Ahoy,
get out your long underwear and snow shovels again, I think the cold weather is back for the week at least, after that spoiler weekend we just had to remind us what Spring is supposed to feel like...
Ah well, we will all have to work faster to stay warm, I guess, and in anticipation of any big storms coming our way, Admin. is updating our emergency binder information so soon we will have new ones on hand.
In the meantime I have made a few changes to where things are located so try and remember this info until the new binders arrive. There are flashlights on or in each of the desks in the staff workroom (yes you CAN rifle through my desk if you need one in the event of an emergency) as well as one on the desk in the aides workroom aka the discharging room). There are also battery operated lanterns in the following places; (under the middle computer at the service desk, on the top shelf above the routing slips in the aides workroom and on the lowest shelf of the rolling cart next to the fridge in the staff lounge. There are not any longer lanterns in the staff workroom so don't go bumbling around looking for them in there if the lights go out.
There are two emergency bags on the rolling cart in the staff lounge. I have asked for emergency blankets for each of the bags, since evidently ours are missing. Hopefully with this sweep of cold weather we won't have to resort to the scary afghan in the staff room.
Along with the updated emergency manuals LIT is working on making it easier for anyone to notify our building maintenance crew if we need to report a problem, require something to be fixed, built, etc. There will be a place for any staff to log in under system support on the intranet to alert building maintenance. Normally this would be something your PIC would do, but in the case of an emergency when a PIC wasn't on hand, anyone could use this forum and an email would go to all the smartphones of the maintenance staff. This eliminates the need to constantly call a gazillion phones or send repetitive emails and creates a log of what is happening in each of the branches, so say in the case of a graffiti epidemic in one branch, the other branches could also be aware and on the lookout for hooded dudes with spray paint cans, etc.
This database is not yet working and hopefully there will be an email when its up and running so I will keep you all posted. Do remember, that with the Capitola branch, the library maintenance staff is only responsible for the inside of the building so if we have something on the outside that needs to be dealt with, you still have to go through the PIC.
Story hour this week is cowpokes and the wild west, so if you come across any Jeasys on that topic please do put them on my desk for display on Friday.
Do continue to refill our black history displays with appropriate book returns and also remember that we are pulling any "new" books with the yellow sticker 8 this month.
We have had a lot of different shelvers over the last couple of weeks do to staff absences and I am finding alot of areas where things are mis-shelved so if things are slow, it would be a good fine thing if people would take a little time to shelf read a bay or two
And before I go, here's an information tip. if a patron comes to the desk and wants to know which libraries have what computer capabilities (ie: do you have word?) you can go to our home page and at the bottom of the page click on About the library and then to the right side, click on quick directory and then if you click on each of the libraries there is a description of what computer services they provide.
That's all the news that fit to print this week, so until next Saturday,
Cappy Dick says over and out!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Saturday, February 9, 2013
HAPPY HEARTS AND FLOWERS DAY AND ALL THE REST...
Ahoy mateys,
Its been a rough week for everyone, fighting the flu and allergies and the winter doldrums but I noticed that it's staying light longer so Spring must be just around the corner, so hang in there. Also don't forget this is Valentine's week so be sure and throw hugs and kisses to all your loved ones, human or otherwise and give yourself a special hug too!
Barbara and Donna are both off on vacations this week and a few weeks to come so we will have to work that much harder to fill their shoes but I know y'all can do it, after the great job you did in my absence!
This week we have all kinds of things to catch up on here so this is going to be one of those full of details posts.
Firstly I would like to address our confidentiality policy. I am putting a copy in each of your boxes or on your desks. Please review it. The gist is that we are not allowed to discuss any patron's library practices at all with anyone else.That includes whether or not they were in the branch, whether they used a computer, what they checked out etc. If a patron approaches you asking for this information, you may tell them it is against our policy and possibly against the law (the California confidentiality law) and refer them to our director. This is the same thing we should tell an officer of the law who inquires. The common sense exception to this rule is of course when a law officer describes a situation involving immediate danger to the staff or the public.
Along the same lines I would appreciate it if staff could refrain from gossiping or speculating about patrons. I would like us all to remember to only say about a patron what we would be comfortable saying to them face to face, if at all possible. I realize that as we support each other we sometimes need to share information about a particular individual to avoid difficulties but I would like to raise the overall tenor of how we talk about our patrons. Remember no one really knows what is happening in someone else's life so refraining from making judgmental statements seems the wisest course of action and I think the best way to serve the public.
I have printed up the new Joint Powers board roster and left it under the service desk near the middle computer.
