Manager of Library Operations Meeting Minutes for April 2002

Date: April 24, 2002

Location: Warr Acres Library

Present: Ann Alliotta, Karen Bays, Barbara Beasley, Rosemary Czarski, Denyvetta Davis, Priscilla Doss, Jean Engebritson, Tim Fisher, Jack Kinzie, Mary Patton, Katrina Prince, Debbie Robertus, Darcus Smith, Debra Spindle, Phil Tolbert, Judy Walden, Randy Wayland, and Debra Willis.
Guest: Janet Brooks, Scott Carter, Helen Chacon, Heidi Daniels, Anne Fischer, Karen Marriott, Donna Morris, Jim Welch, and Dennis Wisdom.
General Meeting 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Denyvetta called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.

I. Introductions
Debra Willis introduced the new Midwest City Assistant Library Manager, Jean Engebritson.

II. Email Notification - Jim Welch and Anne Fischer

• Anne introduced Dennis Wisdom from C H R Solutions, the telephone consultant for the new telephone system. He will visit each library inquiring about telephone features desired.
• Jim demonstrated and discussed how the email notification worked. He stated that the receipts that the customer receives for materials checkout will not show their card number; however, a receipt with the card number displayed can be obtained if the customer request it.
• Judy stated some customers may be unhappy with the changes, but it is a security issue for others. This program will be implemented May 1st. for staff.
• Jim said that 15 – 16% of materials reserved are not picked up.  Also, Jim states that the next paycheck the staff receives will not have a social security number displayed.  (See April Tech group minutes for additional information.)

III. Summer Reading – Updates - Dana Morrow and Heidi Daniel

• Dana checked to see if the libraries had received their posters and stated that the libraries will begin to receive their supplies earlier this year.
• Dana informed everyone that Outreach will implement a new program this year for teens, and introduced Heidi Daniel to explain the details.
  Heidi passed out a flyer and explained the rules and regulations for the new reading program. Teens will receive a punch card, and each time they read a novel, read 100 pages, or read for 1 hour, they will receive a stamp.  They will be required to sign a contract and each library will keep their information at their site. When a teen gets 5 stamps they can get a free sandwich and fries from any Boomerang Grill in the Metropolitan area. When they get 10 stamps, they will receive a baseball ticket and be eligible to win two Brittany Spears tickets or a chance to be a DJ on wild 97.9 on the Heather and Joey show.  They will also be eligible to win Barnes and Nobles gift certificates.  Heidi passed around a sheet with information about the other programs that are planned for the summer.

IV. Gift Books - Karen Marriott

• Karen stated that The Friends would prefer that Materials Selection staff examine all materials before they receive them.
• The staff at each library should carefully do a rough sort of materials at their agency and any materials that warrant further consideration for library addition or retention will be sent to the Downtown library. Remaining materials will be sent to the sort site for the book sale
• Materials Selection and/or Downtown library staff will review materials sent to the Downtown Library. Items selected for addition or retention will be cataloged or transferred to the Downtown collection.
• Two new routing slips will be printed so that the volunteers can identify boxes. One will be bright fuchsia, for book sales, and the other one will be green for items going to the Downtown library. These will be coming out next week.

V. Updates, Misc. -Judy Walden and Denyvetta Davis

• Core Competencies – Denyvetta states that Helen from Planning will be coming to the June and July Managers meeting to brief everyone on Core Competencies and provide training.
• Denyvetta stated that she received an email from Mary Patton about customers accessing the Internet via the catalog and asked if anyone had
  any solutions. Tim Fisher recommends that a notice be posted next to all the Cybermars computers that informs customers that the computers are to be used to search the complete holdings of the Metropolitan Library System or to access databases connected to the Cybermars catalog. The notice should state that customers should use the computers only for these purposes.  He believes this will give the staff leverage when confronting customers seen violating the notice. Debbie Robertus states that some customers are gaining access to the computer using real audio. Karen Bays inquired about disabling Wordpad.  Judy Walden stated that Tech group is working on the computer
  issues.
• Judy Walden passed out extra cell phone signs to whoever needed them, and she handed out copies of Genre classification of CD’s and asked that everyone be prepared to discuss its contents next month.

VI.  Public Relation Updates - Scott Carter

• Scott talked about an offensive bookmark that appeared on the ALA website and was linked through the OLA website.
• He discussed the goals and plans of Public Relations, and states they are no longer making flyers and signs. He went on to describe the concepts of marketing and public relations.
• Scott presented a copy of the new and old Books by mail brochures, and said that the new brochures were more colorful and less expensive than the old ones.
• A Speaker's Bureau will be implemented this year. The speeches will focus on children, young adults, the new Downtown Library, Family Place, and other topics. They will be approximately 5-8 minutes long.
• Tim Fischer suggests a new library cardholder package be created and distributed for new customers that contain brochures, maps, etc.
• Beginning sometime in May library cards can be used for discounts on mass transits, art museum, and other things.
• Scott would like to develop system awareness. He is striving for customers to become aware of the library system, just as they are of other businesses.
• He discussed the library’s partnership with the movie theaters. The first partnership is with Dreamworks for movies Rated G, PG, and PG-13. There will be 2 preview shows, one at Tinseltown and one on the south side. Each manger will received 20 to 30 tickets to give away.
• Scott said $6,000 would be allocated toward the new Harry Potter movie, and he would like input from the Library Managers on the best way to handle ticket distribution, complaints, and suggestions.
• Public Relations will be doing commercials about library services.
• Scott states that Karen Bays is great as a radio guest voice. They have produced a humorous radio spot where the crocodile hunter is calling a librarian (Karen) for help.
• Public Relations will be printing ads about librarians from each location and call them “Your tour guide to the information highway.”
• Scott began "Supercharged for Success" training session for managers.

The Meeting was adjourned at 4:15p.m.