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JGRLS Director's Report for December 2011 Branch /Department Visits (other than Pascagoula): Gautier, Moss Point, East Central, JGRLS Meetings: in addition to any scheduled Regional Board meeting: All Managers, regular update meetings with admin staff; Toshiba Rep, Stacey & Amy; Tech Team Meeting; Cataloging Staff meeting. Community Meetings: Attended MP Rotary Club meetings, dropped off candy to maternity ward at SRHS on behalf of CANDY board and staff, attended grand opening of the new Jackson County Services complex with Kenneth and Jamie. Miscellaneous Other Activities: Cindy and I attended a workshop on dealing with employee behavior problems in Gulfport and found that JGRLS is following accepted guidelines and laws related to this issue. We also got a few new ideas. Cindy, Stacie Z. and I continued to study the issue of instituting pre-employment physicals and other personnel issues. Bethany and several YS staff had a successful series of programs presented throughout the system entitled the Peppermint Parade, where imaginations were sparked and children were encouraged to read and to use their local libraries. Programs were presented inside and outside our branches and reached hundreds of children throughout the month. Bethany and I started seriously making plans for the 2012 Summer Reading Program. Rex and I formed a committee to review and revise our website layout and content. You should see changes a few months into the New Year. Yvonne and I, among others, are learning about the new county telephone system in anticipation the county might want us to migrate to that system eventually. I hosted a holiday meal for all managers and they had the opportunity to meet and discuss local branch and department issues and ideas with no particular agenda or limit on time. A rare opportunity for them. The branches were filled with all kinds of programming this month which kept the branch managers, branch staff and Rex extremely busy. I am very proud and excited that managers have embraced programming and incorporated it their everyday branch operations. Special thanks to Lori, Sherry and Renee' for welcoming my vintage Christmas postcard collection and allowing me a brief bit of creative time to set up a seasonal display outside the Genealogy and Local History department. JGRLS Director's Report for October & November 2011 Branch Visits (other than Pascagoula): East Central, Lucedale, Gautier, St. Martin, Ocean Springs JGRLS Meetings: in addition to any scheduled Regional Board meeting: Branch Managers, All Managers, regular update meetings with admin staff, Tech Team Meeting, several staff evaluation meetings, meeting with SM patrons re. policies, meetings with Faith, Lori and Alisa re. problem patron, meetings with PG police personnel, and meeting with Stacie Zorn re. personnel issues. Community Meetings: Attended MP Rotary Club meetings, CANDY board meeting, and United Way budget hearing for CANDY. Miscellaneous Other Activities: Becky Wheeler hosted the managers meeting in the city park in Lucedale. It was a nice fall day and it was great to be outside for a change. Some of us especially enjoyed the boiled peanuts that she served. I attended the Mississippi Library Association conference, along with Helen and Rex. I had been asked to speak on a panel about library-community partnerships so had the opportunity to describe some of our best partnership stories. It was a good conference, perhaps the best MLA I have attended so far. I also attended the Public Library Directors Symposium sponsored by the Mississippi Library Commission. This was an excellent learning opportunity and a great time to connect and network with other directors. I especially enjoyed spending time and sharing information with Patty Furr from Hancock County. As you all know we dealt with a serious issue at Pascagoula that resulted in the arrest of a library patron. This was a very unhappy result, but unavoidable on our part. I cannot stress enough how helpful, responsive and supportive the Pascagoula Police Department has been these last two months as we have dealt with this issue. I am writing a letter to the chief to acknowledge this and encourage any board member, with the opportunity, to take a moment to mention it to any Pascagoula city official they encounter. We are instituting increased safety measures as a result of these incidents. Rex, Helen and I constitute our new surplus property disposition committee. Since the county no longer takes our surplus property for an auction, we are planning to hold an auction of our own. I discovered many MS libraries do this already. With the input from various other library directors, guidance from the county staff we used to work with on their auction, and the creativity and intellect of our own staff I imagine we can pull this off easy enough. We will