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.
Initials, please!
When you leave a ‘problem’ item on the snag cart or on the desk of someone in TS, please write a brief note and sign or initial it. Sometimes we have follow-up questions about these items and don’t know who to ask. Thanks for your help with this!
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! And I KNOW there are more shout-outs from other departments!
Shout out to Chrissy at Borrower Services for helping a co-worker out. A big thank you to my coworker, Chrissy, who really helped me try to find a LOT today. Everyone here is so easy to work with and patient. Thank you! From Kathleen Wilcox.
Shout out to Andrea, Kath and Melissa for going above and beyond and helping a co-worker. They participated on the hiring committee for RPL’s new local history librarian. It takes a lot of time and thought to participate in this process and it’s always easier when you have some awesome people around you to talk things through and make difficult decisions. And we are very excited for our new Local History Librarian, Jocelyn Gould to start on Tuesday! Thank you from Ally.
Thank you to Cate and the Children’s Team for going above and beyond. The Displays in the Children’s Room for April are glorious! Led by Cate, the Once Upon a Rhyme and Ode to the Ode are perfect for National Poetry Month! They’re engaging and fun. Nice job! Thank you from anonymous.
Emergency Info
Thank you to everyone who attended yesterday’s Emergency and Safety meeting yesterday. In addition to the ALICE training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) and meeting Cooper the Comfort Dog, we worked through several tabletop exercises.
Using yesterday’s experience (and with several corrections of typos), I’ve updated the Emergency Response Guide on this intranet. Also, printed copies are available
- All services desks (4)
- Children’s Workroom
- Borrower Services WorkroomReference Workroom
- Tech Services Workroom
- Administration
- Staff Lounge
Direct Page
All Library phones should have something that says “Direct Page” on the main menu screen. If you do not see this on any phone, please email Amy with the phone extension and with a request to add “Direct Page.” This feature uses the speaker function of the phone. This means messages via Direct Page are audible to everyone in the area of the phone. To use
- Press “Direct Page”
- Press “#”
- Pause for two seconds and then speak
- Hang up when done
This information has been added to the Emergency Response Guide.
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! And I KNOW there are more shout-outs from other departments. Let’s see them!
Shout out to The Children’s Team for going above and beyond, coming up with a new idea. We rocked the March Newbery Madness brackets in the Children’s Room and on social! It was a tourney full of favorites, fiction, and some flat-out surprises—16 Newbery-winning books competed for the best Newbery of the past 100 years. Megan came up with the idea, Olivia created all the graphics and the posts AND counted the votes, Ashley troubleshot the in-person voting, and the rest of us talked up the books. If you want to know what title won, you have to visit the Children’s Room! From Cate.
Shout out to Everyone who donated cans to Melissa’s crafty cause for helping a co-worker. With your help, I have all the cans I need with plenty of time to make a sample windchime! From Melissa.
Shout out to Melissa, Andrea H., Valerie, Judy T, Desiree, and Lauren for going above and beyond, and coming up with a new idea. This inspired group developed a fun idea – reading tournament/brackets/March Madness/March Hare and turned it into a stunning lobby display (Alice in Wonderland themed). And, when the opportunity arose, participated with other libraries in a 6-town reading tournament – Minute Madness! Extra kudos to those working on interesting & attractive displays in the lobby, the delicious food/cooking-themed one on Express shelves, and throughout the library. From a fan.
Shout out to Louise for going above and beyond and for exemplary customer service. Louise went racing down the stairs and into the parking lot to give back a photograph to a patron who had been using it as a bookmark. That’s going above and beyond the call of Borrower’s Service duty!! From anonymous.
Shout out to Susan B. 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.
Ode to the Ode
For our April interactive bulletin board, we are featuring the beloved ode and we want YOU to write one. Your ode should be kid-friendly & relatively short (though we don’t want to stifle any creative passion) and should celebrate a person, place, thing, or idea. Please email your ode to rdgchild@noblenet.org and we will display it along with the object of your affection (if it is small) or a photo of said object. As inspiration, please enjoy:
Ode to the stapler
You, dear stapler, surpass all other fasteners,
even the brand-new, super-tight binder clip.
Your solid, reliable “ker-chunk” works magic
through thick and thin, through paper, cloth,
and much, much more.
Your wee staples sometimes break skin, but
I forgive, for you remain faultless. It is I who
cannot seem to use your little claw remover successfully.
Fasten on, oh stapler, because you know your job
and do it so well. You remain ever present, ever full,
ever better than a paper clip.