Good afternoon Eric,

If you haven’t already seen the October issue of the Johnston Living magazine – Johnston Public Library won for favorite library (3 years running!) in our 3^rd annual NW Polk County Residents’ Choice!  Congratulations!!

Good morning – Please make sure all your employees know they are invited and encouraged to come to breakfast Wednesday morning at the Public Safety Building.  We’ll be having breakfast in the training room from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30.  ALL EMPLOYEES ARE WELCOME!!!

Make arrangements with your people so they understand they will still be on the clock while eating breakfast.  We have two gifts for Jim – one from the City and one from the employees/Mayor & Council.  That “presentation” will happen around 7:30ish.

Thank you!!!

Teresa Rotschafer

Assistant City Administrator/Finance

Introductory Webinar

State Library staff have already scheduled an information webinar titled “Legal Resources for You and Your Patrons” to help library staff feel more familiar with the People’s Law Library.  The date is November 17 (10:00AM)

The class description from IALearns: “Do you struggle to know how to respond when patrons approach the desk with legal questions? Have you been looking for a centralized repository of legal information?  The People’s Law Library website makes it a snap to answer patrons’ questions in three major categories: landlord-tenant law, consumer law, and family law.  The goal of this webinar is to help you better serve your patrons with these kinds of legal questions.  Additionally, presenters will cover the structure of federal, state, and municipal laws and how they interact.”

 Register in IALearns

A link to this new legal resource will be added to the research page of our website.

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. October 3, 2022 State Library Launches Online Legal Resource For Iowans People’s Law Library of Iowa will Help Iowans Understand and Navigate Legal Topics Today the State Library, in partnership with the University of Iowa Law Library, officially launched the People’s Law Library of Iowa, a new legal resource website providing easy to understand information on topics related to Iowa’s laws. The website includes information on legal topics such as consumer law, family law, and landlord/tenant law, as well as guidance on researching legal issues, a glossary of more than 100 legal terms, and more. “We are thrilled to provide this resource to Iowans,” said State Librarian Michael Scott. “Our goal with the People’s Law Library of Iowa is to provide a trusted, reliable source of information on Iowa’s laws with no legalese that the average person can easily comprehend. This website will help Iowans understand their rights and feel empowered as they navigate the legal system.” Funding for the People’s Law Library of Iowa came from a portion of the State Library’s allotment from the American Rescue Plan Act. The University of Iowa Law Library spearheaded the effort to develop content for the website, with the State Library providing administrative support and contracting for the website design services. An agreement has been made to extend the partnership between the State Library and University of Iowa Law Library, and work to develop additional legal topics to add to the website has already begun. Visit and bookmark the People’s Law Library website at: www.PeoplesLawIowa.org People’s Law Library Promotional Materials Libraries can help spread the word about the People’s Law Library. Download a poster and handbill at the bottom of the page linked below to print and display for your community. Additional materials are in the process of being developed. Promotional Materials CE Training Opportunity Join us for a webinar on Nov. 17 to learn more about the People’s Law Library and how the legal system works in Iowa. Find out more and register in IA Learns at the link below! Legal Resources for You and Your Patrons: Introducing the People’s Law Library of Iowa Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022 | 10:00 a.m. Do you struggle to know how to respond when patrons approach the desk with legal questions? Have you been looking for a centralized repository of legal information? There are two main components to this session to help you better serve your patrons with those tricky kinds of questions. The first part will be an introduction to a new resource from the State Library of Iowa and the University of Iowa Law Library: The People’s Law Library of Iowa. This website makes it a snap to answer patrons’ questions in three major categories: landlord-tenant law, consumer law, and family law. In the second part of the hour, presenters will cover the structure of federal, state and municipal laws and how they interact. In addition to the People’s Law Library, we’ll also consider and explain other main sources of online legal information for Iowans. Register in IA Learns The People’s Law Library of Iowa is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act as administered by the State Library of Iowa. 1112 East Grand Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50319 The State Library is supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act.

Stay Connected with the State Library of Iowa:

Manage Subscriptions    Help

This email was sent to melton@johnstonlibrary.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: State of Iowa · 1007 E Grand Ave · Des Moines, IA 50319

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Friday, September 30, 2022

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Janet Wilwerding
Communications Manager
O: 515.727.7781
C: 515.414.0662
jwilwerding@cityofjohnston.com

Michel Pogge-Weaver Appointed Johnston City Administrator

Johnston, Iowa – The City of Johnston is pleased to announce Michel Pogge-Weaver will join the team as the new City Administrator.

Michel Pogge-Weaver has served as the City Manager in Carroll, IA, since 2016. Prior to this position, he served as the County Administrator for Swift County, MN, from 2013 to 2016. Prior to Swift County, Pogge-Weaver served as the City Planner for the City of Stillwater, MN and Ankeny, IA. Michel is a member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the State IaCMA, where he currently sits on the State IaCMA Executive Board and serves as the State IaCMA President-Elect.

