First Recipient of "Get To Yes" Award: Theresa Rooney

Assistant Director for Public Service Julie McNeil awarded the first Jaguar Study Buddy for excellent service to UPK Manager Theresa Rooney at the Library Roundtable Leadership meeting, November 21.  

Ms. McNeil said, "All but 20 public service employees have taken the 'Get To Yes' customer service class and our goal of 'all' taking the class will soon be reached."  When an employee receives Study Buddy and subsequently sees another staff member giving excellent service, he/she then passes on Study Buddy and the process continues--a fun way to remember excellent customer service is a priority at JPL.

The second recipient of the Jaguar Study Buddy is KR's Library Assistant David Foster.  ARE YOU NEXT?

KR Celebrates Deborah Wainwright's 25 Years With JPL

KR Branch Manager Lynne Baldwin sent in this photo and said, "The staff at Mandarin helped SE Region Clerical Supervisor Deborah Wainwright celebrate 25 years with the Jacksonville Public Library on November 22 with a cake and balloons and good wishes.  Congratulations to Deborah for 25 years of great service!"   

And everybody says, "Ditto!" To Deborah.

Murray Hill Kids Are Thankful

Murray Hill's Children’s Librarian, Chiquita Powell, submitted this recap of their After School Thanksgiving Program, November 21, "It has been a struggle to get customers to attend our after school programs, so I was very excited we had 13 people show up today. The children participated in three activities. First, they played Thanksgiving Bingo. The two winners were able to select leftover summer reading books. The children then made two crafts. The first was a turkey crown, and the second was a "thankful" wreath. The children were able to write on small leaves what they were thankful for and attach it to a paper wreath. Everyone had a great time."

Big Thank You to Chiquita!

2014 United Way Campaign At JPL

If you have not received your United Way donation form from your branch manager or United Way rep for your location, you will get it soon.  Please return your completed UW form to your UW rep by December 6, 2014, so we can collect all the donations system wide and get a grand total for JPL and turn the forms in to the Citywide coordinator on time.

Donations are not mandated; however, if you are donating and prefer to make a payroll deduction gift, there will be TWENTY-FOUR (24) deductions--not 26 as we have total pay periods with the City--of the amount you state on your donation form.  Payroll deductions begin on your January 3, 2014 pay period and continue through December 2014.

Cash or check donations are welcome as well and you can donate as little as a dollar.

If you make a mistake on your preprinted UW donation form (your name, employee number, and work location are stamped on the form), just line through it, make your correction(s) and initial by each correction.

Business volunteers around Jacksonville donate their time to watch over the running of United Way and make sure donations are wisely used.

We have visited the agencies United Way supports and have seen first-hand how well funds are used. The Bridge, for instance, helps teenagers stay out of trouble and gives them some place to go after school. There are many,many more and YOUR donation, large or small, when combined with others DOES make a big difference in THIS community.  Visit the UW website and learn more:

www.LiveUnitedNortheastFlorida.org

Kudos From Customers

Main Library – Special Collections:  4th floor. This is the first time I have been to this library. Ryan Fix took the time to show me on the computer how to save a document and use in my job search. Sean Wallace went the extra mile to help me with my resume and teach me how to do things for myself, that will aid me in my job search. I was very impressed with all of the staff I encountered today, but especially the two of them. They are a definite asset.

Main Library - Center for Adult Learning (CAL):  I think the CAL department (Sharon Jaskula, Katie Devanny, Tammy Owens, Valencia Kidwell, Stephanie Smith, Teresa Thompson, and Lane Wright) and the people working there are a true asset and blessing to the Jacksonville community.

Mandarin Branch:  Though I normally use the Mandarin South Branch I am presently at the Kori Rd. location where I am always thrilled whenever I hear David Foster speak with the children in that section. I literally stop dead in my tracks listening to all the educational and life/safety lessons he conveys to the children. Oh, to be a child again and have David Foster as my guide to all the wonders the library has to offer. He is such a unique and special person. He's the type of person that one recalls much later in life the way one recalls his or her favorite teachers.

