Question of the Day - Why Hold In-Service on Columbus Day and Martin Luther King Jr Day?

The Library closes twice a year for in-service training. On these days, the staff of the Library has meetings and workshops, planning sessions and refresher courses on topics ranging from Disaster Recovery to Library policies.

Several years ago, we studied our usage patterns on certain days of the year, over 3 years, to determine what might be the best days to use for In-Service training. We focused on Fridays in the summer after Summer Reading was finished and holidays for which the Library was not closed: Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day, and Good Friday. The holidays were selected because staff noticed that usage tended to be down on those days, with frequent phone calls about whether or not the Library was open. Summer Fridays were the default In-Service days prior to the study. The anecdotal lower-than-average usage of the Library on holidays the Library did not close was corroborated by the study. Summer Fridays were found to have average usage. Columbus Day and MLK Day were selected in an attempt to spread the dates out as much as possible through the year. Good Friday was not seriously considered due to the religious beliefs of certain staff members and the fact that the date varied year to year.

So, when the Library is closed on January 18, your staff will be inside, brushing up their skills and preparing to better serve you!

Apologies for neglecting you!

With finalizing roofing project specifications, the Illinois Library Association conference, staff In-Service Day, and the audit all occurring within the last 10 days, I did make it back to update you on what's going on. Suffice to say: A LOT!

The Illinois Library Association conference was held in beautiful downtown Peoria. I learned something new at every session I attended. Two of our Trustees attended the Trustee Day for training. Board President Sharon Kinley had a list of question for me before lunch that day! :-) Quite a few of our fabulous staff participated on panels, at Talk Tables and made presentations. Lousie Svehla presented our Text-a-Librarian service. Michelle Roubal moderated a panel, and Kara Kohn participated on that panel, about revitalizing adult reading programs. I think I'm missing at least one more, so staff will have to harass me later about my lack of memory. Staff also did the best they could to economize, since we had so many attending. We carpooled, shared rooms, and took advantage of vendor-sponsored meal events to keep costs down.

The Library's auditors are here an wrapping up the in-house portion of the annual audit. With a temporary person from May through July and a new Accountant coming in, it's a little more complex than past years. Everything is there, it's just under someone else's filing system so each piece takes just a bit longer to find.

Staff enjoyed an In-Service training day on Columbus Day. The Library does two In-Service training days per year: Columbus Day and Martin Luther King Day. These are mandatory for staff and can cover anything from how to use a the MyMediaMall downloadable collection to reviewing policies.

The bid opening for the roof replacement project is this afternoon. Representatives from roofing companies interested in bidding have been all over the roof for the past 10 days. Keep your fingers crossed that the bids are lower than expected!