Canvas Bags

Guess what? Even though we still have canvas bags left, technically we have run out. Remember when we ran out the first time, we told patrons signing up that they could get a bag when the new order came in. So we need to save the bags we have left for those participants. I pulled some books and a few small canvas bags (left over from a program I think) and put them on a cart under the back shelf. Give anyone who signs up a book or small, small canvas bag. The original bags are under the reference desk, in the crate for anyone returning who did not receive a bag when they first signed up.

School ID

A school ID from Hilda Walker was found here at the library. I called the patron to let them know we have it, but had to leave a message. I said that we would keep the ID until closing on July 17. It is in the drawer with the flash drives.

New Books Procedure

So that we can return Tech's carts to them promptly, and also because if given the space to do so, we tend to clutter up the back counter, I've gone back to putting the new materials arrivals on the back counter between bookends.

It's important to not let them sit there indefinitely. Please make it a habit to check the area daily, and if there are items for a section for which you select, shelve them, remove any items no longer needed while you're out in the stacks, and put them on the weeding cart. Items should be on the counter for staff perusal no more than two or three days. If you know you won't be around for a while, go ahead and put them away sooner.

As always, if anyone wants to check out a new book while it's there, they certainly can, and this is an area we need to remember to check in addition to carts and displays if an item shows "on shelf."

Volunteer

One of the volunteers called to say that they are looking to pick up any volunteer hours for the rest of the summer. I told her we would give her a call if there's any available. Her name is in the binder. Thanks.

website spotlight

Hi Ladies!
Glen called today to let us know that he will be spotlighting a section of the library each week on the website. If you have any suggestions please let him know. (For example, he did the foreign language collection and last week did the magnifier...).

Making Print-outs

One of our favorite patrons called today asking for a picture of Michael Jackson with a whale. She wanted me to print it and place it in her folder downstairs. I called downstairs because I wasn't sure how we were now handling those kinds of requests what with the new printing policy in effect. I was told that this was still done as a courtesy. I also called Sharon to ask about this and she wants to talk with Robin about it so we are all on the same page. For now, Sharon said we should make the prints but we need to keep each other informed about when such a request is made and also notify staff in Adult Services about making the prints. No one is sure how making prints we can just make. After printing the picture and taking it downstairs, I found out that this same request had already been made by the patron to Paul.

Calendar entries

Please remember to enter any meetings you'll be attending on the calendar *****as soon as you commit to attending one.*****

If someone books another simultaneous meeting, program, workshop, online class, wants a day off, gets sick... you get the picture!! Also, you may need to trade desk times with somebody to attend something else, so that someone else doesn't end up out at the desk by themselves during a busy time. Please check the calendar daily to see all of our goings on.

Swim Items needed

Hi everyone. Do you have any swim gear such as fins, snorkel, mask, or intertube? I need several sets for a relay race at the lock-in. The lock-in is on Friday, July 17. Thanks.

Program budgets

Just a reminder to turn in all copies of receipts, copies of orders, or any form of expenditure with a total that comes out of either program budget as soon as you receive one. Or, if you've forgotten, now!! I'm finishing up May and June totals, but need July receipts as soon as you get them too. They can go into the bin on the table in my office.

Birthday Bash Info

For patrons inquiring about the library's birthday celebration, the actual parking lot activities from 1-4 pm (face painting, coloring contests, bean bag toss, etc.) are free; for Fumes of Mod Podge at 3 pm, a limited number of tickets will be available at the YS reference desk beginning August 1; the concert at 6:30 is free.

Volunteer letters of Completion

Anyone may write a letter of completion for volunteers. The blank letters can be found in the front of the volunteer binder. Just fill in the blanks with the appropriate information and you are good to go! If the letters run out, just let me know and I will print up some more. Thank you.

YA books

Hi fellow staffers:
I was wondering if someone could contact Joy tomorrow since neither Sue or I will be here and see if the books for the young adult summer club have come in. Also, there is a young adult who will coming in possibly to trade her book. The one she picked out might be a little too geared toward the older young adult reading level. Thanks.

