Comments from Judi Moore in Regards to her Humanitarian Award

Several weeks ago I got a surprise email from the Alliance of Community Service Providers stating that they wanted to give me their 2017 Humanitarian of the Year award.  Honestly, my first thought was that they had confused me with our adult/teen librarian Chera Kowalski.  After all, what is more deserving of an award than saving six lives?  But, they said no, they meant me.  The award was for creating a safe haven for the children of McPherson Square, and for addressing issues brought on by the opioid crisis.  Wow, that was amazing, but I felt really uncomfortable about taking all this credit because what we’ve done at McPherson Square is absolutely a group effort.  I decided to accept the award on behalf of our team, and I planned to name everybody in my speech.  However, I then realized that most of the people who shared in the award wouldn’t be present to hear their work being acknowledged, and the people who were present wouldn’t know who all these fine people are.  So, I asked Marion Parkinson if I could hijack her blog to give some credit where credit is overdue.  Let’s call this the Humanitarian Team Award!  Let me introduce the team.

Chera Kowalski – In addition to those six lives she has saved, Chera has been in the forefront of our efforts to raise awareness about the needs of users, the neighborhood, and the children.  Chera is a real fighter, and I am sure we would not be where we are today without her advocacy.  I still think she should have been the one on stage with the mayor to accept the award.

Marion Parkinson – I got credit for all the Narcan training our staff got, but really it was Marion who gave us the okay to do it.  She has also been behind us in everything we did, and she has been our biggest cheerleader.  She is responsible for forming the McPherson Square Action Committee.

Mike Newall – Where would we be without Mike’s columns in the Inquirer?  We’d still be coping with the village of users camping in the park.  The publicity brought on by Mike’s writing inspired Parks & Recreation to provide a play camp and field trips for the children, we got extra police presence, we got financial donations that enabled us to buy an iPad and learning toys for the children, and we got meaningful messages of support from all over the country.  NBC, CNN, NPR, and others jumped on the bandwagon with our story, but Mike was the first and still the best and most accurate.

Sterling Davis – It is true that Chera administered the Narcan, but in most of the cases, it was Sterling, watching over the park, who alerted Chera that she was needed.  Several years ago I nominated Sterling for the Free Library’s Customer Service Award.  He won that award because of his involvement in the McPherson Square community.  For instance, Sterling brought his whole baseball team to help install our playground. 

Karen Vincent, Roseanna Feenan, Orlando Torres, Tashiba Hightower, Aisha Sims, Antonio Daniels, David Roche, Tuesday Chalmers, Kiyumba Case, Chris Torres – These past and present staff members of McPherson Square can tell you that working at the epicenter of a national crisis is not easy.  These people cope with it every day and rise to the need when there is an overdose or a patron under the influence.  They watch over the overdose victims, they protect the children, and they “keep calm and carry on.”  All of our current staff is Narcan trained. 

The Free Library administration – In particular Lynn Williamson, Joe Benford, and Sara Moran put time, effort and funding into helping address this crisis.  They provide us with funding for bathroom monitors and extra security.  Joe participates in the city’s taskforce that addresses the opioid problem.  Honestly, the Free Library stepped up to address the opioid epidemic long before it got national attention, and before other city departments saw the problem.  Lynn always checks in with kind, supportive words whenever we have a crisis, as does T. Kim Robinson.

Ted Hackett – Ted picks up the discarded needles in the park every day.  He doesn’t get paid, and he doesn’t have children using the park.  Ted says he “does it for God.”  In the past, he often got over 100 needles a day.  Now, it is usually less than 20 per day.  We are making progress.

Maria Rivas – Our children can get a free meal at the library all year round.  Most days it is our Lunch Lady Maria passing out the food.  I have given out the lunches often enough to know that it is not an easy job to monitor all the lunchroom shenanigans.  However, this is an important part of our library safe haven.  Maria has been our Lunch Lady for many years, and she and her cousin Carmen Suarez also cook for the homeless each week. 

Bryan Belknap – McPherson has a hugely successful Maker Jawn program due to Bryan’s Pied Piper personality.  He has endless amounts of patience and good humor.  Bryan is also committed to helping the neighborhood cope with the opioid epidemic.

Jose Benitez and Elvis Rosado – We have learned so much from our friends at Prevention Point Philadelphia.  Elvis, of course, as charismatic Narcan trainer, gets much well-deserved credit.  However, Jose is also a font of information and help.  He provided us with our bathroom sharps box and limitless amounts of support.  Both Elvis and Jose maintain a positive attitude despite the overwhelming gravity of the growing overdose crisis.

Lisa Roche-Rodriguez, Patty Codina, & Phyllis Martino – The staff at Impact Services have been our community partners for many years.  They provide us with Santa, the Book Bunny, the Spring Fest, a Halloween parade, karaoke nights, and more.  Life is a lot richer for McPherson children because of the work of Impact Services. 

