RAPIDES PARISH LIBRARY

Ripple November, 2011

Volume 24, Number 11

From the Top….

All Ripple publications are available to view on our staff intranet site.

The Boyce and Outreach staffs have just pulled off another highly

successful Prime Time Family Time series. I know that there are now several families with a new appreciation for the importance of reading

for their children, along with the methods for making them into better readers and greater successes.

I’m enjoying the fall colors inside my office again this year. I’m referring to a Staff Association gift from a few years back which

consists of three candles on a stand, surrounded by autumn leaves and fall harvest produce. It sits atop my large bookcase.

I was sorry to see a couple of the Huie-Dellmon House antique rose

bushes die this year. I’m talking about the several old varieties that

were long ago planted inside the Fifth Street fence line. Even though

they received plenty of water from our sprinkling system, this past

summer’s heat was apparently just too much for two of them.

Steve

Page 2

Sierra Funding

As we begin to anticipate the arrival of the new Sierra software, which will replace Millennium, I thought I would take a moment to explain how we are able to afford this in the middle of very tight times. In 1998, when we purchased Millennium, using a grant from the Rapides Foundation, we faced the possibility of Innovative Interfaces (the company that owns the software) being bought out, and possibly dismantled, leaving us facing the need to purchase a brand new system. If that happened, there is no way that we could afford this if we had to use funds from our annual revenues. The cost would be like trying to build the new Hineston Branch from within one budget year! So, since 1998, we have been “setting aside” money most years in case of a rainy day. There have been years that we could not put aside any money, like the last few years. There have been years when our ILS fund has been “raided”, most notably to help fund the expansion of the Westside Regional Library parking lot and the Main Library facelift a few years ago. But, when we realized that Sierra was coming, and that this was the best possible price, we did have money in that “set aside” fund that could purchase this for us, without it having to come out of the regular budget that funds the library’s ongoing operations. When the present financial crisis passes, we will again begin to put money into this fund, so that when the next really expensive computer thing happens, we will be prepared.

From Around the System From Gunter: A customer suggested that they have an “educational storytime for older homeschooled kids”. Gunter is pleased to announce that a former staff member, Janet Sincavage, will be heading up this project. Janet is a former school teacher, and well qualified to do this. From Hineston: “Our customers really love our new end caps, which showcase new paper-backs. We are now adding new magazines here as well! Even though the Customer Service Survey we handed out was to be anonymous, a good number of our customers related they wanted to sign it, which they did! We took these actions as a supreme compliment!”

From McDonald: Gail is working on a new program called “Library Babies”. It is in its early planning stages. This is a VERY early literacy program for very young babies and their parents or guardians. It will teach basic concepts, like “where did that ball go???”, and help new parents to learn educational games to play with their babies.

News from the Front Lines by Laura-Ellen Ayres

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” – Jorge Luis Borges

Continued on Page 3

Page 3

Customer Service Survey Results I want to thank each of you who worked so hard to make our customer service survey in September such a success! As you can see below, the branch with the best return rate was – TA DAH! – the McDonald Branch. Congratulations, Gail, Mary Ellen and Cathy! Steve and I want to congratulate