July 2011 Staff Meeting

My notes this month are kind of sketchy, so feel free to add or expand upon anything!

Staff duties list: Amber has updated and will distribute

Volunteer jobs and patron privacy concerns: We talked about how much access to patron records volunteers should have. Volunteers are not to discharge materials, receive in-transit items, or perform any other function that allows them access to patron records. Cheryl will take over the volunteer coordinator position. We talked about having an application form and a list of jobs volunteers can do.

Patron requests in Workflows should be marked “Replied” and the date of the reply entered after they are taken care of.

Circ room errors were discussed. We need to be sure to label everything so others will know what needs to be done.

Kelly asked that the disc cleaning machine be moved from her office ASAP. She also reminded us not to use her office as a hallway. If there isn’t a program or meeting, go through the meeting room instead of Kelly's office.

Policy binders were updated.

Kelly stressed the importance of keeping the website calendar updated.

Amber is keeping the staff schedules online at Google docs. We are all able to view them and make changes.

Prioritizing tasks: Desk duties, including shelving, come before projects.

Public disc cleaning service: We discussed charging the public to clean their personal discs. There were questions about who is going to do this, how this fits into our scheduled duties, and how much to charge. We have also had problems with the disc cleaning machine. Staff felt this project should be put on hold.

Questions:  Can a library card be issued to a child whose parent is blocked with a major fine? Yes.
Can we give refunds for printing? Only on guest accounts.

DVDs are going to be divided into sections: TV Series, Feature Films, Anime, and Nonfiction.

Information about homebound services should be given to Lindsey.

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June 2011 Staff Meeting

Staffing changes – Mary is leaving to take the library director position at Clinton.  June 27 will be her last day.  At her request, her farewell party will be combined with Ginny Andersen’s on August 30.

Schedules – Will be maintained on Google Docs.  Each staff member can make corrections and changes, but they must first be approved by Amber or, in her absence, Kelly.

Internet problems due to storm – Everyone will be taught to power cycle the modem and router, which is the first thing to try when there is an Internet outage.

Flash drives ordered for summer prizes are still missing.  Staff are reminded not to open amazon.com boxes at the circ desks.  Shipments should all go to the tech room. 

Amber reminded everyone not to give out patron information on the phone without first getting the library card number.  In the case of a renewal, it is OK to “renew item” (as opposed to “renew user,” which brings up the patron’s whole record) if the patron can identify the item.

Amber will be compiling a list of tasks everyone must know how to do.  Written instructions will be provided for each task, which will be initialed by staff and filed in the policy binder at the desk.  Each of us should make her own notes.

Amber talked about the new recording video security system we will have installed.

Kelly asked about interfiling juvenile nonfiction DVDs with the books.  We decided this was a good idea.

Amber announced that we will have a community service worker for 70 hours who may be able to help with moving the DVDs.  Community service workers may store their personal belongings in the circ workroom. They will not be allowed to be alone in the staff or tech rooms.

Amber discussed a change in the State standards for 2012 that will require us to have additional staffing.  She will be attending a meeting in August to discuss what should be included in the standards.

There was a question about how reading the Bible should be reported for the adult summer reading program.  We decided that individual books may not be counted separately since the length and complexity varies greatly from book to book.  (I think the whole New Testament can count as one book; I’ll come up with something for the Old T. also and let you know. – Sue)

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Garage & Basement Clutter Course - My Notes

If you've been to a Kathi Miller workshop before, you know that there are some things she talks about at each one. I tried to skip over those, but you may still find some duplication.

* * *

To take action is the only way to take care of your clutter problem. Don’t analyze . . . do something. You have permission to rethink your belongings. Choose to let go of things you don’t need, use, or love.

Set up your house with daily flow areas and storage areas. Daily flow means things you use daily, weekly, monthly. Things used less frequently are storage. Daily flow items should be easily accessible. Storage areas should be in less accessible places, such as garage and basement.

HELP Method:
H = Honest. What do you honestly need in your life right now? You need things for your real life, not your fantasy life.
E = Efficient. What is the most efficient use of your time and energy or your available space?
L = Love. Love it or shove it!
P = Pare down. What is your minimum number or how much do you want to be in charge of?

Re-evaluate Your Belongings
1. Life as a Novel – Your life has different chapters. Your interests and activities change, as well as the people in your life. With each chapter, your needs also change. Ask yourself, “What do I need for my current chapter?”

2. Expiration Date – An item’s expiration date is the date that it stops being useful to you. Let it go when its usefulness expires.

3. Natural disaster – What would you save? Emergency supplies and things you cannot replace (photos, important papers, etc.)

4. How much is too much? More is not better; it’s just more. Your magic number is the number of a given item you need to be functional. Choose clothes you love. Give each person a memorabilia box in which to keep their special stuff.