And, last but certainly not least…

Awilda Ocasio – Awilda was the best friend the children of McPherson Square ever had.  I wanted to talk about Awilda when I accepted the award because so much of what I got credit for was begun by Awilda, but I knew that I would cry if I tried to talk about her.  We lost Awilda this year because she was too busy planning an Easter event for the children to go to the doctor on time.  She died from pneumonia on the day of the Easter bunny event.  Awilda was the one who introduced us to the free lunch program.  She also managed up to 19 play streets each summer.  She would go to extraordinary effort to bring fun to the children in the form of horse rides, bounce houses, water slides, and much more.  The children called her the Karaoke Lady and were devastated by her passing.  The street next to the library was officially renamed Paseo Awilda Ocasio.  Awilda was a friend and inspiration to me and many other people.  I know that she would have been over the moon about all the wonderful things that have happened to her park and library since her passing.   I want to dedicate the Alliance Award to Awilda because she literally gave her life to the neighborhood children she loved so much. 

A Climbing Wall in a Library?!?!

The Free Library received a grant from the William Penn Foundation and additional funding from the Knight Foundation to create and build play-spaces in several of it's libraries.  One of the libraries chosen was Cecil B. Moore (CBM) in North Philadelphia.  CBM is in the 19121 zip code,  in which statistics show there are many children who have low-literacy skills, live in poverty, and have possibly experienced some type of trauma, whether directly or indirectly.  In other words, these kids deserve something nice.

This project is a collaborative effort by the Free Library of Philadelphia, Digsau Architectural Firm, ErectorSets, Smith Memorial Playground, & Studio Ludo.  

Community engagement sessions were conducted at the library with children and their parents in order to answer the question of what they would really like to see in their library.  The children had many creative ideas, some of which were contradictory.  For each child that said they wanted a quiet space, there was another who wanted a place to really move around.  

With this feedback in mind, we had a design session with representatives from the groups above as well as the library staff.  We considered story times, nooks for hiding in, literacy, space for books, logical problem-solving, and a way for children to get out their wiggles with gross motor movement.  Hence, a climbing wall!

See below for photos of the end product.  Installation is scheduled before the end of this year.  I will follow up with more information on how the children are using the space soon after that.

Making a difference in North Philly - one librarian's efforts

A bit of background for those not in Philadelphia.  The library above is McPherson Square Library, which is in East Kensington, which is in the epi-center of the heroin epidemic.  

Every year, I ask each of my library managers to fill out a self-reflection questionnaire in preparation for their annual reviews. Below are excerpts from the reflections of Judi Moore, the manager of McPherson Square. When I initially read Judi's comments, I was reminded why it is we do this work.  It was rejuvenating. I've removed some names and added others.  I also removed comments not related to this particular topic.  Comments in parentheses are mine. I've added links to appropriate articles or information where possible.

Describe any new goals, responsibilities, or added challenges you have taken on in 2016

The opioid crisis added new challenges for all of us, particularly with the users in the bathroom. I had to learn a lot about heroin and the behavior of the users.  I’ve been reading a lot and watching documentaries.  I know more about heroin than I ever expected to know.

I agreed to serve on the SAC committee for Willard Elementary School.  This is a school and community liaison group. 

I agreed to try to help Willard School fill the gap of not having a librarian.  I go over to their library to do story programs for their classes.  They did ask me to come over to the school “two or three days a week to run the library as an auxiliary of your library.”  In other words, they wanted me to be their librarian. Obviously, I can’t spend half my time at their school, but you can’t blame them for trying. (Philadelphia School District has a total of eight librarians in their schools.)

Identify what you like most about your job.

I like working with the people in the community, both children and adults.  Even though this neighborhood has a lot of challenges for the residents, I enjoy working in this sort of community.  There is a sense of a real neighborhood and family as we watch children growing up.  Many who have succeeded and moved on to “better” neighborhoods come back to visit with their children.  I like that I have patrons here whom I have known for many years, and that I know many members of their extended families.  I enjoy working with the staff at Impact Services to help make the park a better place.  And, this year we have developed our relationship with Jose Benitez and Elvis Rosado at Prevention Point.  I love that we do the afterschool lunch program provided by the USDA, and the way that MPS staff and other FLP staff help Maria and her cousin feed the homeless.  I love our children.  They are, in many ways, unspoiled and excited to do almost any kind of craft or other project we suggest.  We have our regulars who come in every day, for their daily dose of attention, so we really get to know them and get attached to them.  It is so sweet to just have the time to talk to little people. (McPherson has a regular crowd of 40 - 55 children to come almost every day after school)

I am still a book person at heart.  I enjoy being around books.  I love that I have three ladies who come sit at my desk to chat about new books, classic books, favorite authors, etc.  I have one woman who is joining me in a challenge to read, or at least try, the books on a list of classics we found.  The FLP’s electronic resources excite me.  I love to tell patrons about Hoopla, Zinio, and Overdrive; and to show them how to access those resources.

Achievements

What are your most significant accomplishments and contributions in 2016.

What accomplishment and achievements are you the proudest of?

