New & Now Collection

Great news! On behalf of the New & Now committee, it’s my pleasure to announce our new browsing bestseller collections at six pilot branches. Please take a moment to learn about this exciting opportunity for increased customer satisfaction.

What is the New & Now collection?

New & Now is a completely browsable collection that consists of high demand materials. The titles aren’t visible in ValleyCat and they are not eligible for holds. When a customer comes in, he or she can browse the New & Now collection, and whatever happens to be on the shelf that day is what’s available.

What’s in the New & Now collection?

During the pilot phase, materials in this collection will be limited to books (mostly fiction). The startup collection contains multiple copies of 21 titles, all items for which there are at least 100 holds. Each month, the pilot branches will receive brand new, high demand books (the same titles at each branch). We are making every effort to ensure that these popular books will be available for customers on their release date.

Where are the New & Now collections located?

The pilot branches are Central, Clovis, Politi, Kerman, Kingsburg, and Auberry. Central, Clovis and Politi will receive 8 copies of each new title; Kerman, Kingsburg and Auberry will receive 5 copies.  Each location has a special New & Now display area identified by the logo shown above.

Is the New & Now collection a customer’s only chance to borrow those titles?

No. These books are meant to supplement and give instant access to our current, circulating collection. They will not affect the regular purchasing of bestselling materials that customers can reserve through ValleyCat.

How will staff know what titles are available?

While the books won’t be visible in ValleyCat, they will be accessible through Horizon. These items will be assigned the collection code FXXENNC - New & Now. However, no holds can be placed on these items through either system.

For how long can these books be borrowed?

Loan time for the New & Now collection is the same as other books – three weeks.  However, they cannot be renewed. They will be assigned the itype FFI - No Holds No Renewals.

When are the New & Now books available?

The items will be shipped directly to each participating branch. The first shipment should arrive sometime next week.

What does this mean for branches not participating in the pilot?

We encourage you to tell your customers about the New & Now collections. If a customer is searching for a title and you see that it’s available at one of the pilot branches, you can explain how the New & Now collection works. For example, if a customer at Woodward wants the latest John Grisham and you see there are four copies available on the shelf at Clovis, you can tell him/her that they are available in Clovis on a first come, first serve basis.

And remember—this is a pilot, and we hope to expand to more branches in the future. Sharing this new venture with customers will help create excitement and support for the library in general. 

Questions? Email me at connie.urquhart@fresnolibrary.org. 

Using Print Screen Function

Jill Potter, Tech Support

Need technical support assistance but having a hard time describing the problem? You can capture an image of what is on your computer screen at any given time and send it in an email to Tech Support. Click on the image below for a handy "how-to" article on this subject.

Branch Holiday Hours

Roberta Barton, Headquarters

The updated schedule of branch hours for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays is now posted on the Intranet.

Ask the Parents

Sara Gibbs, Fowler


Here is a great shot of the “Ask the Parents” segment when Valley PBS producers of "0-5 in 30 minutes" visited Fowler. The photo was taken by Dennis Rickert.

Apparently, all of the questions that parents asked will be paired with similar questions from other events. Hence, some of the Fowler Library’s moms and grandmas will be shown on different viewing dates in March.

Grateful

Terry Sterling, Community Branches - East

Here is a very nice article written by Wendy Klemin to be published in the November issue of the Squaw Valley Property Owners Association newsletter.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I thought it would be nice to reflect on some of the things we have to be grateful for as a community. Thanks to the vision of some of our local community members, we have a beautiful library building as well as an activity room for the community to use. In December of this year, it will be 16 years that we have had this building. We have 24 active clubs that use the room regularly, and about 75 uses of the room each month. Groups have access to tables and chairs, microphone, television, a full professional kitchen, and other amenities. Our local Four Seasons Garden Club has provided a beautiful Nature Trail behind the library for the public to enjoy, and our Library Board supplies an army of volunteers to run our Annual Yard Sale to raise money to help in various capacities.

Behind the scenes there are numerous building needs that are cared for by the Fresno County Library. The Fresno County Librarian and the Associate County Librarian came up in September and gave a detailed power point presentation on the building. They covered how much it cost, where the various funds came from, and how much it presently costs to maintain. The building itself cost 1.1 million dollars. Sixty thousand dollars of that money was donated from local citizens and groups, such as the SVPOA. Presently Fresno County Library provides $170,000 annually to cover costs to run and maintain the building. Quite a few maintenance issues are taken care of that most people may not be aware of. I think it is a unique partnership that we have with the county in providing the building and services that we enjoy in our community. All clubs use the activity room free of charge. Locally we take care of mopping the activity room floor and keeping it clean, but all other maintenance is handled by the county. If anyone is interested in more details, feel free to contact me, or we can have another opportunity to view the presentation given earlier.

A society can not remain free unless it is educated, and that is a large part of the library’s function in our community. The Fresno County Library’s mission statement is to provide books, technology, programs, services, and more to inform, enlighten, and entertain people of all ages. I hope that everyone in our community will take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us through the library system. The library’s purpose helps to build and strengthen communities, and their desire is to help our community grow in positive ways.

Currently we are starting a local chapter for Bear Mountain Friends of the Library as a way to help promote library services for our area. The Library could not survive without the network of volunteers that help to keep it going. We have many wonderful members in our community that are very giving of their time and talents, and I hope many will want to participate in this organization to keep our partnership with the county library positive and strong. I am very grateful to be able to serve our community, and for the wonderful people I get to know through library service. We also have many wonderful people throughout the library system that support and contribute to the good of the Bear Mtn. Library. Our new County Librarian is Laurel Prysiazny, and she is a great asset to us. The Associate County Librarian is Pat Pondexter, who was the person in charge of the Bear Mountain Library project from the beginning, and who continues to serve us. Terry Sterling is our present supervisor for the Fresno County east side branches. Amy Gons is also a librarian that works at Bear Mtn. and Orange Cove branches. I think it is good to know and appreciate those that work for our collective good as a community. Many of the original community members who helped to instigate the library building are gone from us now, but many still remain that you may want to take the time to thank personally. Please feel free to contact the library for more information.

On December 4, 2010 at 10am we will have our annual Gingerbread House craft for children, parents, and grandparents to enjoy free of charge. This is a fun opportunity to do a creative craft, and enjoy friends and family. Please sign up to participate at the library. There will also be a photo op with Santa, which will benefit our local group of students who are traveling to Spain this summer.

Cultural Arts Fest

Amy Gons, Orange Cove

On October 9, Orange Cove hosted a cultural arts festival as part of our Big Read. Check out these pics!

Showing off their masquerade masks...


Printmaking craft...

Snack time...

Master storyteller Olga Loya...

Enjoying the Sosa Sisters...

Resident artists talking about their craft...

Fall and Winter Hours

Roberta Barton, Headquarters

Hours at these branches were changed as follows effective September 7:

Shaver Lake
Monday and Saturday: 10 am to 3 pm
Wednesday: 11 am to 5 pm

Tranquillity
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Saturday: 10 am to 2 pm

West Fresno
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 11 am to 6 pm
Thursday: 11 am to 7 pm
Saturday: 12 noon to 4 pm

Sock It To Me!

Robin Spencer, Piedra

Piedra Library hosted a great summer event on July 17. We made sock monkeys! It was a lot of fun and so much wonderful help from our local volunteers. Our Board members, Corkey Wakefield, Sandy Grant and Donna Weinberg, worked hard and long hours to prepare and sew the monkeys for the children. The ladies had 17 monkeys ready for kids to stuff and sew.

Their parents assisted and helped the kids stuff and sew the monkeys. The children sewed the felt faces and clothing, lips and ribbons on the stuffed critters.

They had a great time learning to sew. We are hoping to make a few monkeys for the orphans in Romania. And possibly potpourri bags and beaded necklaces for the adults there too! Beverly Henson and I helped organize and supervise the event.

Consumer Health Toolkit

Roberta Barton, Headquarters

The California State Library, in partnership with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Southwest Region, is pleased to introduce a new online resource. The Finding Health and Wellness @ Your Library: A Consumer Health Toolkit for Library Staff, with a focus on prevention and wellness, was developed to assist public library staff in meeting the health information needs of their communities. The toolkit is available at http://www.library.ca.gov/lds/docs/HealthToolkit.pdf.

Sunnyside Book Drive

Robyn Aguiar, Sunnyside



Sunnyside Branch Library, in partnership with Clovis Youth Employment Services, held a very successful book drive on June 22. Clovis raised approximately 2,500 books to donate to the kids in the Fancher Creek and Temperance Kutner School Districts.


About 1,000 books were given out and over 154 individuals, including 90 families, were served. Each child received three books and had great fun with face painting, games and delicious food. We also had a library card registration table for those in need of a card. Way to go Clovis and Sunnyside!

Fish Tale

Terry Sterling, Community Libraries East

With the help of Bear Mountain staff, Mr. R.B. Gray was able to access photographic proof of his big catch on a recent Alaskan fishing trip. Mr. Gray is a regular patron and shared his appreciation with this very nice letter.

"This letter is to express my appreciation for the Bear Mountain Library in Squaw Valley. This is a very diverse community representing a full range in needs, including a library that is managed in a very professional manner, yet reflects friendliness and a welcome atmosphere that encourages patrons to take advantage of the wide range of services offered.

It is clean, well maintained and orderly at all times. Assistance with computers, location and ordering of books is very efficient and conducted in a 'customer comes first' manner. Please accept my sincere thanks."

Way to go, Bear Mountain!

More Information Available About Floating Collections

Kathleen Smith, Headquarters

As previously announced, members of the Floating Collections Project Team will be visiting your branch this summer to educate staff about the what, when, where and how of the floating collection system. We also want to collect your questions and concerns about the new system to help implement it smoothly and efficiently for audio visual materials in January 2011.

In the meantime, you can learn more about floating collections as follows:

Review the powerpoint presentation on floating collections available on the front page of the intranet at http://intra.fresnolibrary.org/. Look under the New! section at the bottom of the page.

Tune in to an archived one-hour webinar called "Floating Collections: A Model for Change". The presenters are fellows from the 2009 Eureka! Leadership Institute. To find out more about the webinar, see: http://eurekaleadership.org/webinar/07-29-2010.

Attend the floating collections workshop being held at the Annual Library Meeting in October.