Author: Elizabeth Stevens

Hey all,
Justin Young will be coming to pick up his art from the glass display case right by the Reference Desk tomorrow or Thursday (8/30 or 8/31).

The key for the display case is in the plexiglass case in the locked Foundation drawer behind Circ. Thank you!

Hello All,

September is Hunger Action Month, Feeding America network’s annual nationwide campaign designed to inspire people to take action and raise awareness about food insecurity. I have program handouts and calendar events calling out Hunger Action Month encouraging people to donate food to JPL. The paper handouts have a most-needed at the Johnston Partnership shopping list that includes the following:
dried or canned beans, soup, canned pineapple in juice, canned mandarin oranges, brown rice, diapers size 6 and 7 and pullups, toilet paper, bar soap or body wash, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes, dish soap, laundry detergent and cleaning products.
When people bring in food or personal health items, please put them in the plastic bin under the Circ Desk behind self-checkout where we normally put donated food items. I will keep my eye on the bin and will run items to the Partnership when needed. Please ask me if you have questions. Thanks!

Megan has a post out on social media right now asking for donations of snack food items for the 6-minute reading challenge. When people bring in donations for this purpose, donated items can be put on the big white table in the middle of the YS workroom.

If people ask for guidance on types on snacks, Megan has said single serving, non-refrigerated, peanut free snacks are preferred.

Thanks!

Tickets for Art In the Barn, a library foundation fundraiser, are now available for purchase from the black binder at the circ. desk or online at johnstonlibrary.com/art-in-the-barn. Tickets are $20 each and can be paid via cash, check, or credit card (use the book sale iPad). Art In the Barn is Friday, October 2oth, 5:30pm-8:30pm. More information about the event is available at https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/art-in-the-barn/.

Thanks!

Bittersweet news everyone: Stephanie Gibb-Clark’s last day will be Saturday, August 19. Stephanie has been at JPL just shy of 5 years and has worked in the Public Services, Youth Services and Circulation departments. We will miss her intelligence, empathy, and ease with patrons very much.

The sweet part of this bittersweet news is she is leaving us to devote more time to future plans, which include teaching and research. She has picked up an additional teaching class at DMACC and has research opportunities opening up with Kurdish people living in Nashville that will be instrumental in her research as she writes her dissertation.

During her time at JPL, Stephanie facilitated Tech Help with Teens, multiple JPL Drum circles, JPL Skill Share programs for adults, Lonely Readers Club, the Ultimate Reading Challenge, book displays, countless genre bookmarks, and many JPL social media posts, not to mention her work on the desks.

Please join me in wishing her the best of luck in her future endeavors!

Hello All,
Terra Park Art Walk Boards have returned to the library after being on display at Terra Park. Artists have been notified that they can come into the library to retrieve their board should they want it back. Painted boards are in the director’s office. Some of the boards have the artist’s name on the back, some do not. When people come in to retrieve their painted boards, I have instructed them to let staff know their name and a description of their painting. There are only about 12 paintings, so it shouldn’t be too hard to identify the right one. Artists have until closing time on Sunday, August 20th to pick up their artwork.

Please ask Beth if you have any questions. Thanks!

Adult Summer Reading Grand Prize Winners have been drawn!

Jan Mackey won the Johnston Foodie Prize.
Kayla Sandmann won the Driveway Pickleball Prize.
and Savannah Jones won the Personalized Bookshelf Art Prize (!!!!). (She may have screamed on the phone when I told her.) 😉

All winners have been notified. Grand prizes are packed up and labeled with the winner’s name behind the Reference Desk. If the winners are agreeable to it, I would love a picture of them holding their prize when they come in.

Thanks for everyone’s hard work this summer. We made it through!

We have art again!
When you have time, check out the new exhibit in the JPL Gallery (otherwise known as the meeting room hallway) from artist Leo Bird. Leo is neurodiverse and his work explores his experience as a person on the autism spectrum. It’s a really immersive and cool exhibit.

Additionally, Leo is planning on coming back in sometime to see the exhibit now that his work is up and would like to have his picture taken with his art. If I’m here, please grab me. If I’m not, if someone could take his picture that would be much appreciated. He will also be picking up a suitcase he used to transport some pieces. The suitcase is in the director’s office. 

**Adventure Pass Website is Working- Molly 07/25**

The Plymouth Rocket Eventkeeper website that hosts Adventure Passes for libraries in the metro, including for us, appears to be experiencing issues with their server. I have contacted the company. As of right now, staff and patrons are not able to access Adventure Passes. Should patrons ask, please apologize to them and tell them that the company that hosts this service is experiencing technical difficulties but we’re working on a solution. I will post again when we’re back up and running. Thanks!

