on the William Pearce papers. Ridarsky and Fess submitted a midterm report to New York State Archives on progress to date.
Two new collections were acquired this month, including:
 Several additions to the collections transferred last year from the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley (4.75
cu. ft.); the collections pertain to local LGBT activism.
 The Day Family papers, transferred from the Orleans County Historian, consisting of mostly letters from
two generations of the family chronicling life in Rochester at the time of both World Wars (.75 cu. ft.).
Digital Projects
In February, the RPL Board approved a term services contract with IRIS Resources for digitization services. The
local firm was selected from among four vendors who responded to an RFP in December. The division will
begin sending material out for digitization in coming months, allowing us to continue to increase accessibility of
collections by expanding the amount of material available online.
Seven volumes of Rochester City Directories (1940-1946) were uploaded to New York Heritage by the
Rochester Regional Library Council, in fulfillment of the requirements of the Regional Bibliographic Databases
and Interlibrary Resources Sharing Program grant that funded their digitization. These files are also being
cataloged in-house and will be added to the library’s digital collection next month alongside previously digitized
directories (1827-1939).
Rochester Voices
SUNY Brockport interns Deanna Crane and Cheryl Sampson continued to make steady progress preparing
materials from the Raymond Rohner collection for inclusion on RochesterVoices.org. The collection is
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
comprised of correspondence between Rohner and the woman who would become his wife, written while he
was in service during World War II. Crane is digitizing the letters; Sampson is transcribing them.
Ridarsky and Finn met with Sarah Lydon (Branch Library Administration) to discuss plans to add interviews
from the StoryCorps New Americans project to RochesterVoices (February 17). Fess met separately with Lydon
to discuss how best to archive and preserve the digital master files. Pending approval from her supervisor,
Assistant Director, Dr. Tolley Reeves, Lydon will re-name all of the files and create metadata in the broadcast
WAV files (per standards set by Fess) before they are uploaded to the archival drive. She and Finn will then
work on adding this content to the site in the upcoming months.
Social Media
The Local History & Genealogy division had 22 total posts on social media in February: 4 on Twitter, 13 on
Facebook, 4 blog entries, and one YouTube video. The reach of these posts was 7,078: 5,751 on Facebook, 713
on Twitter, and 758 on our blog (1,172); 197 people engaged with LH posts.
This month, three staff members wrote for our blog, LocalHistoryROCs!:
 Substitute Librarian Christopher Brennan:
o Daniel Furr, Austin Steward and Race in Rochesterville (February 7)
o Austin Steward and Slavery in New York (February 28)
 Library Assistant Renee Kendrot:
o Valentines, Valentines, Oh My! (February 14)
 PT Historical Researcher Emily Morry:
o Ticket to Ride: A New Exhibit in Local History! (February 21)
Office of the City Historian
This month, Finn assisted City Communications staff by researching and generating a list of facts about
Rochester settlement houses for use in construction of Mayor Warren’s Sanctuary City resolution and press
materials.
Science and History (Alla Levi Reporting)
Steve Nash met with a patron who is researching information in preparation to write a book on his relative,
Joshua Slocum, (February 20, 1844–on or shortly after November 14, 1909) who was the first man
to sail single-handedly around the world. Joshua Slocum was a Nova Scotian born, naturalized American
seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900, Slocum wrote a book about his journey Sailing Alone
Around the World, which became an international best-seller. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard
his boat, the Spray.
Steve Nash was invited by Eric Townell, Director of the Rochester Oratorio Society, to a performance at
Hochstein on the evening of March 24, 2017 to commemorate the centennial of the U.S. entry into WWI. Mr.
Townell is making a table at Hochstein available to have a display of WWI related books from the Central
Library collection. Steve Nash will be bringing books from several divisions to display and make available for
check out. Mary Fraser of the Arts Division has arranged with the ROS to bring a group to Central to perform
on April 29, 2017.
The new Health Central space continues to be a work in progress. Creative Library Concepts will be coming at
the end of the month or beginning of March to repair a few issues with the walls and door. On a more positive
note, the agreement between the Central Library and URMC was successfully approved by the RPL Board, thus
allowing us to move forward with the administration of the PAM (Patient Activation Measure) surveys. Sarah
Bishopp Velez will be contacting Mark Duheme, DSRIP (Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment) Project
Manager, regarding staff training shortly.
While the actual Health Central room has not been fully utilized yet, the new browsing collection of consumer
health books adjacent to the space has proven to be very popular! Sarah Bishopp Velez has been scrambling to
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
find and order more books since the collection is in such high circulation. For those not already familiar with it,
this new health collection sits between the Chester F. Carlson Patent & Trademark Center and Health Central.
Books are organized by subject rather than Dewey, to facilitate easier browsing. There are 14 health topics at the
moment, selected for their relevance to the community. This is a small collection, but the books found here are
considered the "best" in their topic, based upon reviews and circulation statistics.
Business and Social Science (Darlene Richards Reporting)
The Division served 877 people in person, answered 766 telephone reference, and 38 e-mails- totaling: 1,681
reference transactions.
Meeting with Women’s Giving Circle, February 10, 2017 - Rebecca Fuss, Jennifer Byrnes and Darlene
Richards met with Nancy Bloom and her colleague from the Women’s Giving Circle of the Rochester Area
Community Foundation. Darlene had connected with her at a Grant Writer’s network meeting at Saint John
Fisher college. Darlene presented information about the Grants Resource Center and the Foundation Directory
online, Jennifer presented on her work with FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), financial literacy
and the financial literacy kits. Nancy Bloom talked about the Women’s Giving Circle priorities. Darlene
followed up with her on information that was displayed in the Foundation Directory and how to update the
information; apparently it is not accurate and is not reflecting their true giving patterns. All of this information
comes from the 990-PF.
Grant Research Class - Darlene Richards held a special class Grants Research at the Central Library for
members of the New Bethel Church. One of the members of the church had taken the class before and wanted
other members of the committee to get more familiar with grant searching. They are looking for grant money to
restore their church and one of the members of the grant writers network also referred them to her.
Darlene met with a student from Geneseo doing an Internship for the Friends of Longpoint. They would like
him to find a grant for playground equipment. The Friends of Long Point in Livingston County, Inc. formed on
July 1, 2014 for the charitable purpose of restoring and preserving Long Point Park for the benefit of residents of
Livingston County as well as visitors to the Finger Lakes region and others who use parks.
Grants Research
Foundation Center Orientation, February 8, 2017 - Darlene Richards met with a student from Empire State
College, who was taking a course on grant writing and his professor required that he get an orientation of the
Foundation Directory Online. She met with him twice showed him FDO and other grant resources.
Foundation Center Orientation, February 14, 2017 - Darlene met with a customer who was interested in finding
grants for toilets for Haiti. She introduced her to the Foundation Directory, grant resources, government and
private. She also e-mailed her some possible leads for grants.
Small Business Consulting by Appointment and Walk-Ins - Linda assisted a number of small business
customers during the month by appointment and walk-in. These customers were referred to the Division
primarily by SCORE and the Urban League for market and industry research for their business plans. Business
ideas under consideration by these small business customers include the following: purchase of an existing cafe,
online bookstore startup, bricks and mortar bookstore startup, masonry business, moving business, and
consulting.
Anecdotes:
Linda was approached by a customer who said, “Do you remember me?” The customer reminded her that she
helped him get information on how to apply to start a New York State-approved Medicaid transportation
business. He thanked Linda for the help and noted that he has been approved as a Medicaid transportation
provider.
10
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
Linda and Flo Morris assisted a customer who was doing a final college research paper and presentation related
to volunteer opportunities with local nonprofits. The customer later emailed the following:
“I know this was from a couple of weeks ago... but I wanted to thank you for all your help in gathering
information on volunteer work for my research project. I finished my written work and presented my
research. (I just got my grade back... I got an A). I am now a college graduate!!! I truly appreciate your
help! Have a great day!”
TAX Program: The last day in February that the NYS DTF FSA Tax Assistance Program was here was
Saturday, February 18, 2017. They had to cut back on the number of days this year that they could be available
for this program. They will be back with us Saturday, March 18, 2017. In the meantime, with this gap of time
that the NYS DTF FSA Tax Assistance Program is not with us, staff has been busy taking appointments for after
March 18, 2017, providing information about CASH and AARP free tax preparation sites. Many people are
grateful that we do have the NYS DTF FSA Tax Assistance Program. And the staff from the NYS DTF FSA
Tax Assistance like coming to the Central Library to offer their service.
Art and Literature (Martin Steinhauser Reporting)

