Notes from Collection Development

The 2008 Oscar nominees were recently announced so Collection Development wanted to highlight this year’s Oscar nominated films owned by the system. The Duchess is on order, but has not arrived yet. The majority of the nominees aren’t yet released but will be ordered when they become available.

Video Librarian Reviews
Website: http://www.videolibrarian.com/

It’s rare for two superb comic-book movies to arrive in the same decade, much less the same summer, but The Dark Knight followed the well-received Iron Man with even better reviews and went on to shatter box-office records. Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne, alias the Batman, still fighting crime in Gotham City but suffering from the increasing physical and emotional toll on his personal life—including the loss of his sweetheart Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to crusading district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart)—at a time when a vicious new crime wave masterminded by the dangerously sociopathic Joker (Heath Ledger) is being unleashed. Director and co-writer Christopher Nolan fleshes out the two-dimensional characters, which are perfectly played by returning cast members Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine, while Ledger’s final performance is quite literally blood-chilling and may well prove to be the definitive interpretation of a comic-book villain. Exciting, suspenseful, and dramatically engaging, The Dark Knight is highly recommended. (E. Hulse) Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2009.

Video Librarian Reviews
Website: http://www.videolibrarian.com/
Director Andrew Stanton’s animated Pixar entry WALL-E begins in the far distant future when robots have become responsible for most of the work once performed by human beings. After hundreds of lonely years on Earth fulfilling the mission for which he was programmed, WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class) finds new purpose in life when a robot from outer space named EVE (short for Extra-Terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) arrives and discovers that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to Earth’s future. EVE races back to a galaxy far, far away to report her findings to self-exiled humans eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home. When WALL-E realizes that EVE is gone, he follows her and naturally gets into more trouble than you can shake a tractor beam at. Oscar-winning sound designer Ben Burtt (who recorded many of the film’s sound effects in a junkyard) supplies the “voice” of WALL-E, with Elissa Knight as EVE. Other voice work supporting players include Sigourney Weaver, Fred Willard, Kathy Najimy, and John Ratzenberger. Boasting Pixar’s trademark excellent animation and “characters” who seem more human than some of their three-dimensional counterparts in live-action movies, WALL-E is highly recommended. (E. Hulse) Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2009.


Video Librarian Reviews
Website: http://www.videolibrarian.com/ Anxiety-prone office drone Wesley Allan Gibson’s (James McAvoy) chances of dramatically changing his life are nigh on nil—until he’s recruited by a secret society of assassins headed by the sinister Sloan (Morgan Freeman) to exploit a skill Wesley doesn’t even know he has: the ability to fire a gun in such a way as to make the bullet curve. Under the tutelage of seductive, aptly named Fox (Angelina Jolie), Wesley becomes a somewhat reluctant but effective killing machine. Sound ridiculous? Well, of course it does, but just like similar modern-day movies that turn comic books into marginally plausible movies, Wanted tries to bring a patina of believability to the proceedings, with Russian director Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch) backed by an impressive array of talented craftspeople: from cinematography to set design to stunt work to special effects, the film boasts a level of fastidiousness that extends to the tiniest detail. Unfortunately, no such care has been taken to correct the plot’s silliness, flesh out the two-dimensional characters, or explain the plethora of physical feats that defy the laws of physics. Overall, however, this is still a tolerable complement to a bowl of popcorn. A strong optional purchase. (E. Hulse) Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2009.

Synopsis:
After PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and ATONEMENT, Keira Knightley continues her reign as the queen of the period film with this 18th-century costume drama. The corset-clad actress stars as Georgiana Spenser, the Duchess of Devonshire. With her marriage to the duke (Ralph Fiennes), Georgiana achieves an impressive level of fame as Britons follow both her clothing style and her political advice. But even celebrity and wealth can't act as a salve in her marriage to the boring, boorish duke. When he begins to flaunt his affairs, Georgiana is tempted to return to a teenage crush, Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper of THE HISTORY BOYS), to the anger of her husband and her mother (Charlotte Rampling, SWIMMING POOL). Fiennes's portrayal of the duke ranks roughly with his Lord Voldemort on a scale of beastly behavior, but the acclaimed actor manages to give him a level of humanity that far surpasses what he deserves. THE DUCHESS focuses on the lack of power possessed by Georgiana and, in fact, all women of her time, and the duke is the primary agent of her suppression. As she has done with other period films from the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN series to KING ARTHUR, Knightley brings spirit to the role, as well as a regal carriage that perfectly fits the detailed costumes by Michael O'Connor. Fans of history-based drama--Georgiana was real-life royalty who is found in the genealogy of Princess Diana--will find much to like in this film, which boasts impressive locations, lush costumes, and forbidden love.

