Topic: What are we doing for our patrons?
Attendees:
Kelly, Springville Road
Shannon, Hoover
Rachel. Smithfield
Holley, EOM
Teresa, Southside
Madalyn, Hoover
Jon, Avondale
Loretta, Powderly
Maura, Trussville
Paul, Southside
Reba, Smithfield
Lynn, BPL Central
Tamiko, N. Bham
Jiemin, BPL Central
Leigh, N. Bham
Selina, Wylam
NaTasha, Powderly
Toni, Powderly
Jane, Southside
Joan, Avondale
What are we doing to keep up morale of those doing the hard job of curbside? Ordering pizzas, wrapped candies, etc. to keep up the energy. Cold drinks and bug spray are essential, along with sunscreen.
Cudos: curbside pickup from EOM of "Mt. Doom Volcano Cake" ingredients in bags for patrons to pick up in order to participate.
Also, on ProgrammingLibrarian.org there was an article about EOM's Great Brookie Backoff: https://programminglibrarian.org/programs/great-brookie-bake-online Some recommended reading:
Florida Library Webinars, https://floridalibrarywebinars.org/ondemand/
ALA, Reimagining Programming During Covid https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/webinar-reimagining-programming-during-a-pandemic/
Loretta Bitten, Powderly - be aware that Books-by-Mail is up and running. If you have patrons unable to pick up their items, send them to Books-by-Mail. Call Powderly and they will set up a BBM account for the patron. http://www.bplonline.org/services/BooksByMail/
Springville Road, started a newsletter for their Coffee, Conversations & Crafts groups - this is now a vital tool for everyone to keep in touch. Each participant was contacted by staff to check on them and stay in touch. Also doing Craft-n-Go videos on how to make felted soap, etc. (For Kelly, https://gluegungang.com/ -- Deni put this together this website to show how each craft is done.)
Many libraries are dealing with patrons who cannot browse and cannot tell you exactly what they want. The RA interview is essential. At Hoover, we have a form for this: Novel Destinations form from Hoover - our online form we use with "browsers" that are not sure what they want. They fill out the form and we will give them 10-15 suggestions based on their likes/dislikes. http://www.hooverlibrary.org/services/staff-recommendations-just-you
Avondale - Ebook usage during quarantine: https://www.ingramspark.com/blog/reading-habits-and-trends-during-quarantine. Libraries are moving money to digital, resulting in a lack of money for print. Also at Avondale, big picture window in Youth - Carla is using the picture window to display books and things that patrons can request.
Some libraries are doing activities for families outside of the library, on sidewalks, etc. EOM has decorated outside curbside pickup with program pickups, etc. On program days, they put out a huge dragon above the shrubs.
Trussville is doing craft giveaways with virtual instructions for patrons. (Done by Virginia Brahser who works with several libraries.)
Great work at Avondale for Joan's 5-week series on LGBTQ/Pride month! These have been wonderful! Also doing virtual yoga and cross-sectional programming with Homewood to do virtual programming across other libraries. Great ideas for collaboration!
Because everything is virtual, collaborating across the libraries makes sense.
Southside asks: what goes into a podcast? No real good answer but there is a podcast discussion group at Avondale. Here's something put together from Public Libraries Magazine: http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/10/engaging-patrons-with-library-podcasts/
Also, http://www.ala.org/pla/education/onlinelearning/webinars/ondemand/podcasting (Accessed June 24, 2020)
Anyone updating/refreshing their libraries while no public is gone? Hoover Teen Dept is putting their collection by genre. Maura said that Trussville has shifted the entire adult collection.
Participation with summer reading? Trussville just started using Beanstack and adults usage has grown, and some younger readers. https://bookriot.com/2020/05/26/how-public-libraries-are-handling-summer-reading-during-covid-19/
Hoover's adult summer reading program with Dr. Jim Brown, retired, Samford History professor (contact info: jimbrowngofish@gmail.com) Dr. Brown is going to do two sessions on Grimms' Fairy Tales for Adults on July 8 & July 15.
EOM Virginia Brasher is doing a Japanese Furoshiki, How to wrap boxes. She will have a virtual component and a live component, two sessions available from EOM. Here's an example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fhPumcPla0
EOM also looking into doing a virtual Ugly Art Night. Stay tuned!
Any workarounds with patrons wanting to check out but haven't been able to return what they currently have at home? Most libraries are working around the existing fines.
Most libraries are being flexible on circulation rules. Some libraries are extending the Amnesty month throughout quarantine.
Thanks for connecting with ASRT!
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