“We are excited to welcome Michel Pogge-Weaver as Johnston’s new City Administrator,” said Mayor Paula Dierenfeld. “His 22 years of experience in local government management and community development makes him particularly well suited to step into the position and keep our community moving in the right direction. He will be joining a team of very qualified and competent department heads and city staff. We are confident he will provide the guidance and support needed to carry forward several significant projects, including developing the Johnston Gateway, Johnston Town Center and the Northwest Annexation Area.”

“I am honored and thrilled the Council has entrusted me with the responsibility of being Johnston’s next administrator,” said Michel Pogge-Weaver. “I look forward to becoming an active member of the Johnston community and working with the Mayor, City Council, and the talented and committed staff of Johnston as we collectively work to build upon the incredible success Johnston has achieved.”

Michel holds a Bachelor of Science in Community and Regional Planning and Political Science from Iowa State University, and a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Hamline University.

The city utilized SGR to assist in conducting the extensive search that resulted in an impressive candidate pool. They received 29 applications from candidates in 11 states.

# # #

City staff and their families are eligible for free flu shots from the Johnston HyVee Pharmacy. To receive a shot, take the coupon linked below to the pharmacy any time they’re open: Sunday 10am – 5pm, Monday – Friday 9am – 8pm, Saturday 8am – 6pm

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KIjB8B35aXtQyCQQZH7Hn6M9TsvKftfP/view?usp=sharing

The new Tech Lab switch has been installed. The replacement’s interface is nearly identical to the old one but it only has four inputs–four fewer inputs than we had before–so one piece of equipment had to go. I’ve removed the record player which has only been used a handful of times since the Tech Lab opened in 2015.

We no longer need to separate J and YA donations. Please treat any of those items like any other donations.

As we’ve done for the past few years, we’ve created accounts for each Johnston High School Student so they can access our online resources. The accounts include no personal information and are not tied to students’ regular JPL accounts. Students will not be able to checkout physical materials with these accounts but will have access to the following online resources:

• Bridges / Overdrive
• Master and Academic File
• Consumer Reports
• Novelist
• Kanopy
• LinkedIn Learning
• BrainFuse
• Mango Languages

This is what the account info. looks like in a Polaris patron search. As you can see we were only given IDs–not names, addresses or other personal information.

The school district is required to make the student assessments linked below available to anyone who requests them. I doubt anyone will, but if someone asks for them print them at no charge.

SAEBRS Link DK-5

SAEBRS Link 6-12

Due to my son’s new school schedule, we will not be holding the all-staff meeting normally scheduled for next week. We’ll resume bi-monthly, all-staff meetings next month. More information forthcoming.

Good Afternoon,

As expected, the CDC updated its COVID guidance this afternoon.

Effective today, vaccination status is irrelevant as it relates to quarantining.

Quarantining/Isolating is no longer required UNLESS you have tested positive for COVID, or you are sick and suspect you have COVID but haven’t received test results yet.

If you have been exposed to COVID, you should wear a high-quality mask for 10 days, and get tested on day 5.

If you test positive for COVID, you must stay home for 5 days and isolate from others in your home and in public.  If after 5 days you have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medications, and your symptoms are improving, or you never had symptoms, you may end isolation after day 5, and wear a mask through day 10.

If you had moderate illness (shortness of breath of difficulty breathing) or if you had severe illness (hospitalized) you need to isolate through day 10.

If you end isolation and your COVID symptoms worsen, you start over at day 0.

They also updated the language to emphasize “that physical distance is just one component of how to protect yourself and others.  It is important to consider the risk in a particular setting, including local COVID-19 Community Levels and the important role of ventilation, when assessing the need to maintain physical distance”.

Thanks,

Cyndee

Over the next 8 weeks, we will be transitioning to a new event calendar system for handling public and library room reservations and program registration. The new product is from a company called Library Market who provides websites and event calendars to a number of Iowa libraries. The link to Altoona Public Library’s calendar below will give you a sense of what ours will look like and how it will work. We are at the first stages of the switch and will provide more information as the process moves forward.

https://altoonapl.librarycalendar.com/events/month

Myself, Megan, Beth, and Peg have recently met with a handful of metro-area social service organizations to get a better understanding of what they offer and to make us better able to refer patrons to places that offer services they might need. Of those we’ve met, Lutheran Services of Iowa (LSI) seems to offer the most comprehensive and accessible services. I’ve placed some brochures that detail some of those services in the display by the inside book drop. Scans of each are accessible via the link below. See more of their services on their website. We plan to continue these meetings and will discuss how what we’ve learned can be shared with PS/YS staff.

Brochures

A crew will arrive tomorrow to begin routing cable for installation of equipment to extend the library’s wifi into the spaces to the north, west, and south of the library (see the diagram below). The project, which is being funded via a grant from Prairie Meadows, should be completed by August.