Artist at Work: Martha Schermerhorn (Book
Art) – February 4 - Martha Schermerhorn, book
artist, had an exhibition of her art in the Riedman
display cases during March. There was a lot of
laughter and chatting during her “Artist at Work”
demonstration as she helped visitors sew bindings
to create Valentine’s Day books. 7 people attended.

Creative Writing: A 4-Part Series – February 4,
11, and 18 – Jennifer Case –This series of writing
workshops, part of the grant funded Rochester
Writes program, was designed for people at any
level of writing experience. Jennifer Case,
instructor, explored the basics of creative writing
through a variety of activities with participants. Students had the opportunity to share their writing efforts
in a safe and friendly workshop setting. Some comments made by participants are: “High quality writing
program enthusiastically and skillfully given by the teacher,” and “It was a delightful spirit of community
sharing,” “Grateful to have the opportunity to meet new people, laugh and cry without judgment and
knowing I’m not alone.” Attendees: Feb 4 – 21; Feb 11 – 20; Feb 18 – 19.

African American Literature Discussion Series – February 6, 13, 20 and 27 - This group, facilitated
by David Sanders, Professor Emeritus of English at St. John Fisher College, read and discussed a
selection of important African-American texts from the 1920s to the present. Langston Hughes, James
Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Jamaica Kincaid were featured authors. The diverse group included
about a dozen individuals of different racial and religious backgrounds, ages, and gender. People were
extremely engaged and candid in the discussions, and because of the importance of the interactions and
conversations, we’d like to offer this series again in the fall.
Attendees: Feb 6 – 10; Feb 13 – 13; Feb 20 – 10; Feb 27 – 12.

ROC the ARTS-Drawing Class – Proportions – Gina Zanolli- February 18 - Local artist Gina
Zanolli, an art instructor at Monroe Community College and the Memorial Art Gallery, brought her
extensive drawing expertise to the first of a four-part series called "Learn to Draw: Proportions to
Composition." In this class, the 10 who attended learned how to arrange objects into a good composition,
how to hold a pencil correctly, draw in perspective, and view a three dimensional object as a 2dimensional object. The students expressed thanks for the free drawing class; several students said they
cannot afford to take a drawing class at a school or college. The second class will be in March: “Contour
and Value: The Buildup of a Drawing.”
11
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)

Brownbag Book Discussion Group – February 22 – Led by Carol Moldt - This month’s book
discussion focused on the community Rochester Reads book, The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld, a death
row investigator. This novel is quite grim as it is about death row inmates and prison workers, but it is
beautifully written and brings a sense of humanity into an unthinkably dark world that most of us know
little about. The group had an excellent discussion about the complexities of human beings who create
heinous acts and our current prison system. Attendees: 18

Bestselling Author Mindset – February 25 – This 1½ hour writing workshop, led by bestselling
author and writing coach, Jennifer Blanchard, helped writers uncover what’s holding them back or
keeping them from creating the success they want to see in their writing life. A participant wrote in the
evaluation that “Jennifer gave great tips and this is going to be enormously helpful to my writing
career.” Attendees: 13
Meetings/Other

The Arts section opened to the public in the North Wing of Rundel on Saturday, February 24th. The
renovation looks great and books have been moved onto the open shelving from temporary storage
locations by Arts & Literature Division staff. Creative Concepts is submitting a proposal for furnishing
the new Rundel Arts Room, and a few other details will be completed in the near future. Thanks to
everyone for their hard work!

