Amy Lannon – Page 5 – RPL Staff Intranet

Dog Days of Summer

Please note RPL’s current Patron Rights & Responsibilities policy says that patrons are to refrain from “Bringing in animals or pets except for properly leashed and trained service animals.” The section aims to ensure the access, public health, and safety of those visiting the library – those requiring service animals and those not.

If a situation escalates to cause concerns about access, public health, or safety, please remind the patron of this policy. Also, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division,

Q. What questions can a covered entity’s employees ask to determine if a dog is a service animal?

A. In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.

In Massachusetts, the law requires staff to take individuals at their word.

RPL Intranet: Making Work Better

RPL employees recognize communications are always a challenge. How can we help over 35 employees keep current on what’s happening and maintain a positive learning curve across three floors, four service desks, and 60-64 hours per week? There is no single answer, but centralized content is one way to help capture and coalesce all this knowledge and experience!

We want to hear your feedback so we can keep improving this content. Please fill out this quick survey and let us know your thoughts (your answers will be anonymous).

“Meaty Mouse” and more

Please report to Amy and Michelle if you see a rat/mouse or any unwanted critters anywhere in or on the Library property. The Town contracts with a pest control company that maintains the rodent black boxes around the perimeter of the building and will also deal with insects, etc.

Who does what?

Based on feedback received from the “Best Practices” form, we have created a list of starting points when you are looking for help.

This is a first draft and will only get better as we get more input from YOU! Please email Amy to request new categories for a FAQ or if your name should be assigned (or deleted) as a point of contact for any of these issues.

Staff Activities

Please, mark your calendars for the following staff events for the remainder of 2023.

Date	Time	Activity
July 3	All Day	Summer Spirit Week – “Book Character Day” –dress like your favorite book character
July 5	All Day	Summer Spirit Week – “Hats and Sunnies” –try to look beach-ready, sunscreen-optional!
July 6	All Day	Summer Spirit Week – “BarbieWorld”–all things pink (or tropical if you are feeling Ken-ish)
July 7	All Day	Summer Spirit Week – “Sports Fans”–town, local, imaginary, whatever fan flag you wanna fly!
September 7	11:00-12:30	Staff Meeting: Safety
October 20	8:30-3:30	Staff Development Day
December 26	All Day	Winter Spirit Week
December 27	All Day	Winter Spirit Week
December 28	All Day	Winter Spirit Week
December 29	All Day	Winter Spirit Week

What do you need to know?

In our annual employee survey, YOU all asked for more “best practices” and how-to help. We already have a few suggestions, but what else would be helpful? Please make suggestions!

A best practice is a standard or set of guidelines to achieve the best outcomes in our work. These include:

Step-by-step guides: Detailed, sequential instructions for completing a specific task or operation
Checklists: A list of items to verify, inspect, or complete, ensuring consistency and thoroughness
Tutorials: Educational resources that guide users through a process, often including tips and best practices
Process maps, diagrams, or flowcharts: Visual representations of a process that display the sequence of steps, decision points, and possible outcomes
SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures): Formal, written instructions that outline how a specific task should be performed within an organization
Workflow documentation: Formal documentation that specifically focuses on operational aspects of a process, such as task sequences, interactions between roles or teams, and dependencies.

Can you tell me if “so & so” is at the library…?

Please remember not to share out the location of patrons at the library over the phone or in person unless you receive a request from emergency personnel (ex: police, fire). Parents, friends, family members, etc may call/stop by the library and ask if someone is here. We do not disclose this information or look for the individual — the person is welcome to come to the library and do so themselves.

We cannot verify the relationship between the two parties, fully understand the nature of why they want to know if that person is at/using the library, and it goes against patron privacy.

If you receive a phone call like this and are unsure of what to do, please place them on hold and ask the Librarian in Charge, your Team Lead or Division Head. The Emergency Response Guide has instructions for how to handle these phone calls from emergency personnel.

Staff Meeting Slides

Thank you to those who were able to attend Thursday’s meeting. If you missed the meeting or would like to revisit some of the HUGE amount of info we squeezed into one hour, please download the slides.

End of Community Read — Thank you!

A quick thank you to all who participated and helped promote the Library’s Community Read — Unapologetically Positively You — which officially ended on October 8th. A very special thank you to Olivia and Susan for developing much of the content and leading various programs to support the Read’s theme of body neutrality.

The Library has received a lot of positive feedback but sharing a few circulation statistics to help celebrate its success!

1. Fat Girls Hiking by Summer Michaud-Skog: 89 lifetime circulations/72 circulations during Community Read. 80.9% of circs happened during CR

2. Starfish by Lisa Fipps: 90 lifetime circulations/52 circulations during Community Read. 57.8% of circs happened during CR

3. Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder: 58 lifetime circulations/42 circulations during the Community Read. 72.4% of circs happened during CR

The Library also sent 70 copies into the wild in various book boxes sprinkled around local businesses like the YMCA, Pleasant Street Center, Starbucks, and Fat Larry’s. All copies were taken and hopefully passed around among friends, families and acquaintances.

First Amendment Auditors

Town Hall received visits from “First Amendment Auditors” last Thursday. This is happening here and in surrounding towns. The best approach is to remain calm and professional. Please review this presentation from KP Law addressing these visits.

The goal of these individuals is to provoke employees into unlawfully detaining or otherwise violating their First Amendment rights. Employee response should be calm and consistent. The library is a limited public forum, “First Amendment Auditors” are allowed to videotape while in the building. They may not go into the clearly marked staff-only work areas.

Following up on our staff meeting from last week, please contact EAP if you have an upsetting interaction. RPD has also made Taunya available for any of our employees that would like to speak to her.