June 2019 - Michlib-l - liblists.org

Round Table available
by Julie Farkas 15 Jun '19

15 Jun '19

Novi Library has a FREE, round table that is sectioned off for 4 people to sit at. It is available to first person who responds. It is currently disassembled, but all parts and pieces are available. You must be able to pick up the unit by June 30th (no delivery available). Please email or call Julie Farkas 248-869-7233 for more details. I have 4 chairs that could go with it, but they are in poor fabric condition. Photos can be provided on request. Thank you, Julie [image: IMG_0404.HEIC] [image: IMG_0403.HEIC] [image: IMG_0402.HEIC]

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Going Fine Free Responses
by Dan Hutchins 15 Jun '19

15 Jun '19

As promised, please find the responses I received on going fine free below: We went fine free in January of 2018. We have seen an increase of patrons coming back to the library who had previously been blocked. Our materials are coming back at about the same rate as before. As a PR move, patrons are very happy with it. It is amazing how deeply that punative mindset was ingrained in everyone. Yes, our new materials are coming back too. People overall are pretty courteous of each other. We have actually had a decrease in lost items. I think that before people would be afraid to bring them back at a certain point because they would be fined (I know this is silly because they would be billed at some point for replacement cost). I would be happy to answer any specific questions you have. Erin Schmändt Director Caro Area District Library We went fine free back in August. It is hard to say that our overdue books have gone up because of it. We are requesting more and more MeL books for our patrons and because of load balancing we are sending out more to other libraries and our number one cause of overdues is late MeL books. If overdue books have gone up with our regular patrons it is only slightly. Circulation has not gone up noticeably. The biggest benefit has been the good will that it has generated among our patrons. Most who return books late are chagrined at doing so and very apologetic, when they find out there is no fine they are thrilled. We keep a donation jar on the circulation desk and our donations have gone up because they are happy to drop some money in the jar when they find out they don’t owe anything. We are still diligent about notifying patrons when they are overdue and still use the same procedures when they are overdue for an extended period. We haven’t seen an increase in books that are not being returned at all, or ones that are months late. Hope this helps. Mark Morton Director Leland Township Public Library We recently went fine free last September and will never look back. Giventhat we serve a high percentage of low-income families, fines werecreating a barrier. Our circulation increased about 5-10% month to monthwhen compared to months with fines administered to patrons and we aregetting our items back on time a lot more frequently. Patrons that wouldhave happily paid the fine typically donate their "fine" to the library. Alycia McKowen Library Director St. Ignace Public Library We floated the idea and got TONS of negative feedback. People wanted delinquents folks to pay. They said the library needed the money. Was not received well and we didn't do it. On the other hand our 8 automatic renewals is really popular and in essence does away with fines except for lost materials. Christine Lind Hage Director Rochester Hills Public Library The Garden City Public Library went fine free on April 10. This is probably too recent to give you any useful data, but the patron response has all been positive. James B Lenze Director Garden City Public Library Allegan District Library went fine free on print materials in January. This includes essentially all materials save our DVDs and the few "things" we checkout like board games and so on. We also did a complete fine reset at this time and everyone's fines were wiped clean although we did still retain bills for lost and damaged items. I have thoughts on both the fine free and wiping the slate clean but first I'll answer your questions and then give you my two-cents. Answers to your questions: 1. Circ: This one is tough for me to answer because our circ is up but I believe it is due to the new building, not fine free. We have seen an increase in people in our door since the new addition opened in November and even more since we completed the project in April so I really do think that is the cause in the increase. 2. Overdues: Overdues have not increased. Folks that brought stuff in late before are still bringing stuff in late and those there were prompt are still prompt. 