JPL Intranet

Per the city ordinance, the library must submit an annual report to the city council after the end of each fiscal year. Katie Fiala, the current board president, will present the report at the next city council work session. A link to the report is included below.

https://board.johnstonlibrary.com/2020-08/12%20FY20%20Annual%20Report%20to%20Council.pdf

https://www.dmsymphony.org/concerts-events/copland-vivaldi/

https://dmsymphony.secure.force.com/ticket/#/instances/a0F1S00000I6iY4UAJ

Between now and New Year’s Eve, I will be playing in only ONE symphony performance, and it will only be live-streamed on Thursday, November 12th at 7 PM.  The links above are concert information and for buying online access.  We will be playing Copland and Vivaldi works as well as a few others.

I made some chocolate chip bagels and brought those and a cream cheese package on Wednesday.  Bagels in freezer and cream cheese in fridge, and please help yourself when you get a chance.

The staff member doing curbside will be in charge of deciding how inclement weather will impact where we leave the items. For instance, they may choose to use the umbrellas for light rain or snow or to put the items between the front doors for heavier rain or snow.

If inclement weather impacts curbside delivery, the staff member doing curbside will post the change to the #publicservicesdesks channel on slack so we are all aware.

We will hold an all-staff meeting via Zoom at 9am Thursday, September 24th. I’ll send a reminder and a link closer to that date. In between now and then, if you need help setting up Zoom on your staff of work PC, let me know. I understand that not everyone has a microphone and camera on their PC–that’s ok. If you don’t have a microphone and have questions or comments during the meeting, please use the chat feature.

Beginning today (9/10), individuals can request to add a 1,000 Activities Before Kindergarten folder to their curbside holds pick-up bag (much like we did for summer reading). Folders will be stored on the low part of the circulation counter. Megan will keep an eye on the stock and re-stock the folders when needed.

If people have questions about 1,000 Activities Before Kindergarten please direct them to a YS person or to our website that has information about the program.

This program is designed to encourage parents and children to sing, talk, read, write and play together to build early literacy skills.  This program is for children ages birth-preschool.

From city hall. Policy linked below. Let me know if you have any questions.

COVID-19

Attached is the current, updated COVID-19 policy.  Please disseminate to your staff.  If you would like me to meet with any of your employee groups, please let me know some dates and times that will work and I’ll set something up.  Alternatively, employees can reach out to me individually if they have questions.  Please make sure your staff know how to denote COVID time on their timecards.  The Federal Act is set to expire on December 31, 2020.  We will review this policy as that date nears.

Key takeaways in the new policy:

• Employees are still eligible for the 2 weeks of additional sick time during the COVID-19 pandemic.  For illness or quarantine, unless teleworking, this sick time cannot be taken intermittently.  It may be taken intermittently for daycare/school closures as defined in the policy.
• For COVID-19 illness/quarantine, once that 2 weeks of time has been used, employees will be required to use accrued leave or take the time unpaid, per City policy. (No changes to benefits – FMLA applies.)
• For daycare/school closures related to COVID-19, the employee may take the first two weeks as paid sick leave and after that is exhausted, the City will pay employees at 2/3 of their pay and employees can choose to take the remainder as unpaid or use accrued leave. (No changes to benefits – FMLA applies.)
• Employees should submit a written request to their Department Director for schedule changes, teleworking, etc. related to school/daycare closures.
• Employees who are isolated or quarantined are expected to stay home.
• Employees may still “borrow” up to two weeks of PTO.  Separation from employment prior to this being paid back will be withheld from final pay.
• Domestic Travel – Employees should use prudent judgement and follow all CDC, state, and local guidelines applicable to their destination.
• International Travel – CDC currently in a Warning Level 3 – avoid non-essential international travel.  Employees must notify Department Director of specific plans and may be required to self-quarantine for 14 days upon return.  If sufficient PTO is not available to cover the travel and quarantine periods, the request may be denied.  If staffing shortage may exist due to the travel and quarantine period, the request may be denied.
• Work Related Travel – Considered on a case-by-case basis by Department Director.

https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Employee_Covid_v091020.pdf

I hooked a larger monitor up to the bouncer laptop. To access settings like whether to extend or duplicate the displays, search for “display settings” under the search icon in the bottom left corner.

Holiday week got away from me, sorry for the late post. As always, if you will not be in the building prior to Friday morning and you need assistance with your time sheet, check with your supervisor or email me. Thx!

