Manager of Library Operations Meeting Minutes for July 2004

Date: July 21, 2004

Location:  Ralph Ellison Library

Attending: Jean Engebritson, Phil Tolbert, Randy Wayland, Rosemary Czarski, Karen Bays, Priscilla Doss, Debbie Robertus, Lisa Weissenbuehler, Mary Patton, Barbara Beasley, Jack Kinzie, Anne Aliotta, Susie Beasley, Katrina Prince, Deb Spindle, Denyvetta Davis, and Judy Walden.
Guests: Marian LeCrone, Scott Carter, and Patrick Williams.

1. Opening - Denyvetta
• Denyvetta opened the meeting at 1:00 pm. She recognized that the luncheon today was provided as a “Thank You” for everybody's hard efforts during the previous year. Last fiscal year the library circulated 5.7 million items, which was more than a 5% increase.
• There were no corrections to the minutes for the June meeting.
2. Open Discussion
• Book Discussion - Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do and What to Do About It -- Randy said it was amazing to be able to recognize himself while reading the book, and not be aware of things that could be changed. Rosemary thought it was nice to see that she had been doing things right when she explained the global reasons for tasks. Deb Spindle said her staff was a little uncertain about why she was reading it. Phil plans to use it as a resource when he has future staff problems. Karen and Rosemary both used it as a reflective tool for past problems with employees, to refresh information from previous workshops and reinforce the use of good tools. Jean felt that the comments about good employees needing to be managed had a lot of impact on her view. Katrina was struck by the idea that you do not focus so much on the motivation behind their actions, but on the behaviors staff show at work.
• Summer Reading - Scott
1. The library has gone beyond last year's totals, but Scott does not know what the numbers are. He says the sponsors are very happy. There are still some "tweaks" to be made in terms of prizes and medals. He has gotten good responses about library staff attending Library Night at the Ballpark. All the sponsors have been invited to attend as well. There is plenty of space for staff to attend, so let anyone who wants to come.
2. Scott asked what MAC could do to make summer reading easier next year. Barbara has already sent some suggested changes to the sign up form. Karen suggested that the libraries go ahead and buy the medals in bulk so that they do not run short on them in the future. Scott says Jeanne has come up with a "rain check" that could be used next year. Scott apologized for falling short and said that his office simply had not planned on needing as many medals. Barbara felt like there were a lot more early finishers because the goal was set at 8 (books, hours, etc.) rather than the typical 20 that parents and kids set last year. Jeanne and Scott are going to meet with MidWest Trophy and other vendors to see about getting a larger order of medals next year, hopefully at a lower cost. The Summer Reading committee will reconvene following Summer Reading. The committee will get information from the survey, and bring suggestions to a future Managers' meeting.
3. It looks like Frontier City will be on board next year as a full sponsor, along with several other sponsors from past years who have been impressed with this year's program.
4. Phil also contacted Scott about the need for Summer Reading information in Spanish. Scott said the library did 90,000 of the brochures this year, and he is wondering how many of them need to be translated to Spanish, for the parents rather than the kids.
• Maintenance Services - Patrick
1. Patrick Stated that he is looking for ways to help everyone, since the real business of the organization takes place at the libraries. He reminded everyone that there are 4 ways to contact Maintenance: e-mail, voice-mail, cell phone, or pager.
2. Currently Karen Bray can be called for immediate assistance during working hours, but Patrick is working on setting up a quick response number that will be accessible 24-7. But after hours this number would really only be used for true emergency situations, and would most likely be forward to Patrick's pager until he gets the zones set up.
3. Patrick is working on a follow-up procedure after work orders have been completed. They are also working on a way that the computer can assign a priority number to any work order that is put in. That means the staff will be able to quickly see the status of a project just by checking the priority number, as well as seeing who has been working on it and when. He will be breaking the system up into 4 zones, with a Tech II assigned to each zone who can work on any area.
• Phil asked how to handle it if there is a spot cleaning job needed on the carpet. Patrick knows someone who can do a great job, so contact him directly when this comes up. If there are any problems with the new cleaning service, call Patrick or the Quick Response number (Karen's)
• A representative from Cintas has been visiting each agency to evaluate all the floor matting to see if the libraries can get something better, possibly with a logo that could be switched out each week and cleaned.
3. Sharing
• Karen asked what the agreed upon number of days for holding reserves is. The answer is: 7, and she said that they would gradually phase that in. She also asked if IT was currently working on the time delay for e-mail notifications. Denyvetta said that is has been discussed, but no decision has been made yet on whether this will be done.
