Author: Molly Guerra

The library has agreed to be the pick up and drop off point for a present drive that has been arranged by the Johnston Middle School Student Council. People are invited to pick an ornament from the tree, purchase an item and return the items to the library. We will gather them in a tub in Molly’s office. Gifts should be returned to the library by December 22nd.

If patrons have questions beyond the instructions below, there is contact information on the poster by the tree to email for further information.

Here is information from the Johnston Student Council members:

• The ornaments contain a category and an item from the UnityPoint Amazon wish list (things like blankets, games, books etc.)
• All items purchased should be new and unused
• People are encouraged to wrap toys, board games, or puppets and tape the ornament to the outside of the gift so the girls know what is inside and can distribute it accordingly
• Other items like blankets, bottles, etc. do not need to be wrapped
• They created signage with QR Codes that direct people to the UnityPoint Wish List and a poster with additional details about the program
• The students will pick up the gifts on Saturday, December 23

I just pushed out an email to our rural resident library card holders. Please be prepared for questions.

The Johnston Public Library has purchased two adventure passes for the Johnston Town Center Skating Rink. Each pass is good for four skate rentals.

Here are the hours:

o    Fridays: 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.

o    Saturdays: 12:00 to 9:00 p.m.

o    Sundays: 12:00 to 6:00 p.m.

o    Holiday Hours:

• December 26 – 29, 12:00 to 6:00 p.m

The rink open December 1 – January 28

Between December 1 and January 28, the rink is open 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (If you own your own skates, you can skate for free, seven days a week.)

This week when you are at work, can you all visit the link to the new PowerPAC https://catalog.johnstonlibrary.com/polaris/

Please log into your library account on the PowerPAC and search for some items. To get to the main search bar after you login, you need to click on the JPL logo in the upper left-hand side of the screen. Please follow the instructions in the word document here

In addition to logging in and searching for items after you login, please feel free to push some buttons and explore.

https://forms.office.com/r/3s8LgazXhM

Please try the link above to provide your input on the library director search. The deadline is December 12 at 5 pm.

Molly

Our consultants at Bradbury Miller Associates are excited to begin the work to find the next Library Director at Johnston Public Library. The firm has existed since 1983 as an executive search firm dedicated to helping libraries find leaders. They would like the opportunity to connect and learn more about us and the future of our library. Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions using this link: https://forms.office.com/r/3s8LgazXhM. The survey should take about five minutes to complete and will be available until 5:00 pm Tuesday, December 12, 2023.     

Hello All!  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Here is a long overdue  Molly’s JPL Heads Up!

Library Director Search Update: 

The library director search committee has had their first meeting. From what I hear, everyone is very excited to be working with the recruiting firm, Bradbury Miller, and they are impressed with their level of preparation and professionalism.

The search committee will be sending a link to all staff sometime during the first two weeks of December to gather input from staff. I will let  you know when that link goes out, but just a heads up that a link is coming soon. Department heads will meet with Bradbury Miller via Zoom to provide additional feedback.

The goal is to have the position posted in January and February. The final interviews will be conduced in the middle of April. So if everything stays on track, we are looking to welcome our next director to JPL around May or June.

I will keep you posted as we move through the process.

Library Website and Online Catalog:

We are making great progress on the new website and online catalog. We have just seen the first draft of the new website (today!), and I am very encouraged with how it is looking. The new website will go live on December 22nd. During the last two weeks of December, library staff will have ample opportunities to view the draft of the website and get comfortable. We have have some trainings available.

The online catalog (Power PAC) is coming along very well. As a reminder the online catalog is available to use now. It is live, and fully functional if you would like to practice using it. The link is on the Intranet under Patron Resources. Or the link is here

I have had heard a few questions about the future of the Intranet and some of the processes we do through the intranet. I do anticipate that some of our processes will be changing slightly as we roll out the website, and I assure you that we will train staff on those changes. Now that we have access to a draft the website (today!), we are going to be working long and hard to get forms set up and procedures documented and shared with staff. Some of our processes will remain on the intranet and not be impacted immediately by the website.

Finally, my message is that this rollout will be a learning curve for us all. We are doing our best to get things ready, but there will be quirks that come up after December 22nd when the website goes live. I look at December 22nd as the beginning of our adventure with the new website and Power PAC, not the final destination. As staff and library users live in the website and Power PAC, we will work to adjust and improve the experience for everyone.

Building Maintenance

Twelve windows on the north wall were replaced last week.

In December, Peterson Painting will be doing extensive drywall and painting work at the library. We will keep you posted on Slack so you know what to expect, but there may be small areas closed off to staff and patrons as they work.