document the steps so a procedures document can be developed for future use. We welcome our new board member Paula Hinton and look forward to working with her over the next 5 years. She represents George County, home of one of our busiest points of service. In this time of thankfulness, let me list a few things for which I am grateful. These include public citizens willing to give their time to serve on our regional board, our local boards, as our Friends and as volunteers in our 8 branches; a staff that is bright, creative, current and work together cooperatively; and the opportunity to work at such a great library system standing on the shoulders of many that came before me and had the foresight to form this two-county regional system. Here's hoping you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. JGRLS Director's Report for September, 2011 Branch /Department Visits (other than Pascagoula): Vancleave, Ocean Springs, Lucedale, Moss Point, and Gautier. JGRLS Meetings: addition to any scheduled Regional Board meeting: Branch Managers, All Managers, regular update meetings with admin staff; Lori and Faith re. JGRLS United Way campaign; Toshiba Demo set up by Amy; Ocean Springs Municipal Library Open House; Tech Team Meeting; Susan A. on ordering e-book. Community Meetings: Attended MP Rotary Club meetings, Audubon Center Project Team Community Reception, CANDY board meeting, United Way Kick Off Luncheon (w/Faith and Lori), and the Jackson Co. Chamber of Commerce Anchor Awards, Miscellaneous Other Activities: The all managers meeting was set in Vancleave so everyone could see the newly remodeled library. Much as when we visited East Central after their remodel, oohs and aahs abounded. At the Vancleave ribbon cutting in late August we welcomed State Senator Mike Watson, Jackson County Supervisors Melton Harris (president) and John McKay, and Brooke McIngvale, constituent liaison for U.S. Representative Steven Palazzo among others. Jackson County staff did a wonderful job remodeling this facility and representatives were there to receive recognition. We are very grateful for the major work Jackson County did in all 4 of out county libraries over the last couple of years and the continuous work the cities and counties do to continuously maintain all of our facilities throughout our service area. The City of Moss Point also responded quickly and efficiently to a water line break causing water to pool in the main electrical room at that library. We were closed only a few days. The break meant cutting off all electricity and water service to the building. Kudos to Mayor Liddell and the city crews for responding so quickly. The Ocean Springs Fire Dept. is reporting to that library regularly due to a fire alarm malfunction that often causes multiple false alarms daily. We have had to close that library for a few hours at times due to the frequency of these alarms. Hopefully by the end of this month that problem will be behind us as well. The city has sent staff over to investigate and have plans to fund regular maintenance and monitoring of the system from here forth. Jeanne and Alisa have been dealing with this for weeks, as have the OS staff and patrons. And kudos go out to all of the JGRLS managers and staff dealing with these remodels, fire alarms, and water line breaks. They always pull together at times like this, which make the problems much easier to deal with. The highlight of September was a visit from Sharman Smith, Executive Director of the MS Library Commission and Jennifer Walker, Director of Development Services at MLC. They joined us for the All Managers meeting on September 14, and lead a good discussion on MLC in particular and public library issues in general. They joined us the next evening, September 15, for our first ever, system-wide Friends Conclave, followed by the annual JGRLS Volunteer Reception. Sharman was the keynote speaker at each of these events. Both were well attended (50 at the Conclave and 94 at the Volunteer Reception) and Sharman received a key to the city from Pascagoula city councilman Frank Corder. Special thanks to JGRLS board members Bruce Grimes, David Ogborn and Harry McDonald for being there. Sharman and Jennifer were very impressed with the attendance, the planning and the content all of the programs and meetings they attended while visiting. Rex and the planning committee (Cindy, Amy, Faith, Evelyn, Jamie, Randy, Susan, Sara, Yvonne, and Bethany) did a great job planning these events. Bethany held a Story Telling SOS program for those that occasionally conduct story time programs or those that just need a refresher. The library system launched MANGO, an online program for learning languages, free to those with JGRLS library cards. JGRLS Director's Report for August, 2011 Branch /Department Visits: St. Martin, Vancleave, Ocean Spring, Lucedale, East Central, Moss Point, and Gautier.