5. Someday is not on the schedule. Don’t save things for “some day.” If you need it again, it will show up. 

For Perfectionists: 80% is perfect. If you are immobilized by fear of making the wrong decision, practice deciding!

Treat your own belongings as well as you treat those of other people.

Plan Your Project
1. Everything you own has to have a home. Ask yourself and family members: Where should this item live? Where are you willing to put this away when you are finished using it? Keep like items together in an assigned place. The floor is not an option: floors are for feet and furniture (and pets).

2. What standard of living do you want in your home? For example: easy to clean, able to entertain, easy to find things, easy to put away, safe. Set rules that help you accomplish this standard.

3. Buy shelves for storage areas that are functional, sturdy, and inexpensive. KM recommends ventilated utility shelves, plastic, 18” deep, each shelf holds 150 lbs., and you can configure them as high as you want. Available at WalMart, Target, Home Depot, etc.

4. Label everything.

Free boxes are available from hardware and liquor stores.

De-cluttering Session
1. To the extent that you are able, remove items from the area and clean the space.

2. Have 3 or 4 boxes of bags for sorting: toss, recycle, donate, keep, sell.

3. Pick up one item and focus on it exclusively, decide which box it belongs in, and

4. Put that item in the appropriate container.

5. Pick up the next item, and repeat the process.

6. Decide quickly and trust your first instinct.

7. Allow time at the end of the session to clean up. Put the donate items in your car, toss the trash, etc.

8. Put away the items you are keeping. Categorize, designate homes, label containers.

9. Schedule your next session.

Sales – Don’t do a rummage sale. Estate sale companies will do a sale of good even if nobody has died. Advertise on-line or in newspaper. Set guidelines for yourself as to how much time and money you will spend trying to sell your stuff.

Donate – Habitat for Humanity “Re-Store” takes building supplies, fixtures, furniture, paint, etc. Schools may take art, craft and office supplies. Organizations that do silent auction fundraisers also take donations. Take donations out to your car immediately after finishing a session. Keep a simple list for tax purposes and staple your receipt from the charity to your list. www.itsdeductibleonline.com will give approximate values

Create a box for hazardous waste disposal items. Put oil based paint, chemicals, prescription drugs, cleaning products, etc. in this box. Watch for the county clean sweep program to dispose of this stuff.

A work surface is not functional if you store things on it. You need the space to work. Use peg board behind the work surface and 1 shelf unit for daily flow items. Create a recharging station for tools and equipment. Treat our tools with respect.

Use hooks, nails or pegboard to hang outdoor decorations, garden tools, hoses, wreaths, etc. In the garage, daily flow shelves should be close to where you get in and out of your car. Daily flow items will probably change with the season. Assign a spot for planting supplies and get rid of what is not being used.

Where to start? If you’re moving, start anywhere. To de-clutter where you live, start with storage areas – basement, attic, garage – to create functional storage. It may be easier to decide what you need to keep rather than what to get rid of. Throw out expired food in the kitchen and pantry.

Recognize your patterns and work to change them.

Yard by yard is hard; inch by inch is a cinch. Eat your elephant one bite at a time.

Information from the workshop Simple Steps to a Clutter-free Garage and Basement taught by Kathi Miller, Clutter Coach.

May 2011 Staff Meeting

From Janice:

Summer Reading Program
All instructions for the youth program are in the folder at the Children's desk. Kelly has a calendar of all the teen and youth programs, and copies will also be placed upstairs.

All of the teen program materials, including registration forms and prizes, will be upstairs.  Teens who register for the Summer Reading Program will receive a free book.  This is first come, first served until we run out of books.

Overdue Notices Returned in Mail
Lindsey has barred the patrons who have incorrect addresses.  Do not unbar any patron without proof of correct address.  Note on patron information should say that the patron has presented proof of correct addreess, date, and type of proof (phone bill, etc.).

Waterford Workshop Report
Janice, Lindsey, and Mary attended a SIRSI workshop in Waterford on Thursday, May 12.  The morning session was devoted to setting the function keys to create cataloging shortcuts.  The afternoon session was for circulation shortcuts.  Only persons with administrative clearance can do this.  We may have a staff inservice on this with our laptops.  The presenter talked rather fast and it was difficult to take notes.  Laptops were not provided to practice.  His PowerPoint slides are available on our email site and Amber has downloaded them.

Mary and Ginny
Mary is one of 3 finalists for the Clinton Library position.  Ginny's last day will be August 30 due to Al's health conditions.  We will be having a farewell dinner at Greenie's for her.

