Weekly Report October 22- 28 2023
This week we circulated 1,173 items, received 506 items in transit, and sent 524 items. We requested 448 items and fulfilled 454 hold requests; registered 12 patrons for library cards, and added 171 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 30 meetings in our conference, study, and tutoring rooms for 83 people including Grafton Youth Football and Cheer and Grafton Democratic Town Committee, as well as private work, study, homeschool, and tutoring sessions.
Admin
The Director is out on FMLA leave through the end of 2023. In her absence, a number of staff members at the Grafton Public Library and the Town of Grafton Municipal Center are pitching in to assure that nothing falls through the cracks. Thank you to Jen McNeil from the Children’s Room for her continued work updating the website and EventKeeper; Trustees Roger Trahan and Aaron Vandesteen for coming in to sign the bills; Mary Lauria and Kristen Pasacane for their assistance with payroll; Evan Brassard and William Blake for their continued support, especially William who has been an invaluable resource the past few weeks.
Eileen maintained the collection of periodicals, processed incoming mail, sent late notices, prepared bills, paid invoices and assisted with coverage for Borrower Services. Debby compiled the Weekly Report, finished the Director’s Report, and wrote Director’s portions of the November newsletter; worked on preparing payroll, approving and scheduling leave, scheduling; updated events on social media; reached out to various agencies to get several overdue safety inspections completed; and performed a number of tasks for the Board of Library Trustees including preparation documents for, attending, and recording minutes of the October 25 meeting.
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 checked CWMars top titles against the collection; reviewed industry newsletters to add upcoming titles to purchase lists; ordered requested e-book and e-audio titles; prepared the first adult fiction and graphic novel orders for November; prepared the large print adult fiction order for November & December; and created signage and pulled titles for the November endcap and graphic novel displays. 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; continued weeding adult fiction; and deleted lost fiction titles from the catalog. Ranjita posted the New York Times Best Seller List for print and audio nonfiction and recommended titles for purchase; and performed a routine check of the Library of Things. 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; planned for and tested adult programming options for November and December; processed museum pass renewals and reviewed upcoming expiration dates; and continued preparing for next season’s Seed Library. Allie posted September and October general e-newsletters to website & printed physical copies; created permanent labels for the New Fiction and New Nonfiction shelves; wrote instructions for printing shelf labels to ensure exact dimension for the plastic shelf strips; edited the general e-newsletter events and updated the High Demand Holds; created a printable Adult Events calendar; displayed New to Fiction October books on top of the fiction shelves; ran a report on patrons interested in the newsletter and added contacts; and received overview and basic training for Technical Services.
Children’s Services
The Children’s Room staff continues working out of the temporary CR space located in the Friends of the Library Corner while we await repairs to damage sustained in the August flood. As we enter our fifth 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 Room staff attended the Grafton Friendly Trick or Treat event hosted by the Grafton Recreation Department, planned and prepped for Halloween trick or treating, began program planning for the new year, began our yearly Summer Reading promotional material order, placed book and materials orders, reorganized and maintained the temporary collection, stored excess materials that we not able to fit on current shelving, lesson planned for November outreach programming, assisted patrons with hold requests and reader’s advisory, created an organization system for toys stored in our book bins, communicated with patrons, updated displays with seasonal items, and assisted patrons.
Teen Services
Allison worked with Cynthia to train in Technical Services to continue the work of the department after Cynthia’s last day on October 27. Sarah S. ran manga club, coordinated with teen volunteers, shelved new manga titles, and read reviews for upcoming titles. Shawn interacted with teens and supervised the Teen Room during after-school hours.
Reference Services
Heidi and Eric assisted with tech and reference questions, circulation, room reservations and museum passes. Heidi hosted the Inspirational Book Group and Guided Meditation discussion of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do: Take Back Your Power, Embrace Change, Face Your Fears, and Train Your Brain for Happiness and Success, by Amy Morin and worked on event PR and collection development. Eric ordered new materials for the adult non-fiction collection, put out new books, trained on Technical Services and Cataloging, and planned November book displays.
Technical Services
This is Cynthia’s last week! She was offered an amazing opportunity and has accepted a position with CWMars. This week she ordered new books and unpacked items as they arrived; worked on cataloging new YA manga, DVDs, and adult nonfiction; added grids to items in Ingram; and trained staff and prepared documentation to help with a smooth transition upon her departure.