Category: All-Library News

Hello all,

Thank you for answering the numerous phone calls about Shred Day that is scheduled for tomorrow, April 27th from 9am to noon. A couple details you may be getting asked:

• Shred Day will continue rain or shine unless there is lightning. At that point, it would become a safety issue and Shred Day would be cancelled. From what I can see right now, it does not look like thunderstorms are forcasted until much later in the day.
• The SHRED IT company will be in the JPL parking lot from 9:00am to 12:00pm for on-site document destruction with 3 of their mobile document-shredding vehicles. THE SHRED IT company is  AAA certified by the National Association for Information Destruction.
• Patrons should limit material to be shredded to 3 disposable boxes or containers per household.
• To expedite shredding, traffic will route from Merle Hay around the library onto Morningside Drive and enter the west parking lot by the Simpson Barn.
• Patrons are asked to stay in their  vehicle and a volunteer will collect boxes for on-site document shredding.

Please send Riddhi or Peg an email at sheth@johnstonlibarary.com or rasmussen@johnstonlibarary.com if you are not able to turn in your time sheet by this day and time.

For the time being, we will not have a notary regularly available on Mondays after 6 pm as Peg is in a program.

Hello all,

On June 1, we will be hosting a Perfect Burger cooking class. I wanted to put out a call to see if any staff members who live close by have gas grills and would be willing to loan them for a morning. The class will be taught inside with grill pans if we cannot gather gas grills.
If you have a gas grill and can transport and loan it for a morning, please let me know.

Thank you!

Beth

Please see the message from the Library Board of Trustees below. I am very excited for the next chapter at JPL, and I am eager to begin work with the new director. Holly is very well respected in the Iowa library community, and she is going to be a great leader:

Dear JPL staff,

Thank you for your patience during our search for the next Library Director for the Johnston Public Library.  Pending Library Board approval at a special board meeting on May 2nd, we are pleased to announce that our next director is Holly Sealine.  Holly is currently a Public Service Manager at the Ankeny Kirkendall Public Library and has previously been the director at the Norwalk Easter Public Library.  Holly’s first day at the library will be May 31st.  There will be a press release to the public after our May 2nd meeting, but the Library Board wanted you all to know in advance because we recognize how important this decision is to each and every one of you.

Thank you to everyone that participated in the library director search.  Whether you attended the presentations, gave building tours, staffed a desk so others could attend, met the candidates, or filled out the survey, we appreciated your willingness to assist the Board in making this decision.

Best,
Kelly McAlister

Please send me an email if are not able to turn in your time sheet by this day and time rasmussen@johnstonlibarary.com.

There is the potential for severe weather tomorrow. Please take a moment to review the emergency cards at the desks for the procedures for tornado watches and warnings.

Spring is here and this is a great time for us to review our behavior policies. 

Here are the basics:
If any patron displays disruptive behavior such as excessive noise, running or play fighting, they will receive two warnings/reminders. In case a person is reminded for a third time, they will be asked to leave the library for the rest of the day.

Reminders:

1. Use the #behaviorinthelibrary channel to communicate with your coworkers. You can update them about warnings, behaviors you are seeing, or if there is something they should be looking out for.
2. When someone is asked to leave, please submit a Conduct in the Library report through the intranet. This helps staff track suspensions and identify trends. Please note that we are in the process of replacing the current Conduct in the Library form, but more information will be available when it is ready to go live.
3. If you are trying to figure out what to do in a specific situation, don’t hesitate to ask for help. LICs (Librarian in Charge) are available and willing to assist you.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. 

Please find the message from our Library Board regarding the final interview schedule for Thursday, bios of the three final candidates, and a QR Code for presentation feedback.

Good Morning JPL Staff –

Happy National Library Workers Day!!  We are so grateful that you choose to work at the Johnston Public Library and appreciate all your hard work to make JPL a great asset to our community.

We are looking forward to our Finalists’ Interviews for the Library Director on Thursday, April 11th.  Please find the finalists’ bios attached to this post for your review along with a schedule for the activities that day.  Again, if you are able, any staff can attend the finalists’ presentations in the West Meeting Room (see schedule for times).  I’ve also attached a QR code to the feedback survey you can fill out after seeing the presentations.  Please only fill out the feedback form if you have attended the presentations or interacted with the candidates on that day in your official capacity at the library.

If you have any questions, please reach out!

JPL – Finals Schedule (with Candidate Names)
Finalist Bios – Johnston Library – 2024
QR code for printing – Johnston Public Library – 2024

Hello All,
This Thursday, April 11 is a big day. The 3 final candidates for the Director Position at JPL will be participating in the following activities:

• Q & A session with JPL Department Heads
• Tour of the building
• 15-minute presentations followed by a Q & A in sessions open to the public
• Interviews with the Johnston Library Board

As you know, Molly is one of the final 3 candidates who will be part of this day-long interview process.
While you will see Molly in the building this Thursday, she is not present as a JPL staff member on this day. Please don’t go to her with any questions on Thursday. She is here solely for the interview process.

