New Staffing Structure

Hello from Tulsa!
This week I'd like to talk about the upcoming changes to our organizational structure that will take place beginning January 2020.
First, a little background...
Over the past ten years, we've seen a dramatic drop in circulation. This reduced interest in collections is common to the majority of public libraries across America, and is countered at KPL by the dramatic increase in interest for public programming and digital products. Since my arrival, KPL has invested in staff to develop and deliver outstanding programs. We've taken our services out into the community through a robust Outreach Services program and increased Youth and Family Services staffing. We purchased a second bookmobile, expanded our digital products, and automated our processes so we could move more people into customer contact positions. We've had moments of rebound, particularly in 2016 when we merged our catalog with SHARE and our community's access to collections surged. But this year, we're back to the sad story of declining visits and collection use.
As we enter a new year, its time to take action. Like you, I believe in the value of everything we offer, including our wonderful collections and the people (You!) who connect the community with those collections. So, we're going to try something a little different to grab the attention of our community and reconnect them with all we have to offer.

Starting January 2020, we're going to hire Branch Managers, one to oversee the Northside Neighborhood Library, and one to oversee both Simmons and Uptown Neighborhood Libraries. These managers will be responsible for the success of their assigned locations. They'll support and guide branch staff, develop collections, choose the programs for their locations, and monitor the statistical data to measure the impact of their decisions. The Branch Managers will be MLS librarians, so they will also serve as the ADS staff in their branches. They won't sit in an office with a door shut. They will immerse in service, coach and train their teams to deliver the very best customer experience, join neighborhood associations, and collaborate with ADS and YFS  to tailor their facilities, programs, and services to their neighborhoods.

Cathy Jensen and Martha Coaty will continue as Circulation Team Leaders, both assigned to our Southwest location, which experiences 60% of our total use, and could frankly use the help. They are both excited (and a little relieved) to team up to support the large circulation staff at SW, and I thank them for their willingness to try this new arrangement.

Thanks to the Leadership Team for their input as we finalized this new staffing plan in preparation for Board approval this Tuesday. We are looking forward to seeing fantastic results!