Hubbardston library director reports strong January attendance, clarifies how visits are counted

Christine Barbera, the Town of Hubbardston library director, presented the library's January 2024 activity report at the Feb. 6 trustees meeting, reporting attendance, circulation, program and online metrics.

Barbera said the library had 302 patrons and "for students, we had 10 classes with 20 visits with a total of 430 students." She reported story time attendance as 69 adults and 101 children (170 total) across five events; two Dungeons & Dragons events had nine attendees; volunteers logged 12 visits totaling 24.5 hours; and the library issued 13 new cards (including four e-cards). She also reported 514 website visits and a Facebook page reach of 2,937. "Overdrive monthly checkouts was 851," Barbera said, and the library recorded 369 digital holds across eAudio and ebook formats.

Trustees asked whether the "430 students" figure counted unique students or total visits. "I count them every time they come into the library," Barbera said, clarifying she records each class visit rather than a unique-student tally. Several trustees suggested labeling the measure "visits" or "student visits" to avoid implying 430 unique individuals.

Why it matters: trustees said encouraging school visits was a goal of the library's strategic plan, and trustees praised the high level of engagement with the elementary school. Trustee Morgan said the repeated-class visits are a positive outcome of the library’s outreach, and other trustees recommended a consistent labeling convention in future reports so monthly totals are comparable.

Programs and upcoming events: Barbera listed scheduled activities including the senior book club (discussing A Walk in the Woods in January and Nightfall on Feb. 26 at 11 a.m. at the Slade Building Senior Center, 7 Main Street) and three February screenings and talks related to Iwo Jima (Feb. 15 at 1 p.m.; Feb. 19 at 6 p.m.; and Feb. 22 at 1 p.m.). She also described display themes (January: "Be Good to Yourself" for children; February: adult displays for Black History Month and children's room displays for Valentine's Day and Black History Month).

Ending: Trustees requested future reports use consistent terminology ("visits" vs. "unique students") and clarified that teachers accompanying classes are not counted as separate library users unless they check out materials.