New MC Password

Joy handed me a sheet this morning with the new password for MilCirc which goes into effect on Thursday. I placed the sheet in the DTO under Passwords. If you can't find it please let me know.

Quick Phone Extension List

I re-typed the Quick Phone Extension List and placed a copy in the black FYI binder. Please take a look at it to see if there are any mistakes or changes that need to be made before we make copies and laminate. Thanks!

Helloooo from Beyond...

Just a reminder to log into meebo daily. the username is tpLibYouthDept (not case sensitive, I only did that do make it easier to see the words), and the password is quite guessable (call or email me if you need to).

I don't recall if I already defaulted the password in, but if not and someone wants to do that, go ahead.

Searching by Phone no.

To search for someone by their phone number in the Access database, it was asking for the data to be entered in this format: (708) 111-2222
It has now been fixed back to how it was before where you just type the area code & number without the brackets and space. So in the search box the above would like this: 7081112222

Open Fridge

Laura noticed that the refrigerator door was open when she arrived at the library at 8:15 a.m. Friday morning. She said that everything was still cold, but...you might want to check any leftover food that is in there before you eat it. Also, please be sure that the door is closed properly when you open the fridge. Thanks!

Language Books

FYI--Because the language/bilingual books were so crowded, I shifted them to the left on the empty shelves. I separated the Spanish books into fiction/nonfiction.

New Policies in Binder

There are two new policies in the policy binder--a Bulletin Board Policy and a Gallery Exhibit Policy. Please familiarize yourself with and initial them.

Shelvers

Extra hours have been posted for shelvers for the next three weeks. The available shifts are all on Tues and Wed. from 1-5. The shelvers working these extra shifts will be assigned to whichever floor has the greatest need, as determined by myself and Robin. Next week, I will not be in, so the extra shelvers will need to check in with whoever is at the YS desk. Whoever you are, lucky person, you will just need to call down to AS and see how many carts they have for shelving and compare this to our backlog. Whoever has more carts wins the shelver for the afternoon!
Also, if at any point shelvers (working extra or regular hours) let you know that there are no more YS carts to be shelved (HAHA!), please then phone down to AS to see if they need any shelving done. If not, then the shelver may move on to shelf reading. I would say that the browsing cart should come before a phone call downstairs.
Thank you!

A volunteer

I have a teen interested in volunteering who needs12 hours by July 6. Before I call her back, is there anyone who would be willing to take on a volunteer for 2 hours or so of book cleaning? I will be gone next week, so am unable to undertake any committment of this sort. Please let me know by Friday noon if you are interested, so I may call her back before I go on vacation. Thank you!

Possible New Signage

I'm meeting with Robin on Tuesday to discuss possible new signage, and have started an idea list. Any Brain Storms blowing around out there?? Please comment here or email the group.

New Hot Copy section

The first orders for the new Hot Copy section were sent.

YC--can you make a stack label for the lobby stack? We'll only need one label. It only needs to read "Hot Copy" because that will be the call number.

I ordered a copy of all Caudills and Central Middle School reading list items, as someone out there suggested. Thank you! Great idea. If there was a Playaway available, I ordered that too. I tried to avoid hard cover, but did so if PB isn't forthcoming. For a few of the titles, the PB release was between now and August, so I went with that.

J--I did order another copy of Boy in the Striped Pajamas on DVD for the HC shelf because the book is on the Central list, so I thought demand might be high. ($22.16)

We can designate an item for the Hot Copy shelf simply by noting that in the note field when ordering. We can put any high demand fiction here as well, i.e., Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, etc. Anything you notice you're placing lots of holds for--just let the person who orders for that section know. I'll probably add items to this section from the high demand holds list as well.

For Security Purposes

Please remember to lock the screen when walking away from the Loft Desk, since we'll have MilCirc up permanently there. Still, we all have the password to that login, so we can all get back in quicly if MilCirc is needed.

SAM Shortcut

We all have one! Joe saved a shortcut to the SAM software to all of our desktops as well as to the youth_services login desktop. Joe asked if he could remove the SAM laptop this morning, and so it is gone--which means we no longer have to type in barcodes! We can use the scanners now.