Other Meetings: JGRLS in addition to any scheduled Regional Board meeting: Branch Managers, All Managers, regular update meetings with Alisa, Rex, Bethany and Amy. Met with Eva Roithmayr, President of the Friends of the MP Library, and Jamie. Met with Becky and Helen re. staffing issues. Met with Jeanne and Alisa re. circ issues/circ committee. Attended B&T eBook presentation. Met with Yvonne re. training issues Attended VC reopening. Community Meetings: Attended MP Rotary Club meetings, Audubon Center Project Team meeting, CANDY board meeting, Gulf Coast Rising Conference, MLC Basic Financial Management workshop w/Karen, and attended public programs at SM and MP. Visited with managers at PG River Audubon Center, including river and marsh tour. Met with Alisa, Lori and City of PG reps on PG building issues. Helen and Rex attended Gulf Coast Sustainable Communities survey meeting.
Miscellaneous Other Activities: Vancleave reopened this month! And what a great job the VC staff, Jackson County staff, loaned JGRLS staff, JGRLS admin staff and others did. That library has never looked as good as it does right now and has never had as much public space as it has now. Everyone with a hand in the layout is to be commended. We are especially grateful to Jackson County for taking on this project. If you haven't seen the Vancleave library lately, you are in for a wonderful surprise. Moss Point has the chimney swift tower now and awaits the cabling and mounting of the cameras. Lucedale hopes to follow suit with a similar project. We think we might be the first library system to install critter cams! These will have a great deal of entertainment and learning value and are products of our continued partnership with the Pascagoula River Audubon Center. Alisa and I attended the Gulf Coast Rising conference sponsored by the Foundation for the Mid-South. This Foundation gave JGRLS money to support the summer reading program in 2006 while PG was closed. There were presentations and interesting roundtable discussions. We hope to be able to apply for grant funds from the Foundation again in the future. Everyone was reminded that performance evaluations were to be completed, reviewed, signed and returned to each staff member by October 1, 2011, so that process has begun in earnest. We are using our new forms this year and hope the process becomes even more meaningful to staff with the new tools we are using. Leanna Simpkins, our training assistant, resigned. Yvonne and I will be having several sessions mapping out the future of training services at JGRLS. With the advent of webinars and other technological advances, it is a good time to look at training from the ground up and see what our staff and community needs are and how we should be organized to address these needs. Likely, we will try to gather information through community and staff surveys. We welcome Board input as well. July 2011 Director's Report Branch /Department Visits: East Central, Vancleave, Ocean Springs and Gautier. Other Meetings: JGRLS in addition to any scheduled Regional Board meeting:
Community Meetings: Attended MP Rotary Club meetings, ribbon cutting for Congressman Palazzo's Jackson County office, Audubon Center Project Team meeting, & worked with CANDY staff on various agency reports. Miscellaneous Other Activities: Had several communications with Mark LaSalle, director of the Pascagoula River Audubon Center (PRAC). They want to set up a "critter cam" at the MP library. It includes a constructed tower where chimney swifts will nest and a camera and cabling so that children and adults visiting the MP Library can observe nature up close and personnel. Also known as "nature cams," we know of no other libraries with this tool, but there are some in schools in the area. This will be an exciting addition to our system. The tower/chimney is being built by PRAC and Dantzler UMC volunteers, PRAC staff will set everything up, and the Friends of the MP Library have agreed to pay costs for materials and equipment involved. We held adult Summer Reading Programs at some branches and they were well received. East Central and Lucedale probably had the most extensive series of programming for adults. I was able to attend EC's finale session. The room was packed. They plan to form an adult book club as a result so that folks can keep coming by popular demand. Summer Reading Programs for preschoolers, children and teens were also a success this year. Bethany was busy hitting all the branches at least once and filling in for missing YS staff at a few events. It was the first SRP for a few of our YS staff, but by all reports everyone put in the extra effort required to make these programs a success. System wide reports on the adult and children's SRP events are forthcoming. Vancleave is the latest branch to get major attention from Jackson County, with new carpet, HVAC equipment, painting, roof, etc. They were closed the latter part of July and with a combined effort from Jackson County, Home of Grace, custodians loaned from other branches, volunteers and the whole VC staff they worked hard to get the most done possible in the shortest time possible. Alisa worked with Yvonne to coordinate the project and Amy was called on to get the necessary supplies and equipment lined up. Stacey worked on the technology changes as needed. These are huge efforts that impact many staff system-wide. We especially appreciate Terry McMillian, William McLelland, Carl Middlekauff, Desilee Collier and Desiree Crawley that have all worked to help out other branches during these events. And we appreciate their managers being willing to manage without their services in the home branch temporarily as well. During each of these projects, the managers and staff have taken full advantage of the opportunity to rearrange their libraries and improve public and staff work space and enhance services. Like the other branches, we expect that Vancleave will be better than ever after it is all said and done. JGRLS Director's Report for June, 2011 Branch /Department Visits: Lucedale, Moss Point, East Central, Pascagoula.
