SUGGESTION BOX

May, 2006

1. Please encourage your staff to once more enter the Waucondafest parade with the book cart ladies. They are truly special.	Thank you – we have enjoyed being a part of the parades in the past. (I think you were referring to the Memorial Day Parade). It is not easy to organize and prepare for the parades, but we will consider participating in future parades if at all possible.
2. Please purchase: DVDs: Pokemon Virachi Wish Maker, When a Stranger Calls, That Girl, Stargate SG-1; CD: Sanctus Real; books: Curb Appeal, Judy Moody, M.D., Invasion of the Road Weenies.	These are being considered for purchase. Thanks for the suggestions!
3. First of all, my family and I enjoy this library and since I always vote “yes” for increases when voting time comes around, I enjoy seeing the positive benefits implemented at the library that my family can enjoy. However, over the last six months I have seen changes that sadden me and I find my family and I spend less time here. 1.) The new letter that is sent for overdue notices needs to be revamped! The tone of the letter turns me off. ASAP should be spelled out – when people really abuse the system then an ASAP could/should be used. Also, think of the culture diversity and do they really understand. Just please re-write it! 2.) What’s with the computer sign-in? I thought the library provided a place to come for enjoyment, not some traced system that determines the length of computer use…maybe your staff could be more friendly and notify users of abuse…rather than a system. What next?	Thank you for your comments and your support for the library! Please try to understand that use of the Wauconda Area Library has greatly increased in recent years, and in order to better serve all of our patrons and ensure fairer access to our materials and computers, some policy and procedure changes have been necessary. That having been said, please also consider our following responses to your specific comments respectively: 1) We would like to know which letter you received that made you feel the way you do. Patrons receive two overdue notices, one when the items become two weeks overdue and another after three weeks overdue. If the items are not returned thirty days after the due date, a pre-collection letter is sent. Please contact the Circulation Manager at ext. 207 and she will be happy to discuss the collection procedure with you. 2) The PC Reservation System, used in public libraries across the U.S., was installed to ensure equitable distribution of computer time for library patrons as well as the opportunity to reserve computer time in advance. By allowing each library patron two sessions per day of computer use, the system has helped curb the long waits for computers that have plagued the library in the past. More than 12,000 sessions have been counted in the last three months alone, totaling 9,000 hours of computer use! Library staff simply cannot police that amount of usage while handling their other responsibilities (i.e., answering questions, homework help, program sign-ups, etc.).
4. I would like to thank your Reference librarian for being so helpful today with the information about basketball that my son needed to do his homework for school projects. Thank you so much!	We appreciate your comment! Please be sure to stop by the Reference Desk whenever you need assistance researching a topic.
5. You could have some cookies on a small table when you walk in, or it could be downstairs, just to make us feel ever more welcome!	Thanks for your suggestion – we’re always looking for ways of making library users feel even more welcome. We provide cookies and other goodies for many of our programs and special events – that’s part of what makes them so special!
6. They should have a train table. A lot of kids like trains. They should have more things to play with for the little ones. There isn’t much for them to do. They should have things hanging from the ceilings for them to look at. They should have little chairs and tables for the children to sit on. They should have kids music playing when kids are here. I was recently at the Schaumburg Library. They had an enchanted forest set up. Someone from this library should go and look at other librarys. There needs to be more for the children here to do. Our taxes are high make it nice for our kids. Come on get with it make it better here. Its boring for kids to small and nothing to do. Get more stuff for them. New communities coming. A lot of kids coming. Get more stuff or things please. You can also look at Schaumburg Library on line. Big area here lets make it better. Hay its for the kids.	The Wauconda Area Library takes great pride in the extent to which our Children’s Services department provides services and resources for children from newborn through fifth grade as well as their parents, teachers and/or caregivers. This department varies its many displays and activities on a regular basis so that there is always something fresh and new. Our Children’s Services library staff members have observed children’s areas in many libraries and other types of institutions of all sizes, and make every effort to make optimal use of our space and resources, utilizing the best ideas from those places as well as many of their own ideas. When comparing this library to others, please take into consideration the library’s tax base, population served, budget, and size. Schaumburg’s public library district is five to six times the size of Wauconda’s in all of these areas. In the whole state of Illinois, the only public library larger than Schaumburg’s is the Chicago Public Library. As much as we’d love to do as much as Schaumburg has done with their children’s area, it is simply not practical. If you have any questions with respect to how the library makes use of its tax revenue in comparison to other public libraries in the area, we encourage you to call or email the library director, Tom Kern, at 847-526-6225 (ext. 209) or tkern@wauclib.org.