Regency Square Branch's Customer Appreciation Board Is A Big Hit With Customers

Virginia Martin, pictured at the Appreciation Board, is a librarian at the Regency Square Branch Library. She has developed a way to give customers an opportunity to express their positive thoughts about the library. This is Ms. Martin's story about how Regency Square's Appreciation Board came to be:

I got the idea for the Customer Appreciation Board after reading Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. The book is by the director of the Spencer, Iowa library who finds a kitten in the library drop box and decides to let the cat become part of the library. The cat befriends customers and media alike and generates a renewed interest in the library.

I dreamed one night after reading this book that I went to Spencer, Iowa and visited the library. Customers were leaving notes to each other and the library staff about how much they loved the library, similar to our Staff Appreciation Board in the staff lounge. I told my supervisor, Marshelle Berry, about my dream, and she suggested that we make a board saying, "I Love My Public Library Because…” and leave sticky notes for them to fill out. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve had 44 notes from customers in the past week, only two of which needed to be taken down because they weren’t sincere. Some of my favorite quotes include, “Because the books on CD make my drive to and from work more enjoyable! And I get old, old movies for free!” “I love the public library because you can learn the things you need to learn just by books” “I get free pencils…like the one I’m writing with and I can study here!” Thank you, Marshelle, for letting me carry out my idea!

Marshelle Berry added some of her favorite quotes that are also on the board:

"I love the public library because it contains a wealth of public information."
"I love the fact that it’s the only place where you can check out “rent” a movie for five days—FREE."
"I love the diversity in music CD’s it offers."
"Very educational."
"It’s always clean."
"They have good security and everyone is friendly."
"Because I can get books."
"Because the people are nice and helpful."
"It’s a nice place to go when I don’t feel like going home directly after school."
"I love to read!"
"Because the books help edamacate me."
"I like the books because I get educated and I learn how to read."
"Because it has nice people there."

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Carole Schwartz in her retirement!

Kudos from Customers

Argyle Branch Library: I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this library. Barbara Hughes is always helpful and makes me feel so welcome.

Beaches Branch Library: I love your children’s section. I check out books weekly for my pre-k class. The librarians are helpful and knowledgeable. Nicole Saville, Children’s Dept., comes every year to read and do movement activities with our five classes of pre-k students. She does an amazing job.

Brentwood Branch Library: I would not know where else to go that supplies so much information, friendship, and satisfaction. Thank you especially for the marvelous staff: Gloria Armstrong, Margaret Miles, and Maude Scott.

Main Library – Popular Dept.: Very helpful staff! Matthew Moyer answered a music question right off the top of his head that I’d been researching for a while.

Webb Wesconnett Branch Library: My daughter and I go to the library every Saturday. My daughter adores Jackie Bartha. She knows my daughter’s name and takes time talking with her.

for Suzanne

Best Wishes to Suzanne Theriault in her retirement.
We'll miss you!

Please join Suzanne's Retirement Party:
When : February 11, 2009
3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Where: Main Library



Suzanne's Retirement Party at Northwest

Youth Services Statistics for the Month of December

Upon review of the December 2008 statistics, Kathy Graw Tekin, Youth Services Coordinator, is pleased to announce the following overall picture for Youth Services:

Preschool Programming attendance is up +21.33%
Children’s Programming attendance is down -0.95%
Teen Programming attendance is up + 67.62 %*

*In December 2007, 97 programs were offered with 1013 attendees.
*In December 2008, 122 programs were offered with 1698 attendees, representing a 67.62 % increase in attendance.

Staff Profile

Meet DeLon Rowan, Library Assistant in the Children's Department at the Argyle Branch Library, where her children's programs and exhibits are very popular.