On this rainy day, I just thought I’d throw out one of the many thanks we have been receiving from the community for our service during the pandemic. Don’t let a few negative comments overshadow the depth of gratitude we are receiving from the community. And thanks from me for all your hard work on this rainy day and all the other days.

From a patron picking up at curbside, “Thanks so much for doing this. As a high-risk family, it means so much to have access to the library safely!”

Beginning this coming Sunday, September 13th, we’ll be adding Sunday and Monday curbside hours. Sunday’s hours will be 12-2 and Monday’s 10-2.

Polly Munck was one of several people who were instrumental in establishing a library in Johnston in the 1980s. She served on the JPL Board of Trustees and as a volunteer up until late 2018. While visiting family in Wisconsin, she fell on an icy patch and spent several months in Wisconsin recuperating. Polly returned to her apartment in Johnston but then moved into Martina Place.

Polly passed away on September 1st. We will remember her enthusiasm and her no-nonsense attitude. Polly impressed us all with her speed and efficiency when covering our book jackets. Her decades of devotion to the library humble us.

Many thanks to Molly for submitting Polly’s name to the Governor for recognition for her many, many hours of volunteer service. It was a proud moment (and well-deserved honor) for Polly and her family, as noted in her obituary.

This is a small thing, but I think it will save a lot of time with curbside prep. In addition to printing the next day’s curbside schedule earlier in the day, please reprint it later in the day –  like around 2 pm on Tuesday/Thursday/Friday and around 5 pm on Monday, Wednesday.

When you are working on curbside prep later in the day, please make sure you are working with a new list.

We hit three months of curbside pickup this week and, at the end of today’s pickups, have served nearly 4,000 patrons (3,874 for the nitpicky)! A big thank you to circulation staff for your hard work and to PS and YS staff for chipping in.

YS Staff have introduced a new service called “Book Bundles” where patrons can request that staff select 10-15 kids books in various categories. Take a look at the request form linked below for more details:

https://www.johnstonlibrary.com/kids/book-bundles/

Holds for browsers can be placed on the two sets of shelves nearest the bouncer station.

Hey all,

Below is a quick video clip on de-escalation Erin sent me that she watched as conintinuing ed as a teacher. The clilp is about about how to de-escalate an angry person. I found it useful and thought I would share for anyone wanting a little refresher. This guy is not Ryan Dowd, but his philosophy runs along similar lines. He breaks things down into three steps:

1. Validate
2. Help people find options
3. Allow for choice

When you have 7 minues to spare, take a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qsfBCatgX8&feature=youtu.be

You may have heard of the federal plan to allow employers to offer their employees the option of deferring their payroll taxes to ease financial hardship due to Covid-19. The city has decided not to allow employees this option. Their explanation is included in the memo copied below. Let me know if you have any questions:

Department Directors,
As discussed at Staff this morning, President Trump has signed an executive order instituting a payroll tax deferral program which is set to kick in today, September 1. (IRS Notice 2020-65). This allows employers to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the employee portion of the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance segment of the FICA taxes. This deferral applies to taxes on wages from September 1 – December 31, 2020. Payroll taxes are deferred and not forgiven. This means that on January 1, 2021 the employer will begin collecting the deferred taxes, with all deferred taxes collected by April 30, 2021.
Employers are not required to defer payroll taxes. Informal polling in the metro shows that most cities will not be offering this deferral. This is partially related to the fact that for most of us, we have not furloughed employees, or reduced hours for the majority of our employees. This program also presents payroll processing difficulties, and an unclear process for collecting the deferred taxes from employees who may leave employment prior to the end of the program.
Taxes are collected based on employee wages, so it varies for each of us. A baseline of what this would be are roughly $71 per pay period for those earning $30,000. (That would mean that in January, we would begin withholding approximate $142 from each check in that same example.) You can multiply that out for different earners. The threshold for eligibility is earning less than $4000 every two weeks.
We have determined that we will not be offering the payroll tax deferral for the reasons outlined above.
Please let me know if you have questions. (I’m happy to speak with employees who have concerns as well.)

Cyndee Rhames

We lend book club sets to borrowers for book clubs outside of the library. Technical Services, Miren, gets the sets prepared, checked out, and in a bag. She also contacts the borrower to arrange a curbside appointment and puts a blocking note on their account.

In case they drop-in for their items without an appointment, the bag is placed behind the Circulation Desk. The books are checked out to the patron and ready to go.

The website and intranet have been moved to the new server. Let me know if you experience any problems.