Access Services Minutes - February 20, 2024

Welcome: Tricia called the meeting to order.

FRN + JFRN Clarification: The group discussed how FRN and JFRN items, including bilingual materials and foreign films, are being shelved at their libraries. Some libraries are interfiling bilingual materials in the regular collection. Bilingual materials are defined by having “mirrored” content, i.e. English and the other language displayed side-by-side with identical translations. If more bilingual stickers are needed to identify these items, they can be requested from Collection Processing. It is recommended by CSD that we shelve all like languages together. If any items in another language are interfiled with the regular collection, their location codes will need to be updated to reflect this change.

In Transit Report: Discussed the possibility of updating parameters from 10 days to 7 days to decrease any wait-time for guests waiting on these materials. Because this change could have an impact on the number of items on the tracer list, each branch will participate in a tracking period to gather data and evaluate the change. Tracking logs were created by the Access Cabinet and shared with the group for feedback. Consensus was to use the logs with no changes and to begin tracking on February 28^th. More information and a timeline to be shared with attendees after the meeting.

Delivery Study: We did not do a delivery study last year due to hold-slip tracking. The group was asked if we should do one this year and, if so, when. The consensus was that past delivery studies have been helpful, and attendees would like to do one this year. Via a Zoom poll, the group decided to complete the study in May. Volunteers for a study workgroup were sought and names gathered for Tricia to contact. More information will be coming to the wider group in April.

Aspen UX Testing Check In: Attendees were asked to share how Aspen UX testing was going at their branches. Libraries that had completed this task shared their experiences and tips for finding volunteers. Libraries that had not finished yet were asked to share concerns or questions on the process. When completed, all materials and recordings should be sent to Tricia.

Access Priorities Updates:  A new draft of the Access Priorities document was shared with attendees. Tricia reviewed the changes from the original and sought feedback. Consensus of attendees was that this document had been helpful in the past, some had made local alterations to make it more applicable to their branches, but no changes were needed on the updated version. The new document can be found in the Access Manager’s SharePoint.

Learn: Pests in the Library: Tricia led the group in a review of the training PowerPoint, action plan, and checklist and reminded everyone on where they can be found. Discussion and questions ensued over the process. Updated letters in Spanish were requested and will be available soon. Scenarios and roleplaying are highly recommended as part of training to increase staff comfort when talking to guests about pest issues. Galen Boydstun, Collection Processing Manager, is the new system point-person for pest process questions.

System Updates (Risa Jensen-Jones, GSA): Risa shared the following with the group:

• Guest Services is working on gathering data on what services are offered at each library and contrasting these services to similar ones in the vicinity to show the value of what each library provides to their communities.
• We were reminded of the changes in classification and compensation that go into effect on March 4th and to raise questions up the chain if we have them. We can also reach out directly to Human Resources for information.
• Almonte’s grand opening is scheduled for mid-May.
• The Village Green construction project is now complete.
• The annual budget process is starting soon, be sure to talk with your library manager if you have any questions or requests.
• Reminder that there are opportunities for OLA attendees to assist with tabling at conference. If you are presenting at OLA, be sure to add your information to the spreadsheet of conference participation.
• The EDMP Kiosk is closed and has been removed from the list of pick-up location options in Aspen. All guests with holds in the machine have been contacted to route their holds to alternate libraries. There is no ETA of when it will be back in service.

Small Group Sharing: The group split into small groups to discuss performance development, access roles at different locations, and statistics gathering recently done by Downtown managers.

Next Meeting: 1:30pm, April 16, 2024 (Region M) | In Person at SC with tours of departments | Next Notetaker: Southern Oaks