I am proud of the way that we have taken on the drug crisis.  (The location talked about in this article is just a few blocks away from the library.  The park surrounding the library is also a very popular spot for drug users.  Over 800 needles were collected in a one month period in late 2016.) With the support of Lynn Williamson, Jose and Elvis, and yourself, we came up with a plan that is working well for the bathroom.  I am proud of the logbook and procedures implemented to help us identify problem patrons.  (There have been numerous overdoses in the public bathroom at the library in the last year.  First they began requiring ID's to use the bathroom.  Then, they added a five minute time limit, which was very hard for the existing staff to monitor.  They now have two part-time bathroom attendants who collect the id, keep the logbook [this has really helped in the case of OD], and set the timer.  The attendants are provided through a partnership with Project Home.)

It took a while and lots of persuasion, but we are now seeing more police in the park and in the library.

What work are you performing that is outside the scope of your current job description?

I am giving out lunches when Maria is absent, and doing the associated weekly paperwork for the lunch program. 

I helped a graduate student from Jefferson hospital find senior citizen contacts in the neighborhood for a project she was doing.  This turned out to be more involved than I anticipated.  However, she rewarded us with medical toys, which the children have adored.  I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had my ears checked and my blood pressure taken.

I worked with a Cub Scout troop to distribute hats, gloves, and scarves to the neighborhood children.

Goals

What job-related goals would you like to accomplish in 2017?

Help our children and adults bridge the technology gap.  Our patrons are still not as tech savvy as they should be in the 21^st century.  They know how to play games, but they don’t know how to research, use Word to finish school assignments, download ebooks, etc.

Patron Bill of Rights - The Final Draft

The staff of North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries has, over the course of multiple Cluster meetings, worked on developing the statement below.  This entire process has been described in previous blog posts.  At the June meeting, we took a final look at this document, and realized there was no mention of computers in our initial draft.  Since this is the purpose for the majority of visits at our libraries, it needed to be added.  Currently, all staff agree that this statement addresses all of the primary areas of providing good customer service.  It will be posted in our workrooms, as a reminder to all staff why it should be that we come to work each day.

Patron Bill of Rights
When patrons enter any of the libraries in North Philadelphia, they have the right to expect:

• Courteous, friendly staff with a willingness to listen
• Clean, safe, and comfortable building
• Staff to give accurate information and/or appropriate referrals 
• Access to working PC's with staff able to give appropriate assistance as needed

We are still in the process of working on a similar statement for staff, and have a draft.  More to come on that later.

What we think of each other's jobs - Part two of Developing Empathy

We did a group activity at the November meeting of the North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries. The group was divided  by their job classes.  Municipal Guards. Library Assistant 1's.  Digital Resource Specialists with Library Assistant 2s/3s.  Librarians and Librarian Supervisors were also together.  Each group was charged with developing a list of the five best and worst parts of each of the other groups' jobs based on their own perceptions. Then, each group was tasked with determining the best/worst parts of their own jobs.  Here are the results of that exercise.

Library Assistant 1's

The Municipal Guards thought:

Best /Easiest

1. They get rotating desk shift
2. Shop online
3. A lot of free time
4. First impression patrons get of the library's tone
5. If they like you they "got ya" back

Worse /Hardest

1. If they don't like you, they DON'T have your back
2. Too much idle time
3. They like to be security
4. They want things to go their way all the time
5. They have to listen to two supervisors

The Library Assistant 2's, 3's and Digital Resource Specialists thought:

Best / Easiest

1. Lack of responsibility
2. Repetition of work
3. Advancement Opportunities
4. Processing Materials
5. Overtime available

Worse / Hardest

1. Various interpretations of Rules / Policies
2. Dealing with irate patrons
3. Coworker relationships
4. Poor leadership
5. No proper training - consistency

The Librarians thought:

Best / Easiest

1. Helpful options
2. First face - greeter - get to know names
3. Finger on the pulse (really know what is going on)
4. Shelving - keeping in order - meditative
5. Not in charge - pass them on

Worse / Hardest

1. Saying, "You owe money"
2. First problem receiver
3. REALLY know what's going on
4. Chaos
5. Bathroom Monitor

The real story according to the LA 1's.

Best / Easiest

1. Don't have to order supplies
2. Being on the front line
3. :)

Worse / Hardest

1. Making cards continuously for the same people
2. Being on the front line
3. Can't satisfy everyone
4. Pay

Library Assistant 2's, 3's & Digital Resource Specialists (DRS)

The Library Assistant 1's thought:

Best / Easiest

1. They provide training
2. Resourceful
3. Having a great staff to work with

Worse / Hardest

1. Have to keep track of paperwork
2. Dealing with patrons with no computer experience
3. Ordering Supplies
4. Being innovative when you have nothing to work with

The Municipal Guards thought:

Best / Easiest

1. They really know their job
2. They love their job
3. They really step up when the time comes
4. They get to schedule computer programming & the lab
5. They order our supplies

Worse / Hardest

1. They think they run the library
2. Responsible for the money
3. They can do yearly reviews
4. They try to boss you around
5. They have to do the scheduling for all the LA's

The Librarians thought:

Best / Easiest

1. Team Leader - Learn Leadership Skills
2. Training new staff 
3. Trusted
4. More variety
5. Digital Resource Specialists can really specialize
6. They see results / rewarding

Worse / Hardest

1. Caught in the middle (mediator)
2. Same as LA1
3. Keeping up with changes - AS 45 issues
4. Scheduling when short / Keeping track of fairness
5. DRS - Dealing with frustrated computer users

The real story according to the LA 2's, 3's & DRS.

