Dr. Watts is an author, keynote speaker, trainer, consultant and executive coach. For more information, you can visit his website here. As always, have a great day and see you on Oct. 12.
J.
September 17, 2009
The Keynote Speaker for the 2009 ALM is: Dr. Robert Watts, Jr.
Every FCPL Annual Library Meeting has a keynote speaker, someone who provides inspiration, words of wisdom, etc. for FCPL employees. Usually it is someone from outside of FCPL, last year it was Stacy Aldritch, Deputy State Librarian for the California State Library. This year, we are honored to have Dr. Robert Watts, Jr. as our keynote speaker.
Dr. Watts is an author, keynote speaker, trainer, consultant and executive coach. For more information, you can visit his website here. As always, have a great day and see you on Oct. 12.
J.
Dr. Watts is an author, keynote speaker, trainer, consultant and executive coach. For more information, you can visit his website here. As always, have a great day and see you on Oct. 12.
J.
September 15, 2009
NOYS: Calling Teen filmmakers!
It's time for the FCPL Get Reel Student Film Festival!
Teen and Young Adult library patrons from across the county are encouraged to participate, and with your help, we can successfully promote the event to your patrons.
The Get Reel Student Film Festival is a filmmaking competition for Fresno County residents, ages 13-22, made possible by generous support from Educational Employees Credit Union. Films are due by October 16, 2009.
Prizes for winning entries are Visa gift cards ranging from $100 to $500. Local experts in the film and technology field will do the judging. There will be a public screening of all accepted films and an award ceremony will be held at the Tower Theatre on Saturday, December 5.
It will be free to enter the competition, and free to attend the screening.
You can learn more at: the Get Reel website, where you can learn what you need to be able to answer patrons’ questions about this event.
Please -
Hang the posters and distribute flyers that you will receive in delivery.
Encourage patrons to begin working on films, to complete the application packet and submit a film before October 16
Forward submission packets to FHQ YS Attn: Faythe Arredondo as you receive them
Support your teen patrons and their families by attending the screening and the award ceremony on Saturday, December 5, 2009 (time TBD) at the Tower Theatre.
If you have any questions about this event, please check the event Web page, or feel free to contact Gina Becker.
Thank you!
Teen and Young Adult library patrons from across the county are encouraged to participate, and with your help, we can successfully promote the event to your patrons.
The Get Reel Student Film Festival is a filmmaking competition for Fresno County residents, ages 13-22, made possible by generous support from Educational Employees Credit Union. Films are due by October 16, 2009.
Prizes for winning entries are Visa gift cards ranging from $100 to $500. Local experts in the film and technology field will do the judging. There will be a public screening of all accepted films and an award ceremony will be held at the Tower Theatre on Saturday, December 5.
It will be free to enter the competition, and free to attend the screening.
You can learn more at: the Get Reel website, where you can learn what you need to be able to answer patrons’ questions about this event.
Please -
Hang the posters and distribute flyers that you will receive in delivery.
Encourage patrons to begin working on films, to complete the application packet and submit a film before October 16
Forward submission packets to FHQ YS Attn: Faythe Arredondo as you receive them
Support your teen patrons and their families by attending the screening and the award ceremony on Saturday, December 5, 2009 (time TBD) at the Tower Theatre.
If you have any questions about this event, please check the event Web page, or feel free to contact Gina Becker.
Thank you!
September 9, 2009
NOYS: Teens' Top Ten
Your teens can be heard on a national level! Teens' Top Teen is like the Teen Choice Awards for books. There are 25 nominated books published last year and teens can vote for three. The top ten vote-getters become this year's Teens' Top Ten. Easy peasy.
Voting open until Friday, September 18th. Winners announced during Teen Read Week, October 18th-24th.
Tell your teens to vote now!
New From the Professional Library
Roberta Barton, Headquarters
New titles for your professional development:
Children's Literature Gems by Elizabeth Bird You can master the huge array of excellent children's books from the past and the present with this must-have resource.
