Access Services Minutes - June 18, 2024

Welcome: Tricia called the meeting to order.

Summer Reading Check In (Emily Williams and Kristin Williamson, OES) 15,000 people signed up, on the way to 20-22k, already have 28% of the points required for Read It Forward, Kristin and Emily have been going around to all the libraries to help. 268 teen volunteers this year. This year’s Read it Forward organization is the Latino Development Agency. Read the Engagement Cabinet minutes to learn more. Kristin extended thanks to everyone for their hard work

Learn: Maintenance Portal (Chris Bachmann, Admin) The new MTC portal is live to submit work order. Please report any problems or issues you may come across. Reminder, when requesting Pest materials to be picked up, please let the MTC drivers know what they are delivering and ensure totes are clearly labeled. Facilities Master Planning will start with an assessment of location conditions. This will include a 3^rd party to complete the assessment along with MTC and IT.

Learn: Business Office (Charisse Dye and John Rahhal, BUS) Charisse and John walked through the RTO process and shared examples of how to complete RTO’s and information needed for each line and how to view your locations Special Funds. Additional notes: The Message line should be very descriptive of what the purchase is used for. Ensure the RTO and Amazon orders match when completing the RTO. All contracts go through the CEO prior to approval from the Business Office. Check your dashboards regularly.

Learn: Aspen Discovery Subject Matter Experts (Tricia Andrews, GSA) Aspen User Experience testing will continue, and we are looking for one Subject Matter Expert from each location. SME’s must be full-time Access Specialists or higher with supervisor’s approval. SME’s will attend a 3-hour long training course prior to testing which will occur in August and October/November. An email was sent to all Library Staff with more information for staff to volunteer.

Discuss: Policy Changes beginning July 1 (Tricia Andrews, GSA) Started out with a Menti quiz, with questions surrounding the policy changes. This quiz was adapted into a PowerPoint document so managers can use with their team. It is located on the AM SharePoint in the AM Meeting folder. Specific topics shared:

• One of the large changes is guest’s accounts will be blocked if they have an item that is 29 days overdue. This includes access to digital materials and will go live immediately on July 1. Educating guests in advance on this is highly encouraged.

• Payment Plans: With our new policy in place that clears guest accounts after 5 years, we have a lot of grace in place for customers. Due to this, keep in mind that we do not always need to waive fines to keep guests using the library. We have a procedure in place for payment plans, and this could be a great option that any staff member can implement. If you decide to go that route, refer to the CARL manual for details.
• Pests in the Library: Something important to note here is that if a guest is suspended for materials with pest damage, they are still allowed to enter the library and use our resources. Also, pest suspensions regarding material now will prevent them from checking out materials at any MLS library.
• AM 100 and ILL: If ILL has paid the lending library for a damaged/lost ILL, the fine on the guest’s account will not be waived after 5 years. A manual fine will be placed on the account, and their ILL privileges will be suspended. ILL is exempt from the policy in other words. Bounced checks / returned mail are the same.

Small Group Discussions: Participants could pick into a discussion of their choosing on the four topics below:

• Access to Libraries / Access to Materials
• Behavior in Library Policy
• Study/Meeting Rooms / Open Records
• Dogs in the Library

Delivery Study Review (Tricia Andrews, GSA) For detailed results, see the AM SharePoint. There’s lots of branch specific data in there. Overall, most branches saw a decrease in time taken on delivery. 40k + items went through delivery. Circulation was down from the last study in May 2022. We did not route any pest items!

Next Meeting: 1:30p, August 20, 2024, In Person at Downtown Library with tours of various departments (Region R)

Next Notetaker: Warr Acres