Best / Easiest

1. Delegating
2. Pay increase
3. More input
4. More responsibilities
5. Creating team environment

Worse / Hardest

1. Delegating
2. Repeating yourself
3. Separating work relationships
4. Staff scheduling
5. Negative attitudes

Municipal Guards

The Library Assistant 2's, 3's & Digital Resource Specialists thought:

Best / Easiest

1. Down time
2. Meet many people / i.e. buildings / contractors
3. Financially rewarding
4. Uniform by employer
5. Work station

Worse / Hardest

1. Grounds Keeping
2. Bathroom cleaning
3. Handling difficult patrons
4. Securing building
5. Essential personnel

The Library Assistant 1's thought:

Best / Easiest

1. No LA duties
2. Get to walk around
3. Get to put people out
4. Offer coworkers a sense of protection & safety
5. Uniforms show patrons exactly who they are

Worse / Hardest

1. Unruly patrons
2. Cleaning public bathrooms
3. Grounds-keeping (grass, snow, etc)
4. Some guards not properly trained
5. Dual job (guard & custodian)

The Librarians thought:

Best / Easiest

1. Seeing immediate results of their work
2. Variety
3. Get to be outside when its nice
4. Relationships (talking time to talk)
5. Creating safety / haven

Worse / Hardest

1. Cleaning bathrooms
2. Emergency cleaning
3. Problem patrons
4. Constant awareness
5. Shoveling snow

What the Municipal Guards had to say:

Best / Easiest

??????? (They ran out of time)

Worse / Hardest

1. Cleaning toilets
2. Grass
3. Babysitter
4. Shovel snow
5. Lack of good equipment
6. Underpaid
7. Clean up behind people
8. Have to deal with problem patrons

Librarians

What the Library Assistant 2's, 3's & Digital Resource Specialists thought:

Best / Easiest

1. Sit down
2. Execute their vision
3. Help patrons
4. Spend Grassroots money
5. Salary

Worse / Hardest

1. Managing staff
2. Writing reports / evaluations
3. Difficult decisions about patrons
4. Communication with staff
5. Dual roles

What the Library Assistant 1's had to say:

Best / Easiest

1. Reference questions
2. Don't work circulation desk
3. Going on outreach
4. They don't have to do library cards
5. Don't have to do money drawer

Worse / Hardest

1. Managing staff
2. Being on floor all day
3. When to enforce policies
4. Dealing with building issues
5. Dealing with disgruntled patrons

What the Municipal Guards thought:

Best / Easiest

1. They get a nice check
2. Responsible for the branch
3. Get to decide how to spend Grassroots
4. They get to do outreach
5. If they like you they have your back

Worse / Hardest

1. Have to deal with everyone
2. Take public's side
3. Disrespectful to guard
4. Listen to LA's
5. They have to make the final decision

And, the Librarians say:

(They actually did two.  One for generic "Librarian" and one for "Library Supervisors/Branch Managers")

Librarian

Best / Easiest

1. Focus on programming
2. Focus on patron service
3. Relationships
4. Buying stuff
5. Reference Questions
6. Not so many staff issues
7. Vocational calling

Worse / Hardest

1. Staff issues (without formal authority)
2. Being Acting LS1
3. LS1 not letting me do what I need to do (micromanages)
4. Job insecurity
5. Lack of respect / understanding of vocation

Library Supervisor (LS1) / Branch Manager

Best / Easiest

1. Authority
2. Learning new things
3. Still a librarian
4. More diversity in job
5. Setting the tone of the library

Worse / Hardest

1. Telling people no
2. Policy interpretation / access to policy
3. Mediating
4. Scheduling fairly
5. Keeping the building open
6. Ninja problem staff

Note:  I did very little editing to these responses.  All have been transcribed to the best of my ability.

                                                    

Developing Empathy for our Patrons - and Each Other

Warning!  This is part one of a two part post.  The second part is: "What We Thing of Each Other's Jobs"

I have found over the last two years that the job of Cluster Leader involves much more than dealing with the logistics of overseeing six individual libraries, their staff and their communities.  It is continuously keeping a finger on the pulse all things North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries. This is partially done by listening carefully to verbal as well as non-verbal communication.  It helps tremendously that there are several staff members from up and down the ladder who will apprise me of the prevailing attitudes of the group.  Several months ago, I detected a significant dip in morale, attitude and customer service levels throughout the cluster libraries.  There seemed to be numerous reasons for this, which need not be addressed here.  It was time for action.

