I wanted to share with you that I have applied for the Library Director position, and I am honored to be one of the three finalists presenting and interviewing on April 11. 

This may come as a surprise as I initially was not interested in pursuing the Director position. My initial hesitation came from the same place that spurred my application. I am passionate about this library and I know first-hand how critical our work is for the community. I did not want to put my candidacy forward if I was not 101% confident that I could do an excellent job leading the library and be certain that I would be able to balance my personal and professional commitments. 

The last ten months have been eye-opening, inspiring, invigorating and, occasionally, exhausting. I cannot believe what we have accomplished together. It has left me assured and persuaded to put my name forth as a candidate for the Library Board to consider in their search for the Library Director. You all have stepped up in so many ways, and I am excited for the future path as a library regardless of the outcome of the director search.

I am excited to share with some of you on April 11, and I move forward knowing that JPL is a top-notch place to call my work-home in any capacity. Thanks for all that you do to support the community of Johnston.

The library is hiring a part-time Assistant Librarian. The position will support Administration functions for Public Services, Circulation, and Administration.

Hours will be 8:45 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. with the occasional evening or weekend shift required and some flexibility in the schedule required.

This position will be regularly scheduled to work all service desks and serve as Librarian in Charge.

A bachelors degree is required along with a minimum of two years of customer service experience.

Starting pay is $21.00.

Please find the full job description here:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/cityofjohnston/jobs/4428273/part-time-assistant-librarian?pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

This position is open to internal and external applicants. Internal applicants may apply or ask further question by emailing Molly before March 26.

Hello Everyone,

After a fun and buzzing morning with the Bluey Playdate, I am thinking about our summer schedules.

In just a few short months, check-in will be increasing by an average of 250 items a day and daily visits  by 100+. We will be buzzing with action and need to prepare so we are fully staffed.

If you have travel plans May 15 – September 3, please enter them into When to Work no later than May 1. We cannot guarantee that all time off requests will be approved, but we will do our very best.

Thank you to everyone for all your willingness to pick up shifts! It is so amazing to see everyone step in and help out so we can take some time for our personal commitments while keeping the library moving forward and providing the best service to the community.

Thank you for all you do!

Board Member Kelly McAlister asked me to share the following post with all staff:

Hello JPL Staff –

We are excited to announce that we have 3 finalists for the JPL Director position.  We had a robust pool of candidates and we conducted semi-final interviews with 7 of the 20 applicants.  Word is out that JPL is a great place to be as many of the candidates mentioned the stellar reputation our library has and the desire to lead at our particular library! 

We will be interviewing the 3 candidates on Thursday, April 11th.  If you are available, we welcome you to join us in the West Meeting Room that day as each candidate gives a presentation.  The presentations will be from 10:30 – 11:00, 11:15 – 11:45, and 12:00 – 12:30.  If you attend, there will be an opportunity to give your feedback to the board about each candidate by filling out a feedback form at the conclusion each presentation.  

As a board, we are looking for a director that will be a leader not only in our library but also in our community.  We want someone with strong communication skills that can be that public face for our library.  We are looking for a director that excels at relationship building in all aspects of this job (with our staff, patrons, board, Foundation Board, and city administration and City Council).  One of their first tasks will be to help create a Strategic Plan that shows the direction and future that the library is going as well as a plan to maintain and take care of our aging building.  

Lastly, we thank you for your patience throughout this process.  We recognize that without a permanent director in place many of you have stepped up to consistently provide quality services for our community.   We appreciate you.

Sincerely,

Kelly McAlister

A follow-up to this message from Molly:

We would like to offer all interested staff the opportunity to sit in on one presentation. This will be paid. We are working on the schedule that day to make that possible. If you do not normally work between 10:30 and 12:30 pm on Thursdays and you are interested in coming in to watch a 30 minute presentation, please reach out to Molly and Peg before 03/24.

Last week, Christine and I worked with a patron who wants to download and print sermons from this website: Message Audio of Brother William Marrion Branham

This patron’s name may be Clarck and his phone # is 660-341-1384.

He may show you an app on his phone, but one cannot print from the app and we have to go to the website. He also wants these sermons translated from English to French. We discovered today, not all sermons are available in French.

Assisting this patron definitely takes 10 min or more. Because of this, when this patron comes in to the library please seek out an Assistant Librarian, Megan or Molly to teach him how to do this himself. If none of us are available, please make an appointment for us to help him.

Peg

I reset the system clock, but it may take up to 24 hours for the building clocks to reflect the correct time.

Handpicked lists (JPL Librarian Curated Lists) (thank you Christine, Lolo, and now Katrina) are back on the website! I will probably continue to refine the page, but it’s published. Check it out under the Browse Menu at www.johnstonlibrary.com. Direct link is here:  https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/1440/Handpicked-Lists

Our All Staff Meeting is scheduled on Sunday, March 24 from 10:45am-12:45pm.

