Grafton Public Library: Weekly Report: January 10-15

Press release from Grafton Public Library:

2022-01-13

Six of twenty staff are currently out on leave. Although short-staffed, we are able to maintain minimum staffing. The Library had a scheduled delayed opening on Thursday. A dozen staff attended a remote learning session on the Science Fiction genre where we discussed the benchmark book 1984, by George Orwell.

After the very freezing weather on Tuesday, we had an issue with the AMH flap and the door opener. AMH is working, and we are troubleshooting the door opener. The doors are very heavy and we rely on it to allow people into the building. A train passing through rumbled enough to shake loose a screen in a large second floor window, knocking the computer and monitor housing the security software over and necessitating a new monitor, an unexpected expense. It’s unclear why the screen was not secure upon installation.

Beth connected with IT and delegated a staff member to work remotely on Wi-Fi and faxing, which have been outstanding issues since the Municipal Center lost internet a few weeks ago. Patrons visiting the library can request a Wi-Fi hotspot to take home or use on site. She registered for the ALA online Midwinter conference LibLearnX, which takes place at the end of January, worked on a non-fiction book order, the FY23 budget, shelving and book end issues, electrical issues, bills/invoices from the construction project, reviewed Library job descriptions for the salary and classification survey, and worked on the Library newsletter.

Digital content fans should be aware that the OverDrive app is being phased out – if you haven’t already, download Libby and use Libby instead.

Once installed, under the Home screen, scroll down to extras to access on demand content specific to Grafton Library cardholders:

Borrower Services staff have been managing circulation, patron needs at the public computers, processing holds and requests, managing delivery and the AMH system, and covering the lobby.

Sarah managed scheduling gaps, covered in the lobby, worked solo in the CR covering the desk, assisting patrons, and answering the phone, created fifteen grab and go kits with activity prompts for preschoolers, created storytime handout kits for toddlers, worked on LEGO school age kits, created outreach lesson plans, presented three outreach storytimes to NGES virtually, communicated with Cori from Tucker interiors, corresponded with apple tree arts, YFCP, & STEM Beginnings, communicated interdepartmentally to problem solve as issues arose, and managed volunteers.

Jen created grab and go lessons for babies, worked on the February newsletter, updated the online calendar, covered the desk in the Children’s Room, and assisted Sarah and Cyndi with managing volunteers. Cyndi made curtains for the Children’s program room bookshelf, made tabletop promotional signage for LEGO Brick Builders, and worked on her paralibrarian application. Kristin worked on school outreach, planning for three upcoming sessions of book club, and decorated the newly installed CR/YA bulletin board. Stacie cleaned and prepped LEGO for school age kits, covered the desk, and created book displays.

Allison continues working on a complete inventory of the teen collection, checking every YA item to make sure that it’s listed correctly in the system – available items are actually on the shelf, etc.

Heidi hosted the “Not Just For Young Adults” Book Group Monday evening.  We discussed We Hunt the Flame, by Hafsah Faizal. She also answered reference questions, created library cards for people, worked on statistics, and did research for future book discussions.

A reminder: The Library will be closed on Monday January 17, 2022 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. No materials are due (even if you received a notice that the item is due, we are in process of changing due dates to 1/18/2022 due to a glitch in our calendar submission to the CW MARS network. We continue to suspend fines for the duration of the pandemic.

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