Author: Eric Melton

Chuck Rinkel, a longtime patron who is known to many of you, passed away on Monday, November 19th. His family has said most likely services will be held on Friday, 11/30. For interested parties, I’ll be happy to pass along more info as I know it. 

You’ve all probably heard by now that Abbi has accepted a Cataloger/Reference Librarian position with Kendall Young Library in Webster City and will be leaving us soon. We are sad to see her go but happy about this new opportunity. Good luck Abbi!

The Johnston High School has provided us with a list of student IDs so that we can allow JHS students access to our online resources. I’ve created an account for each student ID using the ID as both the username and password. We are still working on getting information to students and families. Students will not be able to checkout physical materials but will have access to the following JPL resources:

• Bridges / Overdrive
• Credo Reference
• Des Moines Register
• Consumer Reports
• Novelist
• Gale
• Kanopy
• Learning Express 3.0
• Lynda
• RBDigital Magazines
• Transparent Language

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 pay period ends this Saturday and we’ve got a holiday to take into account.

Please make sure that your time sheets are completed, PARs attached and turned into the green folder before 9 AM SATURDAY the 24TH. 

If you have questions about how to complete your time sheet this week because of the holiday, please speak to your supervisor.

Thanks and HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone. 

To continue to build on the training Ryan Dowd training, we will be sending weekly tips on using Empathy-Based Tools to provide customer service and manage behavior in the library. Please remember that Ryan Dowd focuses on those experiencing homelessness, but these tips are applicable for most challenging patron interactions. If you or a co-worker have an Empathy-Based Tools success story (or challenge) you would like to share, please email Molly.

Be Calmer and Position Yourself as an Ally

·         When I have interactions with patrons that I know have a history of being somewhat difficult or when it’s obvious that for whatever reason, a patron’s frustration is growing, I try to remind myself to take a couple extra minutes with them to listen and be sympathetic. In the end, this ends up saving me time.

·         Ex. A patron is growing increasingly upset and starts to get louder. They are upset because they believe that something that should be available for them is not and it is the library’s fault.

o   If possible, address the person by name. Treat the person with respect but not fear.  

o   Stay calm. Do not let the person’s emotion rattle you. Remind yourself that this is not personal. This patron has a problem and they need help solving it.

o   After they explain the problem, express sympathy that they are in this situation. “Ugggh. I’m so sorry that happened. That is so frustrating. Let me see what I can do to figure this out for you.”

·         Remember to breathe. Nothing is personal in your interactions with patrons at work. Your job is to help patrons navigate the library system. If a person expresses frustration, recognize that they don’t know how to solve the problem on their own. When you make it clear that you are interested in helping them figure out a solution, tensions usually, not always, ease.

Ryan Dowd Tip: https://my.nicheacademy.com/johnstonlibrarystaff/course/1558/lesson/7398

Star Cards will be dropped off at the Circulation Desk tomorrow. Project Share has been implementing a holiday giving program for 22 years. 

The project is now run by the Johnston Partnership. 

The cards will be placed in the Foundation Supplies drawer. 

Cards for BOYS are in an ORANGE file folder. 

Cards for GIRLS are in a YELLOW file folder. 

People can select the card(s) they wish to take. 

There are NO RECEIPTS. They just take the cards.

People will drop off the gifts at the library until December 13th. 

Just a reminder that if you would like to attend the open rehearsal this Friday (the 16th), that I need to know the first and last names of all who are interested by Thursday evening so I can sign them up.  It’s at 7 PM at the Civic Center downtown. 

New Year’s Eve pops will be on December 31st at 8 PM at the Civic Center, so get your tickets early!

Chuck Rinkel’s daughter, Pam, stopped to tell us that Chuck has been admitted to hospice care. She wanted us all to know how much he appreciated the card we signed and that Ro delivered to him.

For those of you that don’t know Chuck….he’s a long-time patron and super-user of the library. In fact, he has one of the original library cards with five 0’s in it. Ask a seasoned co-worker what that means.

To continue to build on the training Ryan Dowd training, we will be sending weekly tips on using Empathy-Based Tools to provide customer service and manage behavior in the library. Please remember that Ryan Dowd focuses on those experiencing homelessness, but these tips are applicable for most challenging patron interactions. If you or a co-worker have an Empathy-BasedTools success story (or challenge) you would like to share, please email Molly.

Slow Down: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. 

Dealing with a difficult patron or situation can be stressful. By slowing down and taking time when you approach a stressful situation, you can save yourself time (and stress) down the road.

