Author: Molly Guerra

Please join us this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. to dedicate the Musical Garden in honor of Kinney Carnahan. We will meet by the Musical Garden and enjoy treats and memories. This is a family-friendly event. Please feel free to share the invitation.

April Sigmund has decided to take advantage of the travel opportunities with her full-time work (which is remote) and has resigned from JPL.

Meredith has accepted a full-time job which will limit her availability at JPL, and she will be reducing her hours to Monday evenings and one Saturday a month.

We will miss them both, but I know these are exciting opportunities for them.

The library will be bringing on several new library clerks in the next weeks. First to start will be Kris Whetstone. Kris is a library user and we are excited to have her begin. Kris will begin this coming Wednesday, and I know we will all welcome her!

To all municipal employees of the City of Johnston,

Yesterday, at approximately 4:10 p.m., the City of Johnston received an email from Community State Bank. This communication informed us that the ACH payroll deposit was currently in ‘draft’ mode and will not be processed before the cutoff for that day, Thursday, September 14, 2023.

Community State Bank has provided assurance that the payroll deposit is scheduled for processing on Friday, September 15, 2023, and should be reflected in your accounts by the afternoon.

The Johnston Public Library is partnering with Polk County Health and the Talk It Up, Lock It Up Gun Safety Campaign.

Did you know that in Polk County:

• Gun injuries are one of the leading causes of death for children and young adults
• One in three homes has a gun
• 45% of gun-related deaths occurred at home
• 66% of suicides are attributed to gun injuries
  • Youth and young adults in Polk County are suffering from higher rates of depression and anxiety  – putting them at a higher risk of suicide.
• Talking with friends and family members about storing guns locked and unloaded at home and in vehicles helps prevent gun-related injuries and deaths.

Free gun locks are available for pick up at the Polk County Health Department, Johnston Police Department, and the Johnston Public Library.

*Our location has been advertised as a pickup site, so patrons may ask for a free gun lock. Please distribute them as requested by patrons. Gun locks are available behind the Circulation Desk, on top of the shred bin, in the cardboard box labeled with a Gun Safety flyer. If we run out, please let Molly know*

Hey All – It seems fitting after our staff celebration this afternoon that I pass along a message to library staff.

This morning I was in a meeting with Mayor Dierenfeld and Council Members Rhonda Martin and Jim Evans.  They each took time from the meeting to recognize the work of library staff and thank you for all your hard work during this transition period. Library staff were completely singled out as top performers.

Mayor Dierenfeld,  and Council Members Evans and Martin were very direct in their praise of your (yes you!) hard work and dedication to the community. On behalf of Mayor Dierenfeld and Councilmembers Jim Evans and Rhonda Martin – Thank you for what you are doing for the City of Johnston.

As for me, I want to echo what Dreama wrote earlier this week: We have gone through many changes in the last few months and we still have work ahead of us, but we are accomplishing so much. It is not going unseen.

You know you have a great job with great coworkers when you are excited to come home from a trip and get back to work. Thank you to everyone from the bottom of my heart.

I will be out of the country with limited access to email and phone from August 28 – Sept 6.

Dreama is in charge while I am out. She will be the person to contact with escalated general library issues – escalated behavior, building maintenance, human resources issues, library bills, etc.). Her cell phone is 515-422-6791.

Mary Bush will be the main point of contact for escalated circulation questions – library charges (fines/replacement costs), accounts, and anything circulation-related. She has been promoted to Assistant Circulation Librarian. Her work email is bush@johnstonlibrary.com. If you need immediate assistance and Mary is not working, please remember that there are the Patron/Item needs assistance forms at the Circ Desk. Mary will follow up if you fill out one of those forms.

I will be out of the country with limited access to email and phone from August 28 – Sept 6.

While I am gone specific areas of my responsibilities have been delegated to specific people. Since we are already a little short-staffed, it will work best if we can try to follow these lines of communication as closely as possible. This will help evenly distribute the work.

Dreama is in charge while I am out. She will be the person to contact with escalated general library issues – escalated behavior, building maintenance, human resources issues, library bills, etc.). Her cell phone is 515-422-6791.

For all scheduling needs that impact a desk (YS, PS, CIRC or Teen Sp), please contact Peg. For immediate issues(within the next 72 hours) please text her at 515-991-0713. If it is a minor thing more than 72 hours out, you can email her.

Mary Bush will be the main point of contact for escalated circulation questions – library charges (fines/replacement costs), accounts, and anything circulation-related. She has been promoted to Assistant Circulation Librarian. Her work email is bush@johnstonlibrary.com. If you need immediate assistance and Mary is not working, please remember that there are the Patron/Item needs assistance forms at the Circ Desk. Mary will follow up if you fill out one of those forms.