Regency Square Branch:  I wanted to commend the library staff at Regency Square Library. I especially want to recognize the children's library staff, Ms. Mia (Brack) and Ms. Mary Heaney. They both go above and beyond when it comes to children's activities. My kids and I truly appreciate all their hard work and dedication.

Willowbranch:  Jason (Brown) & the other gentleman who is often there (sorry, don't know his name) are very pleasant & welcoming as well as being efficient with the library's computer system.  

Yea! Teen Read Week Winners!

Laura Minor reports, "Winners of the Teen Read Week - My Favorite Book Video Contest 2013 were announced on Art Walk Night (Wednesday, November 6). Councilman Don Redman was in attendance, and he is pictured here with 1st place winners Justin and Ryan Perez (L), and the 2nd place and "Viewers’ Choice" winner Jessie Bailey (R). The winning videos are now up on our website - http://jaxpubliclibrary.org/teens/teen-video-winners.html"

Sleepover At Main

On November 15, Eve Harm hosted a Stuffed Animal Sleepover for the Children's Department to celebrate Main’s eighth birthday. Eve said, "The kids listened to bedtime stories with me.  Then the stuffed animals slid down the banister, had snacks in the staff lounge, and played hide and seek. Later we tucked in our animals and enjoyed a sleepover at the library. We posted pictures on our Facebook so the children could follow their animals' activities."  

CONGRATULATIONS To Our JPL 4th Quarter Award Winners

At the November 14, 2013 Board of Library Trustees meeting, JPL Board Chair Dr. Brenda Simmons-Hutchins (left) and Deputy Director Carolyn S. Williams (right) congratulate and present 4th Quarter JPL Awards to (top to bottom, center) Troy Ettreim, WB Library Clerk, who won two awards:  Model the Way and Employee of the Quarter.  Grace Fletcher, Part-Time Page at WB, won a Model the Way Award.  Jessica Jones, KR Part-Time Library Clerk, won a Model the Way Award, and Kris Snider, who is JPL's Graphic Designer in CR&M and works at Main, won a Challenge the Process Award.

                         CHEERS!  CONGRATS!  HOORAY!

Katie Devanny, Literacy Program Supervisor  recounts CAL's recent program for immigrants, "Officer Nuria 'Archie' Archbold from the International Affairs Unit with JSO visited ESL classes at the Center for Adult Learning at the Main Library, October 28 and 29.   Officer Archie addressed 34 students from 13 different countries on safety tips.  She first reviewed how to make a 911 call when English is not one's first language (before saying anything else, tell the operator, 'I speak _______'). JSO has language line translators to help our new citizens overcome that barrier in an emergency. She addressed personal safety and what to do if someone trys to steal your purse (let them have it and call 911) and she covered identity theft and scams. This population is an easy target because of the language barrier and their misunderstanding of what documents should be carried with them at all times. (They are only required to have a Florida ID or driver’s license with them.)  There was also a good lesson on how to respond if stopped by the police. (We often forget how differently a refugee with limited English may perceive and react to armed people in uniform.) All classes and their instructors took home some valuable information.  We look forward to future presentations with Officer Archie."

These are all good tips we can share with newcomers to our country and we appreciate Katie's input that can be of value to all of us.

In Memory Of Jeff Driggers

Corlis J. (Jeff) Driggers 

The Jacksonville musical and library community has lost a true patron and friend.  Jeff Driggers was born on November 29, 1924, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  He passed away in Jacksonville, FL, November 11, 2013.  

Mr. Driggers joined the Army in 1943 at Camp Blanding, FL. 

After the Army, he graduated from the University of Florida with both B.A. and M.A. degrees in psychology, and is remembered as one who liked to know what made people tick.  He then earned a B.M. degree from the Eastman School of Music, and an M.M. from FSU, and later earned a third master's degree from Indiana University in Library Science.   It was FSU, though, that  turned him into a forever Seminole fan.  

