February 2014 Cluster Meeting

February's meeting was held at the Widener Library.  Most of the staff from all of the North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries were in attendance.  I find that there is very little absenteeism at these meetings.  I'm going to be optimistic and believe that is because everyone sees the value in the meetings.  I actually have a small indicator that this is the case.  I put a "target" and some stickers up at the December meeting and asked about the value of the meetings, as well as the level of the morale of the staff.  There was a small response that indicated some enthusiasm, but nothing dramatic.  In February, I brought the same "target" back to the meeting, with different stickers, so we could differentiate December's feedback from February's.  There was a slight increase in the number of respondents.  And, it warmed my heart to see that the folks responding did feel the meetings are improving the morale in cluster.  There also was general agreement that the monthly meetings are helpful.  Here is a photo of the targets.

We have two committees made up of representatives from each of the six branches.  One is looking to standardize, as much as possible, things like PC use.  It has taken some compromise, but we believe we have a workable solution to the chronic I-would-like-a-guest-pass patron.  In a future post, I will have an image of the sign that is being created to post at each of the six libraries.  This committee is also looking to have a Welcome Kit, of sorts, at each branch.  In this way, visiting staff will have one place to look for information about the layout of the branch, particular issues that may crop up, and where the best places to get lunch may be.

The other committee, is the Fun Committee.  They presented their ideas at the February meeting.  Things like ugly sweater days, and contests were discussed.  At the March meeting we will be having a very short session of "Trivia with Bob." 

At one of our earlier meetings two separate suggestions came up.  One, was a request for another contest similar to the gadget contest that Jamie Wilson ran in the fall.  Another was a suggestion that it would be a good idea if we had more Spanish speaking staff.  I took those two ideas and mashed them together.  

I announced a North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries Mango Languages contest.  More than half of the group indicated interest in this.  I'm anxious to see how many actually are doing it.  In this first month, I've requested that each person participating take a screen shot of the Mango Languages page that shows how many lessons you have completed, and email it to me.  There will be some prizes for lessons completed, etc.

It will be an interesting experiment.