At the September meeting, I introduced an activity which I deliberately kept fairly open ended. Using resources from the Design Thinking for Libraries pre-conference training at the 2015 American Libraries Association conference, I chose the Define a Design Challenge Activity.  The activity has four questions.  Groups of 4 - 5 staff identified a user group and worked on their scenarios.

1. Who is the user group?
2. What are the problems they struggle with that you could solve?
3. Is there the potential to explore multiple solutions?
4. Is it feasible to complete in a 5-6 week timeline?

The scenarios where then passed around to the other groups for a rating process described below.

Rate each design challenge, then add up your score.

Considering the project with the highest score is a dimension that can help you select your project.

Each element is rated from 1 - 5

1. Instinctively, how excited are you about this design challenge?
2. What potential for impact in your community does this design challenge have?
3. How feasible is it to tackle this challenge over the next 5-6 weeks

The groups identified in descending order of their rankings were:

1. Group:  Patrons
   Problem: Lack of Computer Skills
   Score: 47
2. Group: Jobseekers
   Problem: Struggle with online applications
   Score: 44
3. Group: Children (4 - 10)
   Problem: Bored/Unattended
   Score: 38
4. Group: Staff
   Problem: Lack of Communication
   Score 36
5. Group: Students
   Problem: Computer help/Boredom/Programs

A month later, at the October meeting, I took this process one step further.  Using the book, Game Storming : A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown & James Macanufo, I found something called an Empathy Map.  The object is to quickly develop a customer or user profile.  We did a map for each of the groups mentioned above.  My initial intention was to create a simple "Bill of Rights" for each of the user groups as a reminder to staff about why they should be delivering outstanding customer service to everyone. (Photos of the Empathy Maps are at the bottom of this post.)

Close examination of the Empathy Maps indicated some really intuitive insights into all of the user groups, and showed potential paths to take for each.  However, the staff map was screaming for attention.  Clearly, that is where we should be focusing our attention right now.  I spent the next several weeks considering how to address this.

I finally had a plan for the November meeting.  Our activity was very loosely based on exercises I had participated in many years ago at a diversity training.  I divided the group by their job classes. Municipal Guards. Library Assistant 1's.  Digital Resource Specialists with Library Assistant 2s/3s. Librarians and Librarian Supervisors were also together.  Each group was charged with developing a list of the five best and worst parts of each of the other groups' jobs based on their own perceptions. (The results of this is in the post mentioned above - "What We Think of Each Other's Jobs")

We processed this exercise very briefly because of time constraints.  The feedback I received is that there were several "aha" moments for everyone.  There are parts of all of the jobs they had not considered before, and there is a better appreciate for everyone's job.  Next in the plan is to use this insight to build a North Philadelphia Staff Bill of Rights.  What can all staff expect when they come to work every day?  While most of that might seem obvious, my experience is that there are almost always a few surprises when any team comes together to this type of work.

Stay tuned.

The Story of Ferdinand the Pit Bull

The following post was written by Marcela Franco, Manager of Kensington Library about the rescue of a dog from a vacant lot behind the library.  Ann Dougherty, the Children's Librarian at Kensington, had a deep love and respect for all animals. Prior to her sudden death in early March 2015, Ann helped to rescue the dog and was instrumental in finding him a permanent home.  A mural was commissioned and installed using funds donated by Ann's family and friends to commemorate Ann and her dogs.

The mural at the Kensington Library in honor of Ann Dougherty was completed last week! I thought that this would be a good time to post an entry telling the story of the part Ann played in rescuing a dog from a junkyard behind the library.  The dog, Ferdinand, is featured in the new mural. This story conveys the compassion, kindness, and love of animals that were so apparent to all who knew Ann.

I first saw the dog looking sad and alone in a yard behind the library. The lot was full of junk and trash, and had a fence around it. I assumed he was owned by someone in a house located directly in front of the vacant lot. A couple of weeks later, a man came in to tell me that the dog was hungry, itchy, and had cuts all over him. He spoke only Spanish, and asked me to call the ASPCA for him. I made several phone calls and was promised that someone would come out to check on the dog.

The next day, as Ann Dougherty was walking into the library in the morning, she saw the dog with his nose against the fence. He was whimpering. A neighborhood resident told us that the dog’s owner was incarcerated. He said he had been alone in the junkyard for several weeks, and they were feeding him through the fence. Ann came in and reported the information to me, and I made another call to ACCT.

As fate would have it, Gigi Glendinning of 22reasons animal welfare organization was scheduled to meet with us at the library that morning. When she arrived, Ann led her outside to see the dog. He came out from his hiding place and greeted his friends on the street, licking their hands through the fence. Gigi felt it was time we took him to the animal shelter. With that, Operation Rescue Ferdinand began.

Ann and Gigi took their meeting on the road, and drove Ferdinand to PAWS, a no-kill shelter. There they were told that rescued animals were not admitted on site. They would have to go through the Animal Care and Control Team (a kill shelter) on Erie Avenue, and PAWS could “pull” Ferdinand from there in a few days. They proceeded to ACCT, all the while falling in love with this face-licking pit bull who was clearly happy to be rescued!

