Here's some news for the week
- Thanks to Shawn Wolf who is already making her mark in the children's room at Northside Neighborhood Library. Shawn is beloved among the preschoolers in Kenosha and I am delighted that she has agreed to an assignment both at NS and on the bookmobile 29 hours per week. Shawn will be reinvigorating children's services at our second largest location and bringing her children's expertise to bookmobile services.
- We are sending out an electronic survey about Children's Services at Northside Neighborhood Library to everyone who is subscribed to our electronic newsletter. The survey prompts people to tell us what they'd like to see more of and what they'd like us to add. Shimon plans to provide paper copies of the survey so we can capture feedback from drop in parents and those attending story time programs.
- Ellen is adding a large type book rental plan to our collection development plan to make sure we have lots more new large type books for our voracious readers.
- The Big Weed is going well, although not fast enough for our paging staff, I'm sure. Thanks to everyone who is participating in refreshing the collection and making browsing easier for our patrons. Big thanks to everyone who cheerfully accepts carts of books to withdraw and hauls boxes to the garage for book sales.
- Speaking of book sales, the Friends broke a record at their recent event, bringing in around $4,000 in one weekend. The next sale is scheduled for October and will again be at SW. Thanks to everyone who helped make that happen.
- The Outreach Team meets on Monday and we will first be defining what we mean by Outreach, then launch into how we can expand and improve upon a very robust and appreciated service. If you have any ideas to lend, please feel free to let me know.
- We have new meeting room software that will allow our patrons to make their own reservations and dramatically streamline our processes. The Library Board approved a new policy recently that allows people to book a room who are not Kenosha County residents.
- We're considering opening the lobby at SW Neighborhood Library one hour early M-F. Lin will be talking with Victoria's to see if we can get some type of coffee service to go along with our free wi-fi. We'll keep you posted.
- Sheri and I presented the 2015 budget proposal to our city administrator on Wednesday. This is the first in a series of meetings before committees and Common Council before the budget is finally approved. The city will determine any staff wage increases in 2015 and is unlikely to make any decisions before November. We will let you know their decision just as soon as we are notified.
- Highlights of the 2015 proposed budget include support for replacement computers, replacement chairs at NS, a dedicated budget for both youth and adult programs, more collection money, more money for ebooks, more money for staff training, and painting at both NS and SW. We will also be adding some part time support staff to help with computer training classes and drop in help for electronic gadgets.
- Most of the wood chairs in the public areas at NS will receive a facelift next month. The fabric backs will get fresh padding and beautiful new fabric.
- If you haven't seen the wood flooring at the entrance to SW, swing by and take a look. It really looks great, is much quieter than you would expect, and is a whole lot easier to clean! Next we'll finally be building a "power wall" for all our new materials for easy access and to show them off. Our maintenance crew will be designing and building.
- Brent and Max installed an Overdrive Download Station (ebook power wall) at SW. The station really simplifies the ebook download process! Please take time to get familiar with it so we can all help patrons to use it. I just downloaded about 5 titles for my Labor Day trip and I found it very friendly. We have one more license to create a replica at NS sometime soon.
- I hope you've found the transition to Google mail painless, maybe even a good experience. I am enjoying the sharing capabilities. Nearly everyone on staff has been transitioned off Outlook. I suggest you solely use your new Google accounts. All email sent to your Outlook account is being forwarded to your Google, but no mail sent solely to your Google address will show up in Outlook. To avoid confusion, start and stick with Google. Joe will be offering classes in Google Apps beyond mail, so stay tuned.
Barb
No comments:
Post a Comment