January 2011 Staff Meeting

Placing In-Transit Items in Bins:  Be sure to sort in-transit items into the proper bins in the Circ Room.  The blue/red bins are for Mid-Wisconsin items.  Lakeshores items are sorted into two gray bins (follow the shelf labels). There is also one gray bin for items going to other library systems, and one gray bin for Racine.

Coffee Mugs:  Suburban Elevator gave us some commuter mugs advertising their business.  They will be kept in the staff room and may be used by anybody.

Patron Behavior/Incident Reports:  Amber talked about a recent theft of DVDs, saying she will recommend to the Library Board that we invest in a camera system with recording capability.  She asked us to document any suspicious or unusual behavior, even minor incidents or things we may not think are important.  Incident Report forms are located at each service desk.

Shelf Reading/Shifting:  When we run into a shelving situation where there is no room to insert a book where it belongs, Amber asked that we shift the books to make room rather than lay books on top of each other.  She will prepare a schedule assigning each of us a designated area for shelf reading, shifting, and making weeding recommendations.

Value Line:  Kate explained how to file the Value Line inserts.  (The upper right-hand corner of each item contains filing instructions.) In the big binder, "Part 1, Summary & Index" gets filed in the front, replacing the old one.  The "Issue" pages replace the previous issue of the same number. "Part 2, Selection and Opinion" gets filed at the front of the small binder and remove the one at the back.  We keep 6 months + the current month of Part 2.

SHARE Notes:  To send a problem item to the owning library, place a hold on that library's problem card, make hold first in queue, trap hold.  When cataloging material that consists of more than one item, the number of items should be put in the Circ Note field.  Lakeshores is looking into digitizing library card application forms.

Program Committees:  The following committees were formed to help with program planning and execution.  When additional help is needed with a program, a sign-up sheet will be provided.
Children's  - Mary, Janice, Myrna (Sue)
Teen - Lindsey, Cheryl, Amber (Mary, Sue)
Adult - Kate, Cheryl, Amber, Sue (Mary)

Inservice:  Amber will arrange for a speaker from the Sheriff's Dept. to do safety training and for a speaker on the Family and Medical Leave Act.

SRP:   Kelly will be receiving postcards for her summer library program teen display.  As they arrive, please give to Kelly.

Kindle vs. Nook:  There was a question about whether the Kindle can be used to download Overdrive audiobooks.  At this time Kindle is not among Overdrive's supported devices.  Nook, however, is compatible with Overdrive.  We discussed using Kindle for newspapers and magazines and getting a Nook to circulate for use with Overdrive.

From Piles to Files - My Notes

LATER = Left Alone To Eventually Rot – Don’t save things for “later” – do it now or schedule it.

Creating an Office Space and Working Environment

• Choosing the best location – where do you like to work?
• Filing cabinets to fit any décor – http://www.homedecorators.com/

Daily Flow vs. Storage

• Daily flow – items used daily, weekly or monthly. Keep readily accessible; prime space.
• Storage – items you are keeping but that are less frequently used. Can be kept in less accessible places. 

Papers: What to keep and for how long

• IRS guidelines – 7 years
• Check with broker or accountant for retention period of financial papers
• Ask yourself "if I don’t keep this, how/where could I get this information if I needed it?"
• One in/one out; set limit on number of items or amount of space
• Safe Deposit Box – keep things that would be hard to replace:  mortgage papers, birth certificates, death certificates, original Social Security cards, military papers, passports, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, life insurance policies.
• Keep a backup copy of important documents (suggested on-line storage, scan and save to disc, or email a copy to yourself).

You don’t have to catch up in order to start keeping up!

• Start using the system with new paper coming into your home or office.
• Spend 10-15 minutes a day dealing with old stuff.

From Piles to Files

• Buy hanging files, not manila (100 for an average filing system; at least 19 to start)
• Set up files for days of the week, months of the year
• Sort papers according to when you will take action on them
• Color coding – use if it helps you
• For people with multiple projects that need to be worked on daily, consider a desktop file with 4 folders for time slots (9-11, 11-1, 1-3, 3-5 for example) and divide current day’s assignments into time periods.
• “Receipts” and “Paid Bills” files – Kathi keeps these in front of her daily folders.
• When you come home from shopping, put the credit card slips in the “Receipts” file. When the bill comes, reconcile the account, shred the receipts, and replace last month’s paid bill with the current one in the “Paid Bills” file.
• “Waiting For” file is for things that need action by someone else (Follow Up or Pending are other names for this file).
• “Passwords” – A place to record all your passwords, security questions and answers, etc. Recommended using a sentence to help you remember your password (Ex: I am 69 and Lilly is 11 for the password ia69aLi11). Kathi also recommends using false answers for security questions if the real answer could be known by others, such as place of birth or mother’s maiden name.
• File the most recent document in the front.
• Keep receipt with warranty information.
• Visual clutter aggravates migraines.