Q: How long and where have you worked at JPL?
A: I first worked in the Library Community Relations Department (now Public Relations) as the Graphic Artist for 10 years. Our “big” department of three people coordinated and promoted the summer library program, began the “School Stars Have Library Cards” campaign, worked with the JPL Foundation to develop Night of Literary Feasts (now Much Ado About Books), and other projects for JPL’s then 14 libraries. I was interested in Children's Services and had the opportunity to work at branch Children's Departments on Sundays and loved it! I have worked in Children's Services for the last 11years.

Q: Why do you like working in Argyle’s Children’s Department?
A: I have great managers to work for - Lynne Baldwin and Chiquita Powell. They are open to new and innovative programs and really want to meet the needs of the public. Because of them, I am able to utilize my art education and experience to provide children’s art programs. The programs help children develop cognitive and physical skills while having fun. They are extremely popular, and it’s great to have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children and families.

Q: Tell us about your art wall and nature exhibit at Argyle Branch.
A: I started the Wall of Art to promote our children’s programs by showcasing children’s art created in my programs. The children’s families enjoy viewing the art, as well as other customers. Teachers, day care providers, Scout groups and other organizations inquire about the Wall of Art and nature table. They have photographed them so they can do similar programs. Customers are excited about these exhibits and have been donating recyclable materials for the children to use in their art. You can see some of the uses we have made of these materials in the photo above. I am standing in front of the Wall of Art with a T-shirt created by a boy in the Family Art Fun Program. Children painted the shirts with recycled foam, cut into interesting shapes.

I also created an interactive nature exhibit for Mayor Peyton's Great Outdoor Adventure campaign. It included a butterfly house that I made with Monarch butterfly chrysalises inside so children could watch them develop and hatch. Children are able to pick up and view items on the exhibit with magnifying glasses. It includes a bird nest, snake skin, plants, insects, shells, nuts, seeds, and other items, including educational information. They are able to take home many of the items. Books are included with the display to encourage reading.

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I look for inspiration for my Library programs in stores, magazines and other places. I’ve also been renovating and redecorating my home, and I enjoy watching wildlife and spending time with my six cats.

Q: What is the most interesting place you have visited?
A: Scotland. The landscape is awe inspiring, and the music is WOW! The people are down to earth and friendly.

JPL Learning 2.0

JPL Learning 2.0 introduces you to or reminds you about great Web technologies that you can use every day to make your life easier, better informed and more fun. I've put links to a couple of sites that were either sent to me or posted on blogs by JPL Learning 2.0 participants.

Book Quilt
Library Tour
Katie Couric's Notebook

If you’d like to know how to be notified that there are new posts to this or any other blog you visit regularly, check out Things 8 & 9 in Week Four of the lessons. The lessons are at http://jpl2-things.blogspot.com. These two lessons explain how you can set up a newsreader and RSS so all of the websites, blogs (including this one) news and other information sources you visit regularly are delivered to a single location.

Town Hall Meeting Notes, December 2008

Director Barbara Gubbin welcomed participants and announced that town hall meetings will be held quarterly this year and that she will invite senior staff to participate. Keith McLaughlin, Assistant Director for Partnerships and Communications, will make a presentation at this meeting.

Ms. Gubbin reviewed FY08 successes:

Annual Statistical Report
Circulation 8.8M (+3%)
Gate 4.9M (+6%)
Web Site Use 4.6M (+16%)
Reference 1.3M (+15%)
Meeting room use: 21,991 ((+30%)
Volunteers Hours: 39,000 hours (+6%)

DESTINATION:leadership
Number of staff who attended by 9/30/08 – 245
On track to complete training of all full-time staff by February 2009
Average increase in confidence level on 23 leadership measures -18.3%
Over-all percentage of students who Agreed or Strongly Agreed that the content of the class would be helpful to them in their jobs – 92%

Some highlights from the comments:
· “The class helped me see how we can all be leaders because of our different strengths in different areas.”
· “I liked the fact that everyone from the Director to clerks will be required to attend - If we are using this content to change our culture, we all must be involved and we all must be held accountable to adopt these principles to the best of our ability.”
· “I enjoyed the challenge to become a better person.”

