Back in Circulation Again 2024

In the quickly changing landscape of equipment lending, I will be exploring how our library has experimented with our equipment lending program in the last 3 years, with changes to the equipment checkout software we use, the policies we enforce, and the ways we train student workers and staff. Changes to our equipment lending software have moved us from having equipment managed by individual departments or available through the library’s management system (spreadsheet-based tracking and Alma), to software that specializes in calendars and library of things lending (Springshare’s LibCal), and now to software that is built specifically for equipment lending (WebCheckout). Policy adjustments have included how we handle late returns, the length of reservations, how far in advance people can make reservations, renewal periods, and restrictions on who can check out certain materials. With these changes, we adjusted our student worker model as well—from having student workers in a variety of departments handle different equipment, to having it be managed by the access services student workers, before transitioning to having a dedicated pool of student workers. While there are pros and cons to each of these lending methods, I will discuss why we have chosen to make specific changes, why we have made so many changes to the program in such a short period, the challenges this has presented, and take a look forward at what we anticipate for the future along with how this can apply to other institutions.

Our community, like so many others, is grappling with the drug epidemic, with our library having a front row seat to the grip it has on the people in our community. This included continual drug use in our building, causing us to close our bathrooms multiple times a day, finding drug paraphernalia in and around our building and an overall disruption to our loyal patrons. In addition, our staff had to emotionally watch the swift decline of patrons they cared so much about. To combat this, we took a multi-pronged approach when it came to trying to keep our bathrooms safe, and our patrons alive. This involved hiring contract security in addition to our library security staff, getting approved to have Narcan in our buildings, and ultimately installing sensors in all our public bathrooms to decrease drug use and allow the public and staff to use the library as intended. This long journey came with a lot of steps, problem solving and some hard-won victories that we are proud of. We believe that sharing our experience can help not only other libraries start the process of installing sensors, but hopefully in the end, possibly save a life.

Do you want to learn how to build "Themed Engaging Activities that Motivate" and inspire your TEAM? This presentation shows how to start from a need or a simple idea and craft training to meet the needs of your team using the time you have available. In this workshop you'll learn meet the training needs of your team including promoting excellent customer service, safety, shelf maintenance, team cohesiveness, and more. Twelve monthly activity training template ideas will be provided as a resource, such as Customer Service Bingo, Skill Balloon Hunt, Snack Chats, I SPY and more. In addition, you will have the opportunity to build your own training activity and specialize it to meet your team and organization's needs during the workshop.

"Ready, Set, Advocate" is an entire advocacy toolkit for any library to utilize for building a platform from which to create an advocacy platform from. It is robust enough to appeal to all library types, and the speakers have experiences in a variety of libraries. The presentation talks about a continuum of the advocacy process from concept development through execution and beyond. “Ready” covers the development of the issue to advocate. “Set” covers the prep work required to form the message. “Advocate” covers the execution of the plan. All three topics are covered in this broad based presentation. The intended audience of this presentation is all library staff; from entry level through executive.

Participants will learn how to use the Power Flower activity to engage their teams in a conversation about identity and power. The workshop will demonstrate how to use self-reflection, storytelling, and deep listening to build the trust necessary to have honest conversations about equity and justice.

In 2022 Baldwin Public Library joined the national trend of having one department handle both Circulation and Technical Services – but only because our Head of Technical Services left to be a librarian in the private sector. Rather than hire a replacement, our administration combined both departments and promoted the Head of Circulation (not a librarian) instead. Come hear what has worked for us, what hasn’t, and what we still need to do! Features advice on staffing, job duties, and training and includes a Q&A/participatory portion at the end. For reference, at Baldwin cataloging, processing, and acquisitions as well as system administration and circulation are overseen by our new Access Services department.

Learn more about how our library has implemented kanban boards to enhance our student assistant experience. Kanban boards are a tool to help manage and visualize workflows and processes. They have helped our students become more independent in their work and has strengthened their decision-making skills while increasing productivity. During our session, we will help you create your own personal or shared kanban board and tell you more about how we have successfully utilized them in our library!

We often equate hard work with progress. However, the key to true productivity and fulfillment lies in working smarter, not harder. This session will focus on efficiency, innovation, and effective time management.

By leveraging technology, streamlining processes, and prioritizing tasks, we can achieve more with less effort. Working smarter means setting clear goals, delegating when necessary, and continuously seeking improvement. It's about finding the optimal path to success, rather than continuing a process because we have always done it that way.

Not every library has access to specialized analytical software such as Tableau or MS Power BI. Still, circulation managers and librarians need to be able to make meaningful connections between circulation data, space usage, patron counts, marketing campaigns, and patron engagement to improve library services. It is possible to use Excel as both a data collection and visualization tool for Circulation and Access Services related data. This provides an easy and cost effective solution for circulation managers since many institutions, both public and private, have access to Excel through MS Office.

This presentation provides a brief overview on how to use simple pivot tables and charts in Excel to turn raw data into meaningful visualizations that can be used to make informed decisions that can have positive impacts on marketing efforts, utilization of space, and delivery of services to patrons. The methods demonstrated in this presentation are simple and direct with no need for specialized training on the part of the attendees. The first half of the presentation will focus on how to format data and create visualizations including data dashboards using pivot tables in Excel. The second half of the presentation will demonstrate how this methodology is being used in the CTR Library at the University of Nebraska at Kearney to make informed circulation management decisions.