Coretta Scott King Awards by Henrietta M. Smith This volume gathers together the best of the best in African American children's literature.
Crisis in Employment by Jane Jerrard Inside, Outside, and Online by Chrystie Hill This resource provides practical advice and inspiration for building community with your library.
Licensing Digital Content by Lesley Ellen Harris This one-stop resource covers the basics of digital licensing in a plain-language approach that demystifies the process.
New titles for your professional development:
Children's Literature Gems by Elizabeth Bird You can master the huge array of excellent children's books from the past and the present with this must-have resource.
Coretta Scott King Awards by Henrietta M. Smith This volume gathers together the best of the best in African American children's literature.
Crisis in Employment by Jane Jerrard Inside, Outside, and Online by Chrystie Hill This resource provides practical advice and inspiration for building community with your library.
Licensing Digital Content by Lesley Ellen Harris This one-stop resource covers the basics of digital licensing in a plain-language approach that demystifies the process.
September 8, 2009
Photos from last year's ALM
Hey Everyone,
Here's a few photographs from last year's ALM so let's take a walk down memory lane. Additionally, for all new employees, these pictures will hopefully give you an idea of what goes on at the ALM.
Early morning registration for the ALM. Where's the coffee?
Checking out the gift baskets.
Last year's keynote speaker, Stacey Aldritch, Deputy State Librarian for the California State Library.
The FCPL Book Truck Drill Team, the Dancing Raisins.
Local authors discussing their works at one of the workshops.
Last year's People First workshop.
Yoga in the Workplace workshop. Now stretch!
Did those pictures jog your memory? This year we got some exciting workshops planned and I hope you got Monday, October 12 marked down. (Of course you do, we're all going to be there) Have a great day everyone.
J
Here's a few photographs from last year's ALM so let's take a walk down memory lane. Additionally, for all new employees, these pictures will hopefully give you an idea of what goes on at the ALM.
Early morning registration for the ALM. Where's the coffee?
Checking out the gift baskets.
Last year's keynote speaker, Stacey Aldritch, Deputy State Librarian for the California State Library.
The FCPL Book Truck Drill Team, the Dancing Raisins.
Local authors discussing their works at one of the workshops.
Last year's People First workshop.
Yoga in the Workplace workshop. Now stretch!
Did those pictures jog your memory? This year we got some exciting workshops planned and I hope you got Monday, October 12 marked down. (Of course you do, we're all going to be there) Have a great day everyone.
J
September 3, 2009
2009 Annual Library Meeting is almost here!
As is our annual tradition, Fresno County Public Library will hold its Annual Library Meeting soon. It's right around the corner and that means any and all information about the Annual Library Meeting (ALM)will be coming soon so keep an eye out on this blog. If you are searching for any ALM information on this blog, just look for the ALM tag and it will list all ALM entries.
Without further ado, here is this year's theme and some information tidbits regarding this year's ALM, which is happening Monday, October 12, 2009.
Theme: Surviving and Thriving!
The Fresno County library and library staff are experiencing a number of opportunities and challenges in these difficult economic times. The library is changing to address these challenges. Organizational and individual stress comes with change and the challenge of the economic downturn. Change also provides the opportunity to introduce creative changes and thrive! Most importantly, we welcome the increased use of the library.
The 2009 Annual Meeting will include workshops on:
Updates on changes that have been made
New library grants awarded for 2009/2010
Stress relief workshops
Practical ways to get through difficult financial times
If you have any questions, please put them in the comments area and myself or the ALM committee will be happy to answer them.
Without further ado, here is this year's theme and some information tidbits regarding this year's ALM, which is happening Monday, October 12, 2009.
Theme: Surviving and Thriving!
