Seed Library

We have a new addition to our Go & Grow collection in the Children’s Room (the cute name we have for our Library of Things). A Seed Library! You may get patron questions about it, so I wanted to let you know how it works.

The library has 2 small binders with info about all the seeds. We have seeds for vegetables, flowers and herbs. People can read through the binders to learn about plants and decide what they want. Then they can select up to 2 packets of seeds from the library to take home and plant. People can also donate seeds. They can do this at the Children’s Room desk.

Please note: even though it lives in Children’s it’s not just for kids! Adults can also come up and use the collection.

More info is online in the Library of Things section of the website: https://readingpl.org/dt_portfolios/seed-library/

There will be two Seed Swap Share events this week to help kick off the new Seed Library. Tuesday April 4 at 3:30 and Saturday April 8 at 2:30. (links go to LibCal events)

Thank you and way to go Megan White for setting this up! (with support from our wonderful Friends group).

Patron asking for something to be read over the phone… Don’t do it

A male patron is asking for library staff to read the Bill of Rights or other documents over the phone because their internet provider is “not working.” This patron has called here and other libraries in the past for the same reason. They are being inappropriate.

This patron is currently asking for Kathleen W. DO NOT forward this patron to her or say that she is available.

Do not give your name and do not read it for them. Forward to a supervisor if needed.  Edited by Michelle to add:  Hanging up IS an option.

Staff Shout Outs

Are you ready for some shout-outs? If you’d like to submit a shout-out, fill out the form on the Forms page. Don’t be shy! Shout it out!

Shout out to Carol for going above and beyond. Carol tidied up all the shelving for the Foundation event and was very helpful in making the library look wonderful for our donors. Thanks Carol! From Michelle

Shout out to Michelle for helping a co-worker/solving a problem. For fixing the heat in the Staff Lounge and making it toasty again! From anonymous.

Shout out to Cate, Ashley, Ally, Megan, Kath and Franny for helping a co-worker and keeping it positive. Thank you to everyone who covered for me the week of Valentine’s Day! I really appreciate the ability to not be worried about work with so much other stuff going on, and that’s a testament to having coworkers who have your back. Thank you all so much. A special shout out to Cate for covering my storytime and having the kids making hilariously large hats. From Olivia. p.s. Those hats were so amazing.

Booking Events/Meetings w/the Town

When you book a meeting or an event for town department you want to do one of the following:

Open to the Public Town Event:  (Multilingual night/Pleasant St Center Information Night/Hearing Testing):  Book the event using the Community Events calendar and publish it.

Internal Town Department Meetings:   (DPW training/Department Head meetings/RPS meetings) Book these on the library events calendar and leave them as draft. 

You should not be using spaces to reserve meeting rooms.  Please let me, Louise or Meaghan C. know if you have any questions.  And feel free to ask us to book space for the town meetings, we are happy to help. I’ve added these to the Instructions Page of the staff intranet.

Staff Shout Outs

Are you ready for some shout-outs? If you’d like to submit a shout-out, fill out the form on the Forms page. Don’t be shy! Shout it out!

Shout out to Kathleen Wilcox for going above and beyond, solving a problem, and keeping it positive, Kathleen cheerfully dealt with alarms, locked doors,
Facilities voicemail, and other snafus first thing on a Saturday morning! From Cate

Shout out to Cate, Ally, Amy, Andrea, and Jamie for going above and beyond, helping a co-worker, leading by example, exemplary customer service, solving a problem and keeping it positive. Thank you to the Leadership team for being in the building during Saturday’s storytime. It was wonderful to have that support and to know that we had people who could jump in when needed. We really appreciate all the hard work and patience required to be that barrier for staff. Thank you! From anonymous.

Shout out to Lisa R., Meghan M., and Andrea H. for going above and beyond. This team put together an amazing, inviting, uber-cool plan for our new tween space! Can’t wait to see all of their amazing ideas IRL! From Cate.

Shout out to Kathleen Wilcox for leading by example and for exemplary customer service. We find Kathleen to be an irresistibly cheerful and upbeat problem solver: when we bring patrons to her with questions WE don’t know the answer to [“Why does this patron’s card not work?” “What are those squishy things near the Healing Kits?”], everyone ends up happy. Such a pleasure to work with her. From Kathy and Susanne.

Shout out to Olivia and Ashley for their work with the American Library Association Youth Media Awards. Olivia served on the Notable Children’s Books Committee, and Ashley served on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Committee. This work required them to evaluate and read over 3,500 books over a period of a year. We are so lucky to have them on our team. Check out the pdf of the award-winning titles here. So proud! From Michelle.