At this point, the story almost took a tragic turn. If not for follow-up phone calls from Gigi and Ann to check on Ferdinand’s status, he would have been euthanized due to lack of space. PAWS made no effort to pull him as promised.  Fearing for his life, Gigi officially adopted Ferdinand. She took him home to care for him until she could come up with another plan. (She had two cats and a full schedule, and could not adopt Ferdinand herself.)

Though he is a lovable, gentle dog, Miss Gigi had a challenging week or so taking care of Ferdinand and trying to find a home for him. Then something wonderful happened. A friend of a friend came forward to adopt Ferdinand! They took him into their lovely home, and thanks to Ann, Gigi, and the compassion in our Kensington community, this lucky dog went from the filthy junk yard to a warm home with a devoted family! His new name is Franklin Ferdinand.

After Ferdinand’s rescue (which was in September or October of 2014), Ann proudly displayed a large photo of Ferdinand on her desk until the day she passed away. She also shared photos, video and news of him like a doting grandmother.

(The white dog at the top is Ferdinand. The other dog is Ann's family pet.)

Musings from Annual Reports

As much as I am a proponent of open communication, and encourage feedback of all types from everyone on staff at any of the six cluster libraries, I don't always feel like I know the true thoughts about how "things" are going.  In preparing my own Annual Report, I read through each of the library's report multiple times, and in some cases, got an insight into the managers' assessment of this great experiment.

Without identifying the library, or the manager, and without editing the relevant comments, here is what has been reported.

Under "Reports on Goals for FY14"

• The North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries Cluster started officially in October 2013.  We have experienced greater collaboration and collegiality as a result of monthly training meetings and regular staff sharing.  The quarterly Community Council meetings with community partners and other nonprofit agencies has been very useful and has led to collaboration and sharing resources including staff, program ideas and outreach and networking opportunities.

• Cluster changes.  Our goal was to be part of a successful implementation of the Free Library's new cluster model.  The cluster is now a year old.  Among the benefits the cluster model has brought us are closer working relationships staff at our sister libraries.  Now when we telephone one of the other cluster libraries the person at the other end is a comrade, not an anonymous voice.  Staff is more willing to help cover staff shortages at other cluster libraries.  They are comfortable because they know the staff, and since they've been to all the cluster libraries for monthly meetings, they know the buildings, and they have their SEPTA route or parking issues worked out.  We have made some useful community contacts at our cluster community meetings.  One of the most helpful to me was meeting a representative from the SEPTA transit police, who has been sending his officers to my library to check on drug activity in the park and to sign our police log book.

Under "Statistical information"

• Registrations increased from 2,556 in FY 2013 to 2,703 in FY 2014.  Branch librarians speculate that the North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries Cluster policy for requiring a library card to use a PC contributed to this increase.  The new policy, which was put into effect in March of 2014, also allowed for computer use only cards.  The ID requirements for the computer use cards were not as stringent as those for acquiring a regular library card.  These factors likely led to the higher number of library cards issued in FY 2014.

Under "Problems encountered" is further comment on the computer use cards.  (I recognize that the reference to fines being a barrier to receiving a card was not officially true, but it is one that many library staff believe to be true.)

• We used to have a constant stream of the same patrons wanting guest passes to use the computers day after day.  These were mostly people who couldn't get a library card because of accumulated fines and lost item charges.  Others consistently "forgot" to bring their cards every time they came.  Others were using the guest pass system dishonestly to get around the one computer turn per day PCReservation limits.  As a cluster, we decided to issue computer use only cards to people who owe money.  We also decided to strictly limit guest passes to patrons with out of state identification.  This has been a positive change.  We no longer have to deal with the same people day after day.  Patrons have learned to be responsible about bringing their cards.  Patrons who ow fines are glad to be able to use computers without having to plead for a guest pass.

Finally under the "Plans for FY15"

• Research into child development has shown that too much screen time for young children is not productive.  We plan to increase the number of manipulative activities in the children's room to lure children away from screens.  This will include more puzzles, busy boxes, blocks and other quiet toys.  The challenge is to choose toys that are library friendly - not too noisy, not too many pieces to lose, and nothing that will add too much to the cleanup tasks of the guard.  This is a goal of our library, as well as our cluster.

We set out to form a team - and along the way changed some attitudes

Any workshop or class that teaches the writing of goals and objectives should stress the difference between knowledge, skills and attitudinal objectives.  It was taught to me as K|S|A objectives.  To break it down using library speak, (i.e. Dewey Decimal), knowledge is teaching someone WHAT Dewey Decimal is.

 So, a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time lined - or however you define it) knowledge objective could be:

• At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to define the Dewey Decimal System and three benefits achieved by using it.

That's pretty easy to accomplish.  You give a workshop, and spell out the benefits, and hope that everyone catches and retains at least three of them.

A "skills" objective can then be written about the same thing.

• At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to successfully place ten items in their proper Dewey order on the shelves.

