KaWhat!?! KaHoot.it - Job Description Trivia

At several points during the last few years, I have heard staff in various positions question whether a particular task was their job, or not.  Things like this are what get my wheels turning.  How can I address this without lecturing (to which no one would listen), or doing some dry, boring activity. Fortunately, my co-worker attended a presentation by the Free Library's New American's committee and they used Kahoot! in order to present some facts and figures about immigration in the U.S. Perfect!

Kahoot! is an online interactive platform that allows you to design a trivia game or lesson that participants use their individual devices in order to answer the questions. (Click on the word Kahoot! to go to the site.) Score is kept and progress is shown on the screen after every questions.

We did the exercise at our last cluster meeting.  Hilarity ensued, and Aha moments occurred.  I do believe a number of people were surprised by some of the answers.  Below is a screen shot of the questions we asked.  All of the answers were validated afterwards in a PowerPoint presentation that directly quoted the job descriptions and the Customer Service Policy, which I informed the group trumps job descriptions every time. To see the slides, click here.  If there are FLP Cluster Leaders, or other staff out there who are interested in using our Kahoot! I believe this link : https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/8c43b775-a61e-4a3d-89bd-eb60468bb9be will take you there.

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.

Bringing Nature Inside at the Libary

There has been much research and many studies recently regarding the effects of nature and natural materials on the psyches of children and adults.  The link below will lead you to some of them, however, to sum it all up; children and adults need nature in their lives.  (http://www.childrenandnature.org/documents/C118/ )

In several previous posts, I've described the six libraries in the North Philadelphia Cluster in many ways. This time I'll describe their settings in regards to the availability of nature and natural settings.

Three of the libraries have little or no nature close at hand. Kensington, has no grass, trees, or any other type of natural growth immediately on its property.  Ramonita de Rodriguez  and Cecil B. Moore each have a couple of small trees in the front, but, otherwise nothing else.  Widener has a small area of grass behind the library, which has been used for various programs involving nature. Lillian Marrero has a fenced-in yard surrounding it. And, McPherson Square sits in the middle of a large square, which would be wonderful, if it wasn't also known as "Needle Park"as it sits at the epicenter of the heroin trade.  Long story short, there isn't much opportunity for programs involving nature outside of our libraries.  What do you do?

Of course, you bring nature into the library.  I have, on several occasions, attended the Nature Play Study Group organized by DVAEYC.  It is attended by a number of teachers from preschools that have outdoor classrooms or access to forested areas.  There are also people from other types of organizations who are interested in this topic. I attend each meeting with the primary purpose of considering how to adapt the activities to take place in a library setting.

We have done some very simple things, like using sweet gum tree balls and small pine cones with

the kitchen sets instead of purchased play food.  (The play food tends to disappear rather quickly, and the children do not put the natural items in their mouths.)










Tree cookies are another item which works well in the library.  They are
good for building, counting, as loose parts to be used with wooden blocks, examining textures, and every other thing the children can dream up.
















There are several ideas we have and will make them available as soon as we have the materials needed.  An example is this simple building project that uses twigs and stones.

These are very small efforts, indeed.  However, at the rate these items go home in pockets and bags, and need to be replaced by librarians and others, it become apparent that the children are fascinated by these natural objects and don't always need store-bought pretend food or other things.


The staff of the North Philadelphia Cluster think I'm a little obsessed with this, and maybe I am.  Here is an article from the National Association of the Education of Young Children to back me up.  Also, if you are in Philadelphia, we will happily accept donations of pine cones, pebbles, tree cookies, and other natural objects.

NAEYC
http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/connecting-young-children-with-nature

In a world of change ...

"In a world of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists."  Eric Hoffer

I heard this quote while attending a seminar titled, "The Leaders Role and Responsibility as Mentor" presented by Dr. Chip Bell, and it made an immediate impression on me.  I started to look back on the approximately two and a half years of North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries Cluster.  There has been a natural ebb and flow of the group coming together and then drifting apart, into what looks like a dysfunctional family.  There is a closeness and a camaraderie that is only found in groups that have worked together over time, along with the type of tattle-tailing and bickering that frequently happens with siblings.  I don't see this as a bad thing.

We see this with staff.  The people who have "learned" or accepted new ways have had an easier time adapting.  Those who were sure they knew what it is all about took longer to catch up.  I've noticed those are sometimes the ones sitting in the back of the meeting with their arms crossed, or they are the people who always seem to have some other important commitment when cluster meetings are scheduled.  The rest of us are having much more fun discovering new and different ways to do thing.

My thinking then expanded to the wider FLP world, specifically, the staff forums. Who are the people we hear from most on those forums?  The learners or the learned?  Who are the persistent nay-sayers? And, who are the voices of reason that occasionally pop up?

I asked a few different people what they thought about this quote, and got the response below from one of them.

"I feel like this implies a willingness to change and adapt.

We see this now with highly educated people who refused to learn/ keep up with technology-  and now they are totally left behind and out of the loop on many current events, innovations, discoveries, etc.

We see this with librarians (and Las) who refuse to accept and adapt to the changing nature of what our job is and insist on reference and books being everything."

I would be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this.

Empathy and a Bill of Rights for Patrons and Staff

At our March 2016 cluster meeting, we had a very nice presentation by the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University.  The staff at Ramonita G de Rogriguez library have developed an active collaboration with the health center, and wanted to be sure all of the cluster staff were familiar with their services in order to be able to refer patrons as appropriate.  Also, there are several other health centers in North Philadelphia who offer similar types of services. It is helpful that all of the staff are aware of them.

After the presentation, and a break, we were FINALLY able to get back to the work of creating a bill of rights (for lack of a better term right now) for patrons and a separate one for staff.  In other words, what can a patron expect when they walk into one of our libraries.
This process started in September and October  with exercises to begin to think about our patrons.  These are described here.  In November we talked about walking in each other's shoes and about the perceptions each person has about the other's jobs.  That is described here. 

At this meeting, after yet another soapbox speech by me about the importance of good customer service, staff self-selected whether they wanted to work on patron rights, or staff rights.  I was very pleased that the majority wanted to work on patron rights.  They were divided into groups of 3 - 4 and with newsprint and markers went to work.

Step two of the process involved them "voting" for the points they felt were most important to them using stickers.  Photos of the "voting" process and the completed sheets are at the bottom.

After the meeting, I and a colleague carefully reviewed all of the sheets and boiled down all of the information to the statements below.  This does not complete the process.  This information will be shared back with all of the staff for them to review for anything that is missing, or items they feel should not be there. Additionally, I imagine some wordsmithing will happen.

When completed, these documents will be made into posters for display in the staff workrooms as a reminder.  They are not meant to become public documents.

Patron Bill of Rights

• Courteous, friendly staff with a willingness to listen
• Clean, safe, and comfortable building
• Expect all staff to give accurate information and/or appropriate referrals 

Quality of Work life Expectations

• Mutual respect and common courtesy
• Work as a team – support each other beyond job class
• Communication at all levels
• Updates on policies, events, patrons, potential problems, etc.
• Expectation that email will be read on a daily basis
• Adequate and timely training
• Tidy, clean, and safe facilities
• Adequate staff
• Adequate supplies 
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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.