Beth and Peg are both available to back up any public desk with things outside desk duties. They are also happy to answer questions about desk duties while I am out.

Librarian in Charge – Remember that Assistant Librarians act as Librarians in Charge and are an immediate resource. There is an Assistant Librarian on staff at most times.

Eric Gradeler has resigned from JPL effective immediately. While he is welcome as a patron at the library, he is no longer to enter staff-only areas.

Please let me know if you have any questions for concerns.

Molly

At yesterday’s Library Board Meeting, the library board approved a quote to move www.johnstonlibrary.com to the same platform that the City of Johnston uses to host their website – CivicPlus.

Over the next eight to twelve weeks, the library will be working the complete the transition. We will continue to keep staff posted and provide an orientation to the new website and the new catalog, https://catalog.johnstonlibrary.com/polaris/ , as we progress with the project.

Thank you for all of your understanding as we make necessary, but not always easy, changes. You are an amazing group of library professionals. Your flexibility with When to Work, desk schedules, and technology changes are not going unnoticed. Thanks for all your hard work.

I just wanted to send out a message regarding desk duties and departments. We have been successful in moving toward our goal of integrating staff from different departments at all of the service desks. This will continue to happen as a part of our All Desk Service Model. The All Desk Trainings are intended to be the core duties at each desk regardless of the name of the desk or the department. The tasks you do off the desk or during slow periods at the desk will still be specific to your department.

We are working to create more uniform workstations at each desk to facilitate moving between the desks with ease. For instance, each desk has a blue folder with printed instructions on how to open and close each desk area, but please ask your coworkers when you have questions. I will work with you to facilitate shadowing at opening and closing so everyone gets a chance to see how other desks close.

Here are some examples of when it would be smart to try to use a new muscle at a desk and when it might be wise to just go ahead and ask for help:

A few weeks ago I was at the Youth Services Desk. I was chatting with a family that I have talked with before. They were browsing for books in a very leisurely manner. One of the girls was looking for a book series but she didn’t remember the title or much about the series. I knew that I probably wasn’t going to be the best person to find the series, but they seemed very willing to work with me as I looked. So I did some Google searching, I did some catalog searching, and I asked them the questions I knew to ask. We worked together for about 5 or 10 minutes, and then I said, “Let’s pull in the big wigs” and I grabbed Megan and Jessica. Of course, Megan and Jessica found the series in a few minutes. I didn’t feel bad at all because I learned a lot about children’s book series during the search and I got to practice a skill that I don’t use that often. The family didn’t seem upset at all. They even discovered a book series while we were searching. It was a win-win. If the family had been with a crying baby or seemed like they needed to leave ASAP, I probably would have only looked with them for a minute before grabbing help.

That same day, we had a woman come in to use the computers. She began her interactions at the PS Desk in a surly manner. The PS Desk was already fairly busy, and Cathy went ahead a grabbed me right away. In that situation, Cathy did the right thing. Cathy had other patrons that needed her attention and the woman made it clear that she was in a hurry and didn’t have the time or inclination to wait and I was available.

We can’t always give the rushed patron an extra hand, but if there is a backup and you get the sense that this will be escalated, don’t be afraid to ask for help.  That being said, don’t be afraid to try new things like readers advisory or helping with a library resource you rarely use. You can always ask for help after you give it a shot. If we never practice our All Desk Skills, they won’t stick. Most of the time patrons are very understanding if you are unsure and when you frame it correctly, it can be a learning experience for everyone.

Please note that Meeting Room Technology/Approval is not an All Desk Skill. So while you are going to approve study rooms and let people into study rooms as a desk task, letting groups into the Meeting Rooms and/or setting up Meeting Room Technology is a task that associates/guides and assistant librarians are trained to do. Clerks do not need to worry about learning that.

Also, know that All Desk Skills include only the basics of technology. You should be able to help a patron print a document, PDF, or email. You do not need to know how to reformat a resume, troubleshoot advanced technology issues, or assist patrons with in-depth Help Desk or Tech Lab tasks that are going to take more than 5 to 10 minutes. If they need a lot of assistance, you can schedule pending a help desk appointment.

Please continue to ask Molly and Peg if you have questions about the desk training, and we will do our best to schedule you with a staff member to review the skill you feel unsure about.

I have printed off a list of general All Desk Tasks and a list of things that are not All Desk Tasks.

Assistant Librarians and Library Associates/Guides will do some non-all desk tasks while on a desk – especially during the evenings and weekends.