Also, as you probably have to notice before even reading this, we have a new and temporary set-up for the one computer at the YA desk, which will be where we need to log in as youth_services. Once the wiring is done at the pillar where the desk used to live, it will be moved back for better viewing of the room.

I'm not sure yet if this desk should be staffed during the day since it's our only generic login. Quick access to it as an extra might be the way to go. And remember, we need one port up there so that anyone can walk over and gain quick access to MilCirc. Let me know how the desk arrangement is working.

Help, please!

If anyone calls after 1 p.m. today (Wednesday) to cancel for First Grade Fun, please call the next name on the waiting list. Thanks so much!

Food

Enjoy the vegetable tray that Rob left for us this morning! It's on the workroom table. I'll be gone this afternoon. Can someone please put it in the fridge later?

More hours posted!

Hours for Saturday, June 27, 9-5, have been posted on the bulletin board.

Another thank you to all who have helped out by picking up hours in recent weeks. Relief is coming soon!

Hours posted

Hours have been posted for Friday, 6/19, 5-9 pm, in addition to those already listed on the sheet on the bulletin board.

Magic?

Does anyone have any magic tricks at home? We need to borrow some for the play. We would really appreciate any thing you might have. Thanks!

Volunteers

We have been getting calls asking if teens can still sign up to be summer volunteers. Please let them know that we will be taking new volunteers in August for next school year. As far as I know, there are no plans to change the volunteer program from last school year, so it will work the same. (Volunteers receive a monthly email, blah blah blah.) Thanks!

Outright stolen in broad daylight from the AS blog

Resource for pdf conversion
As mentioned in the AS Dept. meeting, the website http://www.pdfonline.com/ allows you to convert different file types to pdf format in minutes. From the home page, click "Doc2PDF" tab, and on the following page, click "upload your document." One must then follow 3 steps, the 3rd of which is to e-mail the pdf for retrieval. This site also offers the conversion of pdf files to Word docs. As far as I can tell, the site does not provide an exclusive list of all file types accepted. I have only converted jpeg & doc files, and I will put the URL with our other favorites asap.This is a test.

File Cleanup

Please take some time by the end of July to delete any old electronic documents that are no longer needed. In addition to your own "Stuff" folders, please check Dept. Info and My Docs to see if you put anything there that you no longer need, and delete all you can. It gets hard to find things when the list gets miles long.

Newly condensed Forms and Labels folder

We had two file folders under the Q drive named Forms and Labels, and one named Forms. There was one just sitting in the Q drive, one in My Docs, and one in Department Information. I copied all files into one folder called Forms and Labels, which can be located just hanging there in the Q drive.

The list of files in that folder is now quite long. Please check for any duplicates of forms you use routinely. If there is a form we no longer use or any duplications, please delete them by the end of next week (June 19). If you're not sure if someone else is using a form, post the question here. If no one answers, delete away!

New Supply Order Form

Diane has created a new form for ordering supplies. I have saved a copy to the Forms and Labels folder, which is now located in the Q drive. See next post for more.

I removed all old supply order forms from the box in back. Please do not print paper copies of the blank form and write orders by hand. I'd like us all to type on the form for easier reading. You will find that the formatting moves around as you type, but when you delete the extra underline after whatever you type, the formatting will bounce back.

When finished typing an order, print one copy for Diane, one for our Orders bin, and do not save. That way the form will be blank and available for next time. If you need to work on the form over time, you can save it temporarily until done, but please remember to delete.

If someone has time to work on recreating this form with form fields or to find some workaround for getting the underlines to not move as you type, let me know, otherwise I'll put this on my slate for SomeDay.

Fumes of Mod Podge

In our brochure, we wrote that anyone desiring more info regarding Fumes of Mod Podge would be able to inquire after 6/15. If anyone should ask, please let them know that there will be improvisation at the auditions, as well as the reading of a monologue, which will be provided at the audition. They should also bring a 1 page short script/skit idea with them. Finally, they need to be entering 8th grade or older. Thanks!