Andy Coyle reported that the WLPR blog had 10,245 hits in the month of February. A post on Thomas
Bernhard and the book and documentary film, Three Days, received the most hits over the past month.
Melissa and Andy have nearly completed the updated holdings report for currently held magazines in
ARTS/LIT and their storage locations by year/volumes. Rundelania received additional submissions in
February. The first digital edition will be out May 1, 2017. The Rundelania WordPress site has been
upgraded to exclude advertising and enhance layout, editing and storage. Andy will be working with
Nanci in March to incorporate patron art submissions into the first edition. New literature book cases
were reorganized by subject area/call number, and labeled for easier browsing.

On February 7, Alicia Gunther and Nanci Nugent attended a Neighborhood of the Arts Business
Association meeting at the George Eastman Museum. Jen Lenio and about 20 other members were in
attendance. Alicia and Nanci brought Central’s February program calendar, and flyers from the Arts and
Literature Division with them. They spoke about the diverse programming at the Central Library, and
elaborated on the Roc the Arts, Pop-Up Craft Parties, and the Craft It Forward programs. They also
spoke about the Rochester Writes programs that Carol Moldt has put together. They described the
renovation at Central, and specifically, the Arts Division. Alicia and Nanci enlightened members about
opportunities for artists to exhibit their work: in Central’s Lower Link Gallery, the Artist at Work
program, and in the new Rundel Arts Room. Alicia informed the group that Harold Hacker Hall can be
rented for large group events and gave an overview of the Business Division’s collection and resources
for grants and small business information.
12
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)

Use of unique collection. – February 23 - A young woman requested
a treasure from the Art Stacks: the 1941 book Mexican Costume by
Carlos Merida. When she made the request, she didn’t realize that it
was a portfolio of large color prints depicting the traditional clothing of
Mexico. Amazed by the detail and beauty of the prints, she asked
librarian Mary Fraser to help her to make color copies. She needed
visual aids for a presentation she was preparing for a Spanish class, and
she planned to use copies of the Merida prints, in addition to her
Powerpoint presentation.
Circulation/Information February 2017 – Cynthia Dana reporting

Fine Waivers/Reductions - Our theme for the Fines Wheel for
February was Black History/Valentine’s Day. We did not use it as much in February as there were fewer
patrons with fines for some reason! March will be a combination of St. Patrick’s Day trivia and libraryrelated questions.

Notary Public Services - Magdi Carillo has taken the test for Notary Public. She has translated for
many Spanish speakers who required the service of a Notary Public.
Reynolds Media Center February 2017 – Joseph Born reporting

Hoopla: Hoopla circulations in February were 998: (283 Movies/TV, 279 Audiobooks, 177 Music, 132
eBooks, 127 Comics) 49 new users registered for Hoopla during February. 11 Non-City Residents asked
about getting Hoopla during February.
Programs
 Media in Focus – February 10, 2017 – “Design is One: The Vignellis,” Talk presented by R. Roger
Remington, distinguished Professor of Design and Professor of Graphic Design at RIT. Professor
Remington spoke about Massimo and Lella Vignelli as designers, friends and collaborators. He also
discussed their design work and his own involvement in the production of the film Design is One as
well as the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT as their legacy.

Generation Listen – February 13, 2017 – Moderators: Rachel DeGuzman and Andre Primus led a
lively conversation with 11 attendees after listening to the NPR podcast: “Hear Something – Say
Something: Navigating the World of Racial Awkwardness.”

