Paraprofessional Meeting Minutes
North Birmingham Public Library
April 25, 2007
9:00 a.m.
Debbie Dahlin called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m.
No announcements were made.
Nancy Clecker was the first presenter and discussed the revising the authors and
cleaning up the patron database for the Best Sellers Club.
Guidelines for Canceling a Membership in the Best Sellers Book Club
Everyone received a handout and Nancy explained that in September changes will
be made to the author list. It is important to remove or update patrons on the
list either because:
1. their card has expired longer than 6 months
2. ways of communication no longer work (i.e. phone numbers disconnected,
e-mail returns) always put a note on their record with initials and a date
3. patron routinely fails to pick up a reserve book after being contacted
She reminded everyone that you can always run a list of your patrons from her
list (see 225- BSBC members).
Other Guidelines included:
Please remember to clear the hold shelf.
If a person (spouse, authorized user, etc.) comes in to check out a book for
them, make sure to cancel the original hold or it will come up on hold again for
the same person.
Send an e-mail to Nancy to have them removed from the Best Seller’s List. Please
include their name and patron barcode number.
Do not delete, change, and or add anything to the “I” and “c” fields in a
patron’s record. Too many people are messing with these fields and should not
be. Always contact Nancy and let her know of any changes that need to be made
(ncleckler@bham.lib.al.us or @ 226-3725).
If you delete a patron’s record and they are a member of the Best Sellers Club,
please notify Nancy before you delete the patron’s record.
Nancy will always put a note on their record when their membership has been
cancelled.
Original form will always be on file with any changes made stapled to it.
Patrons can always sign up again.
LE@D Training
Debbie stated that she is aware that this training is a pain but, there has not
been a lot of participation. As a matter of fact, there has been 0%
participation. Staff expressed that there is no time to do these training.
Next month training is a required course (Using Databases). Everyone was
encouraged to make time to take the course.
The LE@D Courses for Paraprofessional can be found on the bplonline.org/intranet
in the left margin under What’s New.
Several comments were made that the audio could not be heard and the grades
aren’t showing up.
Debbie expressed that LEAD training staff was not expecting the rush of users,
but she would call and see if certain kinks could be worked out since BPL is one
of there big users.
The next presenters for the dog and pony show were Russell Lee and Cheryl
Burgess.
Improving Co-Workers Relationships
Russell gave examples of seven types of employees you might encounter in the
workplace:
Terry – snob always has her nose turned up. Thinks she too good to help others
Robin – negative-- She never has anything positive to say about anything or
anybody.
Lynn – lazy-- She never volunteers for anything. Always waiting to see who’s
going to do a job before she helps out.
Kelly – defensive -- She likes to disagree over small issues.
Lee – untrustworthy -- He never keeps his promise. Undependable when it comes
to completing jobs.
Alex - scary – intimidating, never smiles.
Sandy – phony, constantly smiles, very talkative.
Russell polled the audience, without a show of hands, asked the question, how
many of you know employees who fit in one or more of these categories?
Two roles of communication are sending and receiving.
Signs of these roles are: arms being folded, facial expressions, posture, tone
of voice, speed you move & talk and how far you stand from a person.
Some negative behaviors are:
Not saying Good Morning
Not calling a person by their name
No eye contact
Turning your body away or rolling your eyes
Russell expressed several interesting factors that were included in this course.
He ended his presentation with a quote, “The world is a mirror of yourself;
your behavior affect more than just you.”
Cheryl Burgess presentation:
Three principles of Human Behavior: 1. Can’t read mind of your co-workers A. Assume they are doing the best they can. Give people the benefit of the doubt.2. Co-worker can't read your mind A. Tell them what you want.3. Precision works best A. Describe what you want from co-workers in terms of the actual behavior you want, not just emotion and attitude you hope they will demonstrate. Some negative traits portrayed by co-worker, may actually be perceived in a different light. The training session demonstrated using the “perhaps game”; this would allow you to think of other reasons why your co-worker might be displaying bad habits. (ex. Snobby co-worker may “perhaps” be pre-occupied; lazy co-worker could “perhaps” be tired from sick child) Personal v. Personnel Issues at WorkWe need to ask ourselves if the behavior the person is doing is bothering us for a personal reason or if it is a personnel issue. If it is a personnel issue, we may have to speak up and talk to them or contact a supervisor. Personal Issues are:A co-worker is not doing the work he/she was assigned to do.A co-worker is missing deadlines, and this is affecting other co-workers.Material isn’t being shelved in a correct manner Gossip usually comes full circle.Make sure you confide in close friends. Try not to be malicious in your gossip. Be aware that your department isn’t in a bubble and patrons are able to hear what is being discussed. Gossiping among co-worker reflects negative image and this image will also be link to the library. Russell handed out worksheet on effective criticism that helps in certain job related situations.
The next dog and pony show presenters were Kelsey Bates and Yolanda Valentin.
Grant Writing Basics
Yolanda’s presentation
Introduced the subject
Explained why it’s important for everyone in the library to understand the
grants process—even if they never write a grant
You may work on a project that receives grant funding
You may be asked to provide information about your library for another
project (i.e. statistics on who your library serves)
You may have an idea for a grant project—something you want funding for
BPL has a process for applying for grants:
Talk to your supervisor or coordinator about your idea for a project that
needs funding
Call Kelsey to chat about the idea—she will help you decide if it’s a
fundable project
If you both decide that it’s fundable, Kelsey will bring the idea to the
Grants Committee. If the Committee decides this is a project that could
obtain grant funding, Kelsey will ask you to fill out the Grants Form
(located on the Intranet, under “General Forms”). This form will help you
and your colleagues develop your idea and plan your project.
You will send this form to Kelsey who will write to the appropriate funders.
Part II—Kelsey
Kelsey talked about the Grants Form and explained how to plan
Kelsey demonstrated how to pull up the grant form on the Intranet and went over
the different questions.
She also reminded everyone that a grant needs to be for something specific.
Never feel that what you want can’t be done. Answer the questions on the form
and submit it for approval.
There is a grant presently on the table for “BIG READ”. Debbie explained what
this is all about just in case staff is asked. Everyone in the county will be
reading, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Next, Debbie divided us into groups to get feedback about DVDs. There seems to
be never enough and staff holds are a large majority of the holds. Each group
was asked to answer three questions:
what is the problem with DVDs
solution to these problems
consider the budget will be cut, how to handle the problem
Each group was represented by a speaker. These are just some of the responses:
1. stop sending to libraries that don’t loan (administration decision to
send to all)
2. get separate copy of DVDs for staff only
3. stop ordering by personal choice and order by patron’s choice
4. shorten time for checkout on bestseller DVDs
5. DVDs should go back home (like some municipal currently enforce) before
filling a hold
6. if we do bestsellers, DVDs circulate only to BPL
7. train staff how to check items out to missing
8. each regional needs at least 2-3 copies of popular movies
9. treat popular DVDs like bplpo books, location copy first come, first
serve (no holds on that copy)
10. staff are patrons too
11. each branch should have a Skip Doctor to clean DVDs (grant proposal)
12. series not circulating (anime) should be cancelled
13. if hold is place on your location for a patron allow it take priority again
no matter where it is checked in.
14. patrons at one location are stealing the cases thinking that the DVDs are
in them (recommendation was stated that they put a sign up to sate the cases are
empty)
15. develop a monthly list of the top 10 DVDs and post, so patrons will have
the opportunity to place them on hold before they come out
All written responses were given to Debbie Dahlin.
Meeting was adjourned. Check calendar for next month meeting date and place.
Minutes submitted by:
Deidre Sims
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