LAKEPORT, Calif. – While it has a small staff and tight finances, the Lake County Library system nonetheless has managed to significantly expand the educational programs it offers to the community while noting a slight drop in circulation.

Those were some of the key items reported by County Librarian Christopher Veach as he delivered the Lake County Library 2014/15 Annual Report from the Library Advisory Board to the Board of Supervisors last week.

The Lake County Library system has four branches, including the main branch in Lakeport; the Redbud Library in Clearlake, the county's biggest library; the newest library, in Middletown; and the historic library, in Upper Lake, Veach said.

“The main activities of the library are providing materials to the public free of charge for their informational, recreational and cultural needs,” Veach said, as well as providing free Internet access, and promoting reading, literacy and lifelong learning through a variety of program and events.

The library is primarily funded through a dedicated local property tax passed by voters in 1974, while Veach explained that library materials are primarily funded through donations from Friends of the Library groups and community members.

Veach said the library's four branches are staffed by six permanent full-time staff members, three permanent part-time staff members and six extra-help part-time staff members. He said there is one vacant full-time position, and a reduction of the total number of temporary extra help positions in use compared to the year before.

“The library is very leanly staffed compared to the rest of the state,” he said, adding that the library has been expanding its use of volunteers.

Library circulation in the 2014-15 fiscal year was down 5.5 percent compared to the previous year, Veach said.

While he said there are a variety of factors influencing those numbers, he mainly attributed the decrease to the lack of new materials purchased for the library.

He said the level of funding for library materials has dropped dramatically while demand for materials in different formats has increased.

Historically, as spending on library materials increases, so does circulation, with Veach explaining that as materials get older they are less likely to be relevant or checked out.

The public's use of the library computers increased by 5 percent over the previous year, with Veach noting that the growth percentage did not include library patrons using the free wireless Internet provided at all four library branches.

The average number of computer sessions per day on the library's public computers was 175, Veach said.

He said the library launched a grant-funded program to provide library staff technology training, and also offered workshops to the public on new technology, such as use of tablets.

Services and programs offered for children also showed growth in the 2014-15 fiscal year, Veach said.

He said the programs for children such as the story times have goals including preparing them for school, building interpersonal skills and developing early language.

Attendance at story times – now offered at all four library branches – has increased 87 percent over the previous year, he said.

At the same time, the library had its biggest summer reading program ever, with 618 students registering and 218 finishing the program, Veach said.

The summer reading program is important because reading during summer vacation helps children retain their skills over the school break, he said.

Altogether, during this past fiscal year the library offered 454 programs and events – double what it made available the previous year, according to Veach.

New programs for adults included “Book to Action,” which drew 105 participants, and the “Know Lake County” series, which had 330 attendees in the first half of the year, Veach said.

Regarding the library's adult literacy program – partially supported by a state grant and a donation from the Lake County Literacy Coalition – there were 100 adult learners receiving tutoring. Veach said the program trains volunteer tutors and matches them with adult learners.

He said the program's Families for Literacy component provides free books to children of adult learners as well as instruction and encouragement for adult learners to read to their children. The English language and literacy intensive portion of the program helps schools improve the literacy skills of students who struggle to learn English.

Through those programs, 34 children received free books and 83 children in four classes received English literacy assistance, Veach said.

Veach said the Friends of Lake County Library and Friends of Middletown Library donated more than $13,900 in 2014-15 to support the library.

Supervisor Jim Comstock asked about the online check out of books, a service he said his family uses a lot.

Veach said use of the online service is going up, but still constitutes a small portion of the overall use of the library's materials.

The annual report also included four key recommendations that the Library Advisory Board made to the Board of Supervisors.

Those recommendations are:

– Maintain and increase the current level of library staffing and service at all four of the library branches and support expansion of the collection of library materials.

– Increase funding for library materials to better serve the community and keep the library collection up to date.

– Continue to develop and improve library computer systems and technology, with the assistance and cooperation of the Lake County Information Technology Department.

– Support renovation and remodeling of the Lakeport branch of the Lake County Library to update the facility, and include a meeting room and additional parking.

The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary . Library events are also posted at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Lake_County_CA__Library/Calendar.htm .

Find the catalog online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Lake_County_CA__Library/Catalog.htm and the e-books and audiobooks section at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Lake_County_CA__Library/Downloads.htm .

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.