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Cybrarian Problems

Please remember to close out of Staff Cybrarian at the information desk if you are not using it. If you don't close it, this may cause problems for customers when they are trying to sign up for a computer. The Help Desk has specifically asked us to do this.

DVD and Videogame Changes

Please read memo# 2009-008 for full details.

Effective July 1, 2008. Here are the highlights:
1. Customers will be able to place Holds on DVDs and videogames.
2. Book Ahead will apply and customers placing Holds on new DVDs and videogames that are “on order” will be charged the $1.00 Book Ahead fee. This will be in addition to the $2.50 for DVD rental fee. 2 for 1 days apply.
3. Borrowing limits on DVDs and videogames will be eliminated.
4. TV series and a new Classic DVD collection will have a 7-day loan period and there will be no charge for these items.
5. TV series, Classic DVDs, and Viedogames can be renewed once.

Flash Drives

Please read memo# 2008-214, regarding Flash Drives for purchase.

1 GB flash drives are now available for sale to the public. They cost $10.00 each with tax. The cash register has been programmed for this. When you ring it up, please do so under flash drives. These will be kept at the information desk. If we run low, please let Erin or Ruth S. know so that we can order more. We still have floppy disks available. However, these are not as reliable as the flash drives and eventually will become unavailable.

Wednesday Club

There's a new program that we're offering for the summer for all 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. It's called the Wednesday Club and their first meeting is on June 18th. There's a flyer about it on the SRC table and on the small round table in the TEEN area.

Here's what it says:
Are you entering the 4th, 5th, or 6th grade in the Fall?
If so, please join us for fun afternoons of karaoke, video games, art and craft activities, and more! Sign up today with your parent's permission at the Information Desk. Attend 7 of the 8 Wednesdays to earn a pizza party at the end of the program.
Program runs from 1:30 - 3:00 pm every Wednesday starting June 18th - August 6th.

The sign up sheet is in the programming notebook, along with copies of the flyers.
Any questions, please ask Gail.

ILLs

Please review memo# 2008-121 concerning the procedures for ILLS, especially to stress the three points below (comes directly from ILL):

1. Determine the amount of $$ a customer is willing to pay for the ILL, if the lending institution charges a processing fee. We will try to get the item for free but if it is unavailable and they have not designated a limit, we will not pursue it.
This is a required field, you have to put at least $1.00. There is a $1.00 hold fee for all ILLs.

2. Remind customers about the Not Picked Up Fee which also applies to ILLs. If they have designated a fee they are willing to pay and they do not pick up the item, they will also be charged that processing fee.

3. Try to get a current e-mail address for notification. It will make the process move more quickly.

Thanks

Video Games

Please note: all our video games are now being sequestered. All the games are now in a long plastic container underneath the checkout computer at the circulation desk. It is very important that when you help customers check out video games to make sure that the barcode matches. When they are returned, we take the games out of their cases and put them back in the plastic container in rough alphabetical order according to the game format.

BCPL.NET Shutdown

BCPL.NET's last day of business will be June 30, 2008. No accounts will remain functional after this date.

Customers have been notified of this fact by email and mail.
Please refer customers to the BCPL.NET Accounts Desk at 410-887-4172 if they have any questions you can't answer.

Meeting Room Booking

In the event that this should ever come up, please be aware of the following:

All customers wanting to reserve a BCPL meeting room should be referred to the Interlibrary Loan Department at 410-887-6109. Information about Meeting Room Policy can be found on Staffnet/Departments/Interlibrary Loan/Meeting Room Policy

In the rare cases that a group appears at a branch and wants to rent a meeting room immediately, branch staff should use the following procedure:

1. Check to see if the meeting room is available.
2. Give the customer a copy of the meeting room policy to read and sign
http://www.bcpl.info/libpg/lib_meetingroom.pdf (copy and paste into the address bar in a new browser)
3. Take the appropriate payment for the room. The costs are listed on the meeting room policy
4. Payment should be rung into the cash register as miscellaneous. “Meeting Room Booking” should be indicated on the cash report as a record of the transaction. (please let circulation know this)
5. Send meeting room booking form with signature in Delivery to the Interlibrary Loan Department.

When a customer books a meeting room at the last minute, the staff member taking the booking and payment should explain that meeting rooms are to be booked through the Interlibrary Loan Department, two weeks in advance to guarantee availability. We are occasionally able to make an exception but our meeting rooms are well-used and often reserved.

Tax Appointments

All tax appointments are now full. I've started a wait list in case we have any cancellations. It's the very last sheet in the tax appointment book.

Direct Loans

Direct loans going out: After you've filled out the blue slip and wrapped it, please walk it to the back room and put it in the systems bin .

Direct loans coming back: if you're doing returns...DO NOT remove the white slip that has the barcode on it. Give it to Philester to process.

More Tax Information

This is from Kim:

1 We have received vol. 2 of the federal reproducible- this year however there is a separate index and pagination for each volume- for the tax cube copy I have created two separate volumes, for the info desk copy- I still have one volume with a divider between the two sections.

