Floating: One System One Collection

This article was conributd by JPL's Gretchen Mitchell, Assistant Director, Support Services:

“Floating” collections are materials purchased for the system rather than a specific location or branch. When the material is returned, it is checked in and remains where returned. Major advantages include reduction in delivery and less wear/tear on materials.

There are many reasons to use this collection management model:

• Increases materials availability
• Continuously refreshes collection
• Reduces wear & tear on items
• Extends materials budget
• Less to pack/Fewer injuries
• Customer focused

JPL’s committee was formed in December 2009 to investigate, evaluate and implement the floating collection. The committee includes Lynn Jacobson, Charlene Adkins, Jill Haile, Laura Minor, Valerie Mattair, Mark Hohnadel, Brad Jaskula, Ron Block, Mia Brack, Cheryl Callavini, Ann Fridl, Gretchen Mitchell (chair), Chiquita Powell, and Jim Burns.

The first phase of the committee’s work was researching best practices. This included developing questions for other floating libraries, making a list of those libraries, and contacting or visiting those libraries. The committee compiled a comprehensive list of public libraries that float all or part of their collection. It was agreed to gather information from across the United States, not restricting our research to Florida. The committee also included researching this model through articles, blogs, and websites.

Additionally, a Floating Committee Team Site was created on the City’s portal. It is available for all staff to view. It includes all minutes, notes, and other documentation. http://inside.coj.net/li/committees/floating_committee/default.aspx

Based on the information collected in the research, the committee determined that floating the full collection was beneficial and would work.

Now in the second phase of its work, the committee is planning for the implementation. Implementation will take place in two phases: 1)floating of media and 2) floating of all other circulating materials with some exceptions.

Three subcommittees are currently hard at work.
Collections/Standardization (these two groups are working together):
The Collections committee is tasked with reviewing and making recommendations for catch up and gap ordering, rebalancing and weeding activities and any collections exceptions to floating.

The Standardization committee is reviewing and making recommendations for locations, labeling, item types and related ILS issues.

The Communications committee is responsible for determining stakeholders and developing communication plans and staff training.

Watch the staff blog, the Floating Committee’s portal team site and your email inbox for continuing updates and information. Questions can be emailed to any committee member.

Southeast Celebrates Their Volunteers

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month, and on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, Southeast Regional Library employees held a luncheon to honor their volunteers. Each volunteer was provided with a personalized Southeast Regional Certificate of Appreciation and all the food they could enjoy.

Volunteers are an integral part of the Southeast operations. They help with shelving and tasks as diverse as computer training. Pictured left to right are Valerie Morris and John Macrae, two of their most dedicated and long serving volunteers.

JPL will soon present a digital desk top clock/calendar to all of our volunteers in recognition of--and with deep appreciation--for their unselfish work at our libraries.

A Big Welcome to...

Ava Barrett, Administrative Supervisor, who reports to Carolyn Williams, Deputy Director,

and to

Bill Schaefer, Operatios Analyst, who reports to Barrett King, Deputy Director, Administrative Services & SST.

Kudos from Customers

Main – Popular: "Matthew (Moyer) on 1st floor is very friendly!"

Main Library – Genealogy: - “…He (David Fuller) is always professional, courteous, and helpful as he carries out his responsibilities. …”

Main – 2nd Floor Reference: “Greg (Royce) has been the greatest help with my son's history project. …”

Webb Wesconnett: "Mia Brack is a fabulous children's librarian…She is always very friendly and engaging. Every time I visit she helps locate what I need. …”

West Regional: “…Greg (Pierce) in particular goes out of his way & beyond the call of duty to make sure myself & the rest of my family are always taken care of.”

Carol Bailey makes Ask a Librarian realfor Miami-Dade County Administrators

Many of you helped us again this year with our Ask a Librarian Day 2010 promotions on February 23rd, and we invite you to visit the Ask a Librarian Day Recap to see the details.

Thanks to this promotion, both statewide and Jacksonville Public Library chat customer numbers have seen a boost.

More recently, Carol Bailey, manager of Pablo Creek Regional Library, found herself doing a very successful on-the-spot promotion of the service for Administrators from Miami-Dade County, during Pablo Creek's regular weekly hour of statewide Ask a Librarian live chat reference coverage.

