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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Webjunction, Security, Bristol Survey, Kitchen Faeries

From Jud:


1.       I’d like all full-time library assistants to sign up for continuing education with WebJunction. Go to https://www.webjunction.org/find-training/request-access/ , choose Virginia as “state partner,” and complete the rest of the registration process. Use your personal email address (which should be the same one that’s on the staff directory). When your registration is complete—it will take a few business days for this to happen—send a message from your personal email to judbarry@bristol-library.org

2.       For the 7-day period Oct. 28 through Nov. 3 all public departments (Reference, Children’s, Circulation, ALL, Avoca) will be collecting data to find out how often people ask us “Bristol Questions.” Jeanne has designed a form to collect this information and will distribute 7 copies to each dept. via the interoffice mailbox. Use a different sheet for each day; put the date and dept. name at the top corner of each one. Mark down in the appropriate category every time someone asks you a Bristol question. Don’t hesitate to use the back to note interesting or unusual questions, or questions you think are important to remember.

3.       At Main, whenever someone asks to see “the person in charge,” call Security, even when I’m here. This helps guarantee responsiveness and consistency. Security can often answer whatever questions there might be; if not, they will follow up with a report to the appropriate person.
 


Happy (Belated) Birthday
Christy  October 20

Kitchen Faeries
When I began reading folktales and fairy tales, I was quite taken with the legends of brownies, the little people who came in and magically cleaned your house, mended your clothes, and generally did a lot of tidying and fixing.  Sadly, these creatures apparently went extinct from overwork and now this magical cleaning of our kitchen comes about through the hard work of people on staff who use their time to make things nicer for all of us.  Those counters don't wipe themselves down, nor does the dishwasher automatically turn on and then unload itself.  On behalf of the entire staff, I want to send out a thank you to these individuals who go that extra mile for us.  You know who you are. 

To everyone else, please do pick up after yourselves.  Don't leave dirty plates in the sink for your co-workers to deal with, put away food when you're done, and if your frozen dinner bubbles over in the microwave, clean it up.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

P.S. If anyone ever does discover living brownies, please direct them to my house.  There's enough to keep them gainfully employed for the next decade or so-- and that's just my living room.

Thanks, Janice!
Janice H. dropped by with goodies to be sure we weren't wasting away from lack of her cooking.  The munchies have been munched, and we thank her very much! 

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Fire Inspection, Flu Shots & Remembering Eunice McCracken




Fire Inspection, Wednesday, October 16
From Joyce:

"Evening to all,
Premier will be doing its major inspection tomorrow. Alarms will be going off early. So, don’t be alarmed if you hear them going off before opening.
I will be tied up with them most of the day tomorrow.
We will be starting around 7:00 am.
Thanks,
Joyce"

Flu Shots 
Remember, if you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, you can get one at certain local pharmacies.  The list is on the staff bulletin board near the employee entrance.
 
Eunice McCracken

Most of the long time staff will remember Eunice McCracken, who visited the library so faithfully until ill health made the trip impossible.  She passed away last month, but her obituary just ran in the Bristol Herald Courier paper this week:

 Eunice Elizabeth McCracken passed through this life on Monday, September 9, 2013, at NHC in Bristol, Va. She was born on September 22, 1932, in Washington County, Va., to Sadie Malone McCracken and Jerry McCracken and spent her life in Bristol, Va. She was a graduate of the old Valley Institute School in Washington, County. Eunice began work as a young woman at the Big Jack in Bristol. After retiring from Bristol Jeans, Eunice volunteered at Kingsway Charities. Eunice was a familiar face at the Bristol Public Library and a life long member of Three Springs Baptist Church. Being a woman of great intelligence and her compassion for others, Eunice chose to leave her remains to Restore Life USA in hopes of helping better understand the bone disease that crippled her. Eunice is survived by several cousins and many friends. Her family would like to thank the staff at NHC for the good care she received there. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her honor to the Malone Cemetary Fund c/o Herbert Hensley, 19335 Campground Road, Bristol, VA 24202. A celebration of the life of Eunice will be held at Three Springs Baptist Church at 7 p.m. Monday, October 14, 2013.

Joyce says that she was told Eunice loved to read so much that she'd read a book as she walked to town. Knowing what an avid reader she was, I wouldn't doubt it for a second.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Murphy's Law of Blogs: Adult Learning Lab, Ghosts, Birds, and Birthdays

Just as soon as I post a blog, more information comes in that should be shared! So here we go:

Adult Learning Lab Closed October 15- 18
The ALL staff is headed to Richmond for training next week, so the Lab will be closed all week.  They will reopen on Monday, October 21.  Please let patrons know that while Reference will try to help as much as possible with applications, resumes, etc. that we can't guarantee a person will be free to sit with them at a computer for the entire time nor can we reserve computers. 



This Place Is Haunted!
But this does give me a chance to plug another library program.  Please be sure and spread the word about our Bristol premier of "This Place Is Haunted," a documentary about local ghost stories.  It'll be shown this Sunday, October 13th, at 2:30 in the J.Henry Kegley Meeting Room (aka the Big Meeting Room).  Bud Phillips is supposed to appear as well. We'd love a big turn-out!


 What Bird Is That??
 Sunday, October 20, the Bristol Bird Club is presenting a program on learning to identify local birds, how to make your yard attractive to birds, how to make suit, and more!  The program will start at 2:00 pm in the J. Henry Kegley Meeting Room.

Happy Birthday

Joyce   October 17
(I couldn't find a purple cake, so I hope the one with a lavender rose will do!)

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Becky, Martha (Stewart, that is), Susan & a Stumper

 Welcome Back, Becky!
Becky is back with us after her hand surgery and says she's doing very well. She has a fetching purple cast to wear as she heals. Good news:  her hand is starting to itch instead of hurt! Bad news:  her hand is starting to itch. Becky is a real trooper and we all wish her well as she recovers.


Cruise Director? Party Planner? Social Tsar? 
Since Janice has departed, the BPL has a space-- nay, a void!-- in the social directorship.  Janice was so very good at organizing staff events, be it a luau to boost morale, a Christmas party, or birthday shindigs.  Nobody can replace Janice. So we're hoping to get several somebodies to volunteer to form a Social Events Committee to plan activities for the library.  We're taking volunteers!  This is your chance to channel your inner Martha Stewart or, well, your inner Janice.  See Jud if you're interested.

And speaking of celebrations

Happy Birthday

Susan W  October 14
Susan has been with BPL for a long time and has done a wonderful job for us.  In fact, I think we should close both Avoca and Main in her honor!  We'll just tell everyone it's for Columbus Day, but we'll know the real reason.  (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)



Stamp Stumper
Has anyone lost a WWII era German stamp with a panzer tank on it? One was found by upstairs time clock.  See Jeanne to reclaim.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Birthdays, Thanks from Joyce, & Farewell

Happy (Now Very Belated!) Birthday!!
Nicki          September 12
Laura K    September 14


Thanks from Joyce
"Parking lot is finished. Yea. Another project off my list. My goal is to get it sealed sometime in the future.

I want to thank all of my co-workers for patient and support.

Note: The paint now has to be different because of the environment. So, that means this paint will not last as long and will fade out quicker etc.

Thanks again,

Joyce"

 


Farewell to Nancy
Nancy W. will be leaving us on Friday.  We will miss her, but wish her well in all her future endeavors.  If you want to keep sending us book reviews, we'll be glad to run them in the blog!  (If you haven't read Nancy's reviews, you really should. They're a delight!) There will be a little farewell get together in the Staff Lounge starting at noon on Friday.