Innovator Awards Are Special

For three months, Innovator Awards have been given to nominated JPL staff.  You could be the next employee to receive this award.  You will be hearing more about Innovation Awards soon, and to whet your appetite, above are pictured two happy recipients, Librarians David Fuller (top left pic) and Jeff Geiger. 

Why did they receive an Innovator Award?  Patricia Morrison, Main's Special Collections Supervisor, said, "On April 2, 2012, the 1940 Federal Census will be released to the public.  This is a widely anticipated event in the genealogy world, one that occurs 72 years after the Census is taken. The 1940 Census will not be indexed immediately upon release and will require specific search strategies to ensure success.  In anticipation of the kinds of problems and roadblocks our staff and our customers might encounter, David, Jeff and two of our volunteers--Patricia McCullough and Pam Gibson--began researching and writing pathfinders and brochures, and planned two classes for the public. This initiative began with a conversation David had with two of our volunteers and grew to include assistance from other JPL departments (Training and CR&M) to produce the course material and promotional material.  Kudos to David and Jeff for anticipating what was needed and acting to ensure we are prepared."

Friends of JB Book Sale

Friends of the Beaches Branch Used Book Sale will be held at Beaches Branch Library, 600 3rd St., Neptune Beach:

Thursday, April 26 - 5-7 pm - members only BUT nonmembers can join FOBL opening night.
Friday & Saturday - April 27-28 - 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday April 29 - 1-4 pm

The Beaches Friends Book Sales could be just what your customers are looking for, so please let them know.

Murray Hill Friends Sign Up 70 at MH Branch

Helene Kamps-Stewart of the Murray Hill Friends of JPL reports that during the week of March 19 that they "...registerered 70 people in 6 days for MHFOJPL outside the Murray Hill Library, and most were new members!  We feel that it was a successful outreach. For those who didn't sign up, we at least spread the word and let folks know that we exist!"

Congratulations to all of you; JPL needs all the Friends we can get and we appreciate your hard work.

Spring Is Not Late This Year

You may recall that San Marco Library had to have most of their oaks removed in front and it looked a bit bare.  On Florida's Arbor Day, Winged Elms were planted and with the addition of their LaSalle Bioswale water system that filters rainwater (the first in Jacksonville), Bald Cypress trees (left) were also planted.  Spring has recently seen all the replacement trees sprouting beautifully--giving SS new "curb appeal".

SOM Teen Dept. Continues '60's Focus

Shedriek Battle (pictured right), South Mandarin Branch's Teen Library Associate and Library Associate Lily Waller continued South Mandarin's focus on the'60s , March 21, with a 3 1/2 hour "Celebrate the 60's!" program attended by 65 people.  The exhibit highlighted1960's art, culture and history.

South Mandarin Branch Zooms Back to the '60's

Councilman Stephen Joost, his family, and all those who wanted to zoom back to a volatile decade did so at South Mandarin Branch children's staff's "Spring Into the 1960s" program, March 20.  Pictures and library materials capturing the many changes of that decade--Vietnam, the civil rights movement, JFK & RFK, the Cuban crisis, the flower children; and go-go boots, wild prints, and the peace symbol were everywhere. 

Children and adults played Twister, made “pop art", hula hooped, and danced to the music of the 60s (remember the Watusi, the Twist, and the Monkey?) Whatta a decade and whatta great time the 40 participating customers had!

At top is SOM's display, and the children’s staff includes (L/R) Anne Clement, Pat Dowdell, Angela Richman, and Tracy O'Sullivan.

Movers and Shakers

Librarians Matthew Moyer (Popular/Fiction Department, Main Library) and Andrew Coulon (Support Services/ILS) had this joint response to their awards received recently from the Library Journal, "It's humbling to be recognized for the Movers and Shakers awards in the "Innovator" category.  We just want to thank everyone we have worked with on these projects and our supervisors for their incredible patience and enthusiasm.  It has been a privilege to be able to use our personal talents and expertise in the library."

