Category: All-Library News

Andrew will be playing the cello in the Des Moines Symphony masterworks 5 featuring Carl St. Clair as guest conductor.  We will be playing “Alone Together,” by John Winglass, Max Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in g minor, and Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony in b minor.  Aubree Oliverson will be the violinist joining us, and here is a link with info on how to purchase tickets:  https://my.desmoinesperformingarts.org/0/6350?queueittoken=e_newdmpasafetynet~q_e517ff6f-425c-41bd-bc41-7f28dce068ba~ts_1677775516~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_494a4c4eaf2ee02a62d427465579405ef9635424c279563af1192903ddf5ba5d

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RXw6mt0gp3A7lEe3PDyoGPIa1h5ET5uc/view?usp=sharing

The 2023 Author Fair was a success! We have 7 prize bags for winners. Prize bags are behind the Reference Desk and labeled with the prize winners names. All winners have been called and informed. There is a Author Fair Prize Winner List on the paper cutter behind the Ref Desk. When someone picks up their prize, please put a  checkmark next to their name.

Thanks!

All of the instruction books for federal form 1040 are on the counter. We do not have any additional supply. When these are gone, they’re gone.

The library board recently approved the following addition (highlighted) to the list of violations included in Conduct in the Library Policy.

Bringing an animal into the library, unless it is assisting a person with a disability. Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support are not allowed in the library.

There’s no need to address every instance of an animal in the library–just if the animal is causing problems. If the animal is not causing problems, assume it’s a legit service animal. If you do need to address a patron with an animal, you can only ask two questions:

• Is the dog a service animal that is required because of a disability? (You are not allowed to ask about the disability.)
• What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

You are not allowed to request documentation or that the dog demonstrate its task. Let me know if you have any questions.

The public loves shred day! We’ve received our first inquiry if AARP will be sponsoring a shred day to be held at JPL. The answer is yes BUT the date has not yet been confirmed. The tentative date is April 29, 2023, 9am-Noon. More details to come.

Andrew will be playing the cello in the Des Moines Symphony youth concerts on March 7th and 8th.  If you know anyone who will be attending, please let me know.  Please let them know about a colleague playing the cello as well.

Patrons can now cancel holds with a status of Available from the website. When they cancel a hold that is available, the status of the item will change to Unclaimed and the item with be pulled with the unclaimed holds from the Holds shelf and put on hold for the next person or put back on the shelf.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

We did not receive the Sunday Des Moines Register today.

*The website is now fixed. Let me know if you experience or hear of any issues with it.

Polaris support is working on a problem with the piece of their software that the website pulls information from. Search and account information is currently unavailable. I’m hoping it’s resolved soon.

Update: The upgrade is complete. You may resume your use of the Polaris client software. You should have a new Polaris 7.3 shortcut on your PC desktop.

Patrons can access remote databases.

Eric is working on resetting the configuration file for the catalog.

If you have any questions, please let me or Lori F. know.

Update: The upgrade is nearly complete. The software is installed, but Polaris staff have to run a few quality assurance tests before they’ll call the upgrade finished. Circ staff may check materials out on Circ1 and Circ2, but let’s hold off on other Polaris activities until we get the all clear. Our website is up, but the catalog will not work until Eric resets a configuration file. The connection between Polaris and remote databases (like Bridges) is not working yet.

The upgrade to Polaris 7.3 has begun. Please do not open the Polaris client until further notice.

Some or all of the www.johnstonlibrary.com website may not be working. Patrons will not be able to log into Bridges (Overdrive, Libby) or other resources that require a barcode and PIN.

We hope to be back online by 9 a.m.

Just a heads up that the library now has a few PS5 games in Circulation. They will follow the same shelving rules as the other videogames.

I have received a few patron questions about the annual Lions Club Book Sale.

The Lions Club Website still lists the 2022 dates.

I don’t have the exact times, but per Ron L (Lions Club Volunteer) the 2023 book sale will be held March 2-4 at the Lions Club – 6501 Merle Hay Rd. 

We will get you the times and let you know when the website is updated. For now, the dates above are what we know.

A display from the African American Museum of Iowa will be setup at JPL sometime this week and will be here until March 3rd.

Examine the role public schools play in funneling students into the prison system in Suspended: Systemic Oppression in our Schools, an original exhibition developed by the African American Museum of Iowa. Elements of the criminal justice system have entered public schools around the country, resulting in zero tolerance policies and student policing that disproportionately effect children of color.

Find more information about the display here.