Library Example:

The other day kids were hitting each other in the Youth Computer Lounge, my normal reaction would be to get up, walk quickly over to the situation and stop the situation as fast as possible. When I do this, I usually ramp myself up and the situation doesn’t go as smooth as I would like. Instead, I slowly got up from the Youth Services Desk, calmly walked over to the situation, and was able to address the situation much more calmly than I would have otherwise. This also gave the kids a chance to stop and react to me coming over. By the time I got to the Computer Lab, they had stopped hitting each other, had gathered their belongings, and were heading out all on their own. The discussion I had with the kids was calm, smooth, and fast!

Remember: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.  

Ryan Dowd tip:

https://my.nicheacademy.com/johnstonlibrarystaff/course/1558/lesson/7384

The next symphony open rehearsal is on November 16th at 7 PM at the Civic Center downtown.  If you and others would like to attend, please let me know the first and last names of all who are interested by Thursday evening next week so I can sign them up.  We are playing what was on a famous broadcast of the New York Philharmonic in 1943 when Bernstein got called to conduct at the last minute.  Concerts are on the 17th at 7:30 PM, and the 18th at 2:30 PM.  My e-mail is cellistandrew@gmail.com, and my phone is 402-730-7668.

The group of libraries that we join with to purchase RBDigital magazines has decided to not renew the magazine titles that are now available via Overdrive. Instead, the group has decided to use those funds to purchase several comics and graphic novels that will soon be available via the same RBDigital app that patrons currently use to read magazines. These will be available soon. More information forthcoming. 

Holidays In Johnston, the city’s/library’s annual holiday event, will be held Saturday, December 1st, 2:30-4:30. The event includes a visit by Santa, music, cookie decorating, and crafts. 

We will also be judging a gingerbread contest that day. Entry forms are available above the inside book drop and by clicking “Holidays in Johnston” under the events menu of the website (a link to the form is in the event description). Gingerbread houses can be delivered to the library beginning Saturday, November 24th. Entries can be placed on the ledge behind the checkout desk.

Please let me know if you have questions.

Woot woot, I’m ahead of the curve this week.

Please turn in your completed time sheets and PARs to the green folder outside Eric’s office on or before Thursday, November 8 at 8 pm.

Confirm that the hours on your time sheet match WTW. If you don’t know how to do this, please chat with your supervisor.

If there is a last minute change due to illness, etc., just send me an email and tell me which is correct, your time sheet or WTW.

Thanks.

Peg

Please review the contact information on the Staff List and email me (brown@johnstonlibrary.com) if any of the information is incorrect or out of date.

The Staff List is located under the Printables menu to the right, or you can use this link:

http://catalog.johnstonlibrary.com/staff/drupal/sites/default/files/users/rbrown/SL2018NOV05.pdf

Thank you,

Rod Brown

I reset the system clocks this morning, but it may take up to 24 hours for them to reflect the correct time.

The following groups of patrons now have access to Kanopy:

• Cards with a Statistical Class of “Johnston” or “Polk County (Rural)”
• Teacher Cards
• Staff

Hey Everyone —

We’ve had a number of voting questions this morning. Early voting is still available at the election office in downtown Des Moines. The address is 120 2nd Ave.

They will be open from 8-5 on the following dates:

Thursday, Nov. 1

Friday, Nov. 2

Sat. Nov. 3 (busiest day) and

Mon. Nov. 5

Please give people a heads up that they are very busy and should expect a 15-30 minute wait.  The election office said Saturday will be the busiest day and that early morning tends to be much quieter than later in the day. If people have ANY other questions (absentee ballot issues, etc.) please have them call the election office at 515-286-3247. There’s also an option to press 1 at that number to find out your election day voting location.

Thanks!

Denise

Beginning today, you can purchase stickers or buttons to be used for Jean Days throughout the month of December. 

Stickers are $1 – You can buy as many as you would like, but each sticker can only be used once

Buttons are $15 – Buttons can be used throughout the whole month of December

The last day to purchase buttons/stickers is November 30. Stickers/buttons are redeemable beginning December 1. 

You must be wearing the sticker or button any time you are wearing jeans on a non-casual day.

All money raised from Casual for a Cause will be used to purchase items for individuals participating in Project Share.

I’ve been working on some updates to the design of our website’s search and browse pages as well as the “My Account” pages as displayed on phones and other small mobile devices. Although I’ve tested the changes on my own phone and Chrome’s emulators, I have limited ability to view the layout on multiple real-life devices. If you experience or hear of any weirdness, let me know.