This list is at each desk to look over. This is not going to cover every scenario, but I hope it helps clarify.

I have created a folder called  Building Maintenance in the PDrive.

It has a map of the library – we use this to mark areas that need to be cleaned or I might mark areas for workers to explore.

I also have a sub-folder called Open Work Orders. I will do my best to put in documents with information for contractors that have been contacted for quotes or work in the library – including pictures and a description of what we are needing.

I will still try to be here to work with contractors directly, but I find that they often just pop in unannounced – and don’t seem to know what work they have been sent to do. Sigh. You are always welcome to call or text me when that happens, but I hope these documents will be a resource also.

If you can still Slack, text, or email me that a worker has stopped by, I would appreciate it.

This won’t be perfect, but I hope it will be helpful. Currently, I have two documents in there – one for exterior maintenance quotes I am collecting and one for a broken window in the East Tower.

Library Director Search Update:

The library board has signed an agreement with the recruiting firm, Bradbury Miller. We will begin working with them at the end of November. This pushes our timeline for a new library director to April/May 2024.

Library Services Reminder:

JPL has two remote book returns at Beaver Creek Elementary and Horizon Elementary that are generally emptied on Monday and Friday mornings. We always backdate until the last empty. Thanks to our awesome volunteer, Layne, for emptying the book returns for the library!

Holiday Gathering Committee:

We are looking for social librarians to help plan this year’s Holiday Gathering. If you are interested or have ideas for a gathering in November or December to celebrate with your co-workers, please shoot me an email. I would like to get a group meeting in October to begin our planning.

Library Numbers:

In July we circulated over 1,043 items each day.

FY 23 (July 22 – June 23) JPL spent $84,416.87 on print and e-books for our collection.

Library Director Search Update:

The library board has signed an agreement with the recruiting firm, Bradbury Miller. We will begin working with them at the end of November. This pushes our timeline for a new library director to April/May 2024.

Library Services Reminder:

JPL has two remote book returns at Beaver Creek Elementary and Horizon Elementary that are generally emptied on Monday and Friday mornings. We always backdate until the last empty. Thanks to our awesome volunteer, Layne, for emptying the book returns for the library!

Holiday Gathering Committee:

We are looking for social librarians to help plan this year’s Holiday Gathering. If you are interested or have ideas for a gathering in November or December to celebrate with your co-workers, please shoot me an email. I would like to get a group meeting in October to begin our planning.

Library Numbers:

In July we circulated over 1,043 items each day.

FY 23 (July 22 – June 23) JPL spent $84,416.87 on print and e-books for our collection.

Hello – In the past we have had some circ tasks on When to Work. We have moved to a sheet posted on the Home Delivery Cabinet. Each week Mary or Molly will fill in the sheet. Please check it daily and mark your initials after you have completed your task.

If you notice that a co-worker’s name is listed but know that they are out that day, feel free to do the task and initial your name.

If you are not sure how to do a task, instructions are in the folder posted next to the sheet (or they will be tomorrow)

Thank you to those that could attend or watch the last all-staff meeting.

We have meetings planned on Sundays from 10:45 – 12:45 on these dates:

September 24

January 28

March 24

May 26

These meetings will follow a similar format – 10:45-11:30 social time and snacks / 11:30 -12:45 business meeting

We hope to see you there. Molly and Peg will send out a notice the month of each meeting to verify who will be attending for When to Work and timesheets.

Time Off Request Clarification – I wanted to clarify the process for requesting time off. If you are experiencing an emergency – illness, death, etc., please just let your supervisor, Molly, and Peg (all three) know as soon as you can. Molly and Peg will handle finding subs in emergencies. 

For planned absences appointments, trips, family events, recitals, etc. please use the time off feature on When to Work.

For planned absences on nights and weekends, please do your best to arrange swaps or subs with your co-workers using the trade board. 

Please don’t hesitate to ask Molly or Peg if you have any questions.

Building Updates

Des Moines Pest Control identified the source of the mice in the building. We have repaired the crack in the door. Please let Molly know if see more furry visitors.

This month the library had fire alarms, sprinklers, boilers, and the Large Meeting Room partition wall serviced. Everything passed inspection. There were four sprinkler covers that will be replaced this summer or fall.

One set of benches was recovered in the Commons this month. It is looking much better. We plan to get the library furniture on a repair and maintenance schedule. 

Library Services Reminder 

Library Numbers

832 items were checked out from displays in June and July.

On average 623 items were checked in daily since June.

