Weekly Report October 15-21, 2023
Library Weekly Report
Week of October 15-21, 2023
This week we circulated 2,013 items, received 702 items in transit, and sent 607 items. We requested 542 items and fulfilled 433 hold requests; registered 8 patrons for library cards, and added 233 new items. The most popular book this week is The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age by Janet Wallach. We hosted 25 meetings in our conference, study, and tutoring rooms for 60 people including Brownie Troop 65197, office hours for Senator Michael Moore, and Grafton Girls Softball, as well as private work, study, homeschool, and tutoring sessions.
The Grafton Public Library was closed 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. for staff development on Thursday, October 19. The event was attended by all available staff and was a chance for staff to collaborate across departments.
The Children’s Room and Community Rooms continue to be closed awaiting reconstruction to remediate flood damage. Assistant Town Administrator William Blake is in communication with and will be notified by MIIA insurance adjusters when work can begin. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Admin
The Director is out on FMLA leave through the end of 2023. In her absence, things are running smoothly with no disruption to service as GPL staff and Town of Grafton employees are pitching in. Special thanks to Jen McNeil from the Children’s Department for updating the website and making a number of corrections and additions to EventKeeper, trustees Roger Trahan, John Bubriski, and Carrie Hogan who have come in to sign warrant sheets so that bills can be paid on time, Town Accountant Mary Lauria for assisting with payroll submission, and to William Blake and who has been maintaining communication with department heads and providing staff and facilities support.
Eileen maintained the collection of periodicals, took care of incoming mail, sent late notices, prepared bills, paid invoices, picked up lunch for staff development, and assisted with coverage for Borrower Services. Debby planned and coordinated details for Thursday’s staff development; compiled the Weekly Report; worked on payroll, scheduling, social media, and tasks for the Board of Library Trustees; and completed a number of tasks left on the Director’s To-Do List.
Borrower Services
Staff managed the adult circ desk, delivery, museum passes, the lobby, room reservations, and Automatic Materials Handling equipment. We assisted patrons, placed holds, performed readers’ advisory, and supervised volunteers.
Kara helped plan for upcoming staff transitions; prepared adult fiction orders for November; prepared the large print adult fiction order for November & December; prepared an order of graphic novels and manga for November; prepared for the move of the second and first floor desks; and helped organize storage and free up workspace in the Technical Services office. Jane posted the New York Times Best Seller List for print and audio fiction and recommended titles for purchase; corrected patron records with the wrong home library; collected items with alerts from invalid RFID tags; collected items with alerts from old displays; and continued weeding adult fiction. Ranjita posted the New York Times Best Seller List for print and audio nonfiction and recommended titles for purchase; processed ComCat requests; and performed a routine check of the Library of Things and First Aid Kits throughout the building. Sandhya managed out of network requests for materials and followed up on open issues; worked on interlibrary loans and followed up with patrons; cleared expired holds from the hold shelf and followed up with patrons; worked on the home delivery service; hosted the final session of the Diamond Art program; hosted a craft session for attendees at staff development; prepared graphics and selected materials for the November endcap display; planned for and tested adult programming options for November and December and ordered supplies; processed museum pass renewals and reviewed upcoming expiration dates; and continued preparing for the next season of the Seed Library. Allie created and adhered shelf labels for Blu-ray, DVD, Video Games, and Manga sections; requested additional shelf labels; worked on the November newsletter by requesting content from staff members and creating a new design, including new graphics, an updated Upcoming Events section, and an updated High Demand Holds section; created graphic for November’s Native American Heritage Month staircase display and a printable general events calendar for November; worked on the New Fiction shelf display, including processing new adult fiction; researched an older mystery book series for a patron; and discussed Art Rail additions with a trustee.
Children’s Services
The Children’s Room staff continues working out of the temporary CR space while we await repairs to damaged sustained in the August flood. As we enter our fourth week of displacement, we are feeling the strain and challenges of working with limited space and resources. Staff have continued to field questions and concerns from the public ranging from sympathetic understanding to frustration about the closure of the Children’s Room, our current programming hiatus, and the temporary suspension of the Friends of the Grafton Public Library’s book sale on a daily basis. At this time, the timeline of the project continues to be unclear, making it challenging to alleviate the concerns of the public.
Children’s Outreach programming is back in full swing with staff providing outreach to NGES preschoolers, Silver Spruce, and hosting a table at Octoberfest.
Teen Services
Allison worked with department heads to help plan for staffing issues in the coming weeks. Sarah S shelved new books, facilitated Dungeons and Dragons, ran Anime Club, and coordinated with teen volunteers. Shawn supervised the Teen Room during after school hours and provided much needed support to Borrower Services staff when there was an altercation between patrons on Tuesday.
Reference Services
Heidi and Eric assisted with tech and reference questions, circulation, room reservations and museum passes. Heidi hosted the Daytimers’ Book Group discussion of Other Birds, by Sarah Addison Allen, the GPL Mystery Book Group discussion of Artifacts by Mary Anna Evans; and worked on a grant and event PR. Eric also set up their new desk space and helped clear out the reference desk before it was moved.
Technical Services
This week, Cynthia ordered new books and unpacked items as they arrived. She cataloged new YA graphic novels, adult fiction, and audiobooks; worked on fixing problem items and replacement items; added grids to items in Ingram; sent in requests for records to the CatCenter; and covered the desk for Borrower Services.