Final Notes 

I couldn’t be more lucky to work here at JPL with you all. Thank you for all you do. If you ever have questions or would like more information  about the why behind something, I love, love, love to talk library and my door is always open. Please come visit with me.

Molly

Hello,

Please find the link to the All Desk Staff Meeting below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/uxse4WDgva8tmDwostcInbGDHZZCRTGRffdFGqHqACTLTXyLC7GTCAUJeP-Bvnry.YRCvIFYabKVmiDfp

If you have questions about how to report it on your timesheet, please touch base with Molly or Peg.

Thank you!

**Reminder. Desk Staff Meeting Sunday 1130 am- 1230 pm. I accidentally wrote 12 on the title. The meeting is on Zoom not at the library***

Hello,

Sorry – I hit a wrong button 🙂

We are having a Desk Staff Meeting on November 19 from 1130 am – 1230 pm. It will be held on Zoom. If you can come live on Zoom – please do come. It is nice to get questions and have some feedback. I understand that not everyone will be able to come. That is fine. It will be recorded. You can watch the recording at a later date.

If you are full-time or half-time, you will want to talk to your supervisor about flexing your hours to attend on Sunday or watch it during one of your regular shifts at work.

If you work less than twenty hours a week (or you are a library guide), you will have an extra hour of time added to When to Work on Sunday, November 19.

If you work less than 20 hours per week, please watch the webinar within the week outside of your regular shift. If you cannot watch the video during a time outside your work schedule, please email Molly or Peg and we will adjust your work schedule, so you can watch it during your regular shift and delete the extra hour from When to Work.

Zoom Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82532328048

Hello – as I am looking to hire Laura Rath’s replacement, I wanted to check-in with everyone and see how their schedules are going. I cannot guarantee anything, but please feel free to share thoughts with Peg and me about the following:

Do the times of your shifts work for you?

Do you wish you worked more or less? The cap is 29 hours for part-time staff.

Are there certain times or days your would rather work or rather not work?

Again – I cannot guarantee anything, but it is helpful to know how things are working for your life schedule-wise as we look at brining on new staff.

Please email Molly and Peg to let us know if you have any preferences.

Thanks for everything you do!!

Starting January 1, 2024 – Rural Polk County residents will be assigned one home library in Polk County to receive access to digital content – Libby, Kanopy and Adventure Passes. We will be the home library for Webster Township.

Other Polk County Libraries have sent out letters and emails discussing the change, so please do not be surprised if you get questions or calls.

The main point to emphasis is that rural Polk Co. patrons can still check out physical materials and use the library space as before.  This only impacts their ability to use certain certain resources like Libby, Kanopy or Adventure Pass.

We will need to help library users from Webster Township merge their other library card numbers with their Johnston Public Library number on OverDrive. Assistant Librarians and Librarians are trained on how to do that, so grab one of them to help.

You can use  the link below on Altoona PL’s website to enter a patron’s address. The map is color coded to help you determine the home library.

Altoona PL Home Library Map

https://www.altoona-iowa.com/departments/altoona_library/library_service_area.php

We will go through all of our rural residents on January 2nd and assign them to the statistical class: Rural Polk County – Webster or Rural Polk County – Not Webster. Those in Rural Polk County – Not Webster will loose access to Libby, Adventure Pass and Kanopy at JPL.

In the meantime, everyone is in Rural Polk County – Webster. If you make a new card for a library user, please ask them if they live in rural polk county. If yes, use the link above to check their address. If Johnston is their home library library, please select the statistical class Rural Polk Co. – Webster. If they aren’t assigned to Johnston, please select the statistical class Rural Polk Co. – Not Webster.

Heads up – we may get patrons from Webster Township that are frustrated because they used to use another library that had Hoopla or another resource that we do not have. Take their complaint seriously and offer to write their request on the notepad. Let them know that we are continually evaluating our digital resources, and we take patron requests into consideration.

I know this a lot – so please ask me if you have questions.

Molly

Kanopy recently switched from 10 views per month to 30 tickets per month per cardholder. Each movie will have a ticket “cost” and an access period. Kanopy Kids (kid’s titles) remain unlimited.

The State Library of Iowa asks libraries to purge patron accounts that have been expired for three years or longer –so long as they don’t have any fines or fees. JPL has not done this for the past ten years, so please expect to have more people come in telling you that they have a card but you don’t find them in the system. In these cases, you will just make them a new card.

