Vacation and Persons in Charge

Hello, Everybody
Lin and I are both taking Friday August 29th off, and in our place Michelle will be the Person in Charge KPL-wide. Thanks, Michelle!

New Flooring at SW

The 2014 budget provides for new flooring at the SW Neighborhood Library, and we are moving ahead by replacing carpeting at the inner library entrance area with wood plank flooring. The new flooring will extend from the circulation desk to the children's entrance. The product is quiet under the feet, easy to clean, and will incorporate a fresh look to the space.

The work will take place over 3 days, starting on Sunday, August 24th,  then continue after closing on the 25^th and 26^th.

The workers only plan to pull carpet in sections as the vinyl plank progresses. There should be no work in this area during operating hours. Our preparation will take place Saturday evening (23^rd) and will involve removing the security gates and the cabinet that separates the two doors, as well as relocating any other items within the affected space. The divider cabinets will not be replaced. The security gates will be replaced.

On Friday, August 22, the computer lab carpet will be replaced. That area will not be open to the public during installation. Lin will lead staff on roping off the room and providing signage redirecting patrons to other areas for computing purposes.

User Experience Team Shines

A few months after I arrived, I asked staff to step forward and volunteer for a team to see our programs and services and buildings through the eye of the user. That's not an easy assignment, especially when you've been working for a long time in the same building. We all tend to get used to our environment and get accustomed to "how things are."

Linda, Joe, Tom, Jill, Ellen, Donna, and Sandy met several times and celebrated the reasons they are proud of KPL, then boldly confessed to the things they wished we could change. They examined the comments collected through the Library Impact Survey and made recommendations that have improved the customer experience.  Here are some examples of UX Team innovations:

1. Patrons can now pay with debit or credit cards.

2. Patrons aren't blocked from library use until they reach $10 in fines.

3. Patrons receive an email warning that their accounts need updated, preventing our electronic users from a surprise when they are downloading ebooks.

4. Phone etiquette is more standardized.

5. Circulation staff have permission to place reserves when prompted by patrons.

6. We are doing a lot of marketing.

7. A new website will be revealed early fall.

8. We have a very popular electronic newsletter.

9. Our bandwidth increased at all branches.

10. The Big Weed is happening so we can open up space for classes, and other community interaction.

11. We have Zinio on tablets for the public to play with.

12. Our signage is being upgraded.

Our next phase of work begins with spaces. I'm inviting the team to join me at the Northside Library this coming Tuesday at 9am and walk through the building from a user perspective. Each team member will be given a persona from which to evaluate the space and services. So, Joe may be a college student, Tom a businessman and  Donna a young mother, etc. Should be fun. We'll let you know what insights we gather from this exercise.

This User Experience Team will soon be passing the torch to new participants. So far, Brandi, Dana, JeTaun, Katie, Shawn, Sean have volunteered for Team 2. That leaves room for 4 new members. If you'd like to get involved, please drop me an email telling me why you're interested. Commitment isn't huge- anyone can fit it into their schedule. I hope to hear from you.

Barb
 

 

Our Values: Our Commitment

Remember this? It's time to share it with the public.
Shimon has designed a campaign built around these staff values he's calling "Our Commitment to You."

You will begin to notice the "Our Commitment to You" theme on many of our marketing materials. You'll see it on the suggestion boxes, the "Staff Picks" bookmark, even the table tents inviting people to engage over a game of chess. Some pieces will identify the one word from our values statement most relevant to the service. For instance, the Chess Sets will be identified with "Our Commitment to You: Community." An announcement about a new Outreach activity to minorities might be labeled "Our Commitment to You : Diversity." An electronic powerwall to invite people to download ebooks might bear the emblem "Our Commitment to You: Innovation."
Shimon will be positioning posters of Our Values at each location to introduce this to the public. Please welcome him when you see him.
Thanks
Barb

Fresh Marketing

Shimon has been working hard on fresh pieces to add to our marketing efforts and replacement signage to update our buildings. Soon you will see him in your location delivering his beautiful work. Please welcome him and feel free to offer advice on placement of things like suggestion boxes and signage. Thanks!

Newsletter Series and Staff Picks

Thanks to Cathy Polovina for volunteering to write regular pieces for our electronic newsletter on books in series. Cathy tells me this is a hot topic at the reference desks, and should be a beloved feature of our newsletter.

Thanks to Southwest library staff who have begun a "Staff Picks" campaign. I have already witnessed patrons lured by the sticky notes attached to books labeled as Staff Picks, and I think this will be very popular at all locations. So, Shimon is designing bookmarks to send to all locations for EVERYONE to participate.