Other Meetings: JGRLS in addition to any scheduled Regional Board meeting: Branch managers, budget committee meeting, Dealing with Problem Employees workshop, regular update meetings with Alisa, Rex, Bethany and Amy, Collection Dev. Committee meeting, reception for PG City Manager, Tech Team. Community Meetings: Attended MP Rotary Club. Missed other meetings due to planned absence.
Miscellaneous Other Activities: The eight branch managers, Cindy and I attended a half day Management workshop in Mobile with Glenn Shepard. Mr. Shepard pulls no punches on what employers are facing in today's workplace and how to deal with today's issues, as well as personnel problems as old as time itself. This was followed by a meeting in East Central library where Cindy briefed us on the new performance review forms and processes to be used later this year. Met with the Collection Development Committee on two new resources proposed, Mango Languages and PlayAways. Both approved for next fiscal year, using HQ acquisition funds. Summer Reading Program began and so far so good, thanks to the pre-program work done by Bethany, Rex and all of the YS staff in each branch, the branch managers and other staff. Several branches are sponsoring adult SRP events this year, so more staff than usual are involved. Funds for SRP expenses from private sources continue to be received to cover speaker and incentives costs. So far, Chevron gave JGRLS $1,000.00. The First gave JGRLS $250.00, Lucedale Rotary Club gave Lucedale library $100.00, and Singing River Federal Credit Union gave JGRLS $100.00. The Moss Point Rotary Club and Moss Point Women's Club each gave the Friends of MP Library $100.00 to go toward SRP expenses. Amy, Karen and Alisa worked on reacting to new surplus property issues since Jackson Co. is no longer holding auctions for regular furniture and equipment. We have had to scramble because we were poised and ready for the upcoming auction that was canceled. These three have put in a great amount of work on researching options and helping the branches and departments react to the changes. Amy and Karen used the van one day when Kenneth was out to visit several branches and inventory their surplus items. Stacey is the total technologies staff right now as we work to fill the vacant position there. Amy and Alisa are working out the kinks as we try out a new building management tracking system. Karen is working on next year's budget. Cindy has been processing personnel changes continuously this month and getting us all ready for the new performance evaluation process. She also inputted our data on required statistical reports and kept us E-rate compliant. Yvonne and the VC crew are already undergoing facility changes, with painting going on as they try to remain open to the public. Hopefully, all activity now will cease until they can close in mid-July. Vancleave is the last of the county libraries to receive new carpet and has also gotten new paint projects, a new roof and new HVAC units. The PG Genealogy Dept. has undergone major changes and now sports a wall and a door for better security. Staff took advantage of the opportunity to weed and rearrange. The dept is in better shape than ever and they say they are more knowledgeable of the collection than they've ever been. It was another busy month at JGRLS. I appreciate everyone's support while I was scheduled to be out for several days this month. SRP ends July 15, 2011 and before you know it we'll be planning the fall and winter holiday events. Perhaps everyone will have a chance to catch their breath in between. Our hearts go out to all those across the state and country facing fires, floods and tornadoes. With the calendar turning to June, we hope and pray for a calm 2011 hurricane season. JGRLS Director's Report for April, 2011 Grants: Branch/Department Visits: Visited Gautier, Moss