Staff Association Newsletter Vol. 12
Submitted by jana.henderson on Mon, 06/05/2023 - 15:36
If the newsletter does not appear above, please log into your metro email address and refresh the page.
Staff Association (SA) exists to support, engage, and advocate for all MLS staff. We are a voluntary association not formally affiliated with the Metropolitan Library System; as such, participation in SA events, tasks, and projects is not compensable. All business except for one monthly meeting is to be conducted off the clock.
- Log in to post comments
Comments
We have a Fun Committee at the Service Center! It started last October. Here is how it's been going for us, if anyone is interested.
There are 3 official members from various departments. We meet once a month for about 30 minutes depending on how much business we have. Coworkers are always welcome to drop in.
We bounce ideas around until we come up with something we think will be well-received and affordable for staff (we have no budget). We choose a date and figure out what each committee member will be responsible for (posters, emails, displays, activities, etc.). We run the date & theme past the managers for their approval. Management is very supportive, but not actively involved.
Events happen about every other month. Posters go up and emails go out 2 or 3 weeks in advance so people have time to budget and think of something to bring. Most people contribute; those who can't are still super invited and very welcome to attend.
The actual parties are generally just the conference room full of food, decorated in a theme along with some kind of interactive elements, and scheduled over a 3-4 hour block. We set it up and leave it alone to run itself. People come in for their lunch breaks. We're not all together at the same time, but the Service Center is about 94% introverts anyway so this works great for us. Other locations might want to do things differently.
We've always had the odd potluck here, but there has been a noticeable uptick in engagement since Fun Committee started. Each event seems bigger than the last as there is more and more buy-in from staff. Our spring fling in March was absolutely festooned with decorations and even music. Last month's coronation party was a straight up banger!
Sorry for the wall o' text. Just wanted to say I think Fun Committees are a good idea!