Skills objectives are the easiest to measure.  Either the people can achieve them, or they cannot.

Attitudinal objectives are a whole other matter.  You can teach all the knowledge and skills you want, but unless the participant WANTS to use that knowledge, and those skills there is not much you can do about it.

• At the end of this workshop, participants will demonstrate and embrace the value of the Dewey Decimal system by consistently and accurately shelving all items on a daily basis

When people have sufficient knowledge and skills to perform a function, the hope is that a positive attitude will come along with it.  Attitude is also about motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic).

This was the place we found ourselves in a little over a year ago with the beginning of the Cluster model.  I had a number of carefully thought out objectives about working together, sharing skills and creative outreach.  Most important of all was the idea that we would become one team melded from six individual units.  But, unless there was "buy-in", or a change in attitude, we would go nowhere.

Having long ago learned about the pitfalls of "attitudinal" objectives, I did not include any in my initial plans.  Mostly I concentrated on team building, and hoped that everything else would grow from that.  And, it has!  Monthly, all-staff cluster meetings have gone from arms-crossed-suspicion-in-the-eyes quietness to raucous, out-spoken and ideas freely flowing.   Familiarity with other staff and the buildings they work in has created a  more cooperative atmosphere and a we-can attitude much more often than one of we-can't.  It's not 100%.  We are not perfect.  However, there is a noticeable difference.


For more information about K|S|A and Blooms Taxonomy:
http://www.wa.gov/esd/training/toolbox/tg_bloom.htm
http://www.clemson.edu/assessment/assessmentpractices/referencematerials/documents/Blooms%20Taxonomy%20Action%20Verbs.pdf
http://www.clemson.edu/assessment/assessmentpractices/referencematerials/documents/Blooms%20Taxonomy%20Action%20Verbs.pdf

One Year Anniversary and a Social Worker

On Thursday, October 2, 2014, The North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries had their one year anniversary as a cluster meeting.  There were significant differences between this meeting and the one we had one year ago.

Most significant, are the interactions between all of the staff.  It is friendly, loud and full of camaraderie.  A year ago, most of the staff were suspicious of the whole idea of being in a cluster.  Now that they know the reality of it, and have attended a year's worth of meetings, most are unafraid of offering opinions and more importantly, ideas.  We are operating in a try-hard-to-say-yes to every idea that come forward.

Another difference is that now the hosting library plans most of the agenda of each meeting.  I have become an agenda item, rather than the driver of the entire meeting.  At this particular meeting, I handed out a quiz similar to this:  http://www.puzzledepot.com/trivia/trivia01.shtml  First I had everyone work on it alone, then with their friends, then mixed the room so they were working with people they did not know as well.  We discussed how it is sometimes better to go outside of your comfort zone in order to get the answers you need.

The meeting was held at Ramonita deRodriguez Library, and at the librarian's request, Charles Pitts, the Social Worker now stationed at Central Library, came to the meeting.  Charles, and another social worker, Michael Raab, are on loan to the Free Library from Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health.  Charles relayed a little of what it is they are doing at the library, and their plans to propose suggestions for models of cooperation between the two departments in the future.

Charles was then met with a tsunami of worries and concerns about the types of social issues library staff are forced to confront every day.  He listened carefully and empathized.  Occasionally, when it was possible offered advice.  Mostly, people were able to vent some of the pent up frustrations they have been feeling about this aspect of the work day.

Our plan is to try to invite Charles or Michael to our Cluster Meetings every other month, or so, and to have one targeted topic to address at that time.

Social Work in the Libraries

The following was written by Ann Dougherty, Childrens' Librarian, at Kensington Neighborhood Library.

Lauren Carrasquillo, our work/study social work intern, has made a big impact on our library community in the few short weeks she has been working with us at Kensington. Lauren, who is currently studying Social Work at Temple University, has been able to help several of our patrons deal with problems in their lives that threaten to overwhelm them. Her skill sets from Temple University have allowed her to successfully serve those seeking better housing, those who are hunting for jobs, and veterans.   Lauren works at the Kensington branch every Tuesday and Thursday from 4:00 PM to 5:45 PM. She holds court in the computer lab, where she meets with patrons in half hour increments. Lauren has only been on the job for two weeks, and in that short time span she has helped a single mother search for housing for herself and her child, helped a grandmother who had custody of her grandson search for a better living arrangement, and helped a veteran with job-hunting strategies. Marcela, the branch manager, and I see Lauren’s role as a logical extension of our mandate to provide timely community information and referral services to our patrons.

Several librarians in our cluster feel it would be helpful to have a social worker or a social work intern rotate among the North Philadelphia cluster libraries to help patrons connect with services in the community, such as SNAP, housing, resume writing, obtaining warm clothing and services for veterans.

“When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you.”—Keith Richards

Planning for the next year

For a variety of reasons, those of us involved in the North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries Cluster have been continuing on in our work without too much thought to re-examining what it is we are doing.  It feels right to me to do that work now.  We are finishing our first full year of operating in this new way at the end of September.  Should we continue on doing the same?  Should some things be tweaked, changed, added, or thrown out completely?