Mr. Driggers' library career began in 1957 as a clerk in JPL's Catalog Department in the first Main Library (now known as the Bedell Building).  With the opening of the Haydon Burns Library on Ocean Street in 1965, he became the head of the Art and Music Department where he strove for excellence in the reference collection.  His lifelong love of cinema led him to oversee the finest 16mm film collection in the state.  Mr. Driggers was a supporter of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and he participated in many musical related activities.  His real love, however, was the Delius Society where he was a world-recognized expert on the music of Frederick Delius.  Staff regretfully held a retirement party for him, August 1, 1991; however, after that Mr. Driggers spent some time every week as curator of the library's Delius Collection.  

"Mr. D" (as he was affectionately known) was admired by everyone who ever worked for or with him.  He was a mentor and friend to many and will be sincerely missed.

Our appreciation to Carol Smith, a former JPL staff member, who worked for Mr. D for about 17 years, for most of the input here and to Main Librarian Ed Lein and Library Assistant Arthur Finley for their contributions to this memorial for "Mr. D".

SE Region Branches Do Food Drive

Lynne Baldwin, KR Manager, said, "The SE Region Branches teamed up and collected five large laundry baskets of non-perishable food items for the Thanksgiving Food Drive sponsored by JaxCares and Daniel Organization.  The food will help feed the children and families that the Daniel organization serves.  Special thanks to Shukti Banerjee for her work on this project. The staff at Mandarin, shown here, organizes the donated food in baskets."

What a wonderful thing to do, Mandarin, San Maro, South Mandarin and Southeast Branches!  

Promoting Jobs In Jax

SE Region Manager, Michael Sullivan, welcomes noted author and motivational speaker Artie Lynnworth (right) to the Mandarin Branch Library on November 2 for a 90 minute workshop on How to Prepare for a Job Interview and Improve Your Resume.   (Thanks to KR Manager, Lynne Baldwin, for the input and photo.)

OOOOOH!

Halloween became a day of the living dead for two of Mandarin’s employees, Sara Peretzman and Robert Moseley.

GB Hosts Art Club

                                                                             









Dallas Graham Branch Librarian Senior, Jackie Spiritas, hosted an Art Club Meeting, November 6, and gives this report, "Marie Myers, Peggy Crawford and Chanika Kimbrough did a great job with the kids. Fifteen kids of various ages and from different schools attended. They made “lanterns” from glass jars, glue, and colorful tissue paper. Each unique piece is ready to fill with a candle. The kids showed inspiring creativity and it was wonderful to observe." 

 

Don't Even Want To Mess With This Guy!

Joshua Wise,  Library Assistant at Brown Eastside Branch, was slow to share his recent big win until Pat Morrison and Tony Williams suggested he tell us about his participation in a power-lifting competition.

Joshua recounts, "On October 6, 2013, I competed in an AAPF Southern States power-lifting meet hosted by Orlando Barbell, Orlando, Florida. This is a weightlifting competition that consists of three exercises: Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift. The person with the highest combined total of weight lifted in a given weight class is the winner.

"Weighing in at 188 lbs. and competing in the 198 lb. weight class (AAPF = no assisting gear, no drug enhancements, etc), I lifted a combined total of 1,395 lbs. (Squat: 425 lbs., Bench Press: 385 lbs., and Deadlift: 585 lbs.) to win 1st place!"

Joshua doesn't have pictures back from the Orlando meet but sent this shot of himself (center) in another competition he  won in Lake City.

Congratulations, Joshua!  We look forward to hearing about your future wins.