Hey all,

The link for the new Polaris PowerPAC is on the intranet under Patron Assistance. I’m including the link here too: https://catalog.johnstonlibrary.com/polaris/default.aspx

The PowerPAC is still a work in progress so some things might change or are yet to be added including images populating the list carousels on the home page,  but as you have time,  spend some time familiarizing yourself with how search functions work. Pay attention to how you can filter, how series are displayed, and book recommendations (if you like Harry Potter, here are some other titles you might enjoy).

More to come and we will not go live with the new PowerPAC without much more communication, but for now, go ahead and play around. Thanks!

At this time, the Purchase Request system is no longer automatically sending an email to patrons letting them know whether their requests have been approved or denied.

If a JPL collection selector decides to purchase a requested item, the patron will still be put on hold for the item. If a patron comes in to enquire about the status of a purchase request, you can still go to the Purchase/Ill request tab on the intranet, bring up the patron’s account, and see the status of a request: it will show either requested, ordered or denied.

When you are placing Purchase Requests for patrons, change up your script to no longer include info about how they will receive an email.

“Ok, your request has been placed. A purchase request does not guarantee that an item will be purchased, but if this item is a good fit for our collection and is ordered, the item will be placed on hold for you.”

This is your friendly reminder that you should be LOGGED OUT of the calendar system when registering patrons for programs or making study room or meeting room requests.

We have a couple patrons who are registered for programs before the programs are officially open. I don’t think this was intentional, but if you are logged in when registering you can bypass registration open dates, which will get messy for all of us when people ask why some people are registered when they are not yet able to be registered.

The only times you need to be logged in in our new calendar is if you’re cancelling a meeting or study room request or program registration or making a pending meeting room request for a room not available for the public. Thank you! Please ask beth or peg if you have questions.

Happy Monday All,
A couple Adult Summer Reading items to pass on:

• If patrons have already grabbed a brochure for Adult Summer Reading but need additional tickets, please encourage them to take the extra printed paper tickets instead of another brochure. They already have the rules from their first brochure. They are welcome to take a big pile of extra tickets if they like. I’ll make sure extra tickets are available at every service desk. (pic 1)
• Every Monday, staff will draw a weekly winner who will receive a JPL Book Bag. When Ref staff have drawn the winner, they will call the patron. The bags will be labeled behind the ref desk with the person’s name. When the winner comes in, ask them if they would be willing to take a photo for library social media. They can absolutely say no, but it’s a nice way to promote the program if patron’s are willing. (pic 2)

  Thanks!

Hello All,
Thanks for your patience and willingness to learn a slightly new way of scheduling. I wanted to pass on a couple additional tips that might make your interaction with the new schedule better.

Accessing W2W via the Intranet and a Generic JPL Employee Login

1. I have switched out the old circ and ps desk schedules on the intranet with a link to the new W2W schedule (see pic 1).
2. When you’re starting your shift on a public desk, if it hasn’t already been done, click on the w2w link under the drop-down schedules menu on the intranet.
3. You will need to login with the general employee login, which is listed on the w2w link.
   Username is jpl-library. Password is 123Johnston.
4. Once logged in, click on Everyone’s Schedule. Change to Day instead of Week and filter to the appropriate department view: either Circulation Department or PS/YS Department.
   • Filtering with the new way we’re using W2W is the key to not being overwhelmed with information.
5.  The W2W link on the intranet is probably the fastest way to have access to the schedule when you’re on a public desk.

Accessing W2W via the Web and Your Specific Employee W2W login

1. If you’re logging in to your own W2W account rather than the generic library employee view available on the intranet, you’ll have a couple of different options that again help to not be overwhelmed with too much info when viewing the schedule.
2. If you’re logged in to your own W2W employee account and just looking at MY SCHEDULE versus EVERYONE’S SCHEDULE, I highly recommend using the Graphical View and then clicking the Change Layout link and selecting “By Employee” (see pic 2).

Accessing W2W at Home via the W2W App

9. The W2W app is probably the best way to check in on your schedule from home. When you log in with your employee login, it automatically filters out a lot of the extraneous information and focuses on your schedule.

If you’re still struggling with the new W2W schedule that includes when you’re on the desk during the day, please reach out to Beth, Megan, Molly or Dreama–or Peg once she’s back. Thanks!

