In order to give our collective genius a jumpstart for the 2008 Goals discussion on Staff day, we have compiled a list of ideas that have been suggested. Some of the suggestions so far have been:
I. Customer Driven Services:
a. Approach our potential customers outside the building, i.e. going to
businesses to talk about how to use our databases; going to the Senior HiRises to discuss starting a book club; taking our booktalks "on the road"
b. Create an outreach plan to identify downtown groups that might be
interested in our services and develop strategies to meet their needs.
c. Get a change machine in our lobby
d. Find a place for, and begin using, the concept of a "Popular Library"
e. Could we do some sort of "curbside service" since we cannot change the
parking situation
f. Move (Shift) the reference collection so that it "reads" from left to right
g. Develop a consistent outreach program with the Latino community
II. New and Emerging Technologies:
a. Find a projector or flat screen tv or other means to publicize events of the
day in the lobby and outside
b. Investigate a touch screen map/guide kiosk in the elevator lobby
c. Install new shelving for the songbooks on the mezzanine in the NIC room
d. Install and train staff and the public on the new self check units and
investigate a way to have patrons check in their own materials as well
III. Service to Children and Youth:
a. a graphic novels panel or festival? Bring in some big names to attract
teens to the program
b. movie festivals for kids
c. Get a Wii playstation for Skinner room? Or other technology for games
d. Work with teens to re-energize/decorate/reconfigure the Skinner Room.
e. Promote Blastoff to Kindergarten program.
IV. Collaboration:
a. Contact all cultural institutions in the downtown St Paul area; we should
have at least 2 cultural programs per month at Central
b. Collaborate with local arts organizations or an arts high school to have a
mural painted on the premises.
c. Collaborate with appropriate agencies to promote the resources of the
library and to promote civic awareness prior to and during(?) the
Republican National Convention.
V. Communication:
a. Use our existing public address system to notify staff of events of the day
prior to opening each day
b. Use passive reader's advisory (on the web, in bookmark form) to suggest
titles to patrons
Look over the 2007 goals and marvel at the success we achieved with them. So, what do you think of these goals for 2008? Let us know by replying to the posting which will appear on the Central Loop blog. Please choose 3 of the above goals that you believe should be implemented, and feel free to comment on them.
AND, if you have other ideas, let us know about them as well.
6 comments:
Fewer and shorter meetings with better-defined agendas. Meetings that end on time so we can serve customers more effectively.
I think I.a., b. and g. (3 with one stone!) could be combined to be an outreach program targeted to specific audiences in the downtown area to inform about our services and bring our services to the customers where they live and work.
I like your initiative. But you have left out several items.
1. Catalogue the Field Collection. It is blind to everyone outside of Central Library. Quit wasting time and effort trying to set up and maintain a separate database that does not even use MARC records.
2. Create a St. Paul History Wiki in conjunction with the Ramsey Historical Society. Then kick-start the Wiki with content from the St. Paul Collection. Digitize high school yearbooks. Contact stakeholders in St. Paul history. Use our own librarians who have expertise in the indexes we have. Seek collaboration of Donald Empson, author of The Street Where You Live: A Guide to the Place Names of St. Paul.
3. Congratulations on trying to solve the shelving problems for music, but the long term solution is to have a collaboration with the Schubert Club. For the lack of a music librarian the collection is uninterpreted and poorly managed. If the Schubert Club could house even part of the collection, we would gain much needed space for other collections or more internet computers.
4. When will the library come to a radical collaboration with J.J. Hill on the business reference collection? It seems redundant for two libraries within feet of one another to provide the same service. And can we really, as a public library with no subject specialists, expect to hold a candle to the business reference specialists at J.J. Hill?
I don't think that we do expect to hold a candle to the business reference specialists at J.J. Hill. They have a different type of collection, different clientele, and a different business model. Still, collaboration or at least communication with them does make sense. Perhaps this could be an additional collaboration goal.
The other 2 goals that I would select as a high priority would be:
IV.a.Contact all cultural institutions in the downtown St Paul area; we should
have at least 2 cultural programs per month at Central.
III.d. Work with teens to re-energize/decorate/reconfigure the Skinner Room.
I also agree that the reference collection should be reversed and the music collection needs new shelving. These are 4 and 5.
Our programming is great, but needs to be done in a more organized manner. My proposal is the following: at the beginning of the year, advertise for part-time and pool reference staff to work as many Sundays as possible (above the baseline to staff the desks). The Sundays that are filled will then have programming. If programming falls through, show a movie. If a Central staff member really wants a program on a certain day, they have to work that Sunday as the extra person or find someone that will. Scheduling will then take them off of the schedule on a different day so they don't go over 40 hours/week.
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