Time Management

• Do one thing at a time.
• 80% is perfect!
• What if I don’t do it at all?
• Horizon Concept – you can never travel to the horizon; don’t set unreachable goals/standards for yourself.
• Focus Five – you can’t have everything. Chart your time management goals and what changes you need to make to reach them

Yard by yard is hard, inch by inch is a cinch.

 

Handout with suggested file headings was included with the presentation:  Monday through Sunday, Paid Bills, Receipts, Waiting For, January through December, School, Church, Passwords, Fun, Shopping, Gift Certificates, Insurance-Life, Coupons, Insurance-Home, Insurance-Auto, Insurance-Medical, Insurance-Rx, Insurance-Dental, Taxes, Auto, Home Repairs, Investments, Bank, Decorating Ideas, Frequent Flyer, Attorney, Mortgage, Warranties, Personal, Professional.

 

Other categories: organizations, sports, gardening, crafts, specific cities or people, medical records, credit reports, art, antiques, short-term projects, “at computer” to hold things you need to do at the computer.

 

Kathi recommends Arial 14 bold font for file labels.

 

December 2010 Staff Meeting

Program Planning by Committee:  Two committees will be formed: one for children’s programs, one for adult programs.  Please sign up at the desk if you would like to serve on one or both of these committees.

Inclement Weather Procedure Review: Amber went over the procedure we follow during tornado emergencies.   The building will be locked and a sign posted on the door. Adult patrons will be given the choice of going into the shelter or leaving; unaccompanied minors will be required to enter the shelter.  We discussed putting together an emergency supply kit to be kept in the elevator pit.  Amber asked us to make a list of supplies needed for this kit. 

Payment for Lost/Damaged Items: We will no longer send money for lost and damaged items to the owning library on the van.  A report will be run monthly (to be set up by Jim) showing the total amount we collected.  Amber will deposit that amount in a special account.  Payment will be sent yearly to Lakeshores and they will distribute it to the proper libraries. 

Global Item Modification: There is a feature in the Cataloging function of WorkFlows that enables us to quickly change item information for multiple items.  We did not have time for a demonstration at this meeting.  If anyone would like to see how it works, contact Sue, Sandi, or Ginny. 

New Books Blog: Sue asked for volunteers to write about new books on the blog.  Amber suggested that when any of us reads a book we especially enjoy, we should write up a short paragraph about it and forward it to Sue to be added to the blog. 

Meeting Room Calendar: We had some problems with the Google meeting room calendar, so began keeping a written copy in addition to the on-line calendar.  To check the meeting room schedule, check both the Google calendar and the paper copy in the “Meeting Room” binder, which is kept on the shelf with schedules binder and the AM/PM checklist.  The large desk calendar will not be used to record meeting room reservations. 

Sit and Serve Help Area: We discussed how to deal with patrons who are unable to stand while being helped at the desk.  We concluded that it would not be practical to reserve a specific seat for this purpose, but that we should accommodate patrons with special physical needs by providing a seat if they need one. 

Returned Mail Procedure: Overdue notices and bills that are returned by the Post Office should be given to Lindsey.  She will try to contact the patron to update personal information.  If that attempt is unsuccessful, she will bar the patron’s card and add a dated and initialed note stating the reason for the bar. 

Kindle: The Kindle has been returned from Lakeshores with a number of books loaded on it.  We are still allowing a 2-hour in-library only checkout for this device.  Checkout procedure has not changed from the last time we discussed it. 

Registration Forms for Minors: There was an incident recently where a noncustodial grandparent signed the application form for a minor’s library card.  Only a custodial parent or legal guardian may register a child for a library card.  Ask the adult who is signing for the child if they are the child’s legal guardian.  If there is any question about their status, we may require a legal document. 

Text Message Notifications: Per Jim Novy, the “Notify Via” field does not have to be filled in for text message notification.  However, since only hold pickup notices are sent by text, that field should contain a secondary method of contact (PHONE, PAPER, EMAIL).  Everyone received a copy of the memo with instructions on how to complete the SMS field. 

Snow Emergencies: The Library will not automatically close when school is cancelled.  Wait for a call from Amber or monitor closings on TV and radio (WLKG  96.1 FM Lake Geneva; WCLO 1230 Janesville; WTMJ 620 Milwaukee; WFAW 940 Fort Atkinson).  While discussing various types of emergencies that may cause us to close, we decided to sanitize keyboards and mice during the winter. 

January PVH: Amber reminded everyone that the 3 hours of PVH for January 1 need to be scheduled sometime during the month of January. 

Microfilm Reader: Amber demonstrated how to connect to the staff wireless network from the microfilm reader.