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Thursday, June 29, 2017

Staff Building Contest, Job Descriptions, Food, Birthdays

Building Contest!
Brenda and Rebecca contemplate some creations.



We have some intrepid souls who have been flexing their creative muscles in honor of this year's Summer Reading Program!  Blocks are in the Staff Lounge as is a sign up sheet for others who want to participate.  Constructions will be on display at the Circulation Desk starting July 5.  Build whatever you want:   a bridge, a robot, a better mousetrap, it's up to you.

Job Descriptions
Amy will be discussing individual job descriptions with staff over the next few days.  This is preparation for evaluations to come.  This will become an annual event.

July 12:  Food!
Clancy will be bringing pulled pork, Ambrea will bring baked beans and peanut butter cookies, and other folks are welcome to bring what they like for a staff lunch.  Many thanks to these wonderful folks!

Happy Birthday!

Rebecca  June 29
Bill (Avoca)  July 6

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Contest! Food! Birthdays! More!

 Building Competition for Staff!


To generate more interest for Summer Programs, Michelle has proposed the staff host their very own building competition!  This week, we’ll create our teams and, next week, Michelle will be putting out some building materials (blocks and such) in the staff lounge to kick off our building competition.  Then July 3 through July 14, our staff creations will be displayed at the Circulation Desk for everyone to see!  You can sign up for teams in the staff lounge, so keep an eye out for the sign-up sheets and get ready to help Build a Better World!

Food!

Ambrea will be bringing peanut butter cookies, pulled pork, and baked beans in on Wednesday,  July 12! Brenda G. will be bringing peanut butter fudge, and Jeanne will bring coleslaw made by someone other than herself.  If you'd like to bring something, feel free!

And Speaking of Peanuts...

While Laura K. and daughter Jennifer were in Kingsport, Jennifer's kitty Peanut was hit by a car.  He lost a leg and gained a lot of vet bills.  If you would like to help "Make Peanut Better," we have a little jar in the staff lounge.  Thanks!

In Memory of Doris
 Thanks to a donation from the 1931 Woman's History Club, we were able to buy 34 books in memory and honor of Doris Stickley. We chose books Doris herself would have wanted to read.  The challenge with the display is to keep books out there, as they are checked out a lot-- which is just what Doris would have wanted.
    

Candess  June 17
Rebecca June 29

Friday, June 2, 2017

Summer Events, Lunch, Birthdays, and More!

An Eventful Summer
The Children's Summer Reading program has started registration as has the Tween and Teen.  This year Ambrea is launching an adult program with BPL Bingo and a plethora of presentations.  Some of the latter are suitable to earn Continuing Education hours, if anyone is still short. And yes, staff may participate in BPL Bingo!

Lunch!
Ambrea is bringing crock pot chicken & pasta plus s'mores cookies on Wednesday!  If anyone else wants to contribute a dish or snack, please feel free.

LIS Meeting
We will be having a meeting of the LIS department on Wednesday after the aforementioned lunch.  Ambrea will be doing the schedule as usual.

Kitchen Witch Awards



The KW has been a bit behind lately, but she does want to acknowledge Christy H., Candess, and Ambrea for help in keeping our kitchen clean! A small reward awaits each of you.  See Jeanne, your local Kitchen Witch representative, for your gift.


Happy Birthday

Michelle June 4

Susie  June 7




Thursday, May 25, 2017

Recycling, Book Sale & More!

Recycling Opportunity!

From Hannahlily:  
"I am collecting all kinds of recyclables for the teen building competitions this summer. Joyce let me put a big box on the table where the cardboard-to-recycle goes to collect any recyclables staff might have, either from items used at the library or things brought in from home. . . . The teens will be building bridges, mazes, board games, buildings, and miniature amusement parks, so really just about anything would be useful!"

Okay, folks, this is your chance to spring clean!  Have an old Monopoly game missing half the cards?  Jigsaw puzzles with pieces missing? Boxes? Decks of cards? Paper towel, toilet paper, or wrapping paper tubes? Plastic bottles? Detergent scoops? Old Christmas garlands? Cool whip bowls? Egg cartons?  Then you've got stuff for the teens! Bring it all on down! 

T-Shirts & Such
If you ordered Summer Reading Club items, those are now in and on a cart near Brenda D.'s office. 

Scholastic Book Sale!
Oh, boy!  Books!  The wonderful half price Scholastic Book Sale is back in the Children's Department for a limited time! I forgot to ask Michelle how limited, so you'd better beat a path there if you want to take advantage! 

Happy Memorial Day!
Have a safe and happy holiday!



In case you missed seeing it before it was devoured....