See It First - February 18, 2017 - This film series continued with the showing of “Queen of Katwe”
and provided snacks for 24 people in the Kate Gleason Auditorium.
Other:
 Patron encounter: On 2/16/17, Joe Born received a phone call while on the Reference Desk. The
patron was calling from a cruise ship while docked. She was having a problem downloading a book that
became available according to Overdrive. She was frustrated because she received an email stating her
hold was available, but when she attempted to download it she was informed she was #25 on the list.
She wanted to know if the library was going to get a more “user friendly” system. I spoke to the patron
about Hoopla, since she is a City of Rochester resident, and explained that with Hoopla there is no hold
necessary because there was no limit to the number of people using a title at the same time. She
downloaded the app and immediately saw a book she wanted. She was very excited and said we helped
“make” her vacation.
13
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
Branch Library Highlights
Tolley Reeves, Ed.D., Assistant Director
Branch Administration, Sarah Lydon reporting
AmeriCorps - The AmeriCorps Members finished their fourth full month with the library. The two Community
Navigators continue to perform very well, with an increase in program attendance each month. Throughout this
fourth month of service, the Rochester Public Library AmeriCorps Members held or assisted with 11 special
programs with 135 attendees (60 of which were from Community Navigator programming), helped 95 people
apply for jobs or edit resumes and assisted or held 21 story times with 117 children.
The Community Navigators held 7 programs in February, with an impressive 60 attendees. So far for Year 2,
we have had 203 attendees to programming with 170 pre/post-tests or surveys. The grant requires us to have
80 attendees, with 80 pre- and post-tests for all of Year 2, by the end of September, 2017. At this point, we have
already doubled our attendee requirements for the year, and are only 37 attendees away from tripling it! We are
very quickly approaching my initial goal of quadrupling our attendance requirements for the year. We are 5
attendees away from doubling our total attendance numbers for all of Year 1, which was 104 attendees.
Although the Community Navigator Team is down to only 2 members, they are successfully holding programs
and working well with the staff in their branches. Our most well attended programs continue to be our children’s
programs and are receiving many compliments from the staff that assist us with them. February did have a
school recess throughout the week of the 20-24th. The members had a program planned for almost every day that
week, and did a fantastic job. I was initially hesitant to keep planning a full schedule of programs every month
with only two members, however, they are doing a fantastic job and have expressed a desire to continue offering
many programs.
We continue our ‘Let’s Talk Money’ discussion series at Sully, Lyell and Arnett. Our attendance is usually
around 4 attendees per discussion session, and my goal is to get that to at least 5 attendees each discussion. We
are working on doing targeted outreach for each discussion a week prior, with the members individually
reaching out to area organizations to let them know about upcoming events. The surveys we get back from the
discussions continue to be very positive, with the majority of attendees giving 4s and 5s. I look forward to
following up with attendees in a few months to see how many did make use of any of the services we offer.
The Community Navigators held two new programs this month. They held their “Financial Literacy Jeopardy”
for 8 teens at Lincoln, and held the “This or That” program over February Break for three of the branches. Both
programs were very successful, and we look forward to continuing them!
Antoinette and Shaquavia continue to assist in the branches with one-on-one assistance with patrons as well.
Antoinette continues to build a loyal base of patrons that specifically ask for her and has one patron that is
continuing on with the process for to be hired for Summer of Opportunity with her assistance.
For March we are continuing our ‘Let’s Talk Money’ discussion series, trying a new Job Searching Program and
continuing to focus on our targeted outreach to expand our adult attendance.
EDGE Initiative - The EDGE team met multiple times in February. We finished the last of the focus groups
with one that I held here at Central. The attendees had many interesting suggestions to offer. Some of the most
significant suggestions included having a separate area for patrons to charge their phones (many are in the habit
of using a computer to just charge a device) and including more job training, video editing and webinar based
material. I also conducted two one-on-one interviews. I spoke with Brenda Massey of the Office of Innovation
and LaShunda Leslie Smith with Connected Communities. Both individuals very openly stated that they were
unfamiliar with many of the technology services that the library had to offer, but knew that the access to
computers and Internet was vital for many within our community. LaShunda mentioned that having the library
as a place where individuals could go for social services (virtual appointments, being able to scan/email
documents, etc.) would be hugely beneficial for many residents. At the moment, for many of these services,
individuals need to go in person to Westfall or Downtown.
14
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
StoryCorps/New American Journeys - With the current cultural climate and self-sufficiency that the
Community Navigators have shown this year, Dr. Reeves and I decided this would be a good time to begin the
process of making the interviews collected through the StoryCorps grant and New American Journeys project
more accessible. I met with Christine Ridarsky and Michelle Finn in the Local History & Genealogy division to
plan the best way to do this. Unfortunately, we cannot put the full interviews online; however we can put 6minute clips and make the full interviews accessible within the library itself. The plan moving forward is to
create a landing page and section on Rochester Voices for the 6-minute clips, and develop a listening station
within the Local History division where patrons can come in person to listen. This will require me to edit the
interviews down to the 6 minutes. The plan is to have the content and 10 of the interviews created by the end of
March, and to make the ‘New American Journeys’ collection page available at the end of the month. I will
gradually edit these clips and add (hopefully) 10 more each month. I also met with Brandon Fess to begin the
process of digitally archiving the collection.
Safe To Be Smart Program Highlights, Derrick Coley reporting

The Arnett site: Shetora Banks has been facilitating Wii gaming Fridays for the teens with snacks.
Shetora collaborated with Shawn Miles of “Be Proud Be Smart” for life skills activities. The teens work
in groups and participated in financial literacy interactive activities and goal-setting essentials to achieve
success with Shawn. Shetora chaperoned a movie field trip with teens to the Regal Theater for Black
History month. Shetora has been assisting teens with Summer of Opportunity applications.

The Phillis Wheatley site: Lynnicsha Bostick had teens assist her with a Black History month bulletin
board. The board had famous African-Americans past and present. The youth had to research 5 facts
about their hero or heroine to earn a prize. The mix and mingle for the month was celebrated by having
soul food for the youth in honor of Black History month. Lynnicsha has been assisting teens with
Summer of Opportunity applications.

The Maplewood site: Mark Dixon has been developing new chess
players at Maplewood. The new players consist of elementary age
youth and teen beginners playing with each other. The most
challenging player has been Maydar, a 10 year-old new American girl
who is undefeated.
Mark has been mentoring high school senior Tyshaun. Mark said,
“Tyshaun was working and attending school and his grades fell so low
that it was jeopardizing his goals to graduate.” Mark and Tyshaun
talked about goals and immediate needs of importance at the
Maplewood branch. Tyshaun told Mark he quit his job and let them
know how his grades fell down. Tyshaun is working his way back
with a 2.8 grade point average and is back on track to graduate with
his senior class. Mark has been guiding and assisting teens when
needed to the Summer of Opportunity website to fill out the job
application. Mark facilitated the Black History Month program by
working with the teens on matching famous African-American
inventors to their inventions.

The Lincoln site: Vera Haygood solicited teens for the AmeriCorps resume writing workshop. The
YA/librarian Jacob has been continuing to teach chess and the beginners group is gradually growing.
Vera continues to participate with the teens through card and board games. Vera learns a lot about the
teens’ lives through this low key interaction. Vera hosted a Black History trivia night for teens with food
and prizes. Vera has been providing assistance to teens filling out Summer of Opportunity applications.
The teens were encouraged to work with each other and share technology with youth that did not have a
phone.
15
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)

The Sully site: To celebrate Black History month, George Carter chaperoned the teens to watch
“Hidden Figures,” about the African-American women that worked for NASA in the 1960s. George
facilitated a Black History month program using Q&R scanning and cellphones with the teens. The
teens had to scan a famous African-American and answer the questions on their worksheet for snacks
and prizes. George has been assisting teens with Summer of Opportunity applications.

