So far, the runs in March have been on average 619 labels per day which is a slight increase compared to February’s 605 labels. Technical Processing currently receives an average of 32 boxes of materials a day which is a decrease from last month’s average of 40.
TP is current at this time on processing rush and non-rush materials. There were several days this month so far when processors ran out of materials to process and performed some housekeeping duties like dusting and reorganizing.
Joyce Mathis with CFS, B&T’s accounting dept., has applied many of the current credits to our accounts. However, she informed Heidi that MLS will have to tell CFS which remaining credits to apply to which outstanding balances. Once Heidi is no longer short-staffed she will tackle this problem.
Andrew’s last day was on March 2, 2007. Heidi has been receiving and entering invoices since then and is very much looking forward to March 19 when Christy will be back again to do so instead.
The Ingram accounts continue to be all current at this time.
Repairs on the second floor heating coil at CH were completed the week of January 22, and staff are extremely grateful. Pauline applauded all staff for their work and attitude during the limited heat period.
Technicians
Cataloging now has a full complement of Technicians!
Jill returned to work from her medical leave on January 18.
Margaret returned to her Cataloging assignment on January 22. She assisted in MSL on January 24 and 26, and in CH February 7-14.
Dana shared information about the Oklahoma Voices project. She recommended staff go to www.storycorps.net to sign up for emails for sample interviews.
They are looking for stories from community builders and extraordinary stories from ordinary people.
Cataloging Update - Pauline
Temperature Problems
The temperature on the second floor at CH is becoming intolerable. A coil in the second floor air handler broke around Christmas. Because the HVAC system is so old, a replacement coil has to be manufactured. Until this happens, there is limited heat on the east side of the second floor, where Cataloging is, and basically none on the west side, where the staff lounge is. The inside temperature is largely dependent on the outside temp; lately, Cataloging has been in the 50s. Staff are dealing with the situation really well, without complaint, but it is getting old.
So far, the runs in December have been on average 735 labels per day which is a slight increase compared to last month’s 698 labels. Technical Processing currently receives an average of 38 boxes of materials a day which is a decrease from last month’s average of 44. TP received 145 boxes from UPS the day following the two days the library was closed due to inclement weather.
TP is current on processing rush materials and is processing non-rush materials from the run brought to TP five days ago.
Several staff took vacation days between the end of November and now, and several more staff have scheduled some days off around the Christmas holidays.
Pauline is on leave and will return on December 4. Aaron is the Cataloger in charge.
The number of titles cataloged in October increased from September, but is still 12% less than last October; the cumulative total for the fiscal year is down 18%. The number of labels printed in October is also 12% less than last October; that cumulative fiscal year total is also down 18%.
The order of blank labels for barcodes is scheduled to ship on November 10, and should arrive sometime the following week.
Dana showed us copies of the new Read Y’all posters.
Dana discussed some of the problems with having system programs in October.
Dana attended the Librarians of Color Conference.
Emily recommended that Dana attend an author program featuring Lisa Yee. Lisa Yee will be coming to Oklahoma City for programs in the schools. This is part of a YA author tour grant Emily applied for and received.
Dana is working with bilingual author/illustrator/storyteller Xavier Garcia to present some Neighborhood Arts programs next summer.
Dana commented that she is working with a new person at the Oklahoma City schools that coordinates activities with community organizations such as the library.
Dana highlighted some problems the library is having getting enough tickets for the Red Hawks’ game for Library Night.
Dana invited everyone to attend the Andes Manta program.
So far, the runs in September have been on average 637 labels per day which is an increase compared to last month’s 583 labels. Technical Processing currently receives an average of 43 boxes of materials a day which is an increase from last month’s average of 36.
TP is currently processing non-rush materials from the run brought to TP five days ago. Receipt of materials and run sizes have increased compared to last month, plus several staff were absent for a variety of reasons.
During the week of August 21, TP was extremely short-staffed. Margaret learned the receiving procedures within a very short time and was of tremendous help during that week. She did a wonderful job and her help was greatly appreciated.
The statements from Baker & Taylor and Baker & Taylor Entertainment continue to be current.
Now that the accounting problems with Baker & Taylor have been taken care of, TP is starting to experience problems with orders received from B&T. Many purchase orders are keyed in incorrectly when the orders are being entered at B&T. This generates duplicate orders and wrong quantities being shipped. B&T’s customer service is currently researching these problems.
The Ingram accounts continue to be all current at this time.
Library Visits
During July selectors made an annual visit to CH and a 6-month visit to BI.
During August selectors made an annual visit to CT and a 6-month visit to DN. In addition, they made their annual visit to the extension libraries.
During September they make annual visits to DC and to BC and Books by Mail. They also do a 6-month visit to ED.
Janet made a special visit to VI to work with Josh on August 14th since he had just started as a librarian when the annual visit was made to VI in April.
Ursula is back at work half time. Everyone is glad to see her. She will remain on half time until at least July 27.
Cataloging is experiencing one of its rare slow periods. Pauline is encouraging everyone to enjoy looking at empty shelves and not worrying about workload while they can.
One of Cataloging’s Zebra model barcode label printers bit the dust in June. A small plastic piece needed to hold the labels in place broke off. IT replaced the printer with the one that they had used for testing. The Zebra printers have received heavier use than originally anticipated, and have proven to be high maintenance. Pauline checked with various vendors at ALA about finding printers that would be more suited to the workload. The suggested printers are considerably more expensive than the Zebra model. Pauline will talk with Anne Fischer and Jim Welch about options for the future.
So far, the runs in June have been on average 655 labels per day which is a slight decrease compared to last month’s 682 labels. Technical Processing currently receives an average of 45 boxes of materials a day which is a slight increase from last month’s average of 41.
The oldest non-rush materials Technical Processing is currently processing are from the run brought to TP on June 13; there has only been one run since then. At this point, TP is just about caught up with processing. However, since there was a UPS delivery of 135 boxes of books on June 14, this may change again any day now.
The bindery status still remains uncertain at this time.
Heidi is still in frequent communication with Baker & Taylor’s accounting firm CFS. The June statements have been received. Some of the old items have disappeared from the accounts, but very few so far. However, the good news is that no new mismatched amounts are appearing, so it seems that CFS now has a handle on posting our current payments correctly.
The Ingram accounts are all current at this time.
