Author: Elizabeth Stevens

Hello All,

Today and tomorrow (7/15 and 7/16) patrons will be coming in to pick up their packaged ingredients for the Deck Food Online Cooking Class that will take place this Saturday, 7/17 on Zoom.
Please send patrons to the Reference Desk to pick up their ingredients. There is a printed registration list on the cart. Please cross off paton’s names when they pick up their bag.
Thank you!

Hello all,

This Saturday there is an online Zoom program for adults called Life Tools for Managing Stress. The Zoom link has been/will be sent when people register, along with some documents the  presenter wanted people to have. Registrants are also able to stop by the library to pick up a printed packet of the handouts. The printed paper-clipped handout packets are behind the Reference Desk on the green paper cutter. Packets can be given out to anyone who asks for one. If anyone needs the Zoom link resent to them, please take their email and give it to beth.
Thanks!

Hey all,
The first weekly prize winner for Adult Summer Reading is Katie Schlawin. She has been notified by phone (left a voicemail). She can come into the library between now and next Tuesday, June 15 and pick up a prize of her choice off of the red Cart O’Weekly Adult Summer Reading Prizes located behind the Reference Desk. All entries from last week’s weekly drawing have been sorted into buckets for the grand prize drawing of the participant’s choice.
Thanks!
beth

• The library will enter our next phase of reopening on May 10. In the meantime, when someone calls or asks about services being offered right now, the main idea to communicate is this:

We’re on our way to fully reopening and the next phase of JPL’s reopening plan will begin May 10, but right now we’re still mainly open for grab-and-go type service.  Computer use and browsing are available on a walk-in basis but if you want to guarantee your spot, an appointment is still recommended, especially for computer use.

Thanks! Ask your supervisor if you have any questions.

Kites on the Green kite kits are available for pickup at the welcome desk at JPL (also known as the bouncer desk) for anyone that requests one. Information with a link showing people how to build the kits are inside the bag.
Thanks!

This is your friendly reminder that it’s timesheet week. Please turn timesheets in by this Friday before we close.
Thanks!

Peg (via Beth)

All,
Thanks for all your hard work as we progress through the various fun stages of COVID and our library systems and procedures morph to accommodate different levels of openness to the public. Below is a brief refresher on how to talk to patrons about library services that are being offered right now. I find it useful to talk about what we are here for right now and what types of library activities are paused due to COVID. I really like the term grab-and-go because I think it’s language familiar to patrons because of restaurants, so the implications make sense.

What We’re Here For:
Library services are intended as grab-and-go type services. We have 30-minute browsing appointments and 1-hour computer use appointments. Computer appointments also encompass other services like copying, scanning, faxing, notary appointments, and test proctoring.
And then, of course we have curbside services for pickup of holds, print jobs, and tax forms.

At this time, we’re still not open for hanging out, meeting others to use the library as a communal space, or even just reading the newspaper in a comfy chair.  Library furniture is partitioned off, play items in the Youth Services Department are put away, and study rooms and meeting rooms are not available.  Again, right now, in-person library services are intended to be a grab-and-go service. Molly will be sending info about language and steps to use when talking to patrons about holds so staff has an easier time determining where a patron’s library items might be.

One last bit of tax info–just a friendly reminder that we do not give out information about how a person can correctly fill out their taxes or what the correct form is for a specific situation.

If an individual needs assistance with their taxes, there are agencies offering free tax  assistance. More information about those services is available here:  https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/services/tax-forms/

Hello All! It’s Tax time! You may have started getting calls about picking up tax forms from JPL. Below is the need to know information for you to pass on to patrons.