If you have any questions regarding desk services, technology, library materials, etc. please make the best decision available to you in the moment. As always, our coworkers are our best resources when we need additional information. Beth, Megan and Dreama will be in the building and monitoring Slack during the day.  Peg is the L.I.C. from 8:30-12; Megan is the L.I.C. from 12-5; and I’m the L.I.C. from 5 until close.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Pigott is scheduled to deliver a new chair for the director’s office on Tuesday, April 9. They have been directed to use the west entrance and ask for Lori French. Please let me know when they arrive.

Thanks!

Please congratulate Riddhi on her promotion to Assistant Librarian! Her promotion is effective immediately as she begins her training on scheduling, timesheets and librarian in charge.

As you all probably know, I am a cellist in the Des Moines Symphony, and will be playing the upcoming Masterworks and Pops sets.  Next weekend is Masterworks 6 featuring the BRKFST dance company from Minnesota, and we will be playing Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue arranged for string orchestra by Felix Weingartner, Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, selections from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, and selections from Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev.  Concerts will take place next Saturday the 13th at 7:30 PM, and Sunday the 14th at 2:30 PM at the Civic Center in downtown Des Moines.

The next pops concert is April 27th at 7:30 PM at the Civic Center, and Hamilton’s Renee Elise Goldsberry will be joining us.  Here are links to purchase tickets for both sets:

https://www.dmsymphony.org/concerts-events/discover-symphonic-dance/

https://desmoinesperformingarts.org/events/evening-with-renee-elise-goldsberry/

I hope you all can attend!

As part of National Library Week, we are collecting Food for Fines from Sunday, April 7 through Saturday, April 13, 2024. Donated items (food and personal health items like diapers, feminine hygiene products, paper towels, etc.) will go to the Johnston Partnership to support individuals in our community experiencing food insecurity.

• One donated food or personal health item = $1.00 in fines
• Food items will not be accepted as payment for lost/damaged items or items that have gone to collections

• No maximum payment with food
• No need to count food –take the patron’s word for it

We have free started herb seeds left over from the Homemade-ish: Starter Herb Garden Class. Planters are labeled with contents: basil, cilantro, and parsley. These are free to a good home and patrons can take as many as they want. The soil is dry right now; seeds should be watered once they arrive at their forever home. Thanks!

We have new tall chairs in the Youth Computer Lounge along with a repurposed tall table!!!

The tables and craft storage container were delivered today (Friday), but I didn’t finish putting the tables together. Hoping to have the tables finished on Monday and the window area where the tablets used to live up and running sometime next week.

Thank you for your patience.

Megan

FYI – McAuley has asked to change this month’s book club meeting from April 30 to April 23. I have updated the Event Calendar. This is just an FYI in case someone wonders why it’s not on the last Tuesday of the month as usual.

Peg

Hey all,

AARP is asking people to register for the JPL Shred Day on their website. They are gathering statistical data for their own program. Patrons DO NOT need to register to utilize the JPL Shred Day.
Thanks! Ask Beth if you have any questions.

We have new art in the JPL Gallery. As you have time, check out work by Diane Tough. Diane works with watercolor, pastels and acrylics and finds inspiration in nature and everyday life. She uses the interplay of light and shadow and varies the texture and size of brush strokes to foster an impressionistic approach to realism. She says “there is so much beauty in Iowa, the subjects are endless!”
https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/1428/JPL-Art-Gallery

New artwork in the display cases will be installed this Friday, April 5.

Librarian in Charge

In the absence of the Director and Assistant Director, the Librarian in Charge is the staff member designated to direct the library’s response to emergencies, troubleshoot technology problems, handle building-related issues, and respond to patron complaints, policy questions, behavior issues, and other situations that cannot be managed by other staff.

Starting April 1, Librarian in Charge will be listed on When to Work and they will identify themselves on Slack when they are working as the Librarian in Charge. The Librarian in Charge will handle building maintenance issues, technology issues, escalated patron concerns and behavior management issues. They will be the manager.

It will be critical that you bring issues to the Librarian in Charge via Slack or in person. The Librarian in Charge will respond to your question as quickly as they can. These questions will be their first priority outside of working with patrons.

I will be directing questions to the Librarian in Charge in order to help those individuals get acclimated with all types of behavior, building, and Polaris information. If the Librarian in Charge needs assistance, Department Heads and I will be there to help out, but we do need to run things past the Librarian in Charge first.

My goal with this is to pass institutional knowledge about the building and policy implementation to more staff so that we have answers readily available and to keep things running if library administration is unavailable. I also want to respect that frontline staff have the most knowledge about day-to-day library work. Having Assistant Librarians be more involved with questions and concerns will keep our responses at the procedure and policy level more connected to the work that staff do on a daily basis.

Thanks in advance for your help with this. Please let me know if you have questions.