Service Area Profiles - Congratulations to Main, Westbrook, Northwest, Maxville, Regency, and Pablo Creek for completing their service area profiles. Mapping the service area and learning more about the people and organizations that we serve is an essential step in collection management and in becoming actively engaged with the community. The profiles themselves are located on the Portal and are very much “living documents” which will be updated and changed. Seven additional branches will complete the service area profile process this fiscal year.

Youth Services Retreat – The retreat was actually held in November, but has been in the works for some time and so I will count it as a success for FY08. Kudos to Kathy Graw and her team for a great day of team building and learning focused on “tweens” (10-14 years), and ways to keep them engaged in age and developmentally appropriate activities in the community. This was the second annual youth services retreat and I have asked my staff to consider retreats for other groups too.

The Board of Library Trustees held a planning retreat in November to evaluate strategic direction for the library. Board members, senior staff and representatives from the FOL and JPLF attended. The participants engaged in a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, challenges, opportunities and threats to the Library. While a great deal was accomplished, the Board did not complete the process and will meet with the retreat facilitator again this month.

Ms. Gubbin complimented staff for the focus on positive customer service outcomes this year as part of the performance measure process. She also complimented staff on the decision to develop:
a. Individual action plans to improve upon leadership practices
b. Select branch specific Customer Satisfaction survey results to meet over the year

Ms. Gubbin recognized staff achievements:
a. Theresa Barmer, Robin Cumby and the Webb staff are routinely doing 80% of their circulation on the self-check machines!
b. Lynn Jacobson and Karen Walker led the charge to teach staff about Web 2.0 technologies for communications with JPL Learning 2.0 classes. 47 people graduated from the first class and another class has begun.
c. Daniel Kibler and staff at Maxville, and Laura Minor and staff in Special Collections/Genealogy have customer blogs; the Main Teen Department has a MySpace page; and Mathew Moyer writes a music blog for Library Journal.
d. Mark Hohnadel has been selected to participate in the Sunshine State Leadership Institute. Laura Minor is a recent graduate of the SSLI.
e. Sharon Hastings, Karen Wishart and the CAL staff had been featured in the FTU and on TV for a new adult literacy program being held at the jail.
f. Richard Mott, Kate Holmes and each of you helped JPL win NEFLIN’s coveted “Golden Apple” award for the largest number of participants in NEFLIN training.
g. The Main Library received two awards from 904 magazine for “Favorite Public Space” and “Best Off-Site Meeting Location”.
h. Conference Center Manager Mitesh Sangani and his staff exceeded their revenue goal this past year. Our Conference Center is one of the most popular places to meet in Jacksonville, especially in May and June.

Dr. Keith McLaughlin, Assistant Director of Partnerships and Communication, discussed the structure of his department. Jenny Mooney became the Community Education and Enrichment Program Supervisor in September. She will coordinate, develop and structure JPL’s adult programming, which can be defined as programming for age 18 years and over. Ms. Mooney and Kathy Graw, Youth Services Coordinator, work together to coordinate and develop programs that are family oriented or are theme-based for all ages, such as JaxReads and poetry. Ms. Mooney has been putting more structure in the program planning process and will include a program proposal for adult programming. This spring we will focus programming efforts on JaxReads, Investor Education, the Library Awareness Campaign and an adult component to summer reading. Ms. Mooney is developing a timeline and structure for annual program themes with input from public service staff. We plan to include a few key outside experts yet to be identified in a program advisory capacity.

Margaret Smith, who recently retired from JPL, was hired through a Big Read grant from NEA to the JPL Foundation. She will help us coordinate, plan and oversee JaxReads the Big Read in the spring. This will help supplement our limited resources in the programming office. Ms. Smith and Ms. Mooney will work together on this project.

The second major area in P&C is marketing and media relations, which Stacie Bucher coordinates, assisted by Wally Bowden, Graphic Artist. Ali Johnson also assists her part-time on writing projects, such as JPL’s annual report, a fact sheet designed for local and state officials, various flyers and brochures, new programming guide, pitches to the media and Next Reads. Pam Beaton supports both the marketing and programming areas.