• JPL has a limited supply of printed combined 1040/1040SR Federal Form Packets and 1040/1040SR Instruction Booklets.
• We have no printed Iowa tax  forms and no other federal forms apart from the 1040. Information about printing other federal and state forms is on the home page under the link  https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/services/tax-forms/
• To schedule curbside pickup of the 1040 Form Packet and/or 1040 Instruction Booklet, patrons can visit https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/services/tax-forms/. This page is also accessible under the Services menu on the JPL homepage or by clicking the Tax Forms link on the homepage.
• You can also schedule a tax pickup appointment for patrons through the same link if they don’t have access to wifi.
• We have a limited supply of these preprinted forms and booklets so we’re asking one form/booklet per household. Additional copies may be printed from a JPL public computer.

Here’s a script you can use with patrons when you receive phone calls requesting tax forms:

• • JPL has a limited supply of 1040/1040SR form packets and 1040/1040SR Instruction Booklets available for patrons.
  • How soon were you hoping to pick up the 1040 Federal tax forms?
  • If they can wait for an appointment–I would be happy to make a curbside pickup appointment for you… (you can make this appointment by clicking the tax form link and then clicking the appointment schedule link
  • If you were hoping to pick it up right away, you’re welcome to pop into the library and grab a form from staff seated by the front entrance.
  • If patrons are needing Iowa forms, or other federal forms, staff can either make a computer appointment for the patron so they can come in and print forms themselves, or direct patrons to johnstonlibrary.com/print-pickup to submit a print pickup request for the additional forms needed.
  • If the patron doesn’t have access to the internet, and need tax forms printed, the call should be directed to Public Services Staff who will print off forms  and create a curbside print pickup appointment for the patron.

The JPL Winter Reading Challenge begins January 15. On the 15th, patrons will have the ability to check a box when they are scheduling curbside hold pickup to also receive kids, teen, or adult winter reading materials. We have had some patrons write in the note section of their appointments already they they want winter reading materials. Kids and Adult materials are ready to go and in the commons so if patrons request kid or adult materials now, you can go ahead and include it in their hold pickup. Teen winter reading material will be ready by Friday, which is the first actual day of Winter Reading. These packets do not have registration–no need to cross names off of a list or otherwise keep track of who packets are going to.
Thanks,
YS and PS

Curbside Printing is continuing as it has been operating for the last couple months. Here’s a little insight into how the process works:
1. A patron emails a document to info@johnstonlibrary.com.

2. Public Services Staff respond by sending a default email that allows the patron to make a curbside print pick-up appointment. Print Pick-up times mirror Curbside Hold Pick-Ups.

3. The labeled printed document is put in an accordion folder by the bouncer desk.

Patrons occasionally call and ask to have a document printed that they can pick up immediately. Often, Public Services staff can accommodate, but it is absolutely dependent on staff availability and Public Services Staff are not currently scheduled on Sundays.

If patrons call with print requests, please direct the calls to a public services person. If you receive these requests on a Sunday, please encourage patrons to follow the directions for print requests on https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/print-pickup/ and staff will respond to the request as soon as they are able on Monday.

Thanks! Ask Beth if you have questions.

Hey all,

Due in part to COVID-related reduction of services at some libraries, and in part because of transportation changes associated with the State Library of Iowa, interlibrary loans are averaging at least two weeks to get to a patron from the time the request is made.

When you have a patron who is requesting an ILL, it is probably a good idea to ask them if they need the item by a certain date. If the patron need an item sooner than 2-ish weeks, and it is available from another local library, that may be a better option for a patron to pursue.

Patron question today about absentee ballots and how to submit them if people do not want to mail their ballots.

I called Polk County Election Office and for people that have requested absentee ballots but feel nervous about mailing them, completed ballots can be hand-delivered to the Polk County Election Office. An employee is standing right inside the front doors during business hours (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm) to collect all ballots submitted this way.
Polk County Election Office
120 2nd Avenue Suite A
Des Moines, IA 50309

A couple small changes to printing pickup. We have changed the appointments so now people are able to send us printing and pick it up same day (if they select that for an appointment time) during open library hours. Peg, Erin, Stephanie and Beth will continue to monitor the info email for print jobs coming in.