3. Lost Items: This has gone up but at the same rate as circ has gone up so I don't attribute this to fine free. Here is my overall take. The fine free on print materials allowed us to say we were knocking down a barrier that prevented us from achieving our mission of equitable access to information, education, and literacy. And I do believe it resulted in this as I think it predominantly helped with lower socioeconomic folks for whom a $5 fine meant they stopped coming. It has also though, really pleased families of all socioeconomic backgrounds as they tend to be the ones that check out 30-50 books and then struggle to get them back on time. The fine reset also helped bring folks back who were staying away due to fines although I would say communicating both this reset and the removal of fines on print materials was challenging as getting to those non-regular users or the ones that quit coming 2 years ago because of fines is not easy. We did also have to specifically budget for this but the Board always had an uneasy relationship with budgeting based upon our own users poor behavior. And as it has turned out, about 60% of our fines come from our DVD collection anyways so we still have those funds coming in although we no longer rely on them. We also changed our circ protocol a bit when we did this. We now only keep new items on shorter circ periods (new books are 14 days and new dvds are 3 days) for three months whereas before it was six months. I think this change too has affected the overdue rate as now less items have a quick turnaround and thus are more likely to get back on time. This has also really pleased folks leading us to consider extending the new dvd circ period to 7 days. The final thing I would say is that this change has definitely led to less confrontations and/or challenging conversations at the circ desk and more library good will and for those reasons alone I would highly recommend it. Ryan Deery Director Allegan District Library First, we are a small Class 2 library. We have always been fine free, with the exception of DVD and Blu-ray movies. We find that we have a higher return rate when people realize that we are only interested in the materials, not in punishment. We do overdues quarterly and find that 95% of people are happy to pay for material that they can't find. We consider the other 5% the cost of doing business; it's no higher than the rate at which materials wear out from use. As a small library we can't justify staff time spent on it. All that said, we do check materials with holds weekly and call people when they are overdue. We find a friendly call reminding someone that another reader is waiting is all that's needed. Our previous administration did turn people over to the County's Economic Fraud Unit. We found that generated a lot of ill will and wasted a lot of time and resources, and stopped. Overall, our policies create so much goodwill that I wouldn't trade it for anything. Ann Sanders Director Dorothy Hull Library We've been fine free since January 1, except we charge overdue fines on new release overnight videos. To date, we have not experienced an increase in either overdue or lost items. At the same time we introduced fine-free we also began auto-renewing materials with available renewals (i.e. no reserves pending, maximum of one renewal for new release items, maximum of two renewals for non-new items). It has gone well enough that I recommended and my board approved changing policy and continuing the fine-free/auto-renewal indefinitely (was in a trial period from January 1 to June 1 while we collected data). I can't say circulation has gone up, since I don't have enough data to draw conclusions based on circulation figures (could be the fine-free, could be the auto-renewal, could just be the weather), but goodwill certainly has. Jessica Little T.A. Cutler Memorial Library We went fine free on January 1, and our circulation is up 22%. Having said that, we added auto-renewal to our circulation system (Innovative's Sierra) on January 1 also, so the bulk of the increase is in the renewals, not the fine free program. Sierra will allow for 2 auto renewals if there are no holds on the item. As for branch increases, some have been up 2-12%, but we have also seen continued decreases in some branches. Our digital formats, Overdrive, Zinio, and Hoopla are all up substantially from last year. I may or may not have made this clear enough--renewals and digital checkouts are not attributed to a particular branch. Good luck--we are very satisfied with our decision, if that helps at all! Nancy Bellaire Director Monroe County Library System We have been fine free since January. Circulation has gone up significantly, but we also became a 7 day a week operation (during the school year) at the same time. So, the stats are skewed some. I know being fine free has been easier on the Circulation Staff. We thought that those people who always seemed to return books on time would continue to do so and those who did not return items on time would continue to not return items on time. Anecdotal evidence at this time suggests that has been true, so far. For in demand items, people seem to be returning them on time or a day or two late (not any different from before). There are some in our cooperative that suggest that they will lose business because their patrons will come here to avoid fines (we use a fine free checkin for all returns). We haven't seen a huge increase in non-resident use to date, but we've always had a high number of non-resident use and being open on Sundays impacts that usage, since there are only 2 of our immediate neighbor libraries open on Sundays. Tina L. Hatch, Director Milford Public Library Dan Hutchins Director Van Buren District Library 200 North Phelps Street Decatur, MI 49045 dhutchins(a)vbdl.org http://www.vbdl.org 269-423-4771