The third major area of P&C is resource development and grant writing, which Pam McClellan coordinates. She pursues grants and helps write grants and proposals, such as Big Read, our grants through Investor Protection Trust for Investor Education programs, poetry programs, bookshelf grants, exhibit grants and programs such as the recent Benjamin Franklin presentation and exhibit. She also handles applications for various awards that are available through the Florida Library Association, American Library Association, and others.

The fourth major area is the Conference Center, under the leadership of Mitesh Sangani, assisted by Will Daniels, Chris James, Calvin Webster and Bernard Smith. We operate as both a revenue generating business and as a service to library programs and events. We have done well during the first two years of operation and funds raised help cover staff and other operating expenses, but the majority of our business in the Conference Center is still non-revenue generating, including library programs.

Frank Smith works part-time in P&C and is our “air traffic controller”. He is taking on additional responsibilities beyond the Conference Center and is helping us manage the work flow in and out of the department. We set up a new centralized email address, primarily to be used by staff, and all requests and questions for P&C will flow through him and help us better manage projects and better serve all of you. This will be sent out in writing with additional information; the email address is pc@coj.net .

Dr. McLaughlin discussed partnerships as both a concept and as a strategic issue. A partnership may be defined as a relationship that is formed with one or more organizations to engage in a mutually beneficial project, program or service. It enhances and complements what each organization does, or creates something completely new for the customers or stakeholders of the partnering organizations.

Partnership development within the library system is not intended to be totally centralized or the sole responsibility of Partnerships and Communication. Branch staff has been very successful in developing strong, beneficial partnerships with organizations in the communities they serve and we encourage this to continue. There are also some deliberate, focused partnerships we are engaged in from a centralized point of view that will benefit the entire system.

Melonee Slocum suggested having workshops or conversations with staff about developing partnerships and we will do that in coming months.

There are basic principals and best practices to follow, particularly when entering into a formal arrangement, as we do with partnerships developed around grant funded projects, but most successful partnerships are based on the same foundation of mutual benefit, communication and cultivation over time. Dr. McLaughlin encouraged staff to think about how partnerships can be formed that will enhance, improve or enable branches to do something totally different that will delight and enrich customers. Potential partners may not always be obvious to us and we need to think “outside the box”.

The upcoming Library Awareness Campaign, or what has been previously referred to as the Library Card Campaign, was discussed. We need to be more proactive and reach more people about our wonderful services. In the spring, we will begin the new Library Awareness Campaign. The committee for planning this campaign consisting of Laura Minnich, Ron Block, Stacie Bucher, Wally Bowden, Jenny Mooney, Don Carpenter, and Keith McLaughlin, along with Brunet Garcia and a representative from American Institute of Graphics Artists (AIGA).

For the first six months we will have an advertising campaign on radio, TV and billboards, as well as outreach by branches. The next 12 months we will look to the branches to continue with outreach efforts. This is about us all being actively engaged in what JPL does. We will be sharing with the community what they can do with a library card—using our website, our resources, a PIN, etc. The library card is tangible and helps us have a convenient way to promote the Library Awareness Campaign. We plan to use the slogan “Your ticket to ________” or “My ticket to ________” and let customers fill in the blank.

American Institute of Graphic Artists is making this a major project and they are putting a survey together to be used prior to the campaign and one for a post campaign survey so we can judge the success of the campaign. High school students will compete in a library card design contest.


QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

When are we expected to be able to hire pages again?
Alan Mosley, the Mayor’s Chief Administrative Officer, has not indicated that the City’s hiring freeze can be lifted considering the present economy. Director Gubbin will apprise everyone when a decision is made; a change is not expected soon. There is some flexibility – if you have a PT staff member working less than 24 hours and another PT staff member quits, you may add hours up to the 24 hour cap with the approval of your Administrative Supervisor.

What changes/enhancements are incorporated into the new Workflows system?
We are upgrading our SIRSI Dynix system to a new release on Staff Development Day, March 18, 2009. We will have lots of training before that.
Key Enhancements for Workflows Upgrade:
· New staff client with updated “look and feel” and enhanced Windows functionality
· Better matching for duplicate user records
· User alerts now pop up on screen without having to click on “alerts”
· New holdings displays
· Browse searching is no longer in uppercase
· Several key enhancements for technical services in Cataloging, Acquisitions and ILS.