Hey everybody,
Beth and PS staff will be taking over scheduling the display cases and art gallery. Right now, we’re still trying to figure out what, if anything, has been scheduled with artists for future exhibits. The only known quantity right now is Justin Young, who has his artwork in the display case by the Ref Desk.
Should anyone besides Justin Young inquire about the art cases or art gallery right now please give them my email or transfer them to me if I’m here.
Should an artist stop by when I’m not here to drop off their artwork, you can go ahead and accept it and put it in the Director’s office  IF the following 2 things happen: 

• Artists cannot leave their work with us WITHOUT filling out an artists agreement. These forms are in 2 spots. They are labeled in the file organizer underneath the locked Foundation drawer behind Circ and in a labeled hanging file folder in the bottom left drawer that is marked as Signs – Docs – Forms behind the Ref Desk.
• In addition to a completed artist agreement, please let artists know that Beth is now scheduling and organizing artists and give them one of my business cards. My business cards are behind the ref desk where the master key is kept and on top of the folder behind Circ that contains the artist agreements.

Thanks!

Adult Summer Reading instructions are below. There is also a printed copy in the Adult Summer Reading drawer behind the ref desk and a printed copy at each service desk. Ask Beth or a ref person if you have questions.
Thanks!

2023Adult Summer Reading Instructions for Staff

Theme: Summer of Discovery

1. To sign up for Adult Summer Reading all a patron needs to do is take an adult summer reading brochure or download one from the library website (https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/events/adult-summer-reading/). Brochures are located at the Public Services desk and Youth Services desk. We have professionally printed 250 brochures from Canva. Extra printed copies are underneath the Brother printer behind the Ref Desk in a Canva box. Additional copies of the brochure can be printed from the PDFs in this file location:
   P Drive: Beth Stevens> Adult Summer Reading> 2023ASR> Adult Summer Reading Brochure 2023.pdf

2. ASR Brochures contain everything a patron needs to know for Adult Summer Reading, including instructions, summer adult event schedule, and prize entry tickets. Familiarize yourself with this brochure.

3. Each activity is good for one entry into the prize drawing of a patron’s choice (one activity per ticket please). Activities include:
   • Reading a book of their choice
   • Listening to a book of their choice
   • Attending an adult program
   • Completing a quiz/puzzle (tear off entry slip from returned quiz and place in prize bucket)

Note: Patrons may repeat the same activity over and over. Patrons are not required to do all of the activities. Patrons may return an unlimited number of prize entry tickets at any time.

4. When a patron brings back Summer Reading prize entry ticket/s, here’s your script:

• “Make sure you’ve completed all the info, on each prize entry ticket, including checking the box for the grand prize you’d like a chance at winning.
• Then, put all your prize entry tickets into this Weekly Prize Drawing bucket for a chance to win a weekly prize, a JPL Book Bag. Each Monday, we’ll draw one winner for the weekly prize and then we’ll put that prize entry ticket and all prize entry tickets into the respective grand prize buckets. That means, each week we’re drawing from a fresh supply of entries”

Note: It’s likely a patron may say they don’t want their prize entry ticket in the weekly prize buckets, so be it, just go ahead and put his/her prize entry ticket/s directly into the respective grand prize bucket.

(continued)

5. What we’re going to do each week:

• Each Monday morning before the library opens, Peg will draw one entry from the Weekly Prize bucket. Peg will notify winners by phone the same day, inviting the patron to come in as soon as possible to pick up the JPL Book Bag swag weekly prize. All prizes must be picked up before August 14.
• After the winner of the weekly prize is drawn, PS staff will place the winning prize entry ticket and all other prize entry tickets from the Weekly Prize bucket into the respective grand prize buckets as selected by the patron on the prize entry ticket. These entries will accumulate throughout the program until July 30.

6. When a patron brings back a quiz/puzzle, here’s your script:

• “Make sure you’ve completed all the info at the bottom of the puzzle, including checking the box for the grand prize you’d like a chance at winning. Now, tear off the prize entry ticket (or provide scissors to the patron) and place the prize entry ticket into the Weekly Prize Drawing bucket for a chance to win a weekly prize from our selection. Each Monday, Peg will draw one winner for a weekly prize and then PS staff will put that prize entry ticket and all prize entry tickets into the respective grand prize buckets. That means, each week we’re drawing from a fresh supply of entries”

Note: It’s likely a patron may say they don’t want their prize entry ticket in the weekly prize buckets, so be it, just go ahead and put his/her prize entry ticket/s directly into the respective grand prize bucket.

7. Extra prize entry tickets are available at the Reference Desk or can be downloaded from the library website (https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/events/adult-summer-reading/) or printed from this location “P:Beth StevensAdult Summer Reading2023ASR Extra SR Tickets 2023.pdf”.

8. Original copies and answer sheets for Puzzles are in the Adult Summer Reading drawer at the Ref Desk. Look for the white 3-ring binder with the summer logo cover. There are a total of nine puzzles, one for each week of summer reading. Each puzzle is labeled with a week # and a date range. Lolo has already printed 20 copies of each week’s puzzle. Each Monday morning, the corresponding week’s puzzle should be placed in the acrylic holder at the Ref Desk. Leftover copies from prior weeks can remain in the acrylic holder. Patron can turn in a max of 9 puzzle prize entry tickets, one for each week.