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MI PR Group - Jackson District Library on Monday, June 17 at 1pm
by Kelly Rembert 14 Jun '19

14 Jun '19

Hi Everyone, The MI PR Group is meeting on Monday, June 17 at 1pm at the Jackson District Library - Meijer Branch. As a reminder the MI PR Group an informal PR group to work together and share our successes, learn from our non-successes and put our brains together to try and tackle issues and help all of our libraries. We invite anyone involved with marketing or public relations in libraries to this group. Since we are in Jackson, a special invite for folks in South Central and Southwest Michigan to come to this meeting. Agenda: Introductions Main discussion: Library way finding and displaying materials Round robin of what you are up to/proud of Upcoming meetings to put on your calendar: Monday, September 16 all day for an unconference at the Library of Michigan Please RSVP if you are able to make it. Thanks, Kelly Kelly Ireland Rembert Outreach Librarian Southfield Public Library 26300 Evergreen Rd. Southfield, MI 48076 (248) 796-4367 krembert(a)southfieldlibrary.org www.southfieldlibrary.org

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Learn About LM's Continuing Education Stipend Program
by Atkin, Evette (MDE) 14 Jun '19

14 Jun '19

Date: July 8, 2019 Time: 2:30 PM Cost: FREE Registration: LM Continuing Education Stipend Webinar<https://libraryofmichigan.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=227&> Did you know that library staff are eligible to apply for a Continuing Education Stipend from the library of Michigan? These stipends may be used for in-person and online library related continuing education events. Join us for a 30-minute webinar to learn what events are eligible, what expenses are covered and learn how we've simplified the process even more! For more information and to register, visit the Library of Michigan's registration system<https://libraryofmichigan.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=227&>. Evette M. Atkin Continuing Education Coordinator Library of Michigan atkine(a)michigan.gov<mailto:atkine@michigan.gov> 517.335.1495

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Branch Youth Assistants
by Samantha Jordan 14 Jun '19

14 Jun '19

Good morning, Do any libraries in Michigan have Branch Youth positions like this where they do not require an MILS? *Position Title* Branch Youth Assistant *Level/Unit* 8 *FLSA Status* Non Exempt *Beginning Pay* $16.13-$18.97, Hourly *Pay Range* $16.13-$21.81, Hourly *Agency* *Location* *Education & Experience* - Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university. - Previous experience working with children and/or experience in public libraries. *Hours* - Full Time, standard 40 hour work week. - Work up to two evenings and variable Saturdays and Sundays. Manager arranges work schedule. - Required to adapt to a flexible schedule as arranged by the Manager to meet scheduling needs. *Requirements* - Strong public service orientation and commitment to excellent and genuine customer service. - Excellent verbal and written communication skills, as well as strong organizational skills. - Experience working with computers, including Internet, Microsoft Office, Google Suite, and Windows and Mac OS. - Problem solve in a professional manner with Library patrons, co-workers, and supervisors. - Physical agility and strength to bend, reach, lift, and move library materials (20-25 lbs.) and to stand for long periods of time. - Willing to work at or transfer to other service areas or branches. - Accept and manage change. - Maintain patron and staff confidentiality. - A valid State of Indiana Librarian Certification, Level 5 as a condition of employment. *Ability To* - Work patiently and creatively with all ages. - Form and maintain excellent working relationships with staff at all levels. - Maintain composure and overcome stress in any situation. - Learn the library's automated system, as well as self-service technology. - Exercise initiative, be enthusiastic, creative, flexible, energetic, value diversity, and possess a sense of humor. - Interpret and communicate Library services, philosophy, policies, and procedures to patrons in a courteous, friendly, and positive manner using one’s best judgment. *Job Statement* *Essential Job Duties* Provide customer service and reference assistance to patrons. Develop and implement programming and outreach for children. Under the direct supervision of the Area Branch Manager, the Branch Youth Assistant will: 1. Provide hands-on customer service at designated public service stations at least 60% of the workweek. 2. Assist patrons with account functions and with the use of computers and devices. Troubleshoot computers, copiers, and equipment as needed. Perform cash register operations and daily departmental procedures. 3. Provide readers’ advisory, reference and directional services to patrons. 4. Plan and perform Storytimes, experiences and programs in-house and off-site. 5. Participate in a variety of departmental initiatives, projects, and tasks. 6. Under the direction of the Collection Development department, assist with collection maintenance for departmental materials. 7. Demonstrate deep knowledge of Children's literature and early literacy educational methods. Keep abreast of library, publishing, and popular culture trends. Actively participate in training, Library committees, and in-service opportunities. 8. Manage staffing at the Branch in the absence of the Branch Manager and Assistant Manager. Understand the physical facility as well as emergency and security procedures. 9. Perform other related duties as assigned. -- Sincerely, -- *Samantha Jordan* *Children's Librarian/Licensed Michigan Realtor/Yoga Teacher* *IMPORTANT* This email is confidential, intended only for the named recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you receive this message in error, or are not the named recipient, please notify the sender at the mail address above and delete this email from your computer. Thank you.

