Public Services Managers Minutes - October 13, 2022

Welcome & Introductions 

Hello to Tracie at DC!

Goodbye to Nicole.

Updates with Larry:

• Ralph Ellison branch incident update: remain vigilant, staff safety is a priority. Discussed security concerns
• Future of Public Services discussion:

• We want to make sure we have effective staffing to meet growing community need.
• We are not reducing staffing.
• Prioritize guest interactions.
• Consider increasing efficiencies and carefully using automation.
• We want to review our hours of operation to ensure we’re available when guests need us most.
• Consider types of work we do.
• We are adding ED2 in 2025 and AL new location in 2023. We will need staffing to support those locations.

• Action: What can we do to implement strategies? Gather feedback, get input, Talk to your staff about this.

• Staff Day presentation discussion, sharing feedback
• Staff Morale discussion: after 2 years of pandemic and a lot of change, PSM urged to lead from the front, being positive spark for staff, importance of recognition for staff, empathy for all the things staff go through in the library and outside the library. 

Summer Reading Subcommittees- Emily Williams

• Still need staff, a lot of work and fun, and a way for staff to shape how Summer Reading runs
• A lot of good experience for staff, hard work and time commitment

Happy Notes

Staff shared victories and updates

New Quarterly Facilities Checklist- Erin

Ready to move forward with the new checklist from the Safety Committee. The new PDF is on the intranet under Forms for the 4th quarter. This replaces the old one and needs to be used this quester. Still needs to be uploaded to the same folder on the Safety Committee SharePoint every quarter.

Action: Use new quarterly facilities checklist

Holds labels vs receipts- Risa

We've had issues in the past with the “extra sticky” hold labels. Sourcing good labels has become difficult and expensive. IT has found a source for them for the next few months. Discussion of other options for labels used by other library systems. Cost comparison for using receipts vs the labels. Could save about $20k- $40k per year by using receipts inside the materials instead of sticky labels. Will do some testing for trolleys, delivery, and on the shelf. 4 locations volunteered to help test.

New Open Records Request form- Risa 

Discussion. Went over the new form. Currently available on the intranet under Forms. Okay to print it give to customers. All info is on the form. Guests just need to read and fill-in the form. It can be scanned and emailed or sent in the postal mail to DN Administration. There are small fees to pay for the cost of filling the request. The department filling the request will inform guests of the cost or cost estimate before it is filled. Physical copies must be picked up at DN. Payments are entered as donation in POS. 

‘Breaking News’ (last-minute updates)

• Mark: New set of closing announcements in conjunction with Guest Experiences and the public PCs shutting down at 5 till at closing. Email coming soon. Needs to start using Monday 10/17.
• Risa: Annual Fee accounts and auditor inquiries: Access to Libby, Kanopy, & other digital resources will soon end at end of annual fee period for expired accounts. Advise guests that lose access that the Annual fee account is now up for renewal. The expiration will block the digital access. Access will end over the next few weeks as IT and Collection Development work with these vendors.

Location sharing highlights:

• Tricia (PSA): Access Content Workshop revamp updates
• George(BI): Fall Fest 11/05. (FYI: NYAJ VW photo booth is $1000 for 2 hours)
• Tim(CIS): Quick tip sheet for meeting rooms and updates about how the website displays events.
• Kimberly(OES): Offered OES to help at your location. Americans and the Holocaust exhibit updates and discussion.