Point, Vancleave, Lucedale, and East Central branches. Meetings: (in addition to any scheduled Regional Board meetings) Community Meetings: Weekly Rotary Club meetings; chaired monthly C.A.N.D.Y. board meeting; attended monthly MP Women's Club meeting. Lunch meeting with Jackson Co. Supervisor Melton Harris, his assistant Natalie Nettles, and Moss Point Mayor Aneice Liddell. Attended kickoff event for Pascagoula River Nature Festival. Attended safe driving course at VC branch. Was asked to serve on the Project Team for the Pascagoula River Audubon Center, chaired by Steve Renfroe, 2 April mtgs. Retirement reception for Steve Renfroe. Wine Tasting Gala, Silent Auction sponsored by MP Friends, JC Chamber of Commerce Breakfast and Defeating Negativity audio training. Details on Selected Meetings and Miscellaneous Other Administrative Activities: JGRLS Director's Report for March, 2011 Submitted by Carol C. Hewlett, JGRLS Director Grants: While we are working on LSTA grant applications for 2011 the guidelines for 2012 just arrived and we are beginning to look these over as well. Staff are submitting ideas to Alisa. They will be reviewed by a staff committee and those that are selected will be reviewed by me, tweaked, edited, etc. as needed and submitted. Branch /Department Visits: Visited Vancleave, Gautier, Moss Point and Lucedale branches this month. Meetings:(in addition to any scheduled Regional Board meetings) JGRLS: Meetings with Bethany re. SRP program planning; Bethany, Lori and Yvonne re. new policies regarding children in the library; Leanna and Yvonne re.future plans for public and staff training programs; Karen re. budget amendments; regularly scheduled update meetings with Rex, Amy and Alisa; and numerous meetings with Cindy re. personnel issues. Tour of SRHS Healthplex and meeting of branch managers. Community Meetings: Weekly Rotary Club meetings; chaired monthly C.A.N.D.Y. board meeting, work day and yard sale fund raiser; attended monthly MP Women's Club meeting, Women's Club work day and tea/silent auction fund raiser. Provided some assistance to MP Friends with planned April fund raiser. Meeting with Reba McMellon on possible future series programs at JGRLS re. why books are important. Details on Selected Meetings and Miscellaneous Other Activities Developed schedule for all JGRLS staff to participate in one of 5 planned safe driving courses. (NOTE: If any board members would like to participate let me know. On completion certificates are issued that can reduce personal insurance costs.) - Finalized and implemented orientation schedule for Jamie Elston and Randy Smith, new branch managers at Moss Point and Gautier libraries. Met with Jamie and Randy, new managers, on their first day and accompanied them a few days later on a tour of Lucedale library. - Participated in the MLC Public Library Directors' meeting in Jackson and MLA's Library Legislative Day, along with Rex Bridges. We distributed gift bags prepared by MLA and MLC along with one page summaries of the proposed JGRLS capital improvement projects and personal notes. Met with 3 legislators in person, visited staff in the offices of the others. Interacted by email as well before and after the visit. - Attended Time and Attendance training with new managers. - Met with Yvonne and Leanna to develop preliminary plans for public and staff training while Yvonne is interim manager at the Vancleave library. Final plans will be submitted to the managers and admin staff and JGRLS regional board for review when completed. - Attended luncheon for Candis Allebach on the event of her retirement from JGRLS. - Plan to attend Fete La Point, fund raiser planned by the Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society. - Paid personal dues for membership in JCHGS and all 8 Friends of the Libraries organizations.
Thank you!
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