Listening Stations

Pat has had to send in the headphones from all 4 library listening stations to be serviced. There are no CDs inside and they all have out of order signs for now. There is no word on when this will be returned to us.

Wii Nuances

A patron recently questioned why there appears to be a hold on one of our Wii games as viewed in SWAN. There are, in fact, no item level holds on Wii games. If you compare the information looking in MilCirc, you will see that those copies SWAN shows as having a hold on them are in fact pickup locations for a hold that was placed for one of that library's patrons, not holds for that particular copy. Therefore, if you see "hold" next to one of our Wii games (or any item), that means one of our patrons has a hold on an available, holdable copy that does exist somewhere in a SWAN library, and it will be sent here when available.

In other words, we place holds on titles, not items, and can only do so when a copy that allows holds is availabe. Therefore, it does not matter whether the patron places the hold or whether we do it for them, the hold will only work if there is a copy available that allows holds (our Wii games and hot copies do not). If a copy that allows ILLs is available, go ahead and place it and/or show the patron how to do so.

If the only copy of a Wii game available is ours or is owned by a library that doesn't send them out or doesn't allow any holds, you will get the message saying there are no copies available for holds (worded however it's worded, depending on whether you're using SWAN or MilCirc). This is true for any type of item, not just Wii games. If a hold is allowed, the system will take it. If holds are not allowed on any available copies, you'll get a message saying so.

Other than in rare instances when SWAN or MilCirc force you to choose a specific item, such as with TV series DVDs, or perhaps there is some reason you need our copy of an item for a program, we aren't supposed to place item holds. We should, however, place a bib level hold if a copy is available for ILL or holds. "bib level hold" translates loosely to placing the hold on the title, as opposed to a particular copy.

If a patron asks, simply tell them that our copies don't accept holds, but if a copy is available for holds from another library, one can be placed. They do, however, need to give you a specific title if they want you to place the hold for them. If they simply want to know all titles that allow holds, you then need to tell them, "Sure, I can show you how to do that over here," go to an OPAC, and show the patron how to log in as themselves first, so that they don't need to enter their name, barcode, & PIN every time they encounter a holdable item. Then show them how to do a keyword search on "wii" in SWAN, and they will then need to click on every result and attempt to place the hold to see if a copy is available. If they ask again for you to do this for them, simply state again that you will need them to give you specific titles, but if they see any that they want and bring those titles to you, then you can place the hold for them.

More hours posted

Saturday, June 27, 9-5 has been added to the sheets on the bulletin board. There are still hours in need of coverage on the other two sheets.

Reference desk logins

Please use the two end reference computers, and leave the center computer available for anyone just passing through, and not officially on desk and not logged in as themselves.

We'll need to use our own logins while on desk, and lock the screen when stepping away. This will make it possible for one of us passing through the area to be able to answer a quick question. Long term, I don't think we'll be able to have more than two people at the desk at a time. Let's try this first and see how it goes.

Knitting workshop

Here is what you need to know about the Learn to Knit/Crochet class being offered at the library:

1. It is a series of 3 classes. We would like them to attend all 3.
2. They should bring a crochet hook/set of knitting needles. Whatever they have at home is fine. If they don't have anything at home, the stitch club should be able to lend them something during the first class so that they can figure out what would work best.
3. They should bring smooth yarn, not fuzzy yarn. I KNOW that fuzzy yarn is more fun, but it is much moredifficult to work with. It can stick to itself and not let go. If you make a mistake, which beginners often do, the fuzzy yarn is NOT forgiving. Smooth yarn = better.
4. If an adult would like to come, they may do so. I do not believe that the computer will let them register, but they can just come anyway.

Read a Road Trip Challenge

As part of the YA SRP, we have offered an additional challenge to teens interested in reading more. The Read a Road Trip Challenge is optional, but we (obviously) hope that the teens will participate. As added incentive, we have posted a map on the YA bulletin board. As teens read books, we would like them to write the titles on small pieces of paper and tape them in the appropriate state on the map. For this purpose, we have put an envelope of small strips of paper in the basket of YA SRP items. If any teen asks about the map, please explain the above and give them a peice of paper and a piece of tape. Thank you!