Teen Central site: I have Lydia Williams on-site and she has hit the ground running by making herself
available to the teens at Central. Lydia facilitated an African-American Bingo program with teens for
Black History month. The game led to deeper discussion about race and history with Lydia and the
teens. Lydia had a few teens assist her with a Black History display with books and a collage of famous
African-Americans. Lydia has assisted teens with Summer of Opportunity applications. Throughout
the month, Lydia used board games and table topic discussions with snacks as the hook to get to know
teens at Central. Lydia has shared that adherence to Safe To Be Smart structure and rules about overaged former teens should be followed uniformly by all staff to avoid predatory behavior toward schoolage girls. I am currently canvassing candidates for the second STBS youth service assistant opening as
previous candidate Nicoy Douglass declined the part-time position.
Southside Branches, Jennifer Lenio reporting
Arnett, Bruce Tehan reporting
 One of the most popular programs we held during break week was entitled: The Animal Kingdom and
was presented by the Genesee Country Village and Museum.
 YA Librarian, Katie Swingly made bingo cards with famous figures in Black History, and ran a pop-up
bingo program twice during the month. She said the teens really enjoyed the game, and she plans on
doing similar programs in the future. This game coincided with the biography contest that Shetora Banks
did for Safe to Be Smart, in which the teens are compiling a book of biographies on notable African
Americans in history.
 This month’s concert featured a local band that does
Gospel and Jazz music. The show was very fun and
certainly enjoyed by the 68 audience members. Adult
Librarian, Anne Brown experimented with using
Facebook live for the first time to promote an event.
They had about three viewers log in during the event,
and about another 15 viewed the posted video after the
event.
 Brown has had a regular student over the last several
months attending her Computer Tutor sessions. The
patron came in to create a patient portal account for
her doctor’s office, and is now using Gmail, Facebook,
and online bank accounts regularly. In addition, she has learned how to download photos and music on
to her computer, bought a home printer, and now uses music and other apps on her phone.
 65 patrons received Literacy Navigator assistance during February.
Douglass, Erin Clarke reporting
 Staff worked with Tiana Stephens in the Mayor’s Office to host a birthday party for Frederick Douglass
on February 14. Tiana provided the party supplies, a giant card, and keepsake photos of Frederick
Douglass. Thanks to Ned Davis of FFRPL, I was able to provide a full sheet cake with the new photo
printed on the frosting. We had over 1,200 views on Facebook and 52 people in attendance.
Unfortunately, the Mayor was not able to attend, but we had a lot of people from the community and
other City departments join us, and we had a great time!
16
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)

Assemblyman Harry Bronson visited the branch on February 17. He had a brief tour of the library, read
a story to our after school kids, and then met with library stakeholders including Sally Snow, Dr.
Reeves, Kathleen Miller, Adrienne Furness, and Jeff Baker.

On 2/21, a male patron mistook the library for the emergency room and brought his girlfriend in while
she was having an overdose; thankfully, she survived. Some staff members have requested the
opportunity to attend CPR and opioid overdose prevention training, as we currently only have one staff
member with up-to-date certification in both areas. City Security has increased the frequency of library
visits across the City in response to a spike in opiate-related overdoses, some of which are occurring in
public restrooms. They have asked us to monitor bathroom use as much as possible, and we should
always have at least one extra key to the public bathrooms.
Our circulation was up 33% in January, 2017 from January, 2016. Some of this could be attributed to
patrons mistakenly thinking we were still closed in January, 2016, but I’m pleased with the increase
even if we reduced that number by half (just for the sake of argument). We’re testing out a couple of
new ideas to see if we can reach our goal of an overall circulation increase of 7.5% in the coming year.
The Storybook Cook presented an All Things Red for Valentine’s Day food program and demonstrated
the following recipes: Mediterranean Pasta (which included heart-shaped pasta), Spinach and
Strawberry Salad, and Red Velvet Cake Balls. He also provided tips on how to cut certain vegetables,
i.e., showed participants how to cut onions so that their eyes won’t water. In addition, he provided
nutritional information for each of the recipes. The eight participants’ favorite part of the demonstration
was testing the food!
The Douglass Book Group read What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty this month. Adult Services
librarian, Nancy Cowan was thrilled to have the largest number of participants ever with 12 this month.
Cowan reports it was a great discussion with the book speaking to many of them on a personal level and
good stories were shared. It helped them to get a little more acquainted with one another, which Cowan
said is always a good thing.
Mayukwa Kashiwa, from Building Families First, came to Douglass to host an African Music and
Dance program. They invited a few R-Center children to join and they had a blast listening to
Mayukwa’s story about growing up in Zambia. He taught the kids a traditional dance from his tribe and
then the kids got to freestyle. The adults that joined really enjoyed it. Smiles were all around. 36
participated in all.
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17
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)

For Black History Month, Youth Services Librarian Sarah Ngo created a scavenger hunt with photos of
the Obamas, Harriet Tubman, and Jesse Owens. She hid photos around the library and assigned a
number. The kids had to write down the number on their paper and bring it to her completed. Kids who
found all of the images received a candy prize. Total participation: 17.
Monroe, Mary Clare Scheg reporting
 Cursive Writing Camp: This Camp was held every morning during the week of Feb. 20th. We had 10
terrific children attend this program. This is an interactive program where the kids move around
between various stations. In each session, they learn to write a number of letters in cursive. Then they
move between an easel, a Buddha Board (write the letters using water) and a snack table. The snack
table is a big hit too. It is fun to watch the interactions between the students. I assist the teacher, Melissa
Hopkins, as she shows the students the way to form the letters. At the outset of this Camp, I read the
book entitled, Words Set Me Free, the story of young Frederick Douglass. This is a good introduction
about the importance of learning to write cursive SO you can also READ cursive. This program will be
continued.