Mardi Gras at Webb Wesconnett

Webb Wesconnett Branch recently had a Mardi Gras float contest and 72 adults and kids attended the program.  They dressed in Mardi Gras garb and paraded shoe box floats. Refreshments and prizes, including MP3 players, were awarded.

Old Crayons = New Learning Tool at CW's Art for Early Literacy

Elizabeth McConney (pictured right with kids' art) has a new Friday preschoolers class, Art for Early Literacy, and has had about 25 attend each class.  Children have  the opportunity to play with collage, make play-dough sculptures, fingerpaint, feed a monster, learn to mix colors and play some guessing games.  Ms. McConey also uses her newly-minted lego crayons. Using broken crayons, a silicone candy mould and her toaster, she repurposed old supplies. The lego crayons will be used by the children to learn about the quality of lines, making a collage, building with play dough and playing a shape matching game.

Kudos from Customers

Highlands Branch: “…I would like to show my appreciation to Ms. (Kathleen) Brunner for doing everything she could to help me find a book for my report and even grab a DVD after I could not locate it. It was very important to me …”

Main Library – Janitorial Staff: “...the janitorial people were really professional and were doing a great and thorough job. They kept the glass clean and the bathrooms clean. ... The window washer`s name was James (Holden). The entire staff was very helpful and courteous”

Southeast Branch: “These are donations to the library in gratitude for your help resolving an issue with a returned DVD that was missing. Special thanks to Debra Wainwright and Lynne Baldwin for their help. …”

University Park Branch: “…Marlin Day, Mina Figuerrez, Gail Midon, Kim Hamilton, Leona Cain and Mary Calcagni are terrific library professionals. They are always available to assist everyone to use the library's books, materials, and facilities more effectively. They are always generous. ...”

Webb Wesconnett Branch: “Carol Bunker was very helpful and quite competent at explaining self-check and other questions I had regarding videos, books, and computer use. She's great!”

Prime Time at Highlands Branch

Kathy Tekin, Youth Services Coordinator, said, "We had eleven families, or 33 individuals on average, attend the Prime Time Family Reading Time winter sessions on Thursdays, February 2 - March 8, 2012, at Highlands Regional Branch Library. 

"Scholar Elizabeth Furdell and Storyteller Debra Keels engaged children and parents in discussing the books. We served meals provided by Ashley Street Catering for the eleven families who attended the six week program. Emily Gideon and Tenesha Anderson made reminder calls, greeted the families and made sure they had their books for the next week and entered the door prize drawings. Beverly Mason and Donna Thomas made sure the preschool set had a fun time as well with stories and crafts that related to the theme the older children and parents were sharing in the bigger group.

"We received comments from parents that their children were doing better in school and they were asking their children more questions about what they were reading. Everyone was sad to see this very successful program come to an end. Our next library location for Prime Time will be Graham Branch Library in late April and May."

News from the Friends of JPL

Sharon Sutherland, Executive Director of the Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library, reports their first Book Warehouse Sale of the year, March 2-4 & March 10, garnered over $29,000 in sales and memberships.

Please remember to spread the word:   FJPL is open for shopping at the University Park Branch Library, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, 9 - Noon.

Friends' BOOKtique is currently offering a sale on fiction--Buy One/Get One Free and 20% off select gift items.

BOOKtique has the Great Decisions 2012 book available for those attending the Library's Discussion Program that started in February and ends in May.

The Jax Reads book, The Things They Carried, that will be featured March 26 - April 26, will be available at the BOOKtique for $14.95, and they will be available to sell the book during the program at FSCJ's Wilson Center, March 30.

GOOD BUY: FJPL offers membership to library staff for only $5 for individuals and $12.50 for families.

Talent--We Have Talent--Lots & Lots of Talent

Mandarin Branch hosted the Art Guild of Orange Park art show and reception, Saturday, March 3--and what talent there was on display as you can see from these two examples.  Don't you wish you had been there?