Our projected go live date for the new Workflows Client is Monday, March 23rd. Training will be scheduled in the two weeks prior to the go live date and will be a combination of classroom training and online, self-paced modules.

Why are you closing the Conference Center two days a week? Is that cost effective?
We close on Sunday, except for space needed for library programs and for a few customers who rent space the whole weekend. Monday we are closed both to outside customers and to the library because we do not have resources to open seven days a week. We need Monday to catch up on cleaning, etc. Yes, it is cost effective.

How can we increase circulation (performance) and decrease staff (hiring freeze)? Is this contradictory? We want to increase circulation of reading materials by 2%. What we are talking about here is marketing—encouraging people to read through reader advisories, story hour and displays. For example, Kema DeSagrada is putting stickers on books with notes such as “You might want to read” and “Book of the Week”. Displays can be used to promote reading materials. It is a challenge, but we have to set numerical goals in advance of the budget being set by City Council.

When can we go out and buy books from vendors? It took a while to get bids approved, but the paperwork is signed and we can now proceed with our orders. We have a multi-year contract so this time next year; we will not have to go through this process and will be able to order materials a lot earlier.

Is there any word about library operating hours? We had proposed making some changes at Bradham Brooks Northwest and at University Park. UPK’s usage is almost up to regional branch levels and we need to change their hours. I am holding off doing anything right now because we may need to make more global changes. We do not want to change some hours now and have to make more shortly thereafter. We are looking at business levels on an hour-by-hour basis at every library.

Graham Branch is closing at 8 pm now. Will that be the case for other libraries such as Murray Hill and Maxville? From 7 pm – 9 pm there is very little business, especially the last hour.

Security and safety were the issues at GB and closing at 8 pm is good for that branch. I am not planning to make other changes in hours right now.

What type of staff feedback are you looking for on the Library Awareness Campaign and when are you asking for it? Staff at branches will be asked to start participating in mid to late February. We will need to know how we can utilize our plans in your areas and how branches individually fit in the overall campaign, and then we will launch the campaign. Our committee has one more meeting next week to streamline our plans.

Will you be developing partnerships with the branches? The community profiles that branches construct will help staff recognize what partnerships can be developed. I will be working with Melonee Slocum to present a workshop on partnerships to the community profile team.

Kudos from Customers

Main: Children's and Special Collections: Two employees were more helpful and courteous than ever: Keith Hayes (Children's) and Catherine Currier (Special Collections) at the help desk.

Main: Third Floor Reference: Janine Stanley is a thorough librarian and goes the extra mile. She didn't have to help but she did.

Pablo Creek Branch Library: Jackie Spiritas found my watch and returned it when I came by to see if I had lost it there. She refused a reward and this watch was worth $2000. I am fortunate that Ms. Spiritas is so honest. She has restored my faith in mankind.

Southeast Branch Library: I love this branch. I drive past two other locations in order to come to this location. I really like the service people like Dorthenia Young and Pertoria Kennedy.

Westbrook Branch Library: Mrs. Janene Cortez is the most helpful staff member as well as the others. The security officer is very nice.

Your Opinion Counts!

As announced at LLM, January will be the month to market the Your Opinions Counts! Customer Satisfaction surveys to customers.

You can expect to receive flyers, counter signs and, at some of the branches, posters to promote the survey by January 1st. Signage should be prominently displayed and flyers should be handed out to all customers at circulation during the month. In addition, please verbally encourage customers to take the survey and tell them about the incentive prizes -- four $25.00 gift cards, a one year membership in the Friends of the Library, and a Booktique 10% off coupon.

To enter the drawing for the prizes, customers who take the survey will have to enter their contact information in (any of) the customer comment boxes on the survey. The marketing materials will detail this, but please remind and help customers do this.

We are establishing “pop ups” and the message on check out receipts. We have also requested that ITD to re-establish the survey icon on the catalog-only computers. Finally, Public Information will place a blurb about the customer survey in the next two city e-news editions. They also plan to place a link on the coj.net homepage, in addition to the portal.