Home Ownership-While we only had 5 people participate in this program, I wanted to share the
comments from our presenter, Kim Romeo.
Great Success!
18
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
I spoke with 5 patrons and was able to lend immediate assistance to 3, who are embarking on
purchasing their first homes.
Additionally, I made some other connections, as interested folks stopped by the table to see what the
interest was. So a few more took away materials to explore with friends and family at a later date.
Thank you again for the opportunity to share this timely information with your library patrons. It is
truly exciting to be a part of the opportunities available within our public library system to share useful
community information.
The more we share…the more we grow.

Destination Station - Children’s Librarian, Margaret Paige reports that the Early Literacy story time/play
area has become a “destination station” of sorts for neighborhood families and new families to the
library. Several times in recent weeks, children have walked into the Children’s Room and immediately
stated, “I want to play in the kitchen!” With donations from the Toy Library and creative design and
contributions from staff, “Artichokie’s Corner” of the library has transformed into a place to imagine,
read, talk, sing, and play. Throughout the remainder of 2017, they plan to reassess this space and make
appropriate additions to increase and maintain the space for IMAGINATION & PLAY! In addition to
daily use and weekly “Babies & Books” program, their regular Pre-Kindergarten visitors from School
#23 have the option of “free play” prior to the beginning of story time. Many of the children gravitate to
the kitchen play area to try new things and to reinforce their prior knowledge. It’s a great flexible space
that has evolved on its own but that we will continue to intentionally develop.

Take Your Child to the Library Day – on February 4th they hosted an Ice Cream for Breakfast social! 36
people attended. They also collected nearly 50 library advocacy postcards through the month to send
with the MCLS representative to Albany, New York.
Wheatley, Lori Frankunas reporting
 We have our writing instructor for the Story Walk story writing program. Lisa Johnson from Writers
and Books will be teaching the writing portion of the six-week program. Shawn Dunwoody will be
teaching the illustration portion of the program and designing the artwork for outside the building.
 The “Increasing Circulation” program that I attended in Albany, New York gave Shamika Fusco and me
some good ideas.
o Thinking about unconventional items to circulate
o Changing our focus to a popular collection
o Adding computers to concentrate more on “workforce development”
o Signing more people up for library cards through outreach efforts
19
RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)

