Spring Training is on

Our annual staff inservice is Monday, May 25^th.  All locations are closed on this day so that staff can gather together, learn, share, interact, and ‘develop’ professionally.  Our goal is to return to job duties and demands with a renewed sense of purpose, with improved skills and confidence, motivated to perform our tasks effectively and efficiently.

This year, we are excited to have guest presenter Pam Mood for our set of morning workshops. Dynamic, energetic, and humorous, she is a much sought-after motivational speaker. (She is also the serving mayor of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia).

Our Summer Reading Club Committee will unveil plans for the ever-popular summer program that sees kids and teens reading and using the library like crazy after school is out. Each year, the program is tweaked and shaped to keep things interesting and engaging.

We’ll talk about our new Be Fit Physical Literacy Kits, a partnership with Sport Nova Scotia.  These kits are now available for loan, but we’ll also be identifying ways to incorporate the physical aspects of the kits into our library programming.

Sharon Elliott, RCMP Senior Safety Officer, will provide us with practical information and tips to make our library visits for seniors a more positive experience.

One workshop will see the sharing of information and experience with challenging customer service situations. What did we do right? How can we do things better? Those public service staff will also share some innovative ideas that have enhanced the physical library spaces and made our libraries more interesting, inviting, and functional.

Staff can preview the new public library catalogue that will be coming soon. While we’ve provided input, this is our chance to see the almost-finished product, one we know the public will be pleased to see!

 While you won’t be able to visit one of our libraries on May 25^th, please understand that we’ll be working, and learning, to serve you better!

--Wendy Trimper,  Head of Branch Services

“Can you tell me why so many wars and battles were fought on National Historic sites?”

(The following presentation was part of a recent staff development workshop on the subject of Readers’ Advisory for Seniors .  It has been condensed.)

I’ll admit it – one of the things that scares me most is the concept of Readers’ Advisory. My heart starts racing, my palms get sweaty! For a few seconds, I immediately feel like the librarian who has lost her way. How are we supposed to know about every genre, author and topic in the library? It’s impossible. Then I pull myself back into reality knowing that even librarians who are voracious readers know that they can’t read everything.  

Readers’ Advisory is a critical personal library service.   Our patrons come in for our friendly and helpful service. They want to get in and out with something to read. When they find just the right book and have a wonderful reading experience, they want to visit the library more often. Our best marketing tool is a satisfied customer who spreads the word about the wonderful service that he/she received at the library.

We try to be welcoming and helpful so that our readers leave our libraries with what they came in for, and often more.  Approachability is the key.  Except during the crazily busy times, we can make sure that patrons understand that we have the time to talk about books and reading with them for a few minutes. We want them to feel comfortable coming to us for help.

Sometimes, people are lonely and like to talk about lots of different things, so we try to be respectful but not stray off topic for very long. That said, some older adults crave kindness and human contact and the library may be one of the few places they encounter these on a regular basis.  We look at this as a customer need and understand that we may have to spend more time working with older adults to help them find what they need. This isn’t always possible when working alone or during very busy periods but we should always be aware of its place in the customer service skill set.

 One reason older adults are often so appreciative when receiving good or excellent customer service is that in today’s fast-paced world, service staff can be impatient with anyone who needs extra attention. It’s important for librarians working with seniors to remember that becoming an older adult can be a challenging and stressful time.  Apart from the pre-school crowd, no other group is as openly appreciative when they receive the help they need.   They are also quite likely to point out how young we are on a satisfyingly regular basis!

When people don’t want to search our shelves because they’re in a hurry or because they simply don’t know what they want, they come to us for help. We are the human version of a search engine and we’re supposed to magically produce the perfect books for them in a matter of minutes. And do you know what? We do just that every single day that we work!

So, when people ask questions like:

“Do you have any books with photos of dinosaurs?”

“Can you tell me why so many wars and battles were fought on National Historic sites?”

“Do you have a list of the books I’ve read?”

Then the question: “Can you help me find something to read?”  can be a welcome one!

Sue Aldred

Branch Manager

Rosa M. Harvey Library, Middleton

Our Annual Staff Development Day

Every year, one day a year,  AVRL closes its branch libraries in order that all staff can be brought together for a professional development day.   This year, it's Monday, May 27^th.

While we may have other training days for smaller groups of staff during the year, this is the single chance for all staff to take part in the same workshops, share their work experiences,  and the common joys and challenges of the public library workplace. 

In the past we've enjoyed, and benefitted from, information sessions on Customer Service, Mental Health, Service to Seniors, Children's Storytimes, Outreach Services,   and Self-Defense.

This year, our staff development day is all about technology.    We're just like everyone else;  it proves challenging to keep abreast of the technology gadgets, software, and lingo that our patrons discuss with us!

Now that libraries offer OverDrive (a downloadable eBook and audiobook service),  staff are often approached and expected to be familiar with that person's particular brand of tablet, eBook reader, laptop, etc., and how it interacts with OverDrive.    (We should note here that our expectation for staff is only that they are familiar with the basic downloadable service itself and that they can direct patrons to "Help" functions and documents.  They are not expected to be technology trainers or support staff for the public's equipment. )    This can be very frustrating for everyone involved, especially those new technology owners who are experiencing support challenges from the makers and providers of their tablets and eReaders!

Along with the OverDrive workshop, we'll also have "APPy hour".   Our Youth Services Librarian Angela Reynolds regularly reviews apps for kids and parents in her Valley Storytime blog posts.   She looks for apps that are low-cost or free, educational yet fun, book-related, or ones that can help develop early literacy skills such as drawing, storytelling, and vocabulary. She likes apps that take good children's books and make them even more fun, such as Good Night Moon, The Three Little Pigs, or the Sandra Boynton books.   Angela will be sharing some of these with staff.

In addition, there will be a general workshop on New Trends in Technology, and one on Photo Editing.  All in all, it promises to be another rewarding and enjoyable day of professional development.

While we are sorry for the inconvenience of the closure on May 27^th, we are pleased and grateful to take part in these opportunities.  We hope to serve you better because of them!

--Wendy Trimper, Head of Branch Services