SRC Info

Four patrons (from one family) already finished their Level 1 for SRC. I took their forms and had them put a "flower" on the window, but they will need to spin for prizes. Their forms are in the "flower" drawer in the blue bin, just in case you need to know their names.

Pencils for SRC

When the Li'L Lions and T'rific Tigers finish a level, they will write their names on a flower (Level 1) or Paw/Tiger head (Level 2). I placed some black colored pencils (for the flowers) and white colored pencils (for the tigers/paws) in the blue drawers. The pencils have little pinwheels on the tops so hopefully they won't walk off with them, but they will probably play with them (sorry)!

Lots O' Reading Programs.

When signing up patrons for summer reading programs, remember to let parents know there is an adult reading program as well, and that they can sign up downstairs. Bookmobile users (or anyone) may like to know that there is a BM summer reading program, too.

Counter space

Please empty the dish drainer in the YS kitchen by tomorrow. There is nowhere to work when it's full. Tomorrow I'll put the drainer away someplace in case we ever have a huge clean-up to do at once. For normal programs or our own lunches, please just wash, dry, and put away.

Hours

More hours of desperation have been posted on the bulletin board.

Volunteer Phone Numbers

Hi,
The Summer 2009 volunteer phone list is in our 'Have You Heard' binder at the reference desk. If anyone would like to give reminder calls to their program helpers, they can refer to this list.
The list of program helpers is in the black binder marked 'volunteer' and that is on the back counter at the reference desk. Thank you.

July programs in calendar

Please carefully proofread all of your July programs in the Evanced calendar if you haven't already done so. I'd like the waiting lists to remain as they are, but if you need to make any other changes, just let me know what they are for future reference.

Reference computers

Let's shut down all three reference computers every Saturday evening, and restart each Sunday or Monday, whichever applies. This will help updates happen, etc. Please also shut down any time the reference computers seem to be feeling a little poorly.

Coloring sheets for Bookmobile

Outreach Services has given us some coloring sheets kids can do and turn in to decorate the BKM for the Birthday Bash.

• Please offer these to the first however-many kids signing up for SRC who want to do this--I believe there are 350, and then we won't have any more.
• Be sure to tell the kids it's not a contest, it's to decorate the Bookmobile.
• Tell kids to turn in the sheets either on the Bookmobile or at Patron Services.
• When the above is forgotten, just say "thank you," and we can put them in Fran's mailbox if the kids turn them in to us instead. No worries.

Us

Should we include our names on each picture?

Volunteer schedule

Hi
In the next few days, if Sarah T. comes for her volunteer schedule, it is in the middle drawer of the Ref desk (where we usually keep the collection envelopes. It is a half sheet folded with her name on it. Thank you.

Program room designations for dept. calendar

As soon as possible, starting with June 10 calendar entries, please add a room designation at the end of each of your programs. I got a l'il overwhelmed trying to update all of them, and was guessing anyway. We can use YSP, YAP, CC, or MR with A, B, or A/B, just like we do in the Business Office Calendar.

SRC First Come First Receive

We received 4 White Water Canyon Water Passes for SRC. The only thing is that these are buy 1 pass and 2 get to enter. Sharon decided that we should just give them to the first 2 kids who register for the SRC. Again there are 4 such passes so each 1 will get 2. For right now I will put the passes in the top drawer of the "blue" 4-drawer box thing. Better idea? Let us all know.

The reincarnation of reference books

I would like for all of us, whoever is "opening" on any given day, to maintain the tops of the reference stacks, and shelvers no longer need to clean them up. I let JL & RL know so that they can tell shelvers, but there may be a lag time before everyone is informed, so just keep replacing books on the tops of the reference stacks each morning till this is habit for all involved. At that point, we can have one person take this on and change the stack-top titles every week or two. Here is the backstory:

I was weeding. (Uh oh!) I noticed several titles in reference that I may have deleted because they are no longer used for assignments and are huge enough as to discourage checkout, but found that they may have some browsing interest. A DK visual something-or-another of the last millennium comes to mind--that sort of thing that someone might pick through if a mild mannered librarian were to place it, ahem, right in their way. I'm thinking we'll select a few titles at a time to leave on top of the stacks in the hopes that they get stumbled onto.