  – “Tootin’ Your Own Horn”
• Denyvetta gave everyone some system statistics, such as an overall 5.8% increase in circulation, a 22% increase in system reserves taken, a 21.7% increase in reserves filled, as well as 11.8% increase in Internet transaction periods.
• Katrina commented on Del City's 100% accuracy in shelving. They have really increased their programming to seniors and teens in the last year.
• Jean is proud that she can now transfer a phone call, get her own voice mail, and sometimes pick up a call on hold. Seriously she is impressed at how well the staff worked during their recent closing.
• Phil is proudest of the community outreach he and his staff have been able to maintain. They have noticed that the more outreach they do, the higher the traffic inside the library. He has been asked to help out with a political debate by being a time keeper.
• Randy is pleased with their outreach efforts at Southern Oaks, specifically with their visits to retirement facilities, daycares, etc. Also, he has finally accomplished his goal of doing a full collection analysis, and some very deep weeding. It was a huge effort, but the entire staff is happy with the results.
• Deb Spindle is proud of having lived with a lot of uncertainty because of the status of the new building. Also, they' have been working on building partnerships with the community, such as working with local schools and the Hispanic community. Obviously they are all thrilled to be moving into the new building, and working with the college consortium. They also accepted the Holocaust resource collection a couple of years ago and that is turning into a valuable partnership, and as a result they will be hosting a traveling exhibit on book burning from the Holocaust Museum.
• Susie is clearly proud to be interim Manager at Ralph Ellison and was nearly speechless over the situation!
• Rosemary is happy that during the move to the new library not one person was injured. They have managed to go from being a hole-in-the-wall library to a spacious library! Also, she is proud that they have gotten through the first 6 weeks of Summer Reading because of excellent teamwork.
• Karen is thrilled with the teamwork shown by her staff. She is very satisfied with the science programming joint effort with UCO – it’s been a real success! This year’s Medieval Fair went really well, despite the fact that the usual coordinator of the event was out. Personally, Karen is proud that she has been better at following up on details.
• Priscilla is proud of the success of Belle Isle’s 40th Anniversary party; finally figuring out what to put on an empty section of shelving; the increase in children’s sign-up numbers this summer; and that over half her staff has been in the system for more than 5 years!
• Lisa is proud of the tremendous increase in circulation over the past year (just under 10%) and the increase in Summer Reading sign up – but most of all that the staff at Village seem to be having more fun at work than ever, due to Staff Morale days.
• Mary stated that she is proud that Warr Acres has become “the place” for Playtime on Wednesdays, Storytime for 2-3 year-olds on Thursdays, and Storytime for 4-5 year-olds on Fridays. But she is happiest about the addition of comics to their collection!
• Barbara is proud of the Shannon Lucid exhibit that Daniel put together and on the festivities for the dedication. Personally, for Customer Appreciation Month last year, Barbara decided to do drawings for gift certificates to local restaurants, which was a hit with customers and the participating merchants.
• Jack is proud of having made all the arrangements for this year’s staff appreciation dinner for the Southern Oaks crew.
• Anne stepped in and arranged the Medieval Fair this year when the regular coordinator was out. Also, she found a better way to display the videos on the bottom shelves so customers can see them.
4. MLS Friends -- Marian LeCrone
• Marian handed out a list of all the approved grant requests. The committee approving grants would like to see at least 1 grant from each agency. Marian will try to come back in December or January to see if there is something that she can do to help with the process. Over 25 years The Friends have give over $1.6 million dollars in grants.
• Marian also brought signs for everyone to use at their libraries that say “This program was made possible by Friends of the Library.” Please be sure these are used/posted during any programs funded by grant monies.
• Marian mentioned a list of Friends who are interested in helping more directly at their local libraries. She passed around one list that has phone numbers only, and a second list that also includes e-mail addresses.
5. MAC Update -- Scott
• Flyers have been sent out to all agencies about the Book Passing, and Jeanne has arranged free parking for the volunteers!
• Please RSVP as soon as possible for the Staff Reception on Saturday, August 14th. It’ is being catered by the Platt Culinary School. They need definite numbers to work with.
• Jeanne and Metro Magazine won “Best in Show” at the ALA annual conference, so congratulate her the next time you see her.
6. Announcements
• The next meeting will be on August 25, at Del City, The managers will be revisiting training from the 2004 retreat – “Effectively Managing Your Work Load” with Stacy Schrank facilitating.