Category: All-Library News

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!

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.

Rose’s babies arrived on Monday, July 31. One baby weighed in at 3.94lbs & one at 4.05lbs. We are patiently waiting for more updates from Rose. Babies and mama are healthy – babies will spend about 3-4 weeks in the NICU.

I know we promised that we would publish a new week’s schedule every Friday.

Publishing the week of August 6-12 will happen tomorrow by 5 pm.

Peg

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.

At last Sunday’s All-Staff Meeting, there were requests for a list of birthdays and work anniversaries. I’ve compiled the list and placed it under Staff Resources.

I used the start date listed in When to Work. For those who started here before we began using When To Work, the date listed is the date we started using the new scheduling system. If you want me to enter your real anniversary date for posterity, just let me know the date, and I’ll update the list.

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. 

Patrons are no longer automatically receiving instructions for learning tools by e-mail. When a patron checks out a learning tool that has instructions, offer to print or e-mail the instructions.

In the coming weeks, I will be adding links to the bib records and updating the tags for patrons to access the instructions on their own.

Due to licensing restrictions, we cannot request eBooks and eAudio through interlibrary loan. When patrons ask about accessing an eBook or eAudio that is not available through Bridges, please submit a purchase request.

Patrons may also submit purchase requests through the Libby app or the OverDrive website.

The eBook and eAudio records were not displaying properly in the catalog, so I’ve hidden them from view. Please use the Libby app or the Overdrive web site to search for these titles.

You will still be able to see eBook and eAudio bib records in the Polaris staff client.

Let’s talk TRASH!  Or at least where to put our trash at JPL.  We are making a few changes in hopes to keep our recycling and trash where it needs to be.  Here are some basic guidelines.

*Paper without  personal information can be placed in blue recycling trash bins, found soon at most desk areas.

*Paper containing personal information should go into the shredding bins located back of the circulation desk.

*Cardboard should be broken down and placed in the top bin of the 2-bin recycling cart located near the staff entrance. Full? See one of our friendly TS staff for assistance.

*Withdrawn books that are not in good condition for Better World Book donations or our book sale room should go in the bottom bin of the 2-bin recycling cart located near the staff entrance. Full? See one of our friendly TS staff for assistance.

*Non-functioning library equipment can be directed to Lori F.

*Larger trash, such as broken chairs, plastic containers, or  items that do not fit in our regular trash cans can be taken directly to the dumpster or placed in the larger trash cans in the janitor’s closet. Ask a friendly TS staff member for help!

*At this time JPL does not offer glass, plastic, or metal recycling.  Please recycle these items at home.

*We are asking that the gray utility cart near the staff entrance now be left free of any recycling or garbage., so that it can be used by all staff , without needing to first clear it off.

Please see Lori E with any comments or questions.

Thanks!

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.

**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!

As a thank you for all that you do as a City Employee the Menace has invited us to join in cheering the team this Friday for a home game at a discount rate of just $7 a ticket. Enjoy with family & friends! The first 500 will receive a FREE defend Des Moines t-shirt!! The game is Friday, July 21^st at 7 p.m. at the Valley Stadium located: 4440 Mills Civic Pkwy, West Des Moines, IA 50265.

Order your tickets by clicking on the link: https://fevogm.com/event/CityjohnstonR32

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.”

1. Please make a copy of the time sheet template and save it to your individual folders on the P drive.
2. Most of the cells in the template are locked, meaning you can’t change them. That’s on purpose because many contain formulas.
3. If you encounter a cell that you should be able to use, but it’s locked, please let Peg know and I’ll correct the template.

To All Staff,

In an effort to make our time sheets as accurate as possible, I have added a section at the bottom of each template for you to manually enter the weekly total hours your WTW account says you worked.

This means that before turning in your time sheet, you must access your employee WTW account to find the hours it says you worked. If there are discrepancies, please speak to Molly or Peg prior to the end of the pay period.

The modified time sheets can be found on this staff intranet. Look at the top ribbon, click on PRINTABLES/MASTERS, scroll down to the T’s.

We have four primary employment levels, see below. Please make sure you use the correct time sheet. Although they look similar, the codes differ on each. If you do not know which time sheet to use, please ask your supervisor.

• Exempt Full time
• Regular/Non-Exempt Full time
• Regular/Non-Exempt Part time = working 20-30 hrs/wk (meaning you earn PTO)
• Part time = Working less than 20 hrs/wk (meaning you don’t earn PTO)