Customer satisfaction data is important! Please continue to encourage creative in-house promotions during the month. Don’t hesitate to use the counting opinions bookmarks that you already have on hand, and let Stacie Bucher now if you need additional materials.

Please make sure that you are familiar with the survey so you can help customers, http://www.countingopinions.com/jpl/

Let’s make January a benchmark month for the number of surveys completed!

Best wishes for happy holidays,

Melonee Slocum

Argyle Branch Library Is Adding A Mural

The theme of this beautiful mural is 'Start Here. Go Anywhere!' It is a public art piece commissioned by Regions Bank. The bank has donated the mural to the library and the City. The artist, Pamela Miller, has extensive experience as a muralist and is a regular customer at Argyle. The mural is located on the rounded wall above the picture books in the children’s department. In preparation, she primed the wall and chose latex wall paint, which can easily be washed. Ms Miller began work on the project on December 8 and the expected date of completion is January 9. You are invited to come and enjoy this delightful new addition of art at the Argyle Branch Library.

The Books are Coming! The Books are Coming!

You may have seen an e mail from me recently with the same title as above. Hopefully, you have even received some new materials at your branch already. If you haven’t you will be getting shiny new things any day now. Since we are ordering again, it seems like a good time to begin making contributions to the JPL Blog. We will try to keep it light and interesting—we save the heavy, uninteresting stuff for e mail! For this first entry I wanted to highlight a few new titles that we have sent off as orders. You may have heard about them and will want to keep an eye out for them when they show up at your branch.

The latest from Patricia Cornwell in the Kay Scarpetta series is easy enough to remember, it’s called Scarpetta.



Booklist Review:
Twenty years after launching the Kay Scarpetta series, Cornwell returns to form (the last few entries have been disappointing) in this thoroughly contemporary, high-impact outing. Though she lives and works in South Carolina, medical examiner Scarpetta is asked for by name by a man being accused of murder in Manhattan. He says he won t let anyone else examine him for DNA evidence except Dr. Scarpetta, who is nationally known after making numerous appearances on CNN. Normally Scarpetta wouldn’t abide such an odd request, but her forensic psychologist husband, Benton Wesley, convinces her after evaluating the accused himself. Despite having the victim’s DNA all over him, Oscar Bane insists he did not commit the murder and insists to Scarpetta and to anyone else who will listen that he is being electronically monitored by someone or something and implores them to watch their backs. Initially, Bane seems to be just another paranoid criminal, but evidence emerges to show he just might be on to something. All the while, Scarpetta herself deals with electronic scrutiny of a sort when an anonymous online gossip columnist reveals horrible secrets from her past. Can she convince her colleagues to listen to Bane’s warnings before it’s too late? The blend of forensic investigation and high-tech intrigue will please Scarpetta’s legions of fans. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.

There are also a number of new titles, both serious and definitely not serious, on order on the topic of women in the political spotlight. Look for two on Sarah Palin: Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader and Terminatrix: The Sarah Palin Chronicles (the not so serious), a biography of Michelle Obama titled Michelle, and Speaking for Myself: My Life from Liverpool to Downing Street by Cherie Blair, the wife of former UK prime minister Tony Blair.



Be on the lookout for these new titles and a lot more—coming to a branch near you. Also stay tuned for further Collection Development contributions to the JPL Blog.

Elves at University Park Branch Dance for You!

University Park staff put together a little Christmas display they would like to share. It takes a bit of time for it to load, but be patient because it's worth the wait. The elves, left to right, are: Marlin Day, Senior Librarian; Michael Rouse, Branch Manager; Cindy Chism, Library Clerical Services Supervisor; Leona Cain, CSAII; and Gail Midon, Librarian. Encore!

The link is: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/8O919X9fmKRyuceO0XvW

Beaches Branch Now Has A Blog

Sandra Ostroski, Librarian Senior, has created a blog to keep staff and customers informed about all the great events going on at the Beaches Branch Library. You are invited to visit their site often and comments will be welcome. The blog address is: http://pghsandy.blogspot.com/.