On March 11th, the Administrators were attending a meeting of Miami-Dade County's Recreation and Culture Strategic Area Management Committee.

As Raymond Santiago, Director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System wrote to Diana Silveira, Virtual Reference Manager for Ask a Librarian:

One of the Administrators present inquired about the Ask a Librarian Service which had been seen on the Library's homepage [in the menu bar beneath the banner].

As a demonstration, the chat line was accessed and several questions were promptly and efficiently answered by the Librarian...Carol B. from Jacksonville. The Administrators were highly impressed, not only with the service, but also with the professionalism with which the questions were handled.

I would appreciate it if you could extend my thanks to Ms. B and her supervisor...for her excellent service to the residents of the State of Florida.

We have 60+ JPL associates and librarians currently providing this service, and they all do well. We are especially pleased, though, to toot Carol's horn for her.

Thanks, Carol...and thanks to all of our Ask a Librarian live chat agents.

Zine Collection Presentation Big Hit at FLA

Matthew Moyer (pictured right) reports on the presentation that was made on Main Library's Zine collection at the Florida Library Association Convention, April 8, 2010, in Orlando:

The members of the Zine Committee (Andrew Coulon, Jessica Whittington, and I– since Josh Jubinsky was unable to attend) had been invited to FLA to unveil the library’s new Zine Collection to Florida library professionals with an afternoon panel discussion, “Zines, Records and Rock N’ Roll: Alternative Media in Libraries.”

Despite our nervousness, everything went very well. We divided our talk into two main parts: building and managing the collection, and programming and outreach efforts. We began with our proposal and discussed issues of cataloging, collection management, and circulation. For the programming portion, we talked about the importance of promoting/bringing the collection to library users where they are, and how our approach was inspired by the punk/indie practice of tabling (when small record labels and presses set up tables at concerts to promote their releases at concerts). We reviewed all of the events and outreaches we have undertaken thus far, and our plans for the immediate future. Then we held our breath and asked if there were any questions.

We were not sure about the reaction we would get, but the audience was completely engaged and enthusiastic about what we were saying! We ended up fielding questions for 15-20 minutes about everything from our circulation policies to acquisitions to preservation. There was much interest in the fact that we are a circulating zine collection. After that, many came up to ask us more questions and look at the sample zines we brought for show-and-tell. People were complimentary and excited about this collection. Librarians interested in starting similar collections approached us, as did hopeful Library Science students, saying this was the type of work they want to do in the future. Our response: there’s room enough for everyone.

A version of this presentation can be accessed at:
http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dghbwkm_164hqjddfzz

You can find out more information about the Zine Collection at:
http://jplzinelibrary.wordpress.com/

Resource Management in Youth Services, or

Why Children’s Staff Create Preschool Storytime Boxes

Kathy Tekin, Youth Services Library Supervisor, shares the valuable ways her department contributes to efficiency and participates in Destination Leadership:

Storytime boxes are a thematic resource box, designed to be used by multiple programmers and for multiple age groups. The key to effective sharing of programs using story boxes is a rotation and delivery system, by assigning specific themes to regular weekly storytimes. Then everyone on the children’s staff should be able to use the boxes in their summer programs. The boxes contain books, fingerplays, music, flannel board stories, props, and craft suggestions to use with a variety of age groups.

In this way, we are able to share our best resources and creativity with our coworkers and give each other the gift of time in preparing 52 weeks of Preschool programming in each branch. We began the program back in summer 2001 to give staff a planning break for those eight weeks of summer programming. This time is particularly busy in the Children’s Departments due to an influx of school aged children on summer break. Originally, when we started the story box program in Jacksonville the intent was for staff to use them in our traditional 3 – 5 year-old Preschool program. As branches continued to offer Mother Goose and Toddler storytimes over the summer, the need to include age appropriate materials for these groups became apparent and is now included.

The Florida Library Youth Program (FLYP) team established criteria of what to include in the box based on various components of a storytime. We even included a checklist to be sure that items were placed back in the box before going to the next location. Over the years, we have tweaked the storytime boxes to make them more useful for the children’s staff and have added ideas for enhancing the program for school age when a paid performer was not available.

