Category: Uncategorized

This is the weather report for the weekend from the PD. I don’t like staff taking risks to get to work but I also like the library to be a refuge for the community on days when people would otherwise be stuck inside. I’ll keep an eye on things. Please feel free to text me at 515-250-5381 or contact Molly at 641-351-9874 if you can’t make it in.

• Information as of 17JAN19 1600hrs
• *Winter Storm Warning in effect from noon Friday to 6am Saturday
• *Significant impacts to Friday evening commute possible
• *Bitter cold by Saturday night into Sunday. Wind chills -10 to -20 by Sunday morning.Frostbite possible within 30 minutes or less
• *Widespread snow Friday beginning early afternoon through Saturday morning. 6-8 inchespossible. When snowfall begins it will likely transition from light to heavy very quickly.
• *Blustery 20-30mph north-northeast winds will cause blowing/drifting snow

That’s right, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets performed by the Des Moines Symphony with the film above at the Civic Center!  Friday January 25th at 7:30 PM, Saturday January 26th at 1:30 and 7:30 PM.  https://desmoinesperformingarts.org/events/2019-harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets/.  Get your tickets ASAP, should be adventurous! 

Please turn in your time sheets by 8 pm on Thursday night. Attach any PARs for PTO. There are no holidays this pay period.

As always double-check your time sheet against When to Work. I could tell everyone did that last week because there were almost 0 discrepancies. Thanks for the diligence, I appreciate it.

Peg

The Des Moines Symphony Family concert takes place on Saturday this week (the 12th) at 1 PM at the Civic Center downtown.  Tickets should still be available via Des Moines Performing Arts, and the number to call is 515-246-2300.  https://desmoinesperformingarts.org/events/1819-peter-and-the-wolf-symphony/.

Janet, the city’s Communications Specialist has put together a “year in review” video featuring several shots of Library activities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M1Z35mym-4&feature=youtu.be

DMARC’s Mobile Food Pantry will begin making bi-monthly stops in the Library’s lot on January 23rd. Stops will be the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays from 4pm-6pm. I’ve included some information below. Find more at https://www.dmarcunited.org/food/mobile/

WHAT CAN I RECEIVE?

• Once per calendar month, you may receive a 3-day supply of food, measured by family size.
• Our food follows a healthy food guideline.
• Select which food items you want with our choice pantry service model.
• Daily food items are available to anyone, any time the pantry is open.

HOW DO I GET HELP?

• There are no income requirements.
• Bring a photo ID for every adult member of your household, and some other form of ID for all children in the household.
• At the Mobile Food Pantry, you will go through a short intake process.

The Lions Club Book Sale will be held March 7-9.  The Lions Clubs donates a significant portion of proceeds from the sale to the JPL Foundation. 

Thursday    March  7                    5 PM  –  9 PM                     $3.00 [Kids are FREE]                                                                                                         

Friday        March   8                    8 AM  –  8 PM                     FREE admission

Saturday    March   9                    8 AM  – NOON                    FREE Admission 

Library-related results are here > https://drive.google.com/file/d/13joniTZxQkJwjbPJVzYqAd1Wehm7iFec/view?usp=sharing

Full results here > https://drive.google.com/file/d/15qghlayMZnXSkxYq88hiiZmqIceY3Fee/view?usp=sharing

Our volunteer, Polly Munck, fell and broke 4 vertebrae on December 23rd.  She was in Wisconsin,visiting family.  According to her son, Polly is “gradually getting stronger but still pretty weak.” Current estimates are that Polly will be at a rehab facility for 2 months. 

Cards and well wishes may be sent to Polly at the following address:

Polly Munck
Room 11
Portage County Health Care Center
825 Whiting Ave
Stevens Point, WI 54481

Herb Eichenseer asked if staff found a computer power cable and brick in SR #4 Friday afternoon around 4 pm. I’ve checked Lost and Found and other obvious spots, but I can’t find it. If you have any information, please contact him at 515-289-1716.

Thank you,

Peg

Herb Eichenseer asked if staff found a computer power cable and brick in SR #4 Friday afternoon around 4 pm. I’ve checked Lost and Found and other obvious spots, but I can’t find it. If you have any information, please contact him at 515-289-1716.

Thank you,

Peg

Pills found and will be kept in the safe.

01/15/2019: No way to contact owner. Medication was taken to Johnston PD for disposal. 

Megan has created the first blog post on the website’s new revamped blog page (linked below):

https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/blogs/

The blog will be used to:

1. make staff expertise more accessible–particularly in the areas of early literacy, research, and reading
2. highlight programs and introduce and, when applicable, provide instruction on services
3. add value to past programs–for attendees and those who couldn’t make it–by providing photos, craft instructions, recipes and the like

Intersted in sharing your expertise–in music, books, movies, literacy, or whatever? Let me know if you’d like to be involved in authoring posts.

Oh yeah, first pay period of the new year ends this week. 

Please make sure your completed time sheets and PARs are turned into the green folder outside of Eric’s off by Thursday, January 3 at 8 pm.

Please pay attention to holiday closings and altered schedules when completing your time sheet for this payperiod. Double-check (maybe even triple-check) your time sheet against When to Work to make sure each day matches. 

Thanks and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Peg

There is a cell phone that was left at station 4 right before close tonight. We have locked it in the cabinet in back. Thanks!

Sometimes non-Public Services staff have to step in and help patrons at the public printer or to fax a document. I’ve created some “cheat sheets” to hopefully make it easier to pull off these tasks. 

Instructions for Faxing or Scanning using the Brother Printer are located in the filebox to the left of the printer.

Instructions for Printing or Scanning using the Xerox Printer are clipped to the back of the printer. Along with helpful tips and hints.

These instructions are also stored here P:\Public Services\How to\help patrons with Public printer-Release station-etc.

I’d like to invite all staff to attend (on the clock of course)  the Innovative Libraries Online Conference on Thursday, January 17th, 9am – 4pm in the Archive Room. 

The conference has several sesssion (the opening session is by Ryan Dowd) so please take a look at the schedule and attend those you’re most interested in.

Please register via the link below:

https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/events/?event_page=registration&did=31128

To continue to build on the training Ryan Dowd training, we will be sending weekly tips on using Empathy-Based Tools to provide customer service and manage behavior in the library. Please remember that Ryan Dowd focuses on those experiencing homelessness, but these tips are applicable for most challenging patron interactions. If you or a co-worker have an Empathy-Based Tools success story (or challenge) you would like to share, please email Molly.

When Sergeant Agan presented about de-escalation, he talked about how personal respect is earned but professional respect is given.

We will occasionally have unpleasant encounters with people. Do not take it personally if a library user does not treat you with respect. It may be a cultural misunderstanding. He/she/they may be dealing with stress or trauma.

When we do enforce the Library’s conduct policy, remember the Platinum Rule that Sergeant Agan shared: Treat others as you would like to be treated under identical circumstances. Library users get our respect when they are showering us with praise and they get our respect when they are being escorted out of the building.

In this clip, Ryan Dowd shares about cultural differences in how respect is earned or given and how that can cause conflict between library staff and library users from a lower socioeconomic status.

https://my.nicheacademy.com/johnstonlibrarystaff/course/1558/lesson/7360

The Library Board approved changes to the Circulation & Library Card Policy at last night’s meeting. Amongst the changes are the following updates to overdue fees:

• Increase of maximum fines before a patron is blocked from $10 to $15 
• Decrease in maximum overdue fines for a single item from $10 to $5

These changes have been made in Polaris and are now effective. The new policy includes a few other changes that will become effective at a later date–more information forthcoming.