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
The mix and mingle this month featured delicious soul food cooked by Lynnecsha that the kids and
teens really enjoyed.
Some of our regular patrons let me interview them for a handout I gave to Senator Ranzenhofer about
the Phillis Wheatley Library.
Wii Wednesdays are always popular – 51 kids participated in February.
They had a visiting artist teach the kids Asian Cut Paper Art on February 23rd. Nine children cut out
patterns for the Rooster since this is the year of the Rooster in the Chinese Zodiac. They also made
snowflake shapes.
Children’s Librarian Alexandra Haehn reports that every day they have homework time and coloring
time. Literacy Aide Miss Divina is doing an awesome job helping her with the kids and she has really
good ideas for art projects and activities.
Adult Services Librarian, Sean Greif reports that Jim DeVinney came to Wheatley to screen his popular
segment in Eyes on the Prize, a landmark civil rights documentary. Jim explained his craft, his history
with the film and gave a small lecture on his experiences with working with Henry Hampton and the
creation of the documentary. The ten participants also discussed a new book called True South, which
delves deeper into the creation of the entire series.
Greif says that Resume
Roundtable attendance has
been steady and he has
received feedback reporting
that jobs have been earned as a
result.
Princess Cupcake Jones PartyThe party was based on the
book Cupcake Jones. Friends
came to the library for an
interactive storytime. We
enjoyed a read aloud, coloring,
games, cupcakes, dancing and
fun.
Winton, Jeanne Slocombe reporting
 Fifty people attended the family friendly “Punch and
Judy” puppet show on Thursday, February 23rd. This
RCSD winter break week program is family friendly and
brought in a large audience, with 25 children and 25
adults attending. Longtime 19th Ward resident Tom
Bohrer, wrote this funny version that had adults and
children laughing. Tom reminded me that this show is
about involving children within the story and it is ok if
they approach the theatre during the show and speak to
the puppets. Getting involved in the story encourages
children to use the magic of their imagination. The show
was popular enough but people stayed to talk with Tom
Boher, renowned puppeteer and educator, and his wife,
Mitzi Collins, a nationally known musician in her own
right. People gathered after the program for almost 20
minutes and it didn’t seem like they wanted to leave.
 Bring Your Child to the Library Day, Saturday, February
4, 2017, was a success. We were celebrating early
literacy, families and young children. Mr. Loops with his wife, Mrs. Loops, are a duo who loves to sing
and dance with children. Mr. Loops plays acoustic guitar and Mrs. Loops dances and helps get children
out of a chair or off the floor and dancing, too. Parents were singing along with many of the pop hits of
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
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the 1970s that Mr. Loops was singing. Children who were confident did get up and dance and move
around the room. Many parents stopped to say “thank you” for presenting the program.
On February 11, nine patrons attended the program “Drawing Flowers for Beginners” presented by art
therapist Shannon Halligan. Adult Librarian, Diane Premo reported that she really presented a terrific
program.
February’s book clubs discussed the “Rochester Reads” selection Enchanted by Rene Denfeld.
According to Premo, the sixteen participants had a lively discussion — the book concerns prisons and
the death penalty. Many thought it was unbearably grim, but others were fascinated by the author’s
writing style, as well as her own experiences working in the prison system. Next month, they will be
reading Brooklyn by Colm Toibin in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
Northside Branches, Joan Lee reporting
Charlotte, Paul Tantillo reporting
 We were pumped up for a busy winter break, but general library usage was actually a little lighter than
we were hoping for. The weather was just too good. For one of our school vacation special events, we
had wildlife rehabilitators from Wild Wings, Inc. bring in live birds of prey for patrons to meet. This
was billed as a teen program but people of all ages were encouraged to attend. In spite of the beautiful
weather, we had the largest crowd anyone here at Charlotte can remember any event drawing – 95
people. We almost couldn’t accommodate the crowd. This event was held in the Children’s Room and it
was packed. We were interested to see that there were more fathers bringing their children to this event
than we usually see. It’s more common to see kids with their mothers or with a grandparent. Is this a
general trend, or was this program particularly attractive to the dads? We don’t recall seeing this
dynamic with other live animal programs we’ve done, but it makes us think there may be an unexploited
marketing opportunity here somewhere.
 Karen set up an outreach table at the Lakeside Winter Celebration at Ontario Beach Park on Saturday,
February 11. This was our first time at the Winter Celebration. It was a well-attended event and Karen
was able to promote library services to a lot of people. She distributed about 300 free books (provided
by Shelley Matthews, RPL Literacy Coordinator). As the main event on February 11 was a chili cookoff; a lot of our freebie books were cookbooks and were enthusiastically received
 On February 14, at Joan Lee’s suggestion, Paul (along with Pat from Lyell Branch and Jason from
Lincoln Branch) attended opioid overdose prevention training at the Norris Clinic. Participants were
given information on the epidemic of opioid drug abuse (long story short, it’s out of control and
continuing to grow) and were taught how to administer Naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose.
Lincoln, Jason Gogniat reporting
 On Saturday, February 4th, Children’s Librarian, Rosa Diaz led a “Take your Child to the Library Day”
with story time, crafts and free face-painting for kids. Fifty kids and parents attended the annual event.
The week of Spring Break from February 20th-25th was very busy at Lincoln due to the increased
number of kids and parents stopping by. Diaz held several events throughout the week including our
annual “Guess the Number of Jolly Ranchers” contained within a large jug. She also held a “Cookie
Wars” decorating contest for kids. The winner was a boy named Rene who made a snowman with his
tongue sticking out. 23 kids took part in the contest.
 On Wednesday, February 22nd, Illuminada from Cornell Cooperative Extension led a program for kids
on nutrition. Illuminada, who regularly stops by Lincoln on Wednesdays to distribute information on
nutrition, demonstrated to the kids the huge amounts of sugar and salt contained within soft drinks,
candy, chips and other common processed foods.
 On Tuesday, February 28th, we held Black History event with Teresa Wood of History Houses. Teresa
presented on Black History through the story of Addy from the American Girl series of books and dolls.
22 people attended.
 The Toy Library had a total of 969 visitors in February. That is 310 more than last year. We had 28
group visits with 277 visitors. I have asked Sarah Fitts-Romig to break down the groups visiting each
month and she put together a report that I will send monthly. The report shows a variety of
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
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organizations visiting: family based daycares, UPK classes, center based daycares, therapists, and a
weekly visit from Lifetime Assistance to assist with disinfecting toys.
Sarah did one outreach program at Wilson Commencement, and introduced three staff members to the
Toy Library. They will share the brochures and information with the families they serve.
The Toy Library had two special programs during the month with presenter Drew Beeman, director of
Progressive Early Leaning. He brought STEAM materials and set up five different stations for hands-on
exploration. These program were promoted on our Facebook page and the posting was shared a couple
of times. Both programs were 2 hours in length and Drew did an awesome job with a constant stream of
kids arriving and joining in. He offered his programs at no cost to the Toy Library which was great
since the STEAM topics are so important for the children we serve.
Teen Librarian, Jacob Bigelow led an event for Teens on Local Black History. After putting together a
display on important Local Black History figures, Jacob held a bingo event on Tuesday February 28th. 7
teens attended. The Facebook series Jacob ran also received many likes and was well-researched.
Our fax line was down for the last week-and-a-half of February. This negatively affected door count and
the number of pages faxed. We regularly send around 500 pages monthly and this past month, we sent
