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 Tech Services for going above and beyond. Shout out to the Tech Services team for letting us buy all of our wish lists and then processing all those items….cause there were a lot. You’re a dream team of public servants and we cannot thank you enough! From Children’s.

Shout out to Meaghan Clemente for a great first two weeks! She jumped right in and is already organizing us. Thank you! From Michelle.

Shout out to Suzy for going above and beyond and exemplary customer service. Suzy recently helped one of our patrons who was having car trouble. She helped her call AAA (patron is hard of hearing) and made sure she had a ride home. And apparently, another patron noticed the exemplary customer service Suzy was providing because she told Reference “The people at the front desk are being so nice to that woman!” From Judy T.

Shout out to Cate for going above and beyond and coming up with a new idea. Cate’s passive programming ideas are always a hit. But her Chumley’s Flower Garden puts the rest to shame! So much wonderful pretend play is happening between children and with their engaged caregivers. Cate, your creativity never ceases to amaze! From Ashley.

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 Val and Desiree for helping a co-worker and keeping it positive. Val and Desiree were hugely helpful with finalizing ideas for Adult Summer Reading. They stepped in, lent their creative minds, and kept me on track as we all tried to organize a simple yet engaging and enjoyable Summer Reading Program. From Ally.

Shout out to Andrea F. for coming up with a new idea. The Summer Reading Kick-Off Event was a perfect Friday-night community event full of fun music, tasty cupcakes, and engaging neighborhood organizations! Almost 350 people attended and many commented on how nice it was to have the community together. Many staff members lent their time and creative minds to help organize, but kudos to Andrea F for spearheading the idea and pushing through various obstacles and last-minute changes and pivots. It all turned out beautifully and was a successful start to Summer Reading! From Ally.

Shout out to Louise for helping a co-worker and being creative. Louise helps package the Library of Things and she has come up with some creative packaging. She is always willing to step up and I appreciate it. Thank you! From Michelle.

Take care …

Just a gentle reminder to take care of yourself! If you are struggling or need help/advice, please reach out to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This is a free service through MIIA provided for you and your household members by the Town of Reading. This program offers confidential counseling, free legal and financial consultation, and referrals to resources such as child/elder care, and parent support, among others. These services are completely confidential and can be easily accessed 24/7.

Call whenever, for whatever! For information or services, call 24/7 at 800.451.1834 or download the mobile app from your app store by searching “MIIA EAP”

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 Judy T. for going above and beyond and solving a problem. Shout out to Judy T. for brainstorming ideas on how to move the Covid tests before they expire in July! She thought that since a lot of patrons come straight to Children’s and do all their circs up here without stopping at BS, we could hand them out, too. It’s a great idea since kids are so germy! From Children’s Team.

Shout out to Rebecca, Jocelyn, and Melissa for helping a co-worker and solving a problem. Rebecca, Jocelyn, and Melissa sprang into action when an unscheduled watercolor class popped up last Friday. Teamwork made the whole thing less of a debacle and more of a fun Friday surprise ; ) Thanks for your cooperation and muscle power. From Andrea F.

Shout out to staff who worked May 23 for going above and beyond, helping a co-worker and leading by example. The internet went down and RPL was on a skeleton crew. Thank you to everyone who communicated, tested, communicated again, and had patience. NOBLE – Town IT – Library staff: it all got working again! YAY! Thank you from anonymous.

Shout out to Olivia, Lisa, and Andrea for going above and beyond, coming up with a new idea, and leading by example. Word on the street is that Lisa, Olivia and Andrea crushed it at MLA! Thanks for sharing your shine with other librarians around Mass! From Cate and (Michelle-who is tagging on to this shout-out and can tell you, they were all AMAZING.)

Shout out to Ally for leading by example and solving a problem. When the week isn’t easy for soooo maaaaany reasons, Ally is a guiding light. From Cate.

Shout out to Olivia for coming up with a new idea and keeping it positive. Olivia brought the glitz, the glam, the rainbows, the sporty spice, and Harry to our first Spirit Week! From Cate.

Shout out to Smritha for keeping it positive. There is no better smile than Smritha’s and she shares it freely. Thanks for making us laugh, letting us attend prom vicariously, crushing carts, and all the rest that you do with good cheer! From Cate.