For this summer, the planning team again asked that each branch focus on one chapter from the FLYP 2010 summer manual and create a box to be shared with other branches based on their chosen chapter. We remind everyone that this is a starting point to be able to pick and choose the items from the box that will work well for them and their audience. Each box can be used by new staff members or those with years of experience in children’s services. It still allows for creativity by requesting ideas about using the box and adding an item to the box that they found to be successful.

In doing some research, I have found that many large library systems around the country use this approach for storytimes. It helps to increase the quality and consistency of programs offered to our youngest customers. The resources listed below are found in the JPL system.

By using storytime boxes, we incorporate four of the five practices of Destination Leadership:
Model the Way - The boxes incorporate the best of our creativity, resources and provide an outline that meets the demands for age appropriate materials and pre-literacy skills.
Enable Others to Act - In creating the boxes, staff that has less experience in preschool programming can use quality materials to provide a program. A gift of time is given every time one of the boxes is used to complete other tasks within our departments.
Inspire a Shared Vision – Employees who use the materials are encouraged to add items to the boxes that helped make their program successful with the children and their parents.
Encourage the Heart - By sharing with the staff that created the box, that they and the children really enjoyed the materials included.

Resources:

027.6251 MacMILLAN - A box full of tales: easy ways to share library resources through story boxes. Kathy MacMillan. MacMillan, a librarian, storyteller, and American Sign Language interpreter, describes how to use story boxes to create children's programs at a library.

027.6251 NICHOLS 2007 - Storytimes for two-year-olds /Judy Nichols ; illustrated by Lori D. Sears. Nichols, a storyteller, puppeteer, and library consultant, outlines programs for engaging the youngest library audiences.
Summer Reading Manual, 2009
Summer Reading Manual, 2010

Green, Eggs, and the H.A.M.

The “Happy Assiduous Menagerie” i.e., the Southeast Regional Library staff, recently had an encounter with Green and then Eggs, in that order. Green refers to the St. Patrick’s Day Hunt where the H.A.M. scoured the library before opening time to find as many green items as they could in just two minutes. Of course, no books or other library materials could be counted, but Deborah, the circulation supervisor, did manage to drag the giant stuffed gorilla, Limeade, who serves as the library mascot, to be counted among her items. Children’s librarian Carisia Rooney came in first place with 18 green items. (Although that win is under appeal due to the fact that she was the only one present with a key to the children’s craft closet!). She is pictured wearing the honorable St. Patrick’s day hat with LAS Radhika Kandalakunta.

A couple of weeks later, the H.A.M. geared up for the Second Annual Employee Easter Egg Hunt. Again, before opening, and to the sound of the cleaning crew’s vacuum cleaner, staff rushed around the children’s department to find the most eggs out of the 75 that were hidden. PT shelver, Lauren Banks, pictured with clerk, Joyce Myllykangas, was the winner with 15 eggs found. A second prize was given to the finder of The Golden Egg which was won by another PT shelver, Alice Mauro. There was a re-run of this event the following day to include more members of the H.A.M., and the two winners that day were LA Barbara Hughes with the most eggs found and librarian Mark Ely who found the golden egg.

These events are organized by the Suthest Regional Library's Fun Bunch and we appreciate their efforts in ensuring that the H.A.M. will remain happy for a long time!

Staff Profile

It would be difficult to find more dedicated, long-term library enthusiasts and volunteers than this couple.

Joyce and Edward Charron moved to Jacksonville in 1963 when he was hired by Prime Osborn, then of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Law Department.

Community and church involvement was, and is, an important ingredient of railroad employment, and as book lovers, Joyce and Ed joined the Jacksonville Chapter of the Friends of the Library. Ed was President of the Friends' Board of Directors in 1968 and 1969 and is still an active board member.

Once their four children were a little more self-sufficient and with a reduction in school carpools, Joyce began her to-this-day weekly volunteer service at JPL's Children's Departments in the early 1980's. She has volunteered in both the Southeast and Regency Square Branches. In 1995, she received the Jacksonville Public Library "Volunteer of the Year" Award. More recently, she received the Mayor's "Good Trouper" Award in a City Hall ceremony.