just 263, which was a large drop off. The fax service is very important to Lincoln’s service area,
especially for patrons who walk to the library and cannot travel far. Unfortunately, the fax line runs
through the fire alarm relay, and this has been causing issues.
Our AmeriCorps Member, Antoinette, has been busy helping patrons with job applications and resumes.
Eric Caraballo, a regular patron who only speaks Spanish, has been coming to the library throughout
February to fill out job applications. He left his family in Puerto Rico to find work and is hoping to find
work to be able to bring them here with him. Antoinette has been a great help at Lincoln due to her
Spanish language skills and patience with patrons. Yesterday, Eric was able to finish a very long and
complicated application in English thanks to Antoinette’s help. After finishing the application, Eric told
me his story and thanked everyone at Lincoln and said he would not be able to get through the
applications without our assistance.
Toy Library Statistics - February 2017
Circulation
Door Count
Programs
Program
Attendance
2017
423
976
28
2016
372
659
22
Gain/Loss
51
317
6
Percent
14%
48%
27%
277
189
88
47%
Lyell, Pat Connor reporting
 The Lyell Branch was pleased to host Jennifer Quick from the Metro Council for Teen Potential and a
group of girls from School #54 and #43. They used the meeting room for a series of guest speakers on
health and growing up from the Nursing School at the University of Rochester. Several of the girls
registered for and received library cards and we hope to see them return to the library in the future.
 Adult Librarian, Jennifer Cherelin facilitated a meeting between a representative from Mercy Bridges
and Jorge, one of our Spanish speaking patrons. Jorge had expressed a desire to increase his English
language skills and Jennifer helped him find a tutor. They are now meeting at the library on a regular
basis. The Adult Nutrition series and the Adult/Teen book discussion group continue. Jennifer also
continues to give individualized computer help on Wednesday mornings before the library opens to help
patrons with job searches, resume building, and basic computer skills.
 Youth Librarian, Elise Burmeier presented programs on groundhogs, love bugs, the number 100, and a
very successful Family Bingo program during School Break Week. The Checkers Magic Show also had
us all entertained during February recess. We welcomed the return of the Tail Waggin' Tutors with one
of our favorite dogs, Cat. On February 4, we served breakfast ice cream sundaes to celebrate both Take
Your Child to the Library Day and Ice Cream for Breakfast Day.
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
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Elise also took charge of the Lyell Facebook page this month with a daily posting about a Black author
or poet in honor of Black History Month. Our page received a lot of viewings during the series and we
thank Elise for all of her hard work in keeping this up. She also put up a Real vs Fake News display
which has generated interested.
AmeriCorps member Shaquavia Williams continues to be a vital part of the library staff. She has
assisted with patrons' computer needs as well as facilitating several programs. This month, Shaquavia
offered a resume workshop along with the month "Let's Talk Money" series. She also planned and
carried out a survey to address our patron's DVD needs in regard to Blu-Ray vs regular DVDs. Hands
down, our patrons are not interested in having our collection migrate to Blu-Ray at this point.
On a sad note, we said good-bye to Diarra McFarland. Diarra has been the Lyell Literacy Aide since
September after being a RCSD Summer Literacy Aide at the Lincoln Branch Library. She has moved to
North Carolina to live with her mom.
Maplewood, Johanna Buran reporting
 We continue to have at least 34 children on the children’s computers Mondays through Thursdays.
 Various programs were presented during the February school break. There were movies every day, arts
and crafts, a LEGO playtime and board games were some of the options. Thanks to the Rochester
weather, kids were able to play outside, too.
 There were craft programs to celebrate Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day this month. Many children
spent time creating Valentines for school exchanges, made special butterfly treats with heart shape cutouts, and read for decorating Valentine cookies.
 Miss Caitlyn, with the assistance of one of our Tween regulars, had the kids make Love Butterflies.
They took Valentine-colored M&Ms in a zip block bag, attached a clothespin to it along with a pipe
cleaner for an antennae. The candy in the bag acted as the wings. It was something they could make and
eat later.
 Maplewood also hosted FAFSA (Free Application For Federal Student Aid) Fest 2017 and it was very
successful. Students were welcome to stop in with their parent or guardian to get help in filling out the
FAFSA form for financial aid for college. Maplewood saw about 17 students come in with their family
and they walked out with their forms completed. The FAFSA crew came with their own setup and
supplied pizza, snacks and water. It was great to see youth coming in to get ready for college. The
FAFSA form is a challenge in itself to fill out and the FAFSA crew did a great job
 The teens could make their own Valentines to give to friends or someone special. There was special
Valentine-themed craft supplies such as stickers, foam hearts, washi tape, and there was the usual glue,
markers, etc. Everyone was welcome to make something.
 New Americans Librarian - Evanna DiSalvo reporting
 Completed a class evaluation with 18 students participating. Sample statistics: 67% learned
about our classes from Friends and Family/Heard people talking; 100% reported that they are
happy with their learning in class
 89% have been attending for 1 year or less
 89% reported that the classes have helped them to talk to people
 Students went on a field trip the Lamberton Conservatory with the Lake Avenue Baptist Church
Volunteers.
 Students went on a field trip the Seneca Park Zoo with the Lake Avenue Baptist Church
Volunteers.
Sully, Dennis Williams reporting
 In the month February, we held our first Manga Night of the year for our Manga Club members here at
Sully. We had 16 teens/tweens that showed up for the event. Great fun was had by all and it was good
to see some new participants as well as our veteran members! We were able to supply food, drinks, and
prizes for everyone and we will host another Manga Night event in April over school recess.
 Also, in the month of February, we wrapped up our first Manga reading contest of the year that ran from
January 1st through February 28th. We had great participation with 17 teens checking out Manga for
the two month contest. Jaylen was our winner and he read over 300 volumes of Manga and earned
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RPL Director’s Report – March, 2017 (Continued)
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himself a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Jovany was our runner-up with over 250 Manga volumes checked
out and he earned a $25.00 Amazon gift card. We will have another contest running from March 1st
through April 30th with the winners receiving a Kindle Fire or another Amazon gift card.
To celebrate Black History Month, Carmen Gonzalez had a Tea Party for the kids. She partnered with
the Sully Recreation Center and had a great turnout.
Selected Meetings & Outputs
Director Uttaro (February 18 – March 17, 2017)
Brie Harrison; Sally Snow; Ana Suro – one-to-one meetings (monthly)
Tolley Reeves - one-to-one meetings (bi-weekly)
RPL Literacy Coordinator, Shelley Matthews (monthly)
FFRPL Executive Director Ned Davis (monthly)
City Chief of Staff, Alex Yudelson, one-to-one meetings (monthly)
Monroe County Assistant County Executive, Michael Molinari (bi-monthly)
MCLS Directors’ Council (monthly)
MCLS System Services and Operations Committee (monthly)
Central Library All-Staff Meeting (monthly)
RPL-MCLS Management Team (weekly)
City Senior Management Team (weekly)
City Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Norman Jones
City Department of Recreation & Youth Services Commissioner Marisol Ramos Lopez
Business-Social Sciences Staff Milestone Anniversary Certificate Presentation/Reception
Central Circulation Staff Member Milestone Anniversary Certificate Presentation/Reception
City Revenue Committee
Joint RPL-MCLS Board of Trustees
Generation Listen program – Kate Gleason Auditorium
Library Advocacy Day in Albany – Meetings with Local Area State Delegation Members and Local Advocates
Rochester Regional Library Council – Advisory Council
Urban Librareis Council President, Susan Benton; Ned Davis
Urban Libraries Council Top Innovator Award Presentation & Press Conference – Kate Gleason Auditoirum
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