Working on Accessibility

IT came by this morning and installed screen zoom/screen reader software on the computer closest to the R&R desk, and that computer is now reserved for low vision and blind patrons. We still have some work to do to make sure that is is set up to its fullest potential, but as of now, unless all of the other computers are in use, we want to save it for those who need it.
(Also the software makes the interface significantly different, and we don’t want to confuse or frustrate anyone!)

Staff Development Reporting Form Updated

We have made some changes to the Staff Development Reporting Form. Please remember to use this form when you have any professional development activities.

LENGTH OF ACTIVITY: This has been simplified to 1, 2, 3, and 5 hours. Pick whichever is closest. This format will help us tally the total amount of time spent on PD.

CATEGORY: We can add to this list, but here is a start. You will see Committee and Meeting listed as options. At the moment, these are intended for external meetings and committees. If you aren’t sure about the category or if something is worth reporting, enter as much as you can and use the “Other Comments” section for questions or to explain your thinking.

This form is intended to be a central repository to collect this information library-wide. You can use the form after each event/activity, or set a reminder to enter a month’s worth at a time. Any events/activities reported in this form do not need to be included in monthly reports.

Thank you to Kathryn M. and Cate Z for working on streamlining the form.

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 Cate for leading by example and keeping it positive. This might be a little meta, but shout out to Cate for always being supportive and making sure we feel seen and heard! And for all the shout-outs she shouts out! From Anonymous.

Shout out to Andrea Fiorillo for solving a problem. A shout out of gratitude to Andrea for defending the intellectual freedom of libraries by speaking out about the bias curation by Hoopla of their ebook collection. Some of Hoopla’s collection development practices are in direct opposition to those of public libraries by offering materials containing misinformation and outright lies. See the article highlighting this disturbing discovery. From Anonymous.

Shout out to Lisa & Michelle for going above and beyond, helping a co-worker, and keeping it positive. Thank you to Lisa for taking over Toddler Time!!! You are truly a wonderful coworker and team player to just do a storytime two minutes before it starts because I couldn’t get it together. Thank you thank you thank you. And thank you to Michelle for the validation, comfort, and handing out the tickets so that I could step away! I can’t thank you both enough for having patience with me and stepping in!!! From Olivia.

Shout out to Lisa R, Olivia, Susanne, Susan, and Desiree for going above and beyond and helping a co-worker. Thank you for working on Mothers’ Day!!! From Cate.

Shout out to Children’s & Suzy for going above and beyond, helping a co-worker, Shout out to the Children’s crew and Suzy for hauling boxes of props off to multiple open houses in the schools and representing all of us! From Anonymous and Michelle.

Access for All

I’ve been attending the Perkins Access webinar series and it’s really good! Each session includes a list of resources to check for and improve access for people with a variety of disabilities. I’m collecting the links in a folder on the G-drive–check them out!

Perkins Access Series: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rlYWWqnPwYE9JEfU9CM8Wc2H7zojYv26?usp=sharing

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 Susan for going above and beyond and helping a co-worker. Shout out to Susan for always being willing to help her co-workers and for having every supply we could possibly need. From anonymous.

Shout out to Lisa R for helping a co-worker. Lisa stepped in to run Kids Jam! and she’s jamming, wotcha-wa, hope you like jamming, too! From Cate.

Shout out to Meghan M for going above and beyond and helping a co-worker. Meghan stepped up to help the Children’s Room team during our Hula-La concert. She was the nicest bouncer I’ve ever seen in action! Thank youuuuu! From Cate.

Shout out to Cate and Andrea F for going above and beyond, helping a co-worker and keeping it positive. Staff do so many invisible tasks that often go unrecognized despite the amount of time and care put into them. Shout out this week to Cate and Andrea for their endless help, big and small. Whether it’s coordinating welcome and farewell lunches and brunches that seem to have become a regular occurrence at RPL or creating mood boards for programming ideas while simultaneously chasing down pieces of your storyboard that blew away, they are simply not paid enough for all that they do 😉 From Ally.

Shout out to Olivia for going above and beyond, exemplary customer service, and solving a problem. Olivia rocked April school vacation week with Hula-La crowds, Messy Fun wind, crazed seagulls on her commute, and other general full-moon-ness. Thanks for facing it all with a smile on your face (except for that one time….). From Cate (and Michelle because she thinks so too.)

Shout out to Ally for leading by example. You are the wiiiiind beneath our wiiiiiings! So grateful for all of your support, encouragement, nudges, pokes, reminders, call-outs, ideas, and shared Harry Styles obsessions. From Cate.