On Sunday we purged accounts, but there was a minor issue. The accounts that were purged were accounts that had not been used to check out a physical item in three years or longer. This inadvertently deleted cardholders who have been renewing their cards and using digital resources like Libby.  The issue has been corrected for future purges, but we will need to help these users who were deleted on accident Sunday get access. The users that were actively using Libby but deleted on accident will get a message from Libby saying “Please Verify Card.”

If a user comes to the library with their library card and the barcode does not pull up an account, it is easiest to make them a library card like you normally would with an application, etc., but reuse the card that they present. This will keep their barcode the same if they are Libby users.

If a user comes to the library to borrow materials and they do not have their old library card and their account isn’t in the system, you can make them a new library card. Just ask them if they used Libby and have any holds or current checkouts. If they say yes, please let them know that we will need their old library card number and we can merge their new account with their old account. If they don’t know their old card number, you can help them find it by opening the libby app, clicking on the three lines at the bottom of the screen, and clicking on manage cards. This will pull up their card number. Write down their name, old library card number, and new library card number on the patron needs attention form. We will merge their old accounts so they will be able to use Libby with their new card but keep current checkouts and not get displaced from the holds list. Otherwise, go ahead and make them a library card as usual.

*It is important that you get their old library card number if they do not want to lose their holds. We will need that to merge their accounts. *

If a user calls in saying that they can’t access Libby and you can’t find their information in our system, ask them to look for their library card number on Libby by opening the Libby app, clicking on the three lines at the bottom of the screen, and clicking on manage cards. Then you can make them a new library card (over the phone) using the information they provide. Then mail the new card to their address. You can also give the card number to them over the phone to help them get on Libby immediately. If they had holds or a current checkout, please write down their name, old library card number and new library card number on the patron needs attention form. We will merge their old accounts so they will be able to use Libby with their new card but keep current checkouts and not get displaced from the holds list.

*It is important that you get their old library card number if they do not want to lose their holds. We will need that to merge their accounts. *

*For cards you are recreating over the phone, please just put “will show ID when they visit the library” in the DL field.*

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask an Assistant Librarian or Department Head. Thanks for your help.

There is a sheet being passed around with clothing. Please pick one style and list your requested size. If the size you list would be different from a standard cotton t-shirt, please list your t-shirt size.

These will not be ordered until January at the earliest, but I want to get a count for budgeting purposes.

These are optional. If you do not want the JPL attire being offered, please put NA next to your name.

Please double-check your emergency contact listed on the Staff List on the Intranet. If the name or phone number needs to be updated, please let me know.

Thank you,

Molly

I put a sign on the Free Little Pantry stating that “Glass containers will be donated to the Johnston Partnership.”

As I have time, and others are welcome to help, I will pull glass items out of the pantry and put them in the white tub behind the Circulation Desk which goes to the Johnston Partnership.

If anyone is to ask why  – we have had too many accidents with broken glass containers which are messy and dangerous because of glass shards.

I email the Foundation President and Treasurer to pick up items once or twice a month. Before I send the email, I always place the items in a folder on an organizer on my desk.

So I take credit for my office being overwhelming – so I have pulled the Foundation folders to a separate stand labeled foundation folders. See the picture above. Please make sure you verify if you are looking for the president (Justin) or the treasurer’s (Sharm) folder. Often one is empty while the other has items. Please know that I will not email them to come by unless there are items in their folder, so there is certainly something in their folder.

If you cannot find anything, would you double-check with a co-worker or give me a call to see if I can help get them connected with their items?

Thanks for your help.

Halloween Music is on Display. Please be careful at Check-in or as you are helping patrons. J Music CDs do not have a separate holiday section, so they do not belong in the holiday display.

After this season, we will be storing all holiday CDs beneath the JF in the preshelvign area. We will have one box that is a combo Halloween/Holiday.

A message from Employee and Family Resources:

Everyone has days when they could use a listening ear or a kind word. Half the population will experience a mental health condition during their lifetime. Yet many remain silent because of the stigma that surrounds mental health.

This World Mental Health Day it is time to break down barriers and speak up. Togetherall is a place to find support, voice your feelings, and take control of your well-being. Offered through Employee and Family Resources, Togetherall is a place to find peer and professional support and 24/7 access to empowering resources. Employees of the City of Johnston and family members of employees are eligible to use Togetherall.

You can find out more information about Togetherall here.

Last week my newsfeed was filled with information about intellectual freedom in celebration of Banned Books Week.

This document has been put together by the State Law Library regarding the role of the public library and intellectual freedom. I have printed a copy for each desk so you can read it as you have some downtime.