Category: All-Library News

There are word and logic puzzles in the breakroom for staff to try out. Help me decide which ones will be used for summer reading by leaving comments on the puzzles and comment pages. All opinions, suggestions, and thoughts are welcome!

Let me know what you think about them!

–Lolo B

Andrew will be playing in the Des Moines Symphony this weekend, and here is a link to purchase tickets:  https://desmoinesperformingarts.org/events/giunta-conducts-rachmaninoff/.  We are playing Rachmaninoff works plus a contemporary piece.

Please see the note below from City Hall Payroll:

Please let your employees know that there has been an error in PTO accrual in the pay stubs that were sent out today.  New pay stubs will be sent later today with the correct number of accrued hours reflected. 

The second email you received is your correct pay stub.

Eric Melton submitted his resignation, effective today, to Library Board President, Dan Marvin.

At the regular meeting next week, the Library Board will appoint an interim director.

In the meantime, please direct any communication for Eric to me. As a reminder, my cell is 515-210-4441.

Thank you everyone for voting for this year’s Summer Reading Bookmark Contest!

The Winners are…

We had a tie for the first age group so we had two winners for pre-k-3rd grade!

Winners have NOT been notified, but will be soon. Winners will have their bookmark professionally printed and a gift card to Beaverdale Books. The bookmarks will be passed out throughout the summer!

Important update for JobNow/VetNow. You may have noticed that OptimalResume is no longer listed on the homepage. It has been rebranded and revised to become SkillsFirst, which includes the popular resume building tool. You’ll notice a modernized layout and additional tools specifically designed with ATS in mind. There is a complete set of career preparation tools to help your community members navigate the hiring funnel and land a job. For an overview of all that is offered within SkillsFirst, you can watch an overview here: https://vimeo.com/763597654

The original Overdrive App has been discontinued as of May 1. Although this planned sunsetting of the app has been communicated to users for over a year, some patrons are just now realizing they have to use Libby. Here are some tools you can use to assist patrons.

• Instructional handouts from Libby can be found in this folder:
  • P:\Public Services\Libby Guides
• The Niche tutorial available on our website.
• And through the Browse>eBooks tabs on our website:
• 
• 

Voting for the 2023 Summer Reading Bookmark Contest is now open! Please vote for your favorite bookmark in each category. Winners will be announced on Monday, May 8!

https://forms.gle/ULFmmEFFuYyvVFcw9

As we approach summer we may get questions about the Johnston Farmers Market which is held at the Johnston Town Center on Tuesdays, June – September 2023.

The City has a nice page about the Farmers Market which includes links to vendor forms and directs all questions to Nate Osmundson at (515) 727-8091.

So if the link below does not answer the question about the Farmer’s Market, we should refer them to Nate O. with the Parks Department.

https://www.cityofjohnston.com/865/Farmers-Market

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!

We will hold an all-staff meeting Friday, May 19th, 9am-12pm. More details forthcoming.

Tonieboxes and Tonie characters are now available for check out! The tags (similar to the learning tool tags) will live near the Launchpad tags on the slat wall in YS. We have 2 kits that include a Toniebox, 2 characters, and charging pad and 5 kits that include 3 Tonies (for those that already own a Toniebox).

Each Tonie character has approx. 60 minutes of content including stories & songs. Click here to learn more about Tonies: https://lib.de.us/tonies/

Happy National Library Workers Day!

Your hard work and dedication are seen and appreciated. Thank you for all that you do for the community, the library, and each other.

Enjoy some treats in the break room!

The public can pick up a kite kit from the library in preparation for Kites on the Green. I have some kite kits behind the Circ Desk, on the white cart, if anyone asks for one.

Molly

[UPDATE] LinkedIn Learning is reactivated.

In the last few months, we have had a few instances where people who look for used books that they can resell for a profit have asked to look at our donated book inventory that is not out in the Commons.

We have occasionally let them look at books on the donated cart, and I have had people press to be let into the book sale closet to go through books.

Going forward, we do not allow people to sort through the donations cart, boxed books for the Lions Club, or get into the book sale closet to search through our donated items that have not been put out for sale. If you are pressed, please share that we have a process for reviewing donated items, and only items put out in the book sale area are available to browse or purchase. We do not place holds on book sale items.

Let Molly or Laura know if you have questions.