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Wayne State University SIS Student/Alumni Reunion@ALA Annual 2019
by WSU School of Information Sciences 14 Jun '19

14 Jun '19

[School of Information Sciences - Wayne State University]<https://sis.wayne.edu/> Going to ALA Annual 2019 in Washington DC? Join Wayne State University students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends at the School of Information Sciences’ Student/Alumni Reunion@ALA 2019<https://events.wayne.edu/2019/06/23/sis-student-alumni-reunion-ala-2019-823…>! * When: Sunday, June 23, 2019, 4:30 - 6:00pm * Where: Bar Deco<https://www.bardecodc.com/> - Third floor, 717 6th St NW, Washington, DC 20001 Mix and mingle, visit with colleagues, catch up with friends, and get an update from your fellow Wayne State University graduates. There will be plenty of appetizers and a cash bar! For further details and to RSVP, please go to https://rsvp.wayne.edu/5d0269e5c8c7d. And/or check out the event on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/events/299007571004974/>! SIS will also be at the ALISE shared booth #3109<http://clicks.memberclicks-mail.net/wf/click?upn=3XEFj8EVEiwyTWX9VfJQl4X6PG…> in the exhibit hall Friday, June 21 - Monday, June 24<https://events.wayne.edu/2019/06/21/sis-ala-annual-in-washington-dc-82175/>. Stop by, say hello and get a SIS Information Warrior ribbon for your conference badge! Not going to be at ALA Annual? We’d still love to hear about where you're at and what you're up to! Just stop by our 'Keep in Touch' form<http://sis.wayne.edu/keep-in-touch.php>. We look forward to seeing and hearing from you! School of Information Sciences Wayne State University 313-577-1825 asksis(a)wayne.edu sis.wayne.edu<http://sis.wayne.edu/> [Wayne State University]<https://wayne.edu/> [Warrior Strong] <https://wayne.edu/warriorstrong/>

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Free Books...
by Gail Nartker 13 Jun '19

13 Jun '19

Hello all - As expected, the response has been crazy and wonderful. I am going to respond to the last few libraries that have made requests and say that all titles are now taken. Thanks to the library community for your kindess and your sincere comments about what free books mean to everyone. This is perfect timing for Summer Reading 2019! Gail Gail Nartker, Director Sandusky District Library 55 East Sanilac Road Sandusky, MI 48471 810.648.2644 http://sandusky.lib.mi.us

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Free Young Adult Titles...
by Gail Nartker 13 Jun '19

13 Jun '19

Hello all - This past year we were the recipient of a generous grant through our local Pizza Hut / First Book and received a ton of free books. We have distributed these titles as best we can in our own area and still have multiple titles to give away. I have attached a spreadsheet of the titles and the quantities. If your library is interested in receiving any of these titles would you please email me off-list and we will make arrangements to get them to you? Thanks in advance! Gail Nartker Gail Nartker, Director Sandusky District Library 55 East Sanilac Road Sandusky, MI 48471 810.648.2644 http://sandusky.lib.mi.us <http://sandusky.lib.mi.us/>

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Adult Art Programs
by Ed Mandel 13 Jun '19

13 Jun '19

Hello, We are looking for information on art and/or craft programs for adults that have had success at libraries. A new staff member in our adult services department, Amber Johnson, recently noticed that our library does not offer a lot of adult art programs, and she thought these programs could be fun and might attract patrons we do not see at other programs. However, the type of crafts is something to think about because of skill level and budget. Any sort of ideas or suggestions are appreciated as we determine and weigh the feasibility for our library. Thank you, Ed Mandel Adult Services Librarian Chesterfield Township Library 50560 Patricia Ave. Chesterfield, MI 48051 (586) 598-4900 www.chelibrary.org

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Librarian II (Youth Services) extended 2019-06.pdf
by Cathleen A Russ 13 Jun '19

13 Jun '19

Hello, We are extending our Head of Youth Services job posting for an additional 2 weeks, until Friday, June 28; I anticipate that interviews will take place in mid-July. Best wishes, Cathy Russ [/var/folders/c4/pn04drv965q2qlqx52sjgnvdhktm0j/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/cidimage001.png(a)01D4C2D2.9B24D4F0]<https://troypl.org/> Cathleen Russ | Library Director 510 W Big Beaver Troy, Michigan 48084 248.524.3544 [/var/folders/c4/pn04drv965q2qlqx52sjgnvdhktm0j/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/cidimage002.png(a)01D4C2D2.9B24D4F0]<https://www.facebook.com/troylib/> [/var/folders/c4/pn04drv965q2qlqx52sjgnvdhktm0j/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/cidimage003.png(a)01D4C2D2.9B24D4F0] <https://www.instagram.com/troylib/> [/var/folders/c4/pn04drv965q2qlqx52sjgnvdhktm0j/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/cidimage004.png(a)01D4C2D2.9B24D4F0] <https://twitter.com/troylib>

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