We'll see how that goes. I may be expanding this experiment with CoffeeTable-ish books onto some of the table tops in the room. If so, we'll have to come up with a plan so that shelvers know to leave behind one such CoffeeTable-ish book per table (or a puzzle), along with any library propaganda when they're picking up.

Encyclopedia of Chicago

I bookmarked the Encyclopedia of Chicago in the reference folder on our Favorites list. The book proper will be deleted from the YS reference section soon.

SRC registration database

Hi
The Microsoft Access database is ready to go! Its on the Q/SRC 2009. There are 2 new things on there:

1) There is a checkbox for when the patron receives a canvas bag

2) For the YA we are now going to enter the number of books they read (instead of a checkbox)

The password is the same as it has always been!
Thanks.

Calendar sync-ing (which may or may not be a real, spellable word)

… is probably not going to happen. I can find programs that will send the info to both a 30 Boxes and an Outlook calendar, but you have to put entries into the sync software calendar. I have not found anything that allows the two calendars to speak directly to each other by updating only a 30 Boxes calendar or only an Outlook calendar. If you know of one, or are willing to invent one, please let us all know!

Using a third calendar for entries would defeat the ease of use of the 30 Boxes calendar. So, a little faith in The Cloud is needed here for the time being. If we use Outlook but need to log into reference computers as ourselves down the road, this would complicate a simple task like looking at the calendar.

If you have not yet put a desktop shortcut to the dept. calendar on your workstations in back, let me know. We all need instant access to this. All calendar entries should now go into the 30 Boxes calendar. Life is slowing down a little. If I haven't yet shown you the secrets and miracles of the new calendar, stop me any time and I can sit down with you. It only takes a minute to get cruising in this program.

I have the calendar formerly known as THE calendar, and am holding it ransom for entry transfers into 30 Boxes. If someone has time to work on making sure all July '09 entries are in one place, please see me. We can take turns updating one month at a time till 2009 is entirely 30 Boxed, but again, all new entries should go on the new calendar.

Meeting room setup

Hi fellow staffers: I know everyone's been really busy these past weeks, but if you could look over your programs in the meeting room setup sheet that's in the "have you heard" binder, and check your name off so I know you have looked it over; it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

ILL update

Hi, we don't have this come up very often, but Robin wanted us to know that this service is available once again. If if comes up, we can ask someone how to proceed. This is copied from the AS blog:

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Out-of-State ILL Resumes Monday, June 1; [patron name]

Starting Monday, June 1, [ILL staff] will resume processing out-of-state interlibrary loan requests, and we may resume accepting such requests without qualification.

At this point, ILL guesstimates that they will be able to handle about 16 requests per month without exceeding their budget. We are working on ways to manage requests beyond that threshold.

Please resume asking patrons if they are willing to pay $3.00 for an out-of-state item--and remember to ask this if there are only a couple of in-state copies, in case the Illinois copies are not available for loan. As before, we will also charge $3.00 if the patron doesn't pick up the item within 5 days. (This "window for pickup" may occasionally be extended to 8 days, but we are not to tell the patron this up front.)

The resumption of out-of-state activity includes loans for [patron name]. If he reverts to his former practices of failing to pick up items within 5 days, and/or refusing to pay fees, and/or verbally abusing Patron Services staff, his privileges will be curtailed.

I have yet to work up a protocol for handling photocopy requests for articles from journals not owned by MLS member libraries. If you receive any of these before I've provided you with procedures, just give the requests to me and I will handle them.

Thanks, everyone!

New bookmark

I put a copy of the new "Keeping Children Safe at the Library" bookmark in everyone's mailbox, and put a stack of them in our brochure holder at the reference desk. I didn't see any copies of the old pamphlet out anywhere. If you come across any of the old ones, please recycle them. Thanks, S.

E New Nonfiction

Just wanted to let you know that we placed some New Easy Nonfiction books at the end of the New Easy Fiction books. We weren't sure if the New Easy Nonfiction were labeled "New" prior to now, so we thought this was a good place to put them!

