The Webinar is over and archived, so watch the kanlib list for the particulars.  Overall, it went well.  We had 17 participants, including staff from System offices and the State Library.  I only lost my place once or twice and thanks to Cathy Newland, we had some audio discussion but the most interesting bits were found over in the chat window.

I’m just going to recap some of the bits I found most interesting.  They’re divided by Talking Point.

1. New Employee Orientation – how do you do it?

• Shannon Roy made the very valid point that “New employees are worth quality time that they don’t always get.”
• Many people have one-on-one conferences with new employees
• Kim Baker at Leavenworth Public has a policy manual quiz she’s prepared for new employees
• Holly Mathes has “attractive copies” of policies for each Board member and staff person
• Hollis Helmeci also has policy binders for the Board and a manual at the front desk that is routinely updated (pages are replaced)

2. Development of New Policies

• Hollis shared that they use staff meetings to address issues and Holly agreed that issues that may need to be addressed in or by a policy come up in their weekly staff meetings.
• We discussed ‘reactive policies’ – where the policy discussion is precipitated by some unpleasant event at the library.  While it’s best o address issues before the become a full blown issue, that can be difficult.
• Diana Weaver shared that she’s working on Atchison’s emergency preparedness policy and will include information about ‘in case of pandemic.’ – Timely
• New technologies, services, building changes, and trends all lead to policy reviews
• Laura DeBaun cautioned that “just because a situation is difficult, it may NOT require a policy.”  Shannon concurred, recommending that “thoughtfullness” be part of a library’s culture.
• Mickey Coalwell followed up with “a policy isn’t a crutch and it’s not a substitute for constructive confrontation with a problem patron or situation.” – Polices are “a backstop”
• Cathy Newland felt that we need to “empower librarians to make choices about what is good service.”  Mickey and Laura made the points that policies are there to “support and legitimize” staff and Board decisions and that they are “not a justification for NO, solely”
• Hollis asked, “As a statement of direction, then application becomes the major element here?”
• We discussed the use of scenarios and real life situations that have happened at a library as ways to reinforce policy and to gauge comprehension.  As Diana said, staff wants to know if they did the right thing!  Even just having good discussions about how policies can/are applied in a given situation is helpful.

3.  Review of Existing Policies

• Most present review policies with staff at staff meetings (with food bribes) held before the library opens.
• Policies are reviewed by staff before recommendations for changes are brought to the Board for further discussion and action.
• Diana is experimenting with using Google docs to facilitate policy review and revision (very clever)
• I asked how many require staff signature in the policy manual – many did.  Shannon said, “I think it gets a more careful reading.”
• I asked if scenarios belong in the policy manual, but the consensus was that this should be left for the face-to-face discussion and training.  Scenarios or examples may limit flexibility by staff in applying a policy in a given situation.
• Modeling was brought up as a great way to teach policies, as Hollis says, “It might give [staff] a new perspective on how to apply the policies.”
• We talked about including knowledge of policies in an employee’s evaluation, but that decided that the better approach would be to include ‘application of policy in a customer friendly manner’ in the evaluation.
• Holly reminded us all that it’s important to address problems with ‘policy enforcement’ at the time and not save it for the evaluation, which lead to a side discussion of documenting throughout the year for employee evals.
• Mickey asked, “Do you penalize for failure to apply policy appropriately?”   YES!

4. Locating Policies

• At Tonganoxie, we had the ‘master’ policy manual in a binder behind my desk and some policies were online.  The entire manual was also on a shared directory (because I use ctrl+f extensively).
• Hollis has a copy at the front desk for staff and on the Web site.  Diana has theirs in a 3-ring binder at the circulation desk.
• I asked if anyone had their policy manual online, sighting the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library who has their entire manual, including Board Governance, online.
• Many only have the computer use/Internet policy online or other select policies like Service and Meeting room.
• We had a side discussion on Emergency policies (because we’ve had a rash of cars running into libraries here at NEKLS) – Shannon made the great point that the policy has to be available outside the library at all times!
• Joyce Armstrong shared that Hugoton’s policy is excellent and will hopefully be shared on Web Junction-KS.
• The State Library is creating a wallet-sized emergency plan that staff can carry in their wallets!
• We talked about what policies are pulled out of the manual and put at the service desk:  donation policy, unattended children, emergency policy, computer use, code of conduct and meeting room
• Out of curiosity, I asked if anyone has a computer use policy for staff – Holly has a “staff technology policy” that covers computer and cell phone use.
• Some phrases that help cover inappropriate use of patron lap tops include “at the library staff’s discretion” and “disruptive behavior is prohibited.”
• Side discussion on e-rate, CIPA and wireless – if the wireless bandwidth costs are reimbursed with e-rate funds, CIPA applies.  At Tonganoxie, the wireless was donated by Sunflower Cable, so the library’s code of conduct and a policy statement included especially for wireless users applied.

All done.  Questions?

Facilitating a discussion (finger’s crossed) tomorrow using the State Library’s Wimba room.  I have my slides ready and just need to fill in some talking points to keep me on target.  I am hoping for a lot of interactivity and participation, as evidenced by the nearly blank slides I’ve strategically placed in the presentation for folks to write on!  Writing in Wimba works great, but if you try to delete what you’ve written, you clear the entire slide…and everything that anyone else has written.  We’ll give a lot of warnings, I guess.