10:45 -11:30am Social Time

11:30 -12:45 Staff Meeting

If the first session doesn’t sound like your thing – you are not required to attend, but we would love to have you there! Both sessions will be paid.

**We want to acknowledge and celebrate your achievements. If you have received awards, certifications, or have any personal news you would like to share, please let us know. Feel free to send information and or pictures to sockness@johnstonlibrary.com **

Typically, he does not accept any power packs or loose batteries for recycling. If there are items he chooses not to accept, leave them in the Director’s office and I will see if I can come up with a different solution.

Cyndee Rhames is the temporary point of contact for payroll and benefits questions as Sammy Dickson is no longer employed with the city.

Cyndee’s email is: crhames@cityofjohnston.com

JPL Staff Who are Notaries

1. Public Services Librarian: Elizabeth Stevens
2. Assistant Librarian Public Services: Peggy Rasmussen
3. Assistant Librarian Public Services: Erin McDonough
4. Associate Librarian Public Services: Laurie Balduchi
5. Associate Librarian Public Services: Christine Kane-Finn
6. Assistant Librarian Circulation: Mary Bush
7. Interim Director: Molly Guerra
8. Youth Services Librarian: Megan Sockness Teeple
9. Assistant Librarian Youth Services: Jessica Young
10. Assistant Librarian Youth Services: Sheila Olson

Andrew will be playing the cello in the Des Moines Symphony youth concerts next Tuesday and Thursday at the Civic Center downtown.  If you know anyone who will be attending, please let them know that a JPL colleague will be performing.  The Des Moines Youth Symphony Young Artist winner will be playing part of the first movement of the Cello Concerto by Edward Elgar with the orchestra.

Now that the new Grimes Library has been open for a few weeks, we are going to start converting all of the Jefferson Township statistical class accounts to Polk County (Not Webster). This means we may see an increase in patrons asking why their Libby accounts with Johnston suddenly don’t work. Please be prepared to speak with patrons in person or on the phone about why this has occurred and what they can do about it. If you have any questions, please ask.

Thank you!

It’s award season and I’ve updated our children’s book display (by Molly’s window) with…award winning books! The books/movies on display include:

• Winners of the Newbery and Caldecott awards from this year and previous years
• Nominees for the Goldfinch and Iowa Children’s Choice awards from this year
• Oscar Nominated Movies from the Family section

The Bridge to Reading books will be announced this week, so I’ll probably add those as well. If you want to add to the display, the lists that show these books are in the blue folder marked “Award Book Display” at the YS desk. Here are the links for the past Newbery winners and past Caldecott winners.

I have tweaked the verification forms for online library card registrations to clarify a couple of steps. Overall, nothing has changed in the procedure and it has been going well. I have printed the new forms in blue to help distinguish them from the adult library card registration forms. If you have any questions, please ask.

Thank you!

Due to a personal emergency, Part 3 of the Mindfulness Meditation series scheduled for tomorrow February 27th has been cancelled. Participants have been emailed and called and calendars have been updated. If you receive any questions about it, please tell patrons we hope to reschedule the series at a future date.
Thanks!

Shred Day is still a couple months away but we’re already receiving calls. Here’s what you need to know about this event:

What: Free Shred Day
When: Saturday, April 27th from 9:00am to noon
Where: JPL Parking Lot. To expedite shredding, traffic will routed from Merle Hay around the library onto Morningside Drive and cars will enter the west parking lot by the Simpson Barn. We ask patrons to please stay in their vehicles and a volunteer will collect boxes for on-site document shredding.
How Much: Patrons are asked to limit material to be shredded to 3 disposable boxes or containers per household.

There is no registration for this free event. The direct link to our calendar event for Shred Day is here:
https://johnston.librarycalendar.com/event/free-shred-day-6723

Hi All,
Attendee winners from the 2024 Read Local Author Fair have been drawn and notified. The following patrons have JPL Books Bags waiting for them behind the Circulation Desk:

Alyssa Tivold
Blaine Riesberg
Carol Miller
Lucinda Wonderlich-Fuller

The bags are labeled with the winner’s name. When patrons turn up to collect their prize, all you need to do is hand their bag over to them. Nothing to record!

Thanks!

Beth

Andrew is a cellist in the Des Moines Symphony, and will be performing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this weekend.  This will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and tickets have been selling fast, so be sure to check the Des Moines Performing Arts website to purchase your tickets.  Shows are Friday, Feburary 23rd at 7:30 PM, and Saturday, February 24th, at 1:30 PM at the Civic Center downtown.

https://desmoinesperformingarts.org/events/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_tuuBhAUEiwAvxkgTpXF9vuqcdTJ4tkVN48UsYxkHpr2o27d8vOBxFSIS3IuL0aUifEz5xoC2pcQAvD_BwE