Hours Posted

Hours are posted on the bulletin board for:
Fri., June 5, 5-9
Sat., June 20, 9-5
Fri., June 26, 5-9

Hours posted

More hours are posted for this Saturday, May 23, 9-5.

Fairy Tale Theatre

Beginning tomorrow morning at 9, students may call in for their parts in the play. There is a list in alphabetical order by the last name of the teen. They also may pick up their scripts at that time. We are short a few scripts and I am putting in a rush order for more. If we should run out, please explain to the teen and their parents that we are rectifying the situation and we will have a copy for them to borrow during the rehearsals next week. Thanks!

Calendar

Summer programs as well as the May "other" entries have been added to the 30 Boxes desk(top) calendar. Anyone want to try their hand at finishing June entries? I didn't hear much discussion on the font color issue, so I went with black for all non-program entries. It's just faster not to enter a color tag at all. We can revisit that if needs be.

Another 30 Boxes Miracle

You'll all find an invitation in your email sent from our 30 Boxes calendar. I set up a meeting at 2 pm on Sunday, June 14. Because I thought that was very hilarious. And because I didn't want you take it seriously. Just reply to the invitation for practice, and then practice sending an invitation by:

• Clicking on a box on the calendar. So as not to create confusion with real events, use a Sunday we're closed.
• you begin by typing the meeting or event name, enter a time, and to create an invitation, you dump the following right into the entry box at the top of the little window that pops up: +person@person.com. So your entry might look like, "meeting Sunday June 21 2 pm +s_dudeck@tplibrary.org. You can just keep adding a space and another +person@person.com.

I'll sync this with the MS Outlook calendar for the youth_services account when I get a chance. I think something needs to be downloaded to make them speak to each other. If anyone wants to attempt this, go ahead. If a download is in fact required, I'll take care of it at home. Once the two calendars are two-way synced, you can access anything that would be on our current desk calendar from either, and enter onto either.

Neither calendar allows public access. Still, if you'd like to only be referred to by your initials, let us know. We usually do that on the desk calendar anyway, so no big deal. If you want a desktop shortcut on your computer, go ahead and have it remember you so that you don't have to log into anything to view the day's happenings.

Your mission for the remainder of May: By the end of the month, discover something cool that you can do with the 30 Boxes calendar, do it, and share the experience here, or by using the calendar to send a message to the rest of the group, whichever is appropriate to your newfound task management tool.

COG

A laminated copy of the COG-Community Organization Guide-is in the middle file cabinet along with the other file folders.

Books from YS Program Room

FYI--I have the following two books from the YS Program Room at my desk, The Pop-up Rumble in the Jungle and Snappy Little Jungle. Kathy and I are going to use them for the 3-5s storytime, but if someone needs them, please feel free to use them. Thanks!

Fall calendar

Does anyone have time to volunteer to remove the sticky notes with summer programs from our laminated workroom calendars that we use to plan an upcoming session, erase the dates, and use a dry erase marker to enter the day numbers for Sept/Oct/Nov? If so, call it in the air, and then leave the three calendars on the chair in my office.

Oops - June YS programs

As you're checking your Evanced info for June YS programs, please uncheck the "address required" box if it's checked. I remembered part-way through the June programs that can causes problems when registering someone on the phone.

All YA programs are entered. July YS programs are in progress. Please double-check each of your own programs for accuracy, and make sure that all are on the calendar. Let me know what changes you make. July YS programs should be finished by Tuesday, so check back after that if you don't see one of your July programs yet. Thanks - almost there!!!!

On or Off - The Current Answer

Please lock the screens on the YS reference computers (only) until I get clarification as to whether they're supposed to be logging off at night. I'll repost if they are set to log off from the network on their own.

You can lock a computer screen by pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then typing a K. You unlock it by pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE and then entering the password. The box on the screen says how to log back on, so you need not memorize the latter.

Continue leaving the patron computers on. I don't think they're doing what they're supposed to either--they don't come back on in the morning, but that will do no harm.