The presentation will take a total of 40 minutes with an added 20 minutes post-presentation for questions and discussion.

In summer 2023, Ball State University Libraries unified the main-floor service desks in our main campus library, merging reference and circulation/reserves services to simplify the user experience. Following the pandemic and a wave of faculty retirements, the Libraries saw a growing need to strengthen relationships on campus through our librarian liaison program. Usage data revealed changes in students’ library behaviors, indicating that existing service models also needed to change. Our unified service model built capacity for librarians to advance our strategic priorities through the liaison program. As we merged physical spaces, Access Services and Research & Teaching Services staff worked side by side to learn from each other as we adapted our techniques for assisting library users. The change brought fresh perspectives and streamlined approaches to longstanding processes such as lost & found, returned books, and key access. Student staffing was also a critical consideration, and the unified desk brought about the need for an entirely new, unified student role. Student assistants from Reference and Circulation/Reserves were combined and cross-trained, enabling them to provide streamlined assistance at the newly created Library Information Desk. This session will share our experiences moving to a combined service desk and reflect on our process of change management. By involving key staff in the planning and implementation process, we achieved significant progress in a relatively short timeframe. Additionally, post-implementation task forces enabled frontline staff to continue to finesse changes, fostering an iterative and collaborative approach to changes and contributing to a greater sense of ownership among team members.

This presentation explores the impact of adopting digital library initiatives on access services workers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), Geisel and Wong Avery Libraries. We will share the expertise and experience of frontline staff and student employees and the lasting impact of operationalizing new policies in a post-COVID world. Digital first initiatives have been strongly prioritized by libraries to promote equitable access, cost effectiveness, and technological growth and advancement at UCSD. The way libraries’ digital prioritization affects both users and library administration has been studied and considered in great detail. Yet the impact of digital first on access services staff and student employees is often overlooked. User needs shifted significantly in 2020 making existing digital frameworks more relevant. Staff who worked at service points became proficient in these technologies and acquired a range of skills.

These teams have been largely responsible for educating and supporting users through this technological transition. This change in digital first has produced both positive results and growing pains for users, frontline staff and student employees. Leadership can leverage the bank of first-hand knowledge and experience of front line staff and student employees to develop new initiatives. Through the content and interactive elements we share, attendees will come out of our presentation with an understanding of the impact that digital first initiatives have on staff, student employees, and users. In addition, attendees will be motivated to apply this knowledge in ways that will be beneficial for all.

When people hear that the Studio at the UTC Library checks out audio/visual equipment worth up to $6,000 to students, they are shocked! They can’t believe we “give” students such expensive equipment. However, use of quality audio and video equipment is paramount to student success on our campus and others due to the rise of High Impact Practices and multimedia assignments. These assignments are common across the disciplines at our university, from Nursing to English to Anthropology, but most departments do not provide the equipment needed to complete the assignments. Our circulating collection, worth over $100,000, provides access to high-end equipment for students regardless of major or financial status, and our team of both full-time staff and faculty, as well as part-time student staff, fill in the instructional gaps to ensure that students are trained effectively to use the equipment.

Since the Studio opened in 2015, we have used iterative design to develop tools and resources to help our staff and students understand and use advanced equipment for a variety of creative projects. Using custom check out sheets for each equipment kit during circulation allows us to both review the equipment and potential fines/fees with patrons, as well as train new staff on the circulation process. In this presentation, we will discuss how we design (and redesign) check out sheets to minimize lost or broken equipment and related financial costs, as well as provide instruction on using equipment for both patrons and staff.

Are you ready to be video recorded while working at a public service desk or in the stacks? Chances are increasing that library staff will be faced with a First Amendment auditor's attempt to get footage for their social media. In this interactive session, I will discuss the First Amendment and high-level policies that your library should have in place and staff must know. I will use video examples of audits created by Vernon Area Public Library staff to highlight what (and what not) to do during an audit, and engage the participants with unique scenarios to encourage discussion about what to do in difficult situations. The goal of this session is for participants to walk away better prepared to professionally handle a First Amendment audit in their library.

In fall 2023, Technical Services and Access Services at The College of New Jersey began cross-training staff members. Due to attrition, we were short staff members who have the authority, skills, and experience required to make professional judgments in regard to unique patron interactions in Access Services. Tasks for each of these units have dramatically changed over the years due to increasing electronic resources and technology advances allowing for more automation. With continued budget constraints, we needed to holistically rethink workflows across all library units. As a step in ongoing organizational realignment, four staff members from Technical Services agreed to work two hours a day at the Circulation desk to ensure positive patron interactions with patrons and to keep the desk open during key business hours. Our presentation will map the shared knowledge and skills that the Technical Services staff members already possess with the knowledge and skills needed In Access Services. We will also discuss the benefits of having staff members in both units working closely together as they collaborate on shared workflows and recommend further streamlining. Direct feedback from staff members reflecting on how their cataloging and other technical skills benefit the work of the Access Services (and how being immersed in the processes of Access Services benefit the work of Technical Services) will be presented.