Access Services Minutes - September 25, 2018

FYI:

•  AM Job descriptions – housekeeping changes

• Documents with track changes detailing the updates to AM job positions are posted on the AM Sharepoint in the AM Meetings folder. They have been sent to Kelley for final approval and will then be posted on the intranet. The job descriptions were created using feedback from the AMs to create more distinction between roles and to add clarity.

• Access Services Hiring Assessments
  • ASI hiring assessments are done via a simple Microsoft Form that is emailed to candidates. Because of a lower response rate, it is advised to send the assessment to all ASI applicants or at least twice as many as you want in your interview pool.  
• City Rescue Mission and Carver Center library accounts
  • These are two transitional housing agencies whose residents qualify for library cards because: 1) they are long-term housing agencies, 2) the residents’ addresses at these locations are verifiable either by mail/postcard or letter from the agency, and 3) a notification system is in place to alert MLS if the resident has moved either via returned mail or a contact person employed by the agency. If you have similar agencies in your area that are interested in library cards, confirm that those three factors are in place and, along with a contact name and number, pass that information on to the AM Cabinet.
•  Request for comments on updated Damaged/Missing instructions
  
  • Jennifer Adkisson and Kevin Sendall worked together to revise this portion of Access Manual 2 for more clarity and better flow. It will be posted this week and includes updated Playaway information as well.
  • The Access Changes document, which can be found on Sharepoint, will also be added to the Access Manuals as a change log.
• Status and Location code start date
  • Oct 1 start date, see “next steps” section of document (can be found in Access Services Updates or on Sharepoint) to see what to do next.
  • Important to note: Custom Status 1 will be used to indicate CD-Greg/missing materials
  • A Maintenance library card will be used for sending materials to be cooked for pests, etc. These materials should be clearly marked and only items that we want back should be checked out on the card and sent, no withdrawals or donations. If sending items to the Service Center to be discreetly disposed of, clearly mark as well. There is no Maintenance request needed. The delivery driver will pick up all clearly marked materials in the bins.

Discussion

• 1:30 – 2:00 AM I Meetings – frequency, purpose – Geraldine

• There has been a lot of discussion over the last few months on AMI’s joining the AMII/III meetings. It was decided that AMI’s will be invited and welcome to join depending on staffing levels at their branches. If coverage is needed during this time, AMI’s will remain at the branch while AMII/III’s attend the meetings and bring the information back to share.
• The AMI’s present agreed that they found both the quarterly AMI meetings and the monthly AMII/III meetings beneficial. New AMI’s may particularly benefit from an AMI only meeting. It was decided that quarterly meetings will continue with an adjusted format due to AMI’s attending the overall AM meeting and no longer needing to recap that information. More time can be left for developing management skills and overcoming AMI specific challenges.
• It was also acknowledged that Access is slowing down in regard to large changes and projects and that there may be less overall AM meetings in the future. It was suggested that an occasional meeting for Access Specialists, similar to the former Circ Forum, could be helpful as well.
• Next quarter’s meeting will be a working lunch on Dec. 20^th to focus on Performance Development and questions we might have with the year-end process. In order to conserve time, AMI’s will bring any questions they have over the content of the last AM meeting to be quickly answered at the beginning of the meeting.

• ​​2:00 – 3:00 XChange Coaching Discussion follow-up – Geraldine and Risa

• Handouts: Sample Questions for Self-Reflections and Prompts for Coaching Discussions (can be found in AM Meetings folder on Sharepoint)
• An in-depth discussion took place on coaching successes, challenges, asking staff for feedback, and what was learned on this topic in the last Xchange session.

Closing Thoughts:

• Inventory

• MC has piloted the new process for the last several months and found it to be successful using the Weeding 5.5 script. Weeding 5.6 is coming with status & media code included and will allow for shelf reading and inventorying interfiled books and media.

Next Meeting: December 20^th, working lunch at The Village

Next Notetaker:  Ralph Ellison