I’m happy to share what little expertise I have on the topic of “Involving Staff in Policy Development” but  I do feel a bit awkward about this since I’m not a library director at the moment.  Staff involvement when I was at Tonganoxie meant making everyone read the Board Agenda packet and sitting around the office having informal discussions about this, that and the other…especially after something strange would happen.  Because, you know, new policies are most often written AFTER they’re needed.  Although, when I had a woman challenge a book, the policy manual just happened to have step by step procedures with the Reconsideration Policy telling me exactly what to do.  Very helpful and she dropped the challenge before it ever went to the Board.

Shannon’s Memo with all the pertinent information:

TO: Kansas librarians and trustees
FROM: Shannon Roy, State Library of Kansas
RE: Wimba session on October 20, from 10:00 to 11:00

On Tuesday, October 20 from 10:00 to 11:00. Sharon Moreland will be presenting “What’s the Policy? Involving Staff in Policy Development.” Sharon was the library director at Tonganoxie and is presently the Technology Consultant at the Northeast Kansas Library System.

This Wimba session is part of the Learning 2 Action Training Package on Library Policies but the Wimba sessions are open to all, without preregistration. This session will also meet Core Skill Four in the Kansas Library Trustee Certification Program, if any trustees would like to catch the session in real time or archive.

The instructions for participating in the Wimba program are on the Library Policies website at:

http://ks.webjunction.org/ks_policies

Just scroll down the Overview until you reach “Webinar Instructions.” The Wimba session will be archived for those who cannot participate in real time.

We be famous…

Patti Butcher at the State Library was kind enough let us know that this humble blog was mentioned in the October 2009 issue of Computes in Libraries (p. 40, ‘online treasures’ by Janet L. Balas).  According to Janet, our site was mentioned because it contained “current projects in libraries that are on the cutting edge of technology–projects that inspire librarians because they emphasize what the library can do now to provide improved service that couldn’t be done without recent advancements in technology.”

Heather Braum, Liz Rea, Thatcher Rea and I all contribute to the blog from time to time – letting our member libraries know about cool new gadgets/software/trends that we come across and want to share.

Thank you to CIL for this recognition!

I’ve been asked to present a breakout session at the NEST fall retreat on my favorite genre: SMUT!

New! - Bookmarks that you are FREE to CHANGE, print, distribute.
(All praise goes to NoveList and their wonderful Read-Alike articles and Kaite Stover for her stamp of approval.)

• Romance as: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Inspirational, Chick Lit and Mystery
• Romance as: Paranormal, Young Adult, “History” (smut) and Classics (gentle)

Of course, I’m going to do some research to expand my horizons beyond Regency with the help of NoveList.  I figure I can keep some of the articles I find here for future reference, but first, I’d like to pay my respects to the Godmother of Romance, Jane Austen.  Long live Pride and Prejudice…

• Getting up to Speed in…Romance by Joyce Saricks – if you’re in Kansas, you have free access to NoveList thanks to the generosity of the State Library.  Joyce mentions a few authors I’ve read (Jennifer Crusie, Diana Gabaldon and Susan Elizabeth Philips), along  with a few I haven’t (Judith McNaught and Nora Roberts).  A good (copyrighted) article that I have found very helpful.
• Romance Reader’s Advisory, Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 by Jennifer Brannen
  • According to the Romance Writers of America, “Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally-satisfying and optimistic ending.”  Happily ever after, that’s what I’m talking about.
  • She quotes some statistics from Corona Research that basically say MEN read romance…who knew?
  • Part two talks about Readers’ Advisory interviews – be respectful and find out what the appeal is.  I started out reading contemporary but once I discovered Mary Balogh and intricately tied cravats…I was hooked and haven’t looked back in about three years.
  • Part three goes into what makes Romance so much fun – all the sub-genres!  According to her catalog of sub-genres, I’m stuck on Historical, rather than Traditional, Regency romances where there’s more sex!

Enough with the Experts, here’s what I’m familiar with:

• Fantasy/Sci Fi – Sharon Shinn’s Samaria series, Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey and Diana Gabaldon.  I have long been a reader of what I call ‘thinly veiled romance.’  Juliet Marillier also writes some wonderful novel-length fairy-tales that are engrossing.
• Contemporary Romance – Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Greene, Jennifer Crusie and Janet Evanovich (the earlier books were steamier, but the tension between Stephanie and her men is still entertaining).
• Historical Romance -
  • Eloisa James, Some of her books are set in Georgian England, so the costumes and manners are slightly different but as a professor of Literature, her writing is incredible.  Start with the Desperate Duchesses series.  She tends to include kids and animals in her stories and a hearty sprinkling of humor.
  • Julia Quinn, is laugh-out-loud funny and if you come for a large family, you’ll enjoy meeting all of the Bridgertons, from Anthony to Hyacinth, along with mother Violet.
  • Teresa Medeiros also writes novel-length fairy tales with humor and a good characters.
  • Lisa Kleypas is a new find for me, thanks to a blurb on an Eloisa James book.  I’m half-way through the first of the Wallflowers and so far, so good.
  • Mary Balogh’s series featuring the aristocratic Bedwyns, especially Slightly Dangerous, is a series I read and re-read.  I have more difficulty getting into her newer novels, though.
  • Amanda Quick writes hard-cover novels and her newest series, the Arcane society, features metaphysics…thereby combining my two loves (smut and new age woo woo).
  • Elizabeth Lowell wrote a wonderful romance trilogy, Enchanted, set in medieval England.
• Racier than what I normally read:  Lori Foster (erotica), Bertrice Small and Lora Leigh