Author: Dreama Deskins

Individual books in the Book Club collection will now check out to JPL patrons for 6 weeks. This change eliminates the need to set a special due date when you’re preparing for curbside service.

TS staff will continue to set special due dates for sets checked out both to JPL patrons and to other libraries.

Polly Munck was one of several people who were instrumental in establishing a library in Johnston in the 1980s. She served on the JPL Board of Trustees and as a volunteer up until late 2018. While visiting family in Wisconsin, she fell on an icy patch and spent several months in Wisconsin recuperating. Polly returned to her apartment in Johnston but then moved into Martina Place.

Polly passed away on September 1st. We will remember her enthusiasm and her no-nonsense attitude. Polly impressed us all with her speed and efficiency when covering our book jackets. Her decades of devotion to the library humble us.

Many thanks to Molly for submitting Polly’s name to the Governor for recognition for her many, many hours of volunteer service. It was a proud moment (and well-deserved honor) for Polly and her family, as noted in her obituary.

Update: The cutover is complete. All Polaris functions should be working. If you run into any problems, check with your supervisor or with Eric or Dreama.

We will be switching Polaris to a new server early Thursday morning. If all goes well, Polaris will be available by 9:00 a.m.

Lori F. and I will be walking around re-installing the Polaris software on all staff PCs. You won’t be able to use Polaris until the software has been re-installed on your PC and the Polaris database is on the new server.

Circ1 will be left on the old server until the cutover is complete. If necessary, staff will be able to do offline circ from that PC.

Do not check in any materials Thursday morning until the cutover is complete.

When you have letters to mail that need postage, please place them in the brown basket in front of my cubicle (tagged “Mail). Only mail that has postage should go in the mail tub.

We’re having issues with the P.O. returning unstamped mail for postage due. Help us avoid the delivery delay by using the basket.

Thank you!

Since the browsing traffic has been light, the Hot Picks have once again been switched to “regular” book and DVD status — they are holdable, have a 3 week/1 week checkout, and are renewable.

With the return to in-person browsing this week, the Hot Picks circulation parameters are back to their standard settings.

The fire sprinkler inspector is here. You will hear beeps and/or alarms which you can ignore.

During Phases 2 and 3, the Hot Picks collection is not available to patrons to browse. Therefore, we’re temporarily changing the collection to be Holdable so that patrons may place holds and pick them up curbside.

For now, Hot Picks books will check out for 3 weeks, be renewable, and be holdable just like other books. Hot Picks DVDs will check out for 1 week, be renewable, and be holdable just like other DVDs.

The labeling will remain unchanged.

We’ll return these circulation elements to their normal values when we reach Phase 4.

Technical Services is once again accepting interlibrary loan (ILL) requests from patrons. All requests that were already in the queue were reactivated today. As items arrive from other libraries, they will be added to the holds available for curbside pick-up starting June 2nd.

Update: The staff printer is back in service.

The staff printer in the workroom has a “Fuser System Error.” Scanning is available; printing and copying are not. I put in a service call.

In the meantime, you can print to the YS printer or to the TS printer.

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

We’re going through padded envelopes more quickly than usual, so I have a few notes:

• If you take the last (or next to last) item from our supplies, please send me a message or leave a note in my basket reminding me to order more
• If you’re working on a project that requires extra of something (be it padded envelopes, rubber bands, tape, etc.), I would appreciate a heads-up so that I can make sure we have enough on hand for your project as well as our usual usage
• Padded envelopes are more expensive than regular envelopes, so if you just need an envelope without padding but only can see padded ones, remember that there are several sizes of un-padded envelopes in the cabinet to the left of the staff copier.

Thank you.

There have been some connectivity issues with the Polaris client since Monday’s switch to a new staff server. Polaris Tech Support thinks they have resolved the problem. Please log out of Polaris client and log back in.

If you continue to have issues like the error message “RPC Server Unavailable” or Polaris boots you out unexpectedly, please report the problem to your supervisor or send me an e-mail.

Thank you for your patience and problem reporting skills!

We installed a new staff server today. It’s called StaffServer2020. The network printers have new names — Workroom (B&W, Color), YS (B&W, Color), and TS.

The new server also affects access to network files on drives like Public and Youth Services.

If you have problems printing or accessing your files, please let me, Lori F., or Eric know.

Update: The Polaris upgrade has been completed. Please use the icon for Polaris 6.3 to log in to your PC. If you do not yet have 6.3, please let Dreama or Lori F. know.

We’re upgrading from Polaris 5.6 to 6.3 this morning. Please do not use the Polaris client software until the upgrade is complete. Circ 1, Circ 2, YS Desk, and Ref Desk may use offline circ to check-out only. Do not check in materials until Polaris is back online.

Thank you.

TS stocks both packing tape (under the workroom counter) and book tape (in the processing supplies cupboard). When you’re considering which tape to use, keep in mind the cost of book tape ($.63 per yard) vs. packing tape ($.05 per yard).

Book tape is thick and acid-free. It’s a good choice for mending library materials as it won’t yellow over time.

Packing tape isn’t quite as thick, but it’s the right choice for packing boxes and your other wide-tape adhesive needs.