Here's how it will work:

1. Take a bookmark and write your name on the line to complete this phrase: "Recommended by___".
2. Place the bookmark in the item of your choice (even music counts)
3. Leave it on the shelf where you found it. Or, if there's already a display for staff picks at your locations, feel free to add your choice to the display.
4. When the item is checked out, circulation staff should remove the bookmark and return the bookmark to you so you can choose something new.

I'm looking forward to discovering your favorite titles!

Chess Sets On The Way

I have taken the liberty to purchase chess sets for Uptown, Simmons and Northside. I understand Southwest has a set already.

This is a wonderful way to invite community connections.  Shimon is making table tents to display with the sets. As soon as they are ready, we will send the sets and table tents to each location. I know there is the risk of missing pieces and noise, but again, I encourage you to create an invitation to the community to engage this way. It's symbolic of the library's role as a community gathering place. And even if people don't engage with the set, they will see it as a symbol of our connection with them.

Jill has a strong relationship with a local chess club. Perhaps we can broaden that relationship and expand chess tournaments to all branches. Wouldn't that be fun?

Watch me on the Morning Blend

Here I am on the Morning Blend (Milwaukee) August 4th talking about Using the Library from Home and other subjects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz6JJ5u0q2E

Surprising Answers on the Library Impact Survey

I was in Madison this past Wednesday on a panel with two other librarians talking about "Evaluation and Assessment of Services." My topic was two tools developed for public librarians, and although I found out at the end that there was only one of our species in the audience, there was a lot of head bobbing and note taking, which makes me think that there's something of value both in the Library Impact Survey and the Library Edge Assessment, no matter who you serve.
My favorite slides were those that revealed shocking responses. I had been working with the stereotypical image of our computer users. That image was one of a person with low income and low skills with nowhere else to turn. They're on Facebook, I told myself, checking the disappointment in my mental tone. They're on YouTube.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Of the ~650 responses we received from the public about our library technology, 92% reported they had access to computers elsewhere. Only 18% reported an income that equated with the survey's definition of "low income." They were looking for health information, applying for jobs, building resumes, and they even got jobs because of the work they did at the library! "We are changing the world!" I cried.
But why here? Why at our libraries when they have access elsewhere? The answer was the most gratifying discovery of all. Because of the 92% who reported they had access elsewhere, a full 54% responded they had received HELP with computers while at the library.
Old librarians like me have been talking about the digital divide for ages, that division between the technology haves and have-nots. We wonder how the ubiquitous smart phone is changing the playing field. These days, a person of low income is very likely to have a smart phone, and if there is only one computer-like device in the household, that's what it is- the phone. Libraries in the Cleveland area have responded by enabling downloads of ebooks directly onto smart phones at the library. Virtually every library offers a mobile app. We might conclude that since the penetration of the smart phone into the low income market, people's technology skills have improved. Probably. But you know as well as I do that the target is moving. What you know today isn't all you need to know next year.
Our lasting impact on bridging the digital divide is digital literacy training. If 54% of our computer users seek help with a PC, think about the needs to understand all the new devices flooding our world. They already have a relationship with us that tells them they can ask us for help. Ask any of our reference staff what kinds of questions they get and the majority will tell you technology ranks high. How do I use my ereader? How do I scan and fax and attach a file to an email? What's Google Drive? How do I get my pictures off my phone and into my tablet? My daughter said use something called Skype? so I can see my grandchild over the phone? And of course those pressing, life changing questions, how do I apply for a job online, how do I apply for social services online, how do I email my son's teacher so I know how he's doing in school?
If you watched Jennifer Schlie-Reed's video about her work with students in Kenosha Public Schools teaching them digital literacy skills, you were probably a little humbled. I'm sure that the average third grader can leave me in the dust when using an iPad. In this business, we have to stay on top of technology because information is our business and technology is the way information is delivered.
Our Strategic Plan calls for us to lead the community in all things digital- lead them and teach them, introduce them to what's here, help them transition where they need to or want to go.
I believe that major services don't get done if they are an add-on job responsibility. I know that allowing talented people to focus on important projects yields big results. So, Joe Davies, our Digital Services Librarian, has moved into Computer and Network Services where he will work collaboratively with Max and Brent. Joe will lead our digital initiatives by designing and delivering training for both patrons and staff on all things digital. He will coordinate a wonderful new website for the library. He will work with Max and Brent to recommend exactly how to replace our aging technology, what to retain and what to discard.
Joe's invitation to attend Google Training is important. It is critical that we teach our community the apps they need to be productive at work and at home. Before we can teach them, we need to teach ourselves. Google's innovative team is the team we want to be on. They are driving the future. I hope you will join us and shed any fear of this new tech language. Google Apps will be a learning curve for all of us, but it will teach us to think in new ways and expand the ways we can work with each other to do great things for our community.
See you at the training.
Barb