Two very specific, but unrelated, events happened in the last week that were the catalyst to this.  One, I was given the metric by which the success of the cluster would be measured.  Two, I attended a very helpful Project Planning seminar that provided an excellent tool for future planning.

With this in mind, I created a SurveyMonkey and sent it to all of the cluster staff, with the promise of a drawing for a prize for thoughtful answers.  (I'm a firm believer in incentives.)  I will use the responses from the staff to work with the library managers, and others in the cluster to create a plan of work for the next year.

I then thought it would be interesting to get input from those people who are outside of the cluster, but, apparently, have been following this blog.  The link below will take you to a copy of the same survey the cluster staff are being encouraged to complete.  Some of it may not be relevant to an "outsider." But, I am still interested to see what you have to say.

Thank you for your interest, and your input.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NPNLblog  (Please do not respond to this link if you are a NPNL cluster staff member.  Staff members should use the link in the email I sent.)

Marion and the North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries Cluster

Sharing Programs

One of our early goals in the cluster branches was to do skill sharing, and have librarians, and other staff take their talents on the road.  The following was written by Marcela Franco, from Kensington Library about her experience of doing program at another library and the unexpected added benefits.


"After Marion asked us to take one of our successful programs to other branches, I volunteered to do a series of three classes in beginner Spanish at another branch. Christina from Widener invited me to do the series at Widener, and offered to do a Career Services Workshops at Kensington in August 2014.

My friend Hilda Bravo and I taught the classes on three Tuesday mornings in July. We had just a few students, but they were motivated and bright! Topics included greetings, numbers, colors and the verbs ser and estar.

The classes were fun, as I expected. We also got the opportunity to use a smart board for the first time, which really enhanced the experience for the teachers as well as the students. Another benefit was that I became more familiar with the Widener Branch and the staff.  In fact, it started to feel like my home away from home. When Prather, the branch manager, asked for staffing help at a branch head meeting, I gladly offered to go. On the day I filled in, I had another good day at Widener. The staff was friendly, the patrons were exceptionally polite, and I got to know Prather much better.


All in all, I enjoyed the experience and got a lot out of it. I look forward to Christina's program at Kensington Library later this month."

The Cluster in the community

This post is written and submitted by Judi Moore, Manager at McPherson Square Library. 

At one of the first cluster library managers meetings we set about to determine what our goals should be for this grand cluster experiment.  We quickly determined that one of the most important things to all of us was community involvement.  With that in mind, we decided to reach out to other community groups by hosting a series of meetings.  They were invited to have lunch with us.  At the first lunch/meeting we filled the meeting room at Cecil B. Moore library.  Our goal had been to learn what the community wanted from us and how the community could support us.  However, it turned out that the impact of the gathering was broader than we’d expected.  Not only did the participants focus on their relationship with the cluster libraries, but they also began brainstorming on what they could do with one another.  After the meeting I saw people talking excitedly.  I overheard, “I didn’t know you did that!” and “I could help you with that.”  There was a real buzz in the room.

 Our second community meeting was at the Rodriguez library.  For this meeting we broke into small groups to brainstorm.  In my group a SEPTA transit police officer was interested in what he could do to help the Kensington and McPherson libraries, since we are along the El corridor.  He has since been in contact with me, and has sent some of his officers in to sign our log book.  I had no idea the transit police would be interested in problems we have here in McPherson Square Park.  Another man in our small group was a community artist.  He was interested in more art programs in libraries.  He was amazed and delighted to learn about the Maker programs going on at McPherson and Kensington libraries.  Marcela told him about the 3D printer project at Kensington, and I talked about the etextiles and our trashbag fashion show.  At the beginning of our meeting he was clearly disgruntled and on a mission to demand more arts programming.  By the end  of our breakout session his negative attitude had thoroughly turned around to great enthusiasm. 

We’re planning another cluster community meeting soon, and I’m looking forward to meeting more people and learning about what they are doing in the community, and how we can work together.

Book It! Fun Run - the First North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries Fund Raiser

A few months ago, the idea was presented to me to  have a 5k run to raise grassroots money for the branches of the cluster.  It sounded like a good idea, so I gave the go ahead to start planning.  Permits were obtained, and the way was cleared with all of the appropriate Free Library departments.  The event occurred on June 7, 2014.  It was actually 6k.  We started behind Widener Library at 28th and Lehigh, ran/walked on the sidewalks to 6th and Lehigh.  Then, we crossed over and ran the steps of Lillian Marrero Library Rocky Style and then back up Lehigh Avenue to Widener branch again, where the after-party was taking place.

The weather was perfect for a June day in Philadelphia.  The planners hoped for 50 runners (yes that is small).  Approximately 85 people actually showed up to run.  Preliminary accounting says about $2,000 was raised in registration fees and donations.  The funds will be used for some of the extra supplies that are not covered by city and state funds.  That is a huge benefit for all six of the branches.

Below are some photos from the day.