Talking Books + Much Ado About Books = Success

On Saturday, February 27, some members of the Talking Books-ILAB (Independent Living for the Adult Blind) Book Club, including Jerry Reynolds, TB's Librarian Senior, and Chris Eaton, Librarian, had the pleasure of having breakfast at the Omni Hotel with bestselling author Chris Bohjalian. Our thanks go out to Maggie Hightower, Executive Director of the JPL Foundation, for graciously providing us with this opportunity. Mr. Bohjalian was in Jacksonville that weekend for the JPL Foundation's 2010 Much Ado About Books festival and our book club had just read his novel, The Double Bind, as February's book club selection. Everyone in attendance enjoyed themselves. Mr. Bohjalian was very entertaining and informative in regard to his experiences as an author, the current state of publishing, the themes of his books and many other subjects. His experience at this breakfast with avid readers, who cannot read standard print because of a disability, has made him aware of the need for books available in accessible formats. He has pledged to make sure that all of his books are available to anyone who wishes to read them and continue to promote this as a worthy cause to authors, publishers, and anyone who might help make books more accessible. The breakfast was delicious and everyone at the table received a complimentary copy of Mr. Bohjalian's latest novel, Secrets of Eden.

Kudos from Customers

Main - E-Library: "I was treated with outstanding service from a gentleman (Mike Shell) in customer service. Thank you. "

Mandarin Branch: "The Mandarin staff has always greeted me and my child with a warm smile and an open invitation to browse and made themselves available to us. In respect to Mr. David Foster, a great asset to the staff. Informative, knowledgeable, welcoming personality. He shows interest not only in the parents, but the children also that visit the Children's section. It's a pleasure and a change to see a male librarian ! There are other library staff who has also assisted me in the past like Margo Crafton. I would also like to thank them for the prompt attention given, non-cluttered environment and the program calendar they have in place for the children."

Pablo Creek Branch: "Jackie Spiritas - Good librarian."

South Mandarin Branch: "I wish to commend your employee, Betsy Hogan; she was just fantastic today. I asked her for tire information, and rather than just handing it to me, looked it up in the index, found the tire, and handed information to me. Thank you."

Willowbranch: "We love Willowbranch Library! And Jason Brown is top-notch! Always helpful, always a great attitude, always interested in our family and our library needs! The staff has improved greatly this year as has the service!"

Interlibrary Loan Continues Efficiency-Enhancing Initiatives

Heather Campbell, Librarian Senior, Interlibrary Loan, and her staff have accomplished many efficiency-enhancing initiatives--and more are on ILL's agenda. Ms. Campbell reports:

While ILL staff members continually look for ways to improve processes and the unit’s workflow, they have also spent the last two years working on projects promoting greater efficiency. Among the strategies we’ve used are:

Reconfiguring the label print templates from the software-supplied templates so that only needed labels are printed.

Using ergonomics to make the workplace safer, healthier, and more efficient. Workstations and shared workspaces have been rearranged to promote wellness and better workflow.

Eliminating unneeded printouts and using the back of outdated flyers, printouts, and fax confirmations for in-house printing.

Including more information on book labels and customer notification slips to help customers understand item loan terms and to provide more customer contact information for staff.

Recycling one-side-printed state courier routing slips as scrap paper for Main Library departments.

Identifying free-lenders of books and copies in Lending and adding them to our free-lenders list in Borrowing. This increased our ability to be able to supply materials without cost to our customers.

Ending the resource-consuming Books By Mail service. This allowed a smaller staff to concentrate more on Interlibrary Loan services.

Exercising stricter oversight in the handling of overdue materials. This provided borrowers with greater incentive for quicker resolution of problems involving ‘not returned’, lost, or damaged materials in both Lending and Borrowing.

Continuing in-unit cross training in processes which gave staff greater confidence when filling in for absent staff members and provided better customer service.

Compiling unit procedures and forms in an ILL Wiki readily retrievable by ILL team members.

Volunteering to be a beta-testing site for the newest version of our Interlibrary Loan management software- ILLiad 8.0. The efficiencies we’ve found so far in this new version include:
· A combined search box. With one click, staff can search for information in both (Lending and Borrowing) processes. This allows us to answer customers’ questions in less time.
· We no longer have to open multiple copies of ILLiad or need to close down or switch out of a single process (Lending or Borrowing) to do work in another. The new tab feature holds our work until we can return to it.
· Print requests automatically go to the proper printer without staff having to designate a printer. This cuts down wasted labels or paper from print-jobs going to the wrong printer and promotes a smoother workflow.
· Routing rules are used to enforce JPL policy. For example, ILLiad ‘looks for’ textbook publishers and puts textbook requests into a cancellation queue. This saves postage, supplies, and costs for items lost in delivery.
· Staff members can arrange ILLiad screens according to their own preferences and work needs. Data in columns can be rearranged for easier viewing. Processes can be color coded for easier identification.
· Customer information became more accessible within ILLiad by using the new tabs feature. Merging new ILLiad accounts with old is easier. This was especially helpful as customers switched to new library cards necessitating re-registering for new ILLiad accounts and merging customer histories into the new accounts.

A trial use of ILLiad WebCirc at Main planned for this year will provide more opportunities to demonstrate efficiency as it will allow customers to receive instant credit for returned ILL materials.

Beaches Branch Staff Display Their Crafts

JPL employees are known for their many talents and productive hobbies. During the month of March, talented craftswomen of the Beaches Branch Library--Carol Conley, Katherine Daye, Jeanne Dunn, Virginia Maxted, Midge Roton and Terry Welch--are displaying their crafts.

Included in this display are a birdcage and barrettes covered with seashells, necklaces, needlepoint sampler, crocheted afghan, greeting cards and polymer clay crafts.

Jane Harris Challenges the Process

When they built West Regional, they installed a drive-up window. Nobody around here had ever seen a drive-up window at a library. In this one-minute video, Barbara Gubbin shares the story of Jane Harris, manager at West, Challenging the Process and Modeling the Way to try for a full year to make the window work.

(To play properly, you may need to click Play [>], then click the Pause button, give it a minute to pre-load, then check back and click Play [>] again.)


Everyone knows someone who models the way, inspires a shared vision, challenges the process, enables others to act, and/or encourages the heart. If you have a story to share, we'd love to hear it. Please contact jpltraining@coj.net. p.s. If you missed previous video stories, simply click the arrow on the left side of the screen to see previous ones.

Staff Profile

If you have seen a tornado whizzing by with a smile as wide as east is from west, you might have seen Garland Wilson, JPL's Distribution Services Supervisor. He and his crew are essential to providing the high quality service JPL consistently delivers (no pun intended) to its customers. As an employee said when he was nominated for a first quarter award for Modeling the Way, "Garland manages any situation with extraordinary poise and style."

Q: What is your professional background, and what experiences do you draw upon for your position as Distribution & Supply Supervisor?

A: I graduated with an MBA from Webster University in 2006. I was formerly in the U.S. Army and served in the Gulf War.

Q: What are your goals for the Distribution Department?

A: My goals for distribution include reducing turnover in the department and training my staff to model the way of good customer service. I would like for the department to lead by example and be recognized as the backbone of the library system.

Q: What has surprised you about working at Jacksonville Public Library?

A: I am surprised at how important the distribution department is to the rest of the library system.

Q: Please share something about yourself that most people probably don’t know.

A: I am originally from Jacksonville and I'm a single Dad of 3 children (2 boys and a girl). I enjoy all sports, but especially football, springboard diving, and swimming.