Veterans Day - Take A Look At Where Some Vets Are

Look through the eyes of Capt. Steven Ellison, M.D., U.S. Army and pay a visit with some of the survivors of our wars. There's a link below with a few pictures and brief comments by Capt. Ellisen that have to be seen to really appreciate who these veterans are and where they are now.

http://jaxpubliclibrary.org/lib/Veterans_Observation_by_Capt_Steven_Ellison_MD_102813.pdf


We salute our own JPL veterans:

Mark Merritt
Lawrence Singer
Hazzel Sutton
Noah Thomas
Joel Thorbs
Karen Walker
Garland Wilson

Staff Profile

Mrs. Cynthia Simmons has blended into the fabric of JPL very well for 29 years—so quietly one might not be aware of her for a while since she shuns the limelight; however, her work always shines wherever she is located and no matter the position. When asked to be the subject of this month’s “Staff Profile”, Cynthia relented but said, “It’s hard to talk about yourself.” 

Q: As Clerical Supervisor for the Main Library and Urban Core Libraries (EB, WBK, NS and GB), how did you progress to your current position with its responsibilities?

A: My 25 years as a Civil Service employee was preceded by four years as a part-time worker with the Summer Library Program. In August 1986, I became a Part-time Shelver at the Haydon Burns Main Library. While there, I was promoted to Part-time Temporary Clerk in Children’s and then to Clerk I in General Services’ Florida/Genealogy department. Promoted to Clerk II in 1988, JPL assigned me to Regency Square Library and later I transferred to Southeast Library where I was promoted to Library Assistant. Afterwards, I came back to old Main and was promoted to Clerical Supervisor and transferred to Mandarin Branch. After working at KR for about ten years, I came back to the new Main Library and recently was assigned as a liaison for the ULC’s, working closely with Pat Morrison, ULC Supervisor. Ron Block is my supervisor at Main.   I train employees at Main and at the ULC's and help implement policy changes and manage monthly finances.

Q: What management strategy do you use to effect the efficient daily running of Circulation?

A: I am willing to do the job my employees do and I keep a “hands-on” work experience with them every day so I can see what is done and make changes that need to be made. This way, we can all work efficiently to serve customers with speed and accuracy, adhering to JPL policy. I listen to staffs’ input.  Whenever and however their ideas can be used to improve service, they are implemented in Circulation.

Q: What is the result of changes that help Circulation operate better?

A: We have more cohesive teamwork. Currently, we are striving to improve check-in accuracy.

Q: How do you help employees adjust to change?

A: By working personally with staff to overcome resistance to change, which is something we all must deal with, and highlighting positive results that will occur through change, we meet the challenges.

Q: What is your favorite pastime?

A: My husband and I enjoy traveling when we can.

Why Not Apply For Sunshine State Library Leadership?

It's not too soon to start thinking about applying for the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute (SSLLI) and what project you could propose to accomplish. JPL selects participants in the spring.  The Institute is designed "to assist in preparing library leaders to provide the highest quality library services to the citizens of Florida in the most effective and innovative manner that will meet today's needs and tomorrow's challenges."  

The program application process is competitive and it is an honor to participate.  Each participant has to select a project to complete as part of SSLLI. Don't know what that might include? In the 2013 session, JPL's five participants completed these projects:

Ron Block, Circulation Service Supervisor - His focus: community outreach events. Capitalizing on successful past events, he created a "success  toolkit" to use in future large scale event planning and execution involving partnerships.  Templates were created, including a list of ongoing and potential future event partnerships with contact information, a document to assist with discussion points and mutual advantages for entering into partnerships, sample agreement forms, steps to finalizing event plans, including staffing, materials, CR&M assistance and timelines, event plans with setup information, etc. 

Mia Brack, Children's Librarian at AR - Collected library resources that addressed each of the Common Core State Standards in pre-k - 2nd grade and placed them in a tote for ease of checkout, which ensured that library customers had resources to help children be on target for their grade level.  