Janet Wilwerding, Communication Manager, shared these options for getting information from the City of Johnston (and Polk Co.) regarding general information and emergency alerts. These are optional, but we wanted to make sure you were aware that they are available for staff and community members:

Johnston Alerts (Civic Ready) – www.cityofjohnston.com/JohnstonAlerts
The City of Johnston uses CivicReady to send emergency alerts and other notifications. Subscribers can register to receive emergency alerts via phone call, text message, and/or email. Non-emergency messages will be sent by text and/or email. If you wish to subscribe to emergency alerts by SMS text message only, text your zip code to 38276. You can sign up now to receive weather-related alerts – that part is quite nice.

Examples of messages sent through CivicReady:

• A snow parking ban is in effect
• Missing persons
• Local threats
• Road closures and traffic alerts
• Utility service disruptions
• Other incidents that require rapid communication

Johnston Press Releases –  http://www.cityofjohnston.com/list.aspx
The City of Johnston sends out press releases to local media. Once complete, they are also posted on the City of Johnston’s website. You can sign up to receive an email and/or text alert on the press releases.  Visit http://www.cityofjohnston.com/list.aspx and look for the “Johnston Press Releases” under “Notify me.”

Johnston Notifications (Civic Engage) – www.cityofjohnston.com/notifications

Stay up-to-date with general news and information from the City of Johnston by subscribing to Notify Me email and text notifications.

By signing up, you can receive automatic notifications for:

• Calendar Events
• News Flash updates
• City of Johnston Job Postings
• Board, Council, and Commission Agendas

City Newsletter – www.cityofjohnston.com/Enewsletter
This newsletter provides information on upcoming events, activities, or project updates. The newsletter is sent out every Thursday and the first of each month. However, only the monthly newsletter is sent if the first of the month falls within the same week. We also have an employee newsletter that is sent out each quarter. The next newsletter will be on December 1. Maddy also prints a copy and provides it to the department directors to hang in their designated areas. It provides information on new employees, birthdays, anniversaries and projects happening in the city.

Polk County/Alert Iowa – www.smart911.com/smart911/ref/reg.action?pa=polkcountyia

These notifications are sent through Polk County. If you were previously signed up for the Polk County alerts through SMART 911, the system did not transfer over the contacts. You will need to sign up to receive the alerts again.

In the event of an emergency or severe weather, an alert will be sent to the phone number and/or email address provided by voice, text and/or email. This is a free service provided by Polk County and the State of Iowa; however, normal message fees may apply. To receive text messages to your cell phone, your cell phone must have text messaging capabilities.

Some examples of the types of incidents or events where the Polk County/Alert Iowa system may be effective in notifying our citizens to include the following:

• Environmental and Natural Disasters: Floods, Dangerous Water Conditions, Water Safety Alerts, Dam/Levee Breaks
• Search and Rescue: Missing Children, Missing Elderly, Missing Disabled, Evacuation Notices, Evacuation Routes
• Crime: Law Enforcement Activities, Prisoner Escape Warning, Neighborhood Crime Watches
• Man-Made Disasters: Terrorism Threats, Bomb Threats, Nuclear Hazards, Bio Terrorism Threats, Chemical Spills, Hazardous Material Emergencies, Gas Leaks, Hostage Situations
• Public Works: Drinking Water Contamination, Utility Outages, Street Closings, Public Notifications

Hello All,
Tax season is upon us so I wanted to submit a friendly reminder about info and services we offer during this time, as well as info and services we do not offer.

Eric has made our tax link live on our website. It is under our Services tab and a little quick link above slider images on the homepage. This is the most expedient way to link people to printable forms for Iowa and Federal tax forms. The link also has info about what government offices people need to go to if they want to pick up their tax forms in person.

JPL has received federal 1040 and 1040SR forms plus federal 1040 instruction booklets. The 1040SR stands for senior. It is intended for people 65 or older. Form is basically the same but has larger print and calls out tax benefits for people over age 65.

If individuals are seeking tax forms above and beyond the forms listed above, we will print them for individuals for free. We will not print instruction manuals for free.

The tax link on our website also has information about free tax preparation people can take advantage of if they are interested. AARP offers free tax prep, as well as United Way. Links to those sites with location and date and time info is posted there.

During this time, it’s important to remember that we do not provide tax advice or information to people, in the same way we do not provide medical or legal information to people. Just a friendly reminder that we can connect people to services and organizations that do provide this information, but we are not the information ourselves.