Volunteers (L to R) Bill Gawler, John Macrae and Robert Schnitzer Keep Pablo Creek’s Computer Classes Going Strong

Pablo Creek Regional Library offers free computer classes every month ranging from basic mouse skills to PowerPoint. During FY 2007/2008 130 classes were presented to almost 1,200 students, and class evaluations have been overwhelmingly positive.

These popular classes are presented by Pablo Creek staff members as well as three dedicated volunteers who not only teach but sometimes even create handouts, PowerPoint presentations, and interactive online tutorials. Pablo Creek is truly blessed to have volunteers John Macrae, Robert Schnitzer and Bill Gawler, whose generous gift of time and expertise help make our computer classes some of the best around.

John Macrae has been volunteering at the Southeast Branch since November 2005, and in January 2007 also started helping with Pablo Creek’s computer classes. John is a retired computer consultant who grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and lived in North Carolina, Arizona, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio before he and his wife moved to Jacksonville in 2005. He first became interested in computers in college and has enjoyed using computers and writing programs ever since. He holds degrees in math and psychology and says, “If people were surprised at that pairing I used to tell them that in my work I find the psychology much more useful than the math. That remains true in teaching the classes at PCR.” Currently John teaches several classes, including an introduction to the Internet, Web searching skills, and an email class, and he also assists with several others.

Robert Schnitzer hails from Houston, Texas and worked in Los Angeles for 35 years as a retirement plan actuary and consultant before moving to Jacksonville 6½ years ago. Robert stays busy with lots of volunteer activities, including system design and computer training for Dress For Success and Women’s Center of Jacksonville, web page design and maintenance for Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre (ABET) and Singers by the Sea, and singing in not one but two choral groups. He also first encountered computers in college and has had computers in his home since 1980. He is married with two grown sons and four grandchildren. Of his experience in teaching the always well-received Excel spreadsheets class at Pablo Creek, Robert says this: “Nothing is more gratifying than sharing one's knowledge and skills. I live for the "ah-hah" moments, when a student recognizes that she or he has learned something wonderful and amazing.”

Bill Gawler is the most recent addition to Pablo Creek’s computer volunteers. A retired Air Force fighter pilot, Bill has also worked as a corporate pilot and in real estate. He and his wife have been in Jacksonville for 10 years. He started helping with the computer classes at Pablo Creek last spring and also enjoys volunteering at Mayo Clinic and tutoring high school students. As to his background in computers, he says, “Have only used computer in retirement for basic essentials, thus not too competent!” He reports that his daughter, an Elementary School Computer Specialist, takes great delight in his new volunteer effort at the library ("Dad, you are kidding, aren’t you?"), but Bill’s willingness to assist with the word processing, Internet and Excel classes shows he’s ready to jump in with both feet!

It’s been a great year for Pablo Creek’s computer instruction program and with the help of our wonderful volunteers we look forward to the best year ever in 2009.

Common LDA Question

Several people have been concerned about being unable to register for LDA classes in the TMS because they appear to be full.

These classes will always show as full on the Training Management System (TMS). It’s to keep people from signing up on their own. They want you to request each class using the application form. They will add you to the TMS when you are approved.

Please pass this on to anyone you know who is participating in the LDA. Thanks.

JPL Employee of the Quarter

For the fourth quarter of the year we are pleased to extend congratulations to Karen Wishart, our employee of the quarter and Carolyn Woods, who received recognition as honorable mention.

As a Literacy Program Specialist with CAL Karen was nominated for her dedication to the program and students and for her willingness to assist in any capacity. Her work is an outstanding example of the leadership skill - 'model the way'.

Carolyn was nominated for her commitment to her position as Clerical Services Supervisor at the Main Library. She is seen as a model leader who "asks nothing of her staff that she would not do herself'".

We are proud of Karen and Carolyn and heartily support them in the important work they do for the library and the city.

Remember, it is easy to recognize a colleague or co-worker. Take the time to nominate someone for a job well done.

Leadership Development Academy (LDA) Information

You can always find a link to the most up-to-date LDA information and forms by following this path:

JPL Neighborhood > Training Resources > City Training Resources (http://jplstaff.coj.net/training/city/index.htm ).

Please pass this on to anyone you know who is participating in LDA.

Let me know if you have any difficulty finding what you need.

Richard