The pull date for February is 8 so if you see items with yellow tags of 08 or before please remove the sticker and add them to our regular stacks as they are no longer new.
There has been some discussion about whether we should shelve all our Jeasys in exact alphabetical order with the author's first and last name. Since this area is so heavily used it was decided that we would shelve according to the three letters on the spine but to also consider the author's full last name so that titles by the same author are grouped together as well as keeping titles by for example Stevens and Stephen, which would both have a spine label of STE in some kind of alphabetical order. This will make finding them for the pulls list much less work as well as help our alphabetically savy patrons.
Carolyn would like to remind people that if you are checking items in and you see greasy and filthy covers to please set them aside for cleaning after checking them in or if you have time, grabbing the bottle of cleaner on the back counter or in the aides room and giving them a quick wipe down. The white covered Jeasys get grubby particularly fast so any help would be appreciated.
The toilet in the staff room is troubled and a call has been put in to the maintenance staff. In the meantime if you flush and nothing happens, use the bucket to fill up the bowl with water and then try flushing. This might take several buckets full to work or it might not work at all, in which case, hang the out of order sign on the door and try and flush the toilet after about 10 minutes. You might get lucky. Hopefully this will be fixed soon as it seems to be getting worse.
The story hour from last week was switched so this week's theme is again, Chinese New Year's and Snakes, so if you come across any Capitola books that are about either of these subjects please put them on my desk, and of course if a patron comes along and asks for them, feel free to take them back again.
Wow, I think that covers everything so I will say a big VALENTINE HEARTY ahoy until next week!
Cappy Dick
ps. Huge congrats to Donna and Carolyn for recognition for jobs well done in this month's JPB packet!
Its been a rough week for everyone, fighting the flu and allergies and the winter doldrums but I noticed that it's staying light longer so Spring must be just around the corner, so hang in there. Also don't forget this is Valentine's week so be sure and throw hugs and kisses to all your loved ones, human or otherwise and give yourself a special hug too!
Barbara and Donna are both off on vacations this week and a few weeks to come so we will have to work that much harder to fill their shoes but I know y'all can do it, after the great job you did in my absence!
This week we have all kinds of things to catch up on here so this is going to be one of those full of details posts.
Firstly I would like to address our confidentiality policy. I am putting a copy in each of your boxes or on your desks. Please review it. The gist is that we are not allowed to discuss any patron's library practices at all with anyone else.That includes whether or not they were in the branch, whether they used a computer, what they checked out etc. If a patron approaches you asking for this information, you may tell them it is against our policy and possibly against the law (the California confidentiality law) and refer them to our director. This is the same thing we should tell an officer of the law who inquires. The common sense exception to this rule is of course when a law officer describes a situation involving immediate danger to the staff or the public.
Along the same lines I would appreciate it if staff could refrain from gossiping or speculating about patrons. I would like us all to remember to only say about a patron what we would be comfortable saying to them face to face, if at all possible. I realize that as we support each other we sometimes need to share information about a particular individual to avoid difficulties but I would like to raise the overall tenor of how we talk about our patrons. Remember no one really knows what is happening in someone else's life so refraining from making judgmental statements seems the wisest course of action and I think the best way to serve the public.
I have printed up the new Joint Powers board roster and left it under the service desk near the middle computer.
The pull date for February is 8 so if you see items with yellow tags of 08 or before please remove the sticker and add them to our regular stacks as they are no longer new.
There has been some discussion about whether we should shelve all our Jeasys in exact alphabetical order with the author's first and last name. Since this area is so heavily used it was decided that we would shelve according to the three letters on the spine but to also consider the author's full last name so that titles by the same author are grouped together as well as keeping titles by for example Stevens and Stephen, which would both have a spine label of STE in some kind of alphabetical order. This will make finding them for the pulls list much less work as well as help our alphabetically savy patrons.
Carolyn would like to remind people that if you are checking items in and you see greasy and filthy covers to please set them aside for cleaning after checking them in or if you have time, grabbing the bottle of cleaner on the back counter or in the aides room and giving them a quick wipe down. The white covered Jeasys get grubby particularly fast so any help would be appreciated.
The toilet in the staff room is troubled and a call has been put in to the maintenance staff. In the meantime if you flush and nothing happens, use the bucket to fill up the bowl with water and then try flushing. This might take several buckets full to work or it might not work at all, in which case, hang the out of order sign on the door and try and flush the toilet after about 10 minutes. You might get lucky. Hopefully this will be fixed soon as it seems to be getting worse.
The story hour from last week was switched so this week's theme is again, Chinese New Year's and Snakes, so if you come across any Capitola books that are about either of these subjects please put them on my desk, and of course if a patron comes along and asks for them, feel free to take them back again.
Wow, I think that covers everything so I will say a big VALENTINE HEARTY ahoy until next week!
Cappy Dick
ps. Huge congrats to Donna and Carolyn for recognition for jobs well done in this month's JPB packet!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
HAPPY GROUND HOG DAY AND OTHER FUN!!!
Ahoy!
Well, Cappy Dick is back and just as I suspected, y'all don't need any captain on board to keep things in ship shape. The place looks wonderful and I hear from each of you how smoothly things ran and I can see for myself that y'all had it perfectly under control. That said, here I am. I guess my main job is to write this blog. It won't be as exciting as my travel blog unless maybe I bring my camera in and start photographing some of our more interesting patrons, but somehow I suspect that might be against our privacy policies, so I apologize if this blog is on the duller side.
Thank You all so much for all your hard work in my absence. I am sure the patrons barely noticed a difference and I heard there was much kudos all around for everyone's great public service demeanor. Galina had her hands full with all the details of this branch and I know she appreciated all the support you gave her, as do I. I also thank you for both the wonderful send off and the wonderful welcome back (and the flowers!) You all make ol Cappy Dick blush...
So its back to business as usual as it ever gets I suppose. Not a lot of news. We are done with "typical stats" week but those of us who are permanent employees now have to document every single thing we do at work for a week. So far the aides don't have to do this but I wouldn't count on it not coming around to all of you sooner than later.
Wednesday Janis O'Driscoll is bringing some of the big facial photos that were displayed downtown (and I guess some that weren't) to see if there is somewhere to display any of them in our branch, so we may get some new art work. I don't know how long the new art in the children's room has been up but I am glad to see we now have some rotating displays (thank you Galina for your work on curating that!).
The February display is fiction and mysteries by black authors to celebrate African American Month so feel free to add any you run across. There are J titles on the back of the display facing the children's room.
The story hour subject this Friday is Snakes and Chinese new year, since this is the Year of the snake, so look for those books by my desk should you be sssssseeeking any.
Other than that, I can't think of anything to let you know about.We did lose our Thursday afternoon shelving volunteers, the Robbins twins. They send their regrets but they are swamped in other activities for now.
Ok, this is long enough since it really says not much, so again....Thanks all of you hugely for being such a responsible and excellent staff.
ciao ciao,
Cappy Dick
ps. The ground hog didn't see his shadow so it bodes well for an early spring. Lets just hope its a warmer one!
Well, Cappy Dick is back and just as I suspected, y'all don't need any captain on board to keep things in ship shape. The place looks wonderful and I hear from each of you how smoothly things ran and I can see for myself that y'all had it perfectly under control. That said, here I am. I guess my main job is to write this blog. It won't be as exciting as my travel blog unless maybe I bring my camera in and start photographing some of our more interesting patrons, but somehow I suspect that might be against our privacy policies, so I apologize if this blog is on the duller side.
Thank You all so much for all your hard work in my absence. I am sure the patrons barely noticed a difference and I heard there was much kudos all around for everyone's great public service demeanor. Galina had her hands full with all the details of this branch and I know she appreciated all the support you gave her, as do I. I also thank you for both the wonderful send off and the wonderful welcome back (and the flowers!) You all make ol Cappy Dick blush...
So its back to business as usual as it ever gets I suppose. Not a lot of news. We are done with "typical stats" week but those of us who are permanent employees now have to document every single thing we do at work for a week. So far the aides don't have to do this but I wouldn't count on it not coming around to all of you sooner than later.
Wednesday Janis O'Driscoll is bringing some of the big facial photos that were displayed downtown (and I guess some that weren't) to see if there is somewhere to display any of them in our branch, so we may get some new art work. I don't know how long the new art in the children's room has been up but I am glad to see we now have some rotating displays (thank you Galina for your work on curating that!).
The February display is fiction and mysteries by black authors to celebrate African American Month so feel free to add any you run across. There are J titles on the back of the display facing the children's room.
The story hour subject this Friday is Snakes and Chinese new year, since this is the Year of the snake, so look for those books by my desk should you be sssssseeeking any.
Other than that, I can't think of anything to let you know about.We did lose our Thursday afternoon shelving volunteers, the Robbins twins. They send their regrets but they are swamped in other activities for now.
Ok, this is long enough since it really says not much, so again....Thanks all of you hugely for being such a responsible and excellent staff.
ciao ciao,
Cappy Dick
ps. The ground hog didn't see his shadow so it bodes well for an early spring. Lets just hope its a warmer one!
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