A VERY BIG DAY YESTERDAY..........!

We checked in and out 3400 items.  We had 1220 patrons come through the door.

We managed to provide service with a smile despite all the staff vacations, etc.  Thank you, everyone.


Handling such volume can cause us to feel pressured and rushed and therefore we are prone to making more mistakes.  Please take your time.  You will  provide better customer service.


Of note:

• P is for PHONE CALL.  Please make sure these folks get called.  Check the hold slips carefully before interfiling.  And if appropriate, suggest alternative notification methods to the patron.

• New Cards - please refer to the laminated sheet in the circ drawer if you are unsure.                       Also, don't forget we can set up multiple family members quickly by using the 'save and clone feature'.  This is done by setting up one patron and then rather than clicking 'save', you click 'save and clone'.

•  Holds -  please check holds out to the person who made the request.  If you check it out to another family member, the hold will remain on the original patron's account.  If you go to check out a hold and a message pops up that says 'Item is on Hold shelf', this should serve as a cue that you are checking the item out to the wrong patron.

New Schedule Format

You may have noticed that next week's schedule has a new look. We are now using scheduling software for the schedule prep. There are two views of the schedule posted in the Circulation office; a weekly (calendar) view and a graphical view for each day. The other department desks only have a copy of the weekly view. Soon, you will be able to log on and view the schedules in all of the different views. And, eventually, each staff person will be able to log on and request leave time through the software. But, just the basics for now. Of particular note is the vertical arrangement of departmental shifts for each day, which is different than the horizontal arrangement we have been using with a spreadsheet. As we learn how to use this system, please pay careful attention to your own scheduled shifts and let me know of any questions or errors as soon as you see them. Thank you.

We're De-Dotting Dec. Now

Circ Notes

Museum Passes -Both the Peabody Essex Museum and the Isabella Gardner Stewart Museums have now switched to paper passes.  They are dated passes.   Please make sure you hand out the correct pass!  Also, remember to remind patrons who check out passes that get returned, that they must be returned by the next morning or they will be charged $5/day.

The Door Counter - Please remember to zero out the counter after taking the daily count.

Snugging -( not snuggling )  Snugging.  Please.  Snug the books on the reserve shelves.  And the reading room.  And the DVDs and Audio Books and anything else you see.  It looks better.  And it keeps the books, etc. from falling down.

Barcodes -  Any item going on the transit cart in the circ office that does not have an exterior barcode (usually these belong to other libraries) should be placed horizontally on the back side of the cart.  If the item is ours, it goes in the wire bin under the counter for re-barcoding.

Shelving carts - please browse shelving carts behind the circ desk  prior to moving them out.  We are finding all sorts of wrong books on the wrong carts......  including items belonging to other libraries.

Thanks for your careful attention.