PCPL to proceed with demolition

The Putnam County Public Library Board voted to accept a bid of about $8,500 from Joe Spiker Excavating to demolish the newly purchased house at 126 E. Walnut St. and prepare the property for an eventual parking lot.

Director Grier Carson a said in his report that the project includes “complete demolition and removal of existing structures, granular backfill for the existing foundation, removal of a single tree on the lot, and granular backfill laid for a temporary staff parking extension.”

In other developments:

-- Adult literacy: Director Carson reported that he has joined the Putnam County Transformers advisory cabinet “in the interest of forming a solid connection between their work and ours. I look forward to working with this group as we strive to collectively address the literacy gap in Putnam County.”

-- Budget: The board approved the submission of the proposed 2017 budget to the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF). The proposed operating budget is set at $975,940 and rainy day allocations at $122,000.

-- Friends of the Library: Business Operations Manager Lisa Barker reported, “People that are benefiting from all the many good book clubs that we’re forming, they should know that the Friends (of the Library) are fully funding the book club. They sponsor youth services programming, adult programming, technology programming and staff development. So the Friends really support the library.”

-- Internal control: The board determined to complete the internal control training mandated by the State Board of Accounts during its upcoming retreat.

-- Savings: Barker also reported that the library is “very comfortable with our goal of saving $50,000. We will at least save $50,000.”

-- Statistics: Director Carson delivered a statistics report on library usage this fall. He noted that physical items, such as books, DVDs and periodicals, had increased during the summer, but have experienced an expected decrease since the start of the school year. Youth services has seen the same fate.

The Overdrive program, an online audiobook site, has also seen a “plateau” in usage, but Carson credited that to the end of the “honeymoon” phase of the relatively new site.

Wi-fi network usage is increasingly up, and outreach and materials delivery has been “consistent.”

The next Putnam County Public Library board meeting will be Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. in the Kiwanis Conference Room.