Friday, May 19, 2017

Tobacco-Free Campus, Insurance Reminder, 3D Printer Demo, and Happy (Upcoming) Birthday

 Tobacco Free Campus


As of June 1, 2017 the Bristol Public Library and Avoca Branch Library will be smoke and tobacco free.  This measure was approved by our Board of Trustees and the policy can be read here. This applies to the entire property, including Meeting Rooms and staff areas.  Note that it is not limited to smoking, but includes other uses of tobacco such as vaping and/or chewing. If you have any questions, please ask Amy.

All the library policies on our website are now up to date. You can view them here.

Insurance Reminder
Remember, if you get insurance though the City, you must make a decision on how you want an upcoming payment handled.  See Amy for more details.  The deadline is Friday, May 26.



3D Printer Demo for Staff
For those who are interested in learning how the 3D printer works, T.J. has graciously set up times for a workshop.  This will count toward your Continuing Education hours.  The first demo will be May 25 at 2 pm   and the  second will be June 5 at  11 am.    LIS personnel who wish to attend should let Ambrea know so she can schedule appropriately.  Other personnel are welcome!

LIS Meeting
Lending and Information Services Department will have a meeting on May 23rd.  See Ambrea for details.

Happy Birthday!
Clancy   May 31

Friday, May 12, 2017

Insurance, PurelyPoetry, & Birthdays!




INSURANCE
Bristol, Virginia is changing the way that insurance payments are taken out of checks.  Currently, the payment is actually for the previous month instead of being for the current month, i.e., the amount taken out of your check for May is used to pay the insurance for April.  To achieve this, the city is offering three options to employees:  take out the full amount on June 30 (extra check), to divide the amount between two extra pay period checks, or to take out the amount over a period of twenty four checks.  The amount varies by individual.  Amy has material explaining this fully, as well as a personal notification which gives the exact amount involved.

So if you receive insurance through the city, go see Amy!  Sooner is better.  The deadline is May 26 for the forms to be turned in to City Hall. When you have made your selection, leave the form in the envelope on the table in Amy's office and mark your name off the front of the envelope.


                 PurelyPoetry (and Continuing Education)


From Clancy: 
"I will be doing a test run of my PurelyPoetry workshop on May 18th at 5:30pm in the teen space for the staff and board members and I was wondering if you would make a blog entry for it. The test run will be a mock program presentation for one hour and will allow for feedback from the staff in order to tweak and improve the program prior to its maiden voyage. I have already discussed the trial run with both Amy and Hannahlily and they both are on board with the idea. Hannah will be bring it up at the Monday staff meeting but we both thought it would be a good idea to get it on the blog before you update it on Friday.

"PurelyPoetry is, well, not purely just about poetry writing! PurelyPoetry is a workshop where teens will be exposed to a litany of new knowledge. The primary focus is producing exceptional poetry. The secondary purpose of the program is to introduce and expound upon their knowledge of the arts. I will be delineating knowledge on art history, anthropology, history, astronomy, world religions etcetera in addition to improving their poetic writing skills. The old saying goes “write what you know!” and the new knowledge will serve as a catalyst of inspiration for their writing.

Each weekly workshop will have a different general theme. War will be the theme for the staff presentation.  The first hour of the program will be dedicated to the introduction of new knowledge within that theme. The knowledge will be delivered in an organic method with hidden structure. I will have a slide show prepped for each evening that is full of jumping off points that engage discussion. The teaching methodology can best be explained as Stream of Consciousness Socratic Method. The new knowledge is less about memorization of details and more about getting their creative juices flowing. The second hour, which I will not be doing with the staff, will include 20 minutes of reading three poems (that fit with the theme) and discussing them, 30 minutes of personal writing and 10 minutes at the end in order to recite or discuss the newly created poems."

So, if anyone is interested, PLEASE plan to attend! And, yes, this will count toward your Continuing Ed hours. 

Happy Birthday!

Hannah Lily   May 12

And in case you missed Amy's frog cake...

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Reminders: Insurance, Scents, and More!

Tick-Tock!


Time is running out if you want to make any changes to insurance and other benefits.  The deadline is May 5.

Perfumes, Colognes, Scents, Etc.
Some of our staff members are sensitive to strong scents. Reactions vary from headaches to dizziness to breathing problems that require doctor visits.  Please be considerate of others when using perfumes or air fresheners. 



No, it's not Mardi Gras again, but Ambrea is bringing food anyway! May 2 will see the winners of the battle of the tasty dishes in our break room.  I'm sure she wouldn't mind if folks decided to bring in a few extra snacks, chips, etc. that day.  Thank you, Ambrea!

Happy Birthday!!

Amy  April 29