Keli Likins, Librarian Senior/Manager, SE Branch - Created a newly designed web page,Teen Created Content. It is  more attractive and holds all the content local teens have created for the library, such as Teen Read Week videos, short story contest entries, photos of art submitted for contests, etc.  The intent is to attract more teens to participate in these kinds of programs by providing a public forum for their work. Keli is not aware of a comparable library website around the country so it could set a trend in teen services to keep the teen user engaged.  

Rebekah Mitchell, Children's Library Associate, Main - She utilized Traveling Tales, JPL's collection of thematic storytime program kits, as a tool to connect the library with our literacy community.  This was done by inviting key members of the community to a launch event for the new Traveling Tales and by creating a training based on the kits.

Eric Soriano, E-Library Specialist, Support Services - His goal was to explore opportunities to initiate and expand current technology education and economic success programs to library customers from diverse cultural, ethnic, and language backgrounds.  He was able to either lead or help organize one special program for Filipino-Americans; two digital literacy special sessions for deaf and hearing impared children in collaboration with UNF's Department of Exceptional, Deaf, and Interpreter Education, and expand computer classes in Spanish to six classes a week in five branches, representing every library region.The program was featured in Spanish language Hola Noticias and Eco Latino as this is the only free program of its kind in town.  He has helped grow the bilingual volunteer base to six active volunteers. The e-government/job search open computer lab at Main also continues to offer assistance in Tagalong, American Sign Language, and Spanish--all well attended.

Got a wonderful project to propose?  Talk to your supervisor about it and apply for the 2014 Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute.

State Rep. Adkins Reads At JB Story Time

The Beaches Branch Library received a Halloween “treat”, October 31, when State Representative Janet Adkins attended JB's Stories For Young Children story time.  Rep. Adkins took time to admire all the creative Halloween costumes before reading The Busy Little Squirrel, by Nancy Tafuri, to the happy story time crowd.

Roll Your Clock Back One Hour, Saturday Night, 11/2/13

Time changes officially at 2 am, Sunday, November 3, 2013, so if you're not up at that time,

don't forget to set your clock BACK (remember: fall back) one hour before bed time Saturday night.

BELOW: TICKLED PINK!  HE GETS TO SLEEP AN HOUR LONGER THIS SUNDAY!

                                           

What Is Retiree Suzanne Theriault Doing Now?

Suzaanne Theriault was with JPL for 34 1/2 years and managed several branches.  She retired as a Senior Librarian/Branch Manager at Bradham Brooks Northwest Branch in 2009. Suzanne says she misses the direct service to customers, working with children, and our staff.  

Suzanne's "logo" was--and remains, as you see in this photo of her and a freind, Lee--always a beautiful flower in her hair.

RETIREMENT (thus far)

By Suzzane Theriault

Retirement seemed to come at the right time since shortly after the big day my apartment ceiling caved in.  Management offered me a sweet deal on the new lease: no rent increase.  Falling plaster, wet walls and green, blue, and black mold were mine for free. Such generosity! No thanks.

Except for the moving part, things were looking up.  I ended up in a place on Butcher Penn Creek.  Surrounded by trees dripping in Spanish moss, it looks like a scene from Florida’s past.  Blanding Boulevard is down the street, but you’d never know it from the view off my private balcony.

Canadian geese, great blue herons, egrets and pink spoonbills come and go all day while at night I’m serenaded by the most melodious frogs in existence, at least during mating season.  I was as excited as a person who’d never seen a bird or heard a frog before.  That was because I actually never saw a bird or even a tadpole before.  But, the best visitors are the swimming kind.  I’ve seen manatees, nutrias, and things I can’t quite describe.  This place is truly alligator alley.

Besides one great egret, the only other permanent resident was Wilbur, a four-foot baby alligator who always had a little turtle trailing him from behind.  Wilbur’s right eye was missing and his left leg was only a stump.  I would describe him as both gruesome and fascinating.

When my neighbor (who was feeding him) moved away, Wilbur also moved on.  But every now and then he stops by to say hi, or to see if there’s a tasty dog or cat around.  Here kitty, kitty.