New Generation of Artists at SE

SE Library Assistant Paul Schaffner has been creating excellent crafts for preschoolers for five years. His current “Mr. Paul’s Painting Program”, kicked off in February 2012, has educated and entertained 100+ kids between the ages of 2-6 on Wednesdays at 1:30 and continues to attract aspiring artists. The theme of the program is, “Release your inner artist.”

Children enjoy painting free style with Mr. Paul. They have fun sharing paint and brushes with the other kids and expressing their individual talents, without their parents’ help. (Parents not only appreciate their children's art work, they get the benefits of washable paint!)

Mr. Paul honored his budding artists by creating an exhibit of their work at SE, and everyone is invited to see it.  Your customers can bring their kids to the program or just feast their eyes. Paul could be nurturing the next Matisse, Renoir, or someone who could start a whole new series of art styles as the great Picasso did.

JB Weeds & Revamps for the Future

Beaches Branch Manager Pat Doyle says the “weeding team”, organized by Charlene Adkins, did a “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” job at JB on Sunday morning, March 11. They succeeded in weeding, withdrawing and boxing up more than 3400 items!  Now JB will weed the remaining lists they have and remove three rows of shelving.  Then they will relocate (and eventually eliminate) the paperback spinners and convert that room into a “laptop” room because it has five outlets, and  carrels and tables will be provided for customers to plug in their laptops.

Self-check Usage Up 137% at UPK

 University Park Branch Manager Marlin Day reports they started their self-check promotion last November (Michael Rouse was manager then) and at the end of January UPK's self-check usage increased from 19,217 last fiscal year to 45,555 this fiscal year, reflecting an increase of 137%! UPK self-check users can put their names on a self-check award winner sticker (shown at top leftt) and then these are posted on a board, letting other customers know that they are a "reward winning self-check user". UPK also started other promotions in March.

Waste Not/Want Not

All areas currently served by Southland Waste Systems (Republic Services), including some 71,000 residences in Arlington, Mayport, and the Northside will soon convert to automated collection of household waste and recycling.  The new waste management system is the wave of Jacksonville's future and this initiative is expected to save the City $500,000/year in fuel savings and the new single-stream recycling method, which eliminates the need for customers to sort recyclables, should improve current recycling by 50% and is expected to increase annual revenues to the City by an additional $500,000.  This method brings Jacksonville closer to achieving state mandated goals that require 75% of household waste to be recycled by 2020.  These residents are getting two new, free 96-gallon trash cans (one for trash and one for recyclables) beginning this June.  These trash cans will improve curbside aesthetics because they hold more (the equivalent of three large garbage cans) and have tight fitting lids that will eliminate vermin-related issues. Customers can contact Andy Barker, Operations Manager for Southland’s Jacksonville Division, telephone: 904-350-8118, or email: ABarker@RepublicServices.com.University Park and Regency Square Branches have the new trash cans on display for a limited time. 

Helping People Get Jobs

Brown Eastside Branch Library hosted three consecutive Community Resource & Career Workshops recently in preparation for the job fair at the Main Library, March 6.  On February 27, Jacksonville Urban League facilitated the first workshop where people learned how to prepare for the job fair.  WorkSource staff assisted attendees with resume building, February 28, and on February 29, Peggy Johnson of the Petunia Patch Boutique and Maternity did a workshop on how to dress for the career fair. The goal of the workshops was to help people better their chances of getting a job interview at the JPL Community Resource and Career Fair and look their best for any job interview.  EB had about 25 people attend the three day workshops.

Spring Forward On March 11

Daylight Saving time begins at midnight this Sunday, March 11, 2012.  You get an hour of extra sleep--or an extra hour to do whatever it usually takes you to do in one hour.

In the Pink

Mandarin Branch's Teen Coordinator, Don Carpenter, honored his word to teens at his branch and his hair turned PINK.  Why?  Well, click here and find out:  http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/496425/sandy-strickland/2012-03-06/book-deadline-passes-so-his-hair-turns-pink