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.
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 everyone who has stepped up and jumped in to help over the last few weeks. With all the unexpected staff shortages you have shown what it means to help out a co-worker. Kudos!
Shout out to Cate for going above and beyond, exemplary customer service, and keeping it positive. Olivia covered Cate’s Toddler Storytime, and I don’t know how she does it! So much energy, and so much engagement, and she does it every week without a drop of sweat. So many families this week were excited for her to be back and complimented her on her engagement and friendly face. She’s a Toddler Time queen! From Olivia.
Shout out to Jamie for leading by example. Jamie has dealt with a couple of challenging Friday afternoon patrons recently which she acknowledges is part of her role as Head of Collection Services, but we still genuinely appreciate her willingness to step into those situations. Thank you! From Valerie, Suzy & Alissa
Shout out to Meaghan Clemente for coming up with a new idea, solving a problem, and keeping it positive. On a very busy afternoon, just before taxes were due, during vacation week, the 1st-floor printer was being cantankerous. Despite our efforts, we were not able to figure out the problem, until Meaghan came downstairs to take a look. She checked the manual, diagnosed, and solved the problem! Many many thanks, Meaghan!! From Suzy.
Shout out to Rebecca Bailey for going above and beyond, helping a co-worker, and keeping it positive. Over the past couple of months, Rebecca has eagerly helped cover the Ref Desk beyond her typical hours and has really been a huge support to the RR team. She’s also dived into new projects, supporting various team members with her careful attention to detail that makes us all feel more confident in what we’re working on. Thank you! From Ally.
Shout out to the Children’s Room Crew for helping a co-worker and keeping it positive. A HUGE thank you to my amazing coworkers who swooped in stepped up, smiled & carried on when I unexpectedly had to be out for a few days. (Including a Saturday with a full day of programming that I helped plan. Doh!) I felt supported and stress-free thanks to you all. From Ashley.
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 Franny for going above and beyond, helping a co-worker, and keeping it positive. Franny is an amazing help to the Children’s Department, quickly stepping in to cover various nights, days and weekends for the department over the past few months, all while attending school. She quickly steps right in to help patrons and has provided the department with a lot of stability and peace. We are all very grateful to her for that. From Ally.
Shout out to Andrea H. for going above and beyond and helping a co-worker. Andrea went searching for a specific copy for a book I needed (a first edition from the 1970s) and after tireless emails and possible rejections, it finally came in! Thank you for becoming the Indiana Jones of ComCat requests so that me (and patrons) can get the books they desperately want/need. We appreciate you in Children’s! From Olivia.
Shout out to The Borrower Services Staff for going above and beyond and keeping it positive. Thank you to the Borrower Services staff for their patience and enthusiasm! Getting the lockers up and running has been a long, complicated journey, and the BoSer staff has been so patient and supportive. Now that we’re using them regularly (!), everyone has been so enthusiastic and so willing to learn everything they need to know to ensure that our patron’s experience of the lockers is great. You’re all truly fabulous! From Valerie.
Shout out to the RPL Staff for going above and beyond and keeping it positive. Thank you for such a warm welcome! I’ve had a fantastic first week because of all of you! From Dina.
Shout out to Dina for exemplary customer service and for keeping it positive. In her first two weeks, Dina has organized the CR desk, run programs, learned Evergreen, researched prizes for summer reading, embraced Canva, collected mentor texts, and so much more, all with an infectious laugh and a supportive heart! Shine on, Dina! From anonymous.
Shout out to Meaghan Clemente for keeping it positive. Meaghan has handled the paperwork for the Trustees’ meetings quickly and smoothly. We are very lucky to have her on our team. From Michelle.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