In 1969, Mayor Hans Tanzler appointed Ed to fill an unexpired term on the Board of Library Trustees in recognition of his advocacy for the Consolidation of our City and County governments that resulted in a much-expanded public library service for all citizens. Ed served for twelve years on the board, four as Chair. He recalls having attended more than 60 meetings related to the construction of Regency Square Branch Library!

In the early 1990's, the Jacksonville Public Library Foundation was established and Ed was a member of the initial Board of Directors. Working closely with Victoria Alexander, Sara Gunter, and DeLon Rowan of JPL's staff, Night of Literary Feasts (now Much Ado About Books) was developed during this time.

JPL appreciates Joyce and Ed Charron. Their time, devotion, and expertise have been valuable contributions as JPL has expanded and improved its public library system. We hope they will continue volunteering for a long time to come.

The Hunt Is On @ Northwest

We enjoyed doing the Easter Egg Hunt program here at Northwest. Many thanks and kudos to Davi Harmon, Children's Library Assistant, for doing most of the work. Enjoy the slideshow, everyone. Happy Easter!

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How Pablo Creek Regional Library Is Increasing Efficiency

Carol Bailey, Branch Manger of Pablo Creek Regional Library, reports on their successful venture into more resource management:

This winter, Pablo Creek’s business levels seemed to explode, with a marked increase in usage by the community. Year to date circulation as of February 2010 increased 3% over the previous year, and although our gate count has only increased slightly since last year, Pablo Creek has seen a 13% increase in the number of hold requests submitted, while staffing levels have not changed. Clearly, we needed to make some changes in our holds procedures in order to keep up with the increasing volume.

The first major change we made was to adopt the new holds procedures that were implemented system wide in November 2009. Instead of laboriously writing out hold wrappers, we are now using 8½” by 2¾”slips of paper for the customer’s name along with the date the hold is to be removed if not picked up. In response to several customer complaints about the new way of putting out available hold items, we are making every effort to be consistent in how the hold slips are done: using dark, thick marker and writing in large block letters to make it easier for customers to find their available hold items. In an effort to save paper, we regularly collect paper that has been printed on only one side (most of which is left behind by customers) and re-use it for hold slips.

We also eliminated some steps in how items are handled when they are trapped for the hold pickup list or when they are discharged and come up on hold. Previously, all hold items were routed to designated holds staff at the branch for final processing, but now every staff member who traps from the hold pickup list or has a discharged item come up on hold is responsible for processing that item and putting it out on the holds shelf. Making this small change has resulted in available hold items being put out more quickly and reduced the amount of time that was spent looking for available hold items in the workroom that had not been processed yet.

In addition, circulation staff assigned to set up the Customer Service desk in the morning is also pulling expired hold items from the holds shelf on a daily basis rather than waiting for the designated holds staff to take care of this. This means more room on the holds shelf for new items, and more time for the designated holds staff to handle holds coming in through delivery.

Another area where changes were made to increase efficiency was in how we handle items that are returned with missing parts or need repairs such as a replacement case. Previously we would edit the item records of these items to change the home location to STORAGE-A or STORAGE-J as appropriate. Now we are checking out items with missing parts to MISSINGPCR, and checking out items that need repairs to PCRCIRC. The checkout and discharge process is much faster than changing the home location of an item and changing it back to the original home location when the problem with the item is resolved.

Many thanks to our new Library Clerical Supervisor Charlene Ovshak for helping to develop ways to improve efficiency at Pablo Creek Library, and thanks to all the staff for their willingness to try new ways of doing things.

Pablo Creek Library is very pleased to host a “Year of the River” photography display featuring local Jacksonville photographers celebrating the St Johns River in photographs. The display will be up during the entire month of April 2010.

This will be their first display using their new art display hanging system and Caroly Bailey, Branch Mnager said, "We are very excited about it. It looks beautiful!"

The display wall is just to the left of the Customer Service desk, and they plan to put up a new display every month.

Everyone is invited to come and enjoy.