2 Ellen asked that I take out last years tax stuff from the BF now- I normally remove last years when I take down the current years tax items off the cube- but I will remove it now. Many years ago we kept 10 years back and since then we have had four years- but I am cutting our holdings to this year and last year- if someone needs other years there is always irs.gov.

Stimulus Payments

Thanks to Becky B. for bringing this to our attention and thanks to Ellen R. for finding the Sun article that explains everything in detail. You'll find a copy of the article in the back up file with all the other tax stuff. There's also a sample of what your return should look like along with some FAQs in the same folder.

Nonfiction Graphic Novels

If you haven't already done so, please read memo #2008-134.

Nonfiction and biography graphic novels will now be shelved with its adult, juvenile, and young adult graphic novels. They will be shelved at the end after the regular graphic novels.

Participating in a Focus Group for $$

Help improve the health of millions - by attending a focus group to develop an online tutorial for healthfinder.gov
Participants will receive a $35 stipend and dinner.

Who: FT & PT Librarians

When: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:00 pm - 7:15 pm

Where: North Point Library training room

For registration and questions, contact Amanda Glazer at IQ Solutions at aglazer@iqsolutions.com or 240-221-4087. Ask Gail for more information if you're interested.

Homeowner's Property Tax Credit

The 2008 Homeowner's Property Tax Credit came in. They are on top of the cabinet behind the information desk and also in the back up file under Renter's Property Tax.

Walkie Talkies

FYI: Facilities handed out the two way walkie talkie radios at AC. They will be kept at the information desk with the meeting room keys. They gave these to us so that we could keep in touch with our custodians or security guards.

Placing Holds for Customers in IMDS

When placing holds for customers in IMDS, please make sure to check off branch hold instead of institution hold if they're picking it up at Arbutus. If they pick a different pick up location, then of course you would have to do an institution hold.

Quality of Worklife Survey

The survey is available on the frontpage of StaffNet, please take the time to complete it. Thanks!

Security Log and Incident Reports

Please note that we now have a security log. It is located on the file cabinet behind the information desk. There are instructions on what to do inside the binder. Please read this. This came out of MOB, please ask Gail if you have any questions.

Abbreviations for the Desk Schedules

If you see these abbreviations on the desk schedule, they mean:

I/R = on the information desk, also looking up the new titles on the Router list.
U/R = back up to the information desk and looking up the new titles on the Router list.
R/M = roving and merchandising

Remember if you are the back up librarian at 9am and 1pm, you are to look up the new titles on the Router list. If you are new to this, please read the instructions through thoroughly. They are located in the tray underneath the registration computer.

Interesting Read

There's an excerpt from Stephen Abram's new book called Out Front with Stephen Abram. It's located on the lower half of the information desk. Stephen Abram is the one who started the 23 things. There's a quick link to his website on the information desk computers if you want more information about him.

Deleting Hold in Transit

If something says "Hold in transit" and you would like to cancel the hold...

Check these items out to our hold shelf or missing shelf and choose the satisfy hold option when it comes up. When circulation receives the item in delivery and goes to clear it the item will either generate the next hold or get cleared from the hold shelf. This came out of MACO, ask Carolyn if you have any more questions.

Interlibrary Library Loan

When processing ILL requests for customers, please ask them for their email address if they have one. Also, you will notice that the maximum amount field is now a REQUIRED field. If they're not willing to pay, you have to put either a $0.00 or $1.00. All customers who request ILLs have to pay the $1.00 hold fee, so ILL understands that when you put $1.00 in the field, the customer is not willing to pay anything else. If you put $5.00 in the max field, this tells ILL that the customer is willing to pay up to this amount. Consequently, if the customer does not pick up the item, they get charged the $5.00 (or whatever the cost was for retrieving their item) plus the $1.00 Not Picked Up fee/hold fee. If it costs more than their max cost, ILL will contact them before fulfilling their request. It is very important that you tell the customer this. ILL has been absorbing the cost of retrieving these materials, i.e shipping and other handling fees, they hope to reduce the amount of requests and also the cost by implementing this new policy.

Where to Find the Password

If you need to place someone first in the hold queue, the password can be found in the computer notebook and the information notebook.

DTV Transition and the Coupon Program

What is the digital television transition?
At midnight on February 17, 2009, all full-power television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to 100% digital broadcasting. Digital broadcasting promises to provide a clearer picture and more programming options and will free up airwaves for use by emergency responders.

What is the TV Converter Box Coupon Program?
Congress created the TV Converter Box Coupon Program for households wishing to keep using their analog TV sets after February 17, 2009. The Program allows U.S. households to obtain up to two coupons, each worth $40, that can be applied toward the cost of eligible converter boxes.

For more information, go to:
https://dtv2009.gov/
http://www.dtvanswers.com/

BCPL Floats!

As of January 2nd, BCPL will be floating everything with the exception of:
Reference Materials
History Room Materials
Storyville Materials
Periodicals, Comics, and Zines
VHS tapes
American Sign Language DVDs
All Mobile Library Services Materials

For the Romance series that have floated to us from other branches that we do not own will be kept at the end of the other series titles. For J and YA series, and YA graphic novels they will be interfiled according to the title. For Adult graphic novels they will be interfiled according to the author.