Print jobs will be kept in a file folder labeled with patrons name by the bouncer station. Patrons can collect their print jobs at their appointment time by calling the general library phone number and having staff bring their packet out to the table, or coming in the front sliding glass doors where the bouncer will hand over their items. Please ask Beth if you have questions.
Here is the updated link on the website:
https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/print-pickup/

Hello All,

This is your friendly reminder public service announcement about submitting ILL requests. Tech Services would like to remind people that ILL requests should only be submitted for specific items rather than something more general like any books by Author Authorpants (substitute an author of your choice). Dreama told us that ILLs are resource-heavy for libraries and often patrons don’t even pick them up. And–when general requests are submitted sometimes patrons then decide that it wasn’t really what they we’re looking for. Some of the reference interview work to drill down to what patrons are actually looking for needs to be done before the request is submitted to Tech Services. Please feel encouraged to send patrons (by phone or in person) to the Reference Desk and staff can help patrons identify specific items and then look at worldcat to see if items are likely to be available. Thank you! Please ask Beth if you have questions.

Hey all,

Below is a quick video clip on de-escalation Erin sent me that she watched as conintinuing ed as a teacher. The clilp is about about how to de-escalate an angry person. I found it useful and thought I would share for anyone wanting a little refresher. This guy is not Ryan Dowd, but his philosophy runs along similar lines. He breaks things down into three steps:

1. Validate
2. Help people find options
3. Allow for choice

When you have 7 minues to spare, take a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qsfBCatgX8&feature=youtu.be

Hello All,

Today we received a couple calls from parents inquiring about usage of study rooms. At this time, study rooms are not open to the public. The services that we offer, (computer use, browsing by appointment, and even curbside hold pickup) are really intended to be sort of grab-and-go type services, and thus have time limits.
These calls got Friday JPL staff thinking about what parents might really be concerned about. Internet access or just a change of scenery? Peg contacted Johnston School admin, and like most other school districts, Johnston is providing hot spots to households who need them. We were told that if parents need to request a hotspot, they should contact the building administration at the school where the child will attend. Here is a link with contact numbers for different schools in the Johnston district.
https://www.johnstoncsd.org/schools/​

Thanks!

If patrons arrive at the front door or west staff door to pick up a book club book that has already been checked out to them, they are in front of dreama’s office–again, already checked out and labeled with their name. I have instructed my book club people to let me know if they want a book club book, so that all staff need to do is grab it and hand it over to them.

As we know, sometimes people don’t follow instructions. If people show up wanting a book club book and have not made prior arrangements, current book club books for all 4 adult book clubs are now behind the circ desk, where they used to be.

Thanks! Ask beth if you have questions.

We’ve received some calls about patrons wanting to use their personal computers or tablets in the library right now. Personal electronic devices will be treated like regular computer appointments. If patrons come in and want to use their own computers or devices, we will still direct them to a designated spot within the library and remind them that PC appointments are limited to an hour, whether they are using our computer or their own. At this time, the library is not open for meeting space or gathering with another person.

We are here for browsing by appointment or computer use by appointment (that includes faxing, notarizing, and copying) and walk-ins for both services as long as we can stay under our designated number in the building at one time.

Hey all!
Looking for something to do while you’re at home? Genesis Youth Foundation, an organization that works with immigrant and refugee kids to level the playing field through athletics, the arts and academics is hosting an online African Cooking Class this Friday. Would be a fun date night or a fun acitivity to do with kids. The event is from 5:30pm to 7:30pm and proceeds go to support programming for the organization. There are two ticket options: Option 1 gets you zoom password and link, the recipe, and prepped ingredients that you pick up ahead of time. Option 2 allows you to go grocery shopping ahead of time for ingredients yourself and then cook along with everyone on Friday.

Link is here: http://www.genesisyouthfoundation.org/cooking-with-gyf
Let beth know if you have any questions! It’s a tasty way to learn about another culture and support an organization that supports a lot of the kids that come in to our library.