Circulation Committee Meeting March 8, 2012
Melanie’s Report:

Two new adult locations have been added:

   Holiday
   New Mystery

There is a problem with the Book Club display. Even though the items are checked in, the display will show them as being in transit to another location. Sirsi is working to fix this.
“Assumed Lost” items that were appearing without any bills attached, have now been deleted. If you come across anymore of these items, please let Melanie know.
The Holds List is being updated. Right now it appears to trap “Express” and “Available Soon” items to fill holds. For those that check-in express items, first click on the wizard – Onshelf items – to refresh the holds list then check in those items that are non-holdable. Otherwise change the current location in tech services and skip the check-in.
There are some changes to the Contacts List that Melanie recently sent out. She will send out a revised list with the Circ Meeting minutes.

Other Information:

Greenburgh Library received $1300 in donations, which will be used to buy books. They also received books donated by the Chappaqua Library.
If an item was returned on the due date, but shows a fine:

  1.) Check to see where the item was returned.  It might have been returned after hours at that library.

  2.) Check to see if the item was renewed after the original due date.

Deleting Items – you must clear all old fines attached to the item, or you won’t be able to delete it. Check for fines by doing an item search. Then click on the “Bills” tab. It will show the patron ID, patron name, and the fine amount. To remove the fine, go into the patron record and cancel or forgive the fine. Then you can delete your item. If you still want to hold the patron accountable for that fine amount, place it manually on the patron’s record through the “Bill Patron” wizard.
Damaged items in delivery – DVD cases being damaged in the delivery system continues to be a big problem. Some of the damage may be due to the increased number of DVDs being put into the delivery system, and the flimsy DVD cases we are seeing now. Bronxville sent an email to Terry detailing the extensive damage to their DVDs, and he responded by saying that they should monitor their damages. Apparently, some libraries have actually been reimbursed for some items that were damaged in delivery. It was suggested at the meeting that each library monitor the damages to their own items, and each day send an email to wlsdelivery@wlsmail.org detailing the number of damaged items – especially the newer items. Be sure to remove the broken pieces of DVD cases before putting the outgoing items into the delivery bins.
Other Delivery problems:

  1.) Title mix-ups and items missing parts continue to arrive in the delivery.  Be careful to match titles and count parts before checking in all items.  Don’t key in any barcodes.  Each item must have a barcode that can be scanned.  Remember, the barcode may be on a part of the item that can easily get separated. (ie: the booklet that comes with a CD, or a map that comes with a book).  It would be helpful if libraries would place a label next to the barcode that identifies the number of discs or pieces the item should have.  
  
  2.) Locked DVD cases are arriving in the delivery.  Please unlock DVD cases before putting them into the delivery.

  3.)  Double rubber band audio visual materials before putting them into the delivery.

White Plains Library continues to catalog their new items as “Express”, so they stay in-house rather than go out to fill holds in other libraries. This is not fair to the other libraries and it is felt that we are over servicing White Plains. It was suggested that libraries could send a message by refusing to fill hold requests received from White Plains.
“Express” Items – “Express” items can only be checked out at the owning library. If the I-Type of an item is changed to “Express” after it is checked out, the patron will not be able to renew.
Temp Cards – Please issue permanent library cards promptly. It was reported that some libraries are taking weeks to issue the permanent card.
Renewing Library Cards – Patrons should come into the library to renew their cards, and clerks should ask for ID. An alternative to this is to have the patron send in a photocopy of their driver’s license.
Teachers and Fines – most libraries don’t waive overdue fines for teachers.
Katonah Library is now open again on Sundays, 1 – 5PM. A volunteer will be working the desk on Sundays. Apparently, 2 staff members have also volunteered to work (unpaid) on Sundays. It was mentioned that this may be a Labor Law problem.
E-Book Circulation – Purchase, Harrison, Eastchester and Ardsley already offer e-books to their patrons. Ardsley is loading titles onto the Kindle and Nook and allowing patrons to take them out. Some libraries have run into a problem with patrons coming in expecting to pick up a hold, when in reality the hold notification they received was for an e-book.
Museum Passes – Several libraries have passes available for their patrons. In many cases the passes were paid for by their Friends group.
The WLA Conference is scheduled for May.
March 21, 2012 at 3PM ALA Learning RoundTable is sponsoring a free one hour Webinar on understanding library user needs. No registration required. Melanie will try to arrange for us to view the archived webinar at our next Circ Meeting on June 14th. If the room at WLS is not available, Greenburgh Library will host.

For more info and to participate in the March 21 webinar entitled Being customer focused: new and emerging trends in customer service, go to: Infopeople.org/training/being-customer-focused

Next Circ Meeting – June 14th at 9:30AM hosted by Greenbugh Library