Just a reminder that we are in a Heat Advisory this week. Our library is listed as a cooling center and DART will provide free rides to cooling centers in Polk County during head advisories.

https://www.polkcountyiowa.gov/emergency-management/our-plans/extreme-temperature-and-sheltering-resources/

In addition, RAGBRAI will be coming through Ankeny, Des Moines, and Altoona on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. While Johnston is not on the route, we do expect an influx of bike riders in the area. They may be using the library to cool. We do not allow bikes in the library generally.

I have blocked off the Large Meeting Room Wednesday afternoon until 5:30 pm (we have a meeting at 6 pm) and Thursday morning until 12 pm. We will want them to keep their bikes outside or in the Large Meeting Room. We cannot have people walking their bikes through the main area of the library.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

I just wanted to send out a quick reminder to everyone about Adventure Passes. This collaboration is a win for everyone involved – especially the community. Johnston PL users are some of the highest users, per capita, in the metro. The passes we purchase are similar in cost to the passes that individual families would purchase, yet our passes are used at least four to five times more than private passes are used.

It is vital that we very clearly communicate with library users how to use the Adventure Pass. Not specific to Johnston, there have been reports of people showing up at venues with just their library card in hand expecting to be admitted and families frustrated that a pass will only cover two of their three kids, etc. Those interactions are difficult for staff at the venues.

There will be times when the Adventure Pass isn’t a perfect fit for a family. I know I had someone very upset the other day because they have four kids. I tried to offer solutions such as going with another adult, but ultimately, that person was just upset. I simply pointed out that with the pass they (mom and four kids) would get in paying for three tickets less. I did my best to accept and process her disappointment here rather than place any blame on the venue.

When you mention Adventure Passes to new cardholders or help people reserve a pass, please do your best to clearly communicate the information below. While we cannot feel responsible for miscommunications, we do want to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep this partnership going for library users.

Thanks for your help!

• Passes are available for Johnston residents only on a first-come first-served basis and may be reserved up to 90 days in advance by cardholders 18 and older.
• The Library currently has membership with:
  • Science Center
  • Town Center Ice Rink
  • Brenton Skating Plaza
  • Blank Park Zoo
  • Des Moines Children’s Museum
  • Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden
  • Reiman Gardens.
• A printed pass is required for entry
• Passes for Blank Park Zoo, Science Center of Iowa, Des Moines Children’s Museum, Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, and Brenton Skating Plaza (including skate rental) are for 2 adults and 2 children. Reiman Gardens allows 2 adults and 4 children- children must be from the same household. Town Center passes are for one person each (including skate rental).
• Passes may be reserved one time per year for each location
• The institution may check your ID. The name on the printed pass should match the name on the ID of the adult using the pass
• To cancel a reservation please call the library (515-278-5233) prior to closing the day before your visit.

The Parks Department has begun to prepare the green space south of the West Patio for the installation of the musical instrument purchased in memory of Kinney Caranahan by the Library Foundation.

When the instruments have been installed and the landscaping has been completed, there will be a ribbon cutting and small reception. When a time and day have been established, I will let everyone know.

On Saturday we received a complaint about a gentleman watching explicit videos on a library computer. I do like to touch on freedom of speech when we talk about porn at the library.

This is from the Law Library at the State Library of Iowa:

It is important to remember that adults viewing adult pornography are not doing anything illegal, and general monitoring by staff of the content or use of library materials and resources in any format by patrons is inappropriate in all instances with the exception of observation for purposes of protecting library property. Therefore, it is best to intervene only in response to another patron’s complaints about what’s being viewed and then handle the situation according to the library’s conduct policy. 

I understand it can be embarrassing to discuss this with library patrons. If you are uncomfortable, please don’t hesitate to get the Librarian in Charge to assist with the conversation.

Please review the information from “Responding to Patron Behavior and Complaints.”

___________

Viewing some types of explicit content online—child pornography, for example, and rape—is illegal and should be reported to the Johnston Police Department. Viewing other types of explicit content—like sex acts, nudity, and extreme violence—is not illegal for adults even in a public library. That said, we are committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment for all patrons.

So what should you do if you see someone viewing explicit content in the Library?

Evaluate the situation

• Is the patron viewing the content in an area out of view of other patrons—in a study room, for example?
  • As long as no one has complained, the patron is an adult, and the content does not appear to be illegal, monitor the situation.

• Have you received a complaint or is the patron viewing the content in an area within view of other patrons—on a public PC near the reference desk, for example?

Either approach the patron in-person or use PC Reservation to tell the patron that we’ve received a complaint about what they’re looking at. Generally, this will embarrass the patron into leaving or doing something else. If they continue viewing explicit content, either approach the patron in-person or use PC Reservation to tell the patron that, because they’ve continued viewing explicit content, you need to end their PC session.