9. The prizes for Adult Summer Reading are behind the Circ Desk. There are 3 grand prizes:
   1. Portable Pickleball: Venux portable pickleball set with net, 4 paddles, 10 balls, 4 grips, and 1 carrying and paddle bag. Pickleball set is regulation size.
   2. Personalized Ideal Bookshelf Art Print (winner gets to choose their favorite books to be made into a print)
   3. Johnston Foodie: $25.00 Gift cards to Charlotte’s Kitchen, Blue Bean, Flame Cantina, Backpocket Brewery, Cork 50131

(continued)

Important Dates

Adult Summer Reading Program begins Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Adult Summer Reading Program ends Sunday, July 30^th  

• Monday drawings take place prior to opening on
  • June 5, 12, 19, 26
  • July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
  • All weekly prizes are assigned by week – patron gets what they get
• Grand prize winners are drawn on Monday, August 7 and winners will be notified by phone the same day.
• All prizes should be picked up by Monday, August 14.

Hey all,

Beginning tomorrow morning, community members will be stopping in to the library to pick up 24″x24″ plywood boards to turn into paintings for the Terra Lake Art Walk. Thus far, we only have 14 individuals who have signed up to participate. I have printed a list of participating artists and left it on top of the pile of plywood boards in Eric’s office. When people come in to pick up a board, please cross their name off the list.

Molly brought it to my attention that last year there were a couple instances of people who mentioned that they had an acquaintance who had intended to sign up to participate, but for whatever reason, didn’t get it done. Should people want to pick up a board for another person who wasn’t able to sign-up, please take down that person’s name and contact information (preferably email) and then it is ok for you to send that person home with an extra board for another artist. Please only one board per participating artist. Here is the email that was sent out to participants, should you be asked for more info:

• Please come to Johnston Public Library to pick up your 24″x24″ piece of plywood beginning Wednesday, May 17th at 9:00am. The paintings MUST be painted on the provided plywood.
• Boards will be at the Circulation Desk at Johnston Public Library and can be picked up during open library hours.
• Acrylic paint is encouraged.
• All work must be original and the work of the registered artist.
• Completed paintings need to be turned in to the library NO LATER THAN SUNDAY, JUNE 11TH from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. If your painting is done earlier than June 11th, it can be dropped off to the Circulation Desk at Johnston Public Library during open library hours.
• Paintings will be displayed around Terra Lake for 6-8 weeks beginning in mid-June.
• Have questions? Email Beth at info@johnstonlibrary.org.

Hey all,
Shred Day is this coming Saturday, April 29th from 9:00am to noon. Staff parking will not be affected. The actual shredding will take place closer to the barn.

At pre-Covid shred events, we would get close to 1,000 cars that would take advantage of shredding. In order to avoid traffic getting backed up on Merle Hay, traffic will route from Merle Hay around the library onto Morningside Drive and enter the west parking lot by the Simpson Barn. Electronic traffic signs from Public Works and AARP volunteers make sure cars are headed in the right direction so patrons (and staff) looking to enter the library through the normal parking lot entrance should also not be affected.

If your morning commute has you going East on 70th Street (from Grimes or Western Johnston) to Northglenn, I recommend continuing on 70th Street to Merle Hay Rd instead of taking Northglenn. Northglenn is used to access Shred Day and there can be a long line that forms early.

We really have Shred Day down to an art at this point. It’s very orderly and efficient, but we did want to give staff a heads up so you’re not caught off guard.

Thanks!

Shred Day has been confirmed! Here are the details:

THE SHREDDER company will be in the JPL parking lot from 9:00am to 12:00pm for on-site document destruction with 3 of their mobile document-shredding vehicles. THE SHREDDER is AAA certified by the National Association for Information Destruction.
Attendees need to limit material to be shredded to 3 disposable boxes or containers per household. To expedite shredding, traffic will route from Merle Hay around the library onto Morningside Drive and enter the west parking lot by the Simpson Barn. Please stay in your vehicle and a volunteer will collect your boxes for on-site document shredding. No registration is necessary. This event is sponsored by AARP in conjunction with Money Smart Week.

https://johnston.librarycalendar.com/event/free-shred-day

The 2023 Author Fair was a success! We have 7 prize bags for winners. Prize bags are behind the Reference Desk and labeled with the prize winners names. All winners have been called and informed. There is a Author Fair Prize Winner List on the paper cutter behind the Ref Desk. When someone picks up their prize, please put a  checkmark next to their name.

Thanks!