The Fresno County library and library staff are experiencing a number of opportunities and challenges in these difficult economic times. The library is changing to address these challenges. Organizational and individual stress comes with change and the challenge of the economic downturn. Change also provides the opportunity to introduce creative changes and thrive! Most importantly, we welcome the increased use of the library.
The 2009 Annual Meeting will include workshops on:
Updates on changes that have been made
New library grants awarded for 2009/2010
Stress relief workshops
Practical ways to get through difficult financial times
If you have any questions, please put them in the comments area and myself or the ALM committee will be happy to answer them.
September 2, 2009
NOYS: Do you want to add something?
Perhaps you have wondered: "Where do they get the information that they post here?"
OK, maybe it never crossed your mind, but you're wondering NOW aren't you?
Well, some things are almost obvious in their timeliness (SRP info in the late spring? No Way!), but some weeks I wander around asking people, "Do you have something to put in NOYS?"
In this modern age, that is essentially what I am doing now; wandering around the internet, asking Library Staff if there is any information related to Children or Teens that I can help broadcast to the rest of the library (or at least to whoever reads this).
So, are you planning something you want everyone to know about? Do you want to brag about something great that happened at your branch or department (and show off the photos)?
All you have to do is let me know: send an email (Nancy Wirt) or call me here in Youth Services (488-3205).
Thank you.
August 26, 2009
Senior Luncheon
Sara Gibbs, Fowler
The Fowler Branch Library collaborated with Senior Citizens Center of Fowler and the Fowler Chamber of Commerce to host a “Senior Luncheon” on Monday, August 17th. All of the seniors happily munched on boxed lunches while watching an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” movie-style on the big screen of the Ruth Mukchian Meeting Room. Many guffaws, laughs and giggles were heard as Barney got into his usual gullible trouble while Andy successfully bailed him out! They next gobbled down Neapolitan ice cream sundaes with strawberry, caramel, or chocolate sauce with whipped cream, while Sara Gibbs demonstrated Wii bowling and invited them to join the Senior Wii Bowling Team at the library every 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:30-2:30pm. While some of the seniors were a bit intimidated at first, most of them enjoyed it after their first successful bowl! The Fowler Library hopes they will return on September 2nd to join the Wii team or to attend the computer sessions they were invited to try out.
The Fowler Branch Library collaborated with Senior Citizens Center of Fowler and the Fowler Chamber of Commerce to host a “Senior Luncheon” on Monday, August 17th. All of the seniors happily munched on boxed lunches while watching an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” movie-style on the big screen of the Ruth Mukchian Meeting Room. Many guffaws, laughs and giggles were heard as Barney got into his usual gullible trouble while Andy successfully bailed him out! They next gobbled down Neapolitan ice cream sundaes with strawberry, caramel, or chocolate sauce with whipped cream, while Sara Gibbs demonstrated Wii bowling and invited them to join the Senior Wii Bowling Team at the library every 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:30-2:30pm. While some of the seniors were a bit intimidated at first, most of them enjoyed it after their first successful bowl! The Fowler Library hopes they will return on September 2nd to join the Wii team or to attend the computer sessions they were invited to try out.
Don't Delete Your Evanced Stats
Kathleen Smith, Headquarters
Here's some helpful information that supervisors, librarians, SLAs and Community Branch staff should share with all staff at their branches who have responsibilities for entering Evanced events.
Staff recently discovered an important point when entering events and statistics into Evanced that we should all be aware of. Attempting to add programs to the Evanced calendar by adding more occurrences will generate a message that says "There are individual attendance or statistics within this recurring series. Click 'Cancel' to go back or 'OK' to proceed with overwriting them." If this happens to you, select 'Cancel' to keep your stats intact.
Choosing "Yes" will erase all the stats you have entered for this event so far. There is no way to retrieve this information - even from the Archive. To avoid this problem, here's some tips from Jennifer Kish:
If you want to add more dates to a recurring event, make a new event by clicking on “Add New Event” or by copying the old event and updating the information. This is really the best way to handle this.
If you want to make a change midway through a recurring event that’s already been entered, delete the dates that have not occurred yet and create a new event with the new dates. That way, your stats remain intact.
Avoid altering dates or times in recurring events that already have stats entered (unless you’re prepared to copy all the stats down and re-enter them).
So to sum it up, adding events to a recurring event is not a good idea. Just make an entirely new event. Let me know if you have any questions.
Here's some helpful information that supervisors, librarians, SLAs and Community Branch staff should share with all staff at their branches who have responsibilities for entering Evanced events.
Staff recently discovered an important point when entering events and statistics into Evanced that we should all be aware of. Attempting to add programs to the Evanced calendar by adding more occurrences will generate a message that says "There are individual attendance or statistics within this recurring series. Click 'Cancel' to go back or 'OK' to proceed with overwriting them." If this happens to you, select 'Cancel' to keep your stats intact.
Choosing "Yes" will erase all the stats you have entered for this event so far. There is no way to retrieve this information - even from the Archive. To avoid this problem, here's some tips from Jennifer Kish:If you want to add more dates to a recurring event, make a new event by clicking on “Add New Event” or by copying the old event and updating the information. This is really the best way to handle this.
If you want to make a change midway through a recurring event that’s already been entered, delete the dates that have not occurred yet and create a new event with the new dates. That way, your stats remain intact.
Avoid altering dates or times in recurring events that already have stats entered (unless you’re prepared to copy all the stats down and re-enter them).
So to sum it up, adding events to a recurring event is not a good idea. Just make an entirely new event. Let me know if you have any questions.
Making the Case for Friends Support
Terry Sterling, Community Libraries
Sara Gibbs made a presentation to the Fowler Friends of the Library last Thursday evening on programming at the Fowler branch. As a result of Sara's presentation, the Fowler Friends authorized $525 for fall programming at the branch.
Branch librarians who work with FOL groups could use this same strategy to show the impact of FOL contributions in the branches. It was particularly impressive when the FOLs were told that the program cost averaged to only 49 cents per participant! The 30 percent program reduction was also noted, which helped make a strong case to the FOL.
Sara Gibbs made a presentation to the Fowler Friends of the Library last Thursday evening on programming at the Fowler branch. As a result of Sara's presentation, the Fowler Friends authorized $525 for fall programming at the branch.
Branch librarians who work with FOL groups could use this same strategy to show the impact of FOL contributions in the branches. It was particularly impressive when the FOLs were told that the program cost averaged to only 49 cents per participant! The 30 percent program reduction was also noted, which helped make a strong case to the FOL.
Patron Misconduct is Down
Cindy Freeland, Headquarters
It may not always feel like it when you’re out there on the front desk, but reported patron misconduct has decreased dramatically. From January through July we had only 90 Problem Patron Reports filed – compared to 122 the same time last year. That’s a decrease of 25%!
When you consider that reporting went up between 2007 and 2008, we know staff aren’t shy about reporting patron misconduct. The Rules are out there and so are the wiki Procedures for Enforcing the Revised Rules of Conduct. Library staff know what to do and they’re doing it.
We’d like to commend all those front-desk folks who are setting the standards, enforcing the Rules of Conduct, and making sure that the Library is a friendly, inviting place for everyone. So, keep up the good work and if anybody gives you a hard time, well, you know what to do.
A combination of factors probably contributed to the decline in behavior problems: Are people who come to the Library just being nicer? Is the Library atmosphere just more conducive to appropriate behavior? Are staff dealing with and diffusing situations and just plain quicker to squelch bad behavior? Are we getting tougher? We want to know what you think has lead to the decline in reported patron misconduct. Please post your ideas or observations on the FCPL Wiki (http://fcplcentral.pbworks.com/), and we will share your comments in a future Booknotes article.
It may not always feel like it when you’re out there on the front desk, but reported patron misconduct has decreased dramatically. From January through July we had only 90 Problem Patron Reports filed – compared to 122 the same time last year. That’s a decrease of 25%!
When you consider that reporting went up between 2007 and 2008, we know staff aren’t shy about reporting patron misconduct. The Rules are out there and so are the wiki Procedures for Enforcing the Revised Rules of Conduct. Library staff know what to do and they’re doing it.
We’d like to commend all those front-desk folks who are setting the standards, enforcing the Rules of Conduct, and making sure that the Library is a friendly, inviting place for everyone. So, keep up the good work and if anybody gives you a hard time, well, you know what to do.
A combination of factors probably contributed to the decline in behavior problems: Are people who come to the Library just being nicer? Is the Library atmosphere just more conducive to appropriate behavior? Are staff dealing with and diffusing situations and just plain quicker to squelch bad behavior? Are we getting tougher? We want to know what you think has lead to the decline in reported patron misconduct. Please post your ideas or observations on the FCPL Wiki (http://fcplcentral.pbworks.com/), and we will share your comments in a future Booknotes article.
Random Acts of Kindness
Arturo Mendoza
Even during the toughest times, there are those out there making a difference...one person at a time. Anything is possible! My experience at the Woodward Park branch on August 19 inspired me to share with others.
What is this??? I sat outside the Woodward Park Library to make a call and noticed this small Warner Co. Jewelers gift bag. My first reaction was to wait for the owner to claim it, a few seconds later I felt obligated to take the small bag into the Library lost and found. While on my call I noticed an envelope peeking out from the tissue and could make out the letters...e e p e r s... I raised the envelope to read the inscription; the complete letters spelled "Finders Keepers!” I finished my call and cautiously opened the envelope, the first line read…’Congratulations! This gift is for you...yes, YOU!’ Well the rest was obvious, or was it? I had mixed emotions...part of me felt like Charlie Bucket finding a Golden Ticket and another felt a bit nervous, could this be a prank? I continued to read the message in the envelope, as well as follow the instructions for the finder of the gift bag. I then contacted the Warner Co. and they did confirm that in fact this was a gift - no strings attached. The message in the envelope ended with this sentence; ‘Never forget that joy can be found when you least expect it’ Well I totally did not expect it…what a wonderful element of surprise. With times so tough for all of us and for a Company to take the time of thinking…as well as doing something special for others…well, what a wonderful Random Act of Kindness! This gesture and gift is deeply appreciated…Thank you!
To read about more random acts of kindness, go to www.warnercompany.com/FindersKeepers.html.
Even during the toughest times, there are those out there making a difference...one person at a time. Anything is possible! My experience at the Woodward Park branch on August 19 inspired me to share with others.
What is this??? I sat outside the Woodward Park Library to make a call and noticed this small Warner Co. Jewelers gift bag. My first reaction was to wait for the owner to claim it, a few seconds later I felt obligated to take the small bag into the Library lost and found. While on my call I noticed an envelope peeking out from the tissue and could make out the letters...e e p e r s... I raised the envelope to read the inscription; the complete letters spelled "Finders Keepers!” I finished my call and cautiously opened the envelope, the first line read…’Congratulations! This gift is for you...yes, YOU!’ Well the rest was obvious, or was it? I had mixed emotions...part of me felt like Charlie Bucket finding a Golden Ticket and another felt a bit nervous, could this be a prank? I continued to read the message in the envelope, as well as follow the instructions for the finder of the gift bag. I then contacted the Warner Co. and they did confirm that in fact this was a gift - no strings attached. The message in the envelope ended with this sentence; ‘Never forget that joy can be found when you least expect it’ Well I totally did not expect it…what a wonderful element of surprise. With times so tough for all of us and for a Company to take the time of thinking…as well as doing something special for others…well, what a wonderful Random Act of Kindness! This gesture and gift is deeply appreciated…Thank you!
To read about more random acts of kindness, go to www.warnercompany.com/FindersKeepers.html.
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