2011 Annual Report

Message from the Director

2011 was a terrific— and busy— year for Worthington Libraries. We were once again ranked as a five-star library by Library Journal. We also received the prestigious John Cotton Dana Award for outstanding public relations from the American Library Association.

Programming attendance increased 10 percent and user visits topped 1.6 million. Patrons also checked out more than 3.4 million items, making Worthington Libraries the busiest library in the state behind only the eight metropolitan library systems.

2011 also marked my first full year as director of Worthington Libraries. When I was hired in late 2010, I told the board I planned to take my time getting to know the staff and community before making any significant changes to our staffing plan or service model.

I scheduled one-on-one meetings with all librarians, managers and the administrative staff. Although time consuming, these meetings were so valuable as they provided me with the opportunity to listen and get to know the many faces of our organization.

I also attended as many community meetings as possible. I marched in the Worthington Memorial Day Parade, went to several events sponsored by Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce and Worthington Schools and joined the Dublin-Worthington Rotary Club. I was able to reconnect with our key community stakeholders and forge some valuable new connections for the Library.

In 2012, we'll move forward on a number of important initiatives and begin discussing what to do when our 2.2 mill levy, passed in 1992, expires at the end of 2014. I look forward to including you in the conversation and, as always, thank you for your support of the Library.

— Chuck Gibson

Facts