Grafton Public Library: Weekly Report: February 21-26

Press release from Grafton Public Library:

2022-02-25

The Library was closed in observance of President’s Day on Monday and closed to the public due to inclement weather on Friday, with staff telecommuting and responding to patron requests remotely from 10am-4pm. It’s unclear at time of this writing if the lot will be plowed and walkways deiced for 10am opening on Saturday as scheduled. The Library’s website and social media is the best place to check for closing information.

We had 462 visitors on Tuesday and Wednesday, issued 28 new library cards, circulated 3,037 items, added 103 new items, placed 485 item requests, and sent
547 items in delivery and received 493 items this week to date.

Completion of the Construction Punch List continues. This week we took care of electrical work, carpeting and flooring issues. Beth approved design for a folding doors for the Maker Space and Presentation Space in the Community Room and received a draft patio layout from DRA. Our two OWL meeting devices arrived for remote and hybrid meetings – thanks to the Friends for funding! Beth scheduled panic button testing for next week.

Beth and other staff completed interviews for two of the three position vacancies and will be extending offers to candidates for the Reference and Teen Librarian positions. She attended a construction meeting and posted agendas for Board of Library Trustees and Library Planning and Building Committee for next week. Beth also chased down Conflict of Interest forms, and delegating to Sarah to turn them in to the Clerk – 100% completion, on time. Beth also worked on the Library newsletter, managing donations, website updates, and procurement, including a nonfiction book order.

The mask mandate has been dropped for all spaces except the Children’s Room – thank you for continuing to mask to protect our most vulnerable population.
With the unmasking, a food and drink issue has developed. We currently allow food and non-alcoholic beverages throughout the library with ONE exception the Children’s Room, due to the current mask requirement for that room. Staff do not want to be the “food police” confronting everyone with a cup of coffee or bag of Cheerios. We don’t want to deny hungry children their afterschool snack, or busy adults a meal. While we want to protect our new building and assets, we can replace a keyboard with a drink spilled in it, or a stained carpet tile easily. We know people, including staff! eat and drink around library materials at home (and at work) and items that get damaged are easily replaceable. If smell is an issue, we will have to ask patrons to eat outside and return when done, and we can empty stinky leftovers into the outside receptacle or dumpster. If cleanliness is an issue, we will offer wipes and ask people to clean up after themselves. We have trash and recycling bins and cleaning supplies throughout the building. If the smell and mess of food in the library continues to be an issue, it is a privilege we will have to limit to designated areas, such as the Friends Corner, or eliminate altogether, with the Board of Library Trustees revisiting the Code of Conduct.

Borrower Services reports Microsoft Office has been installed on the four public internet computers. Faxing remains unresolved, Xerox is working on it. The Lobby materials return has been disabled so we can keep the exterior one open 24/7 so we are now back to collecting returns in a bin and hand checking them in while we wait for a replacement computer to arrive. Our romance sticker project is finished, so fans of that genre can find romance novels at a glance as they browse for books.
We’ve started on a historical fiction stickering project next.

The Overdrive app has been officially decommissioned, so delete it from your device and download Libby instead for e-content! Updated brochures on accessing OverDrive content from your device will be available soon; you can always go to cwmars.overdrive.com to access and read on a computer.

Sandhya worked on museum passes and processed ILLs. Jane worked on identifying gaps in our collection from the New York Times best-seller lists, and researched databases we might want to offer. Ranjita worked on Library of Things and New York Times best sellers. Allie worked on the March newsletter, edited the A-C Historical Fiction list for sticker placement, and did some troubleshooting with Bibliotheca over books getting stuck on the belt. Susan placed orders for audiobooks and DVDs and Blu rays. She worked with Eileen to hand over the task of ordering supplies, and ran transit and missing lists.

Sarah met with Bev at Willard House and Clock Museum to discuss partnership opportunities, packed grab and go kits, assisted patrons in the children’s room during a busy school vacation week, created signage for mask requirements in the CR, communicated with staff, communicated with NGES parent volunteer regarding a 2nd grade field trip, and worked on collection development.

Jen packed and prepped grab and go kits, coordinated with volunteers, worked on the March newsletter, and assisted patrons in the children’s room during a busy school vacation week. Cyndi packed and prepped grab and go kits, coordinated with volunteers, and assisted patrons in the children’s room during a busy school vacation week. Mare communicated with volunteers and assisted patrons in the children’s room during a busy school vacation week. Stacie planned March room decorations and displays and assisted patrons in the children’s room during a busy school vacation week. Kristin ran a successful bedtime-themed storytime and prepped for her March book clubs.

Our Pajama Drive continues through March 31—thanks to all who have donated!

This press release was produced by Grafton Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.