Manager's Meeting 01/24/2013

We will talk about this more once we get back to Stella Link, but here is a summary of what we covered in the manager's meeting this morning.

• Shammi is our facilities contact within neighborhood libraries.
• Do not refund money to patrons at the branch level regardless of reason
• We are doing an excellent job with our ASZ services
• ILS migration will be coming soon.  Out with MilCirc type software, in with new.  SirsiDynex is the new company we are using.  There will not be a Program Registration type of software.  Instead of multiple windows for Serials, Circulation, etc, it will all be in one window.  The last time we changed was 14 years ago.  This is a major operation to change library systems.  It should come down between May and August of this year.We will get a list of other libraries around the nation that use this system so we can play around with their catalogs to get familiar.  The catalog will look different.  It will definitely impact customers, but we do not know the full extent of the impact yet, so it is best not to worry customers if the subject comes up.
• Floating - we have a reduced materials budget.  We have 200,000 items on shelves now than before floating started.  Meyer and Kashmere have a partnership wherein Meyer sends their overflow to Kashmere without needing permission.  We are possibly going to be teaming up with another location at some point.
• We have too many items around the system that have been listed as Shipped for too long
• CMH kits need to be sent to CMH for replenishment
• We will not be adding or dropping any periodicals this year.
• We have flash drives for sale now 4gb for $7.  This should be in Smart Money at this point.
• We have 28 boxes of paper coming from BTOP, but they can be used for any purpose(print paper)
• Renee is going to be part of a collection committee

Thanks and we will have a large meeting when we get back about these items as well as a few other things.

See you in a week and a half.

Patrick

Answering Questions

Good Evening Staff,

Just a couple reminders when answering questions:

Never answer a question with an "I don't know."
Never give an answer that you are not actually sure of.

If you don't have the answer, ask Renee or me.  If we are not there, ask Nhu or Jesse or Tim.  If no one knows the answer, get their phone number and name and tell them you will get back with them when you have the answer.

We have had two complaints within the first three days of us being closed.

We have one person saying that they were promised that our book drop would stay open during us being closed.

We had another person say that they asked us what happens to materials sent to Meyer while we are closed if they do not go pick them up, and someone answered that they did not know.

Thanks, and we will go over this a little more thoroughly in three weeks when we all get back.
Patrick

Passports

Good Evening,

We are going to insist that the customer has cash or check from now on for paying the passport processing fee.
Please ask them when they sign in to make sure.
With the possibility of Telecheck going down at any point in time, it is no longer possible to depend on them being able to pay with a credit card.
Just inform them they must have a check, cash or money order.

Patrick

Staff Meeting 1/9/2013

Good Morning,

Here is the review from the meeting yesterday.

• Person on passport wrap up will do the passport deposit at that time
• Always keep the two deposits separate
• More people are going to be involved with deposit moving forward
• We are coming back from being closed on Tuesday, February 5th
• Work hard, represent yourself and the Stella Link team well at your temporary location
• Tim and I will be back here on the 14th, next Monday, to call people about holds
• We are still not reserving the meeting room for February yet.  Ask them to come back on the 5th.
• Programming calendars will resume being printed in March
• When at front desk, keep your energy up.  Greet every customer with the same level of enthusiasm.
• Do not sit and point.  Get up and take customers where they need to be.
• 91% self-check for the month of November.  That was 15% better than anyone else in the system.
• Do not call Isis for money problems under any circumstances.  Call Theodora.  She will contact Isis.
• Remember to suggest databases when someone needs a biography, literary criticism, or articles.
• December circulation numbers put us #1 among neighborhood libraries.  2,000 ahead of 2nd place.

Keep doing what we are doing.  Maintain our focus.  

Appreciate everyone's professionalism and work ethic that you bring to the table.

Patrick

Stella Link Closing

A mistake was made when figuring when we were supposed to re-open.
We are not going to re-open until the 5th.

I will need to talk with everyone again next week to re-calculate what your schedules will look like according to this new information.

Please start letting everyone know that we are now going to re-open on Tuesday the 5th.

Thanks,
Patrick