Budget Project

Budget Project
Year 1: (Implementation of Children’s Section)
- Shelving; 30H x 36W x 12D- $102.57 (12) $1,230.84
-Comfortable Seating
*Bean Bags; $19.00 (10) $190.00
*Couches; $299.00 (3) $897.00
*Area Rug; $300.00
- New Technology
*Smartboard; $449.00
- Certified Staff for Children’s Library
* Certified Librarian; $30,000
Year 1 Total: $33,066.84

Year 2: (Front Area Section)
- Computers; $350 (4) $1,400.00
-Furniture
*Couches; $299 (4) $1,196.00
*Round Tables; $259 (2) $518.00
-Coffee Machine; $40.00
- Resources
*Periodicals; $300.00
* Purchase of Book Club Sets; $ 1,000
Year 2 Total: $4,454.00

Year 3: (YA, Local History, Private Study Section)
-Furniture
*Couches; $299 (2) $598.00
*Beanbags; $19 (5) $95.00
* Round table; $259 (4) $1,036.00
*Study Tables; $70.67 (6) $424.02
*Chairs; $24.88 (20) $497.60
-Technology
*Flat Screen; $450
* Internet Ports; $500
*Copier; $500
Year 3 Total: $4,100.62

Total Cost for Renovation: $41,462.26 *With the cost of a new Children’s Librarian


Proposal for Principal:
The Memorial Library is in desperate need of boosting the amount of citizens who visit their facilities. The resources and building itself has been outdated for years (if not decades), and needs to have a more welcoming feel in order to stay as a focal point in our community. It has almost gone the way of complete disuse. This proposal is to get the James Memorial Library up to current speed on resources, availability, and overall appeal so that it is a hub for the community in which we live. By making these changes and purchases, it will encourage more students and adults to come in and use the resources that are being provided, which is also the main goal of this project. School visits will increase, as there is a more appropriate area for children, a more welcoming atmosphere, and better resources. Compared with other local libraries, the James Memorial is an ancient exhibit, in both resources and atmosphere.
The goal of the renovation of the James Memorial Library is to provide current resources to patrons, increase clientele, and help boost the overall education status of the community. Over the 3 years length of time it takes to complete this renovation, one of the objectives is to increase patronage by at least 50%, if not more. The plan of action for this goal is to offer more activities that entice the community to be involved. A major effort will be placed in getting young mothers into the library to help them sign up for online courses. The staff would be available to help them choose a major, a college, resources, and classes. Reaching out to lower-income families is another action that will help achieve this goal. Flyers can be made that advertise the book clubs (at all ages), and can be distributed to lower income housing or posted in easy to see places in town. One specific activity would be to encourage families to come as a whole to the library, the children’s librarian would have activities and resources set up for school aged children, where parents would be encouraged to drop them off and join the adult activities. The adult activities for these nights would be a wide range of things from book clubs on self help books, novels, or even a tour of the library that shows the resources that are available to both them and their children free of cost. Adult Book Clubs would be offered on several different nights in the library. Books would be provided for patrons (they check them out), and the front area would be reserved for the conversation of the novel. Once a month ads will be ran in the local newspapers to advertise what books are available for the upcoming clubs.

The second objective is to help school aged children become more successful in their education pursuits, either in reading ability, interests in reading, or increasing scores on standardized test by providing at least 5 after school group activities a month, and advertising the use of individual tutoring. The plan of action for this objective is to offer private tutoring sessions to local students. Another major effort in this part would be to convince teachers who are active participants in the Career-Ladder Program to use the library and its resources to their advantage. Librarians could already have resources pulled for these activities to make it easier for teachers to come in and use the facilities. Book clubs offered to school-aged children would help increase the interest in reading by advertising the current novels that have been selected. These would be student led book clubs where, if needed, adults monitor or help in conversations. A weekly meeting would be set up for these students to meet and discuss. Parents would be encouraged to drop their child off, and browse the other sections of the library that interest them. These books would be chosen at a level only a small amount higher than the students reading levels, this way they have questions, encounter unknown words, and have to ‘think outside the box’. These book clubs will be provided for all ages, with a specific interest in the YA patrons.

The method for evaluation will be to document all numbers prior to renovation. These numbers include patrons (broken down into age level, and number of visits), books checked out, hours of computer usage, class visits, people involved in book clubs, hours of tutoring provided, and one on one service hours. Throughout the process of the next three years it will be important to keep track of all the above criteria. Each year will need to be titled by the main renovation that way if numbers decrease it can be accounted to construction. The following year, numbers should go up with the new resources being accessible. In the 4th year, after all the renovation, numbers will be compared to the year prior to all the renovations. If numbers are still not as high as expected, more programs and advertising will need to be planned for.
Prices for this project were found at classroomdirect.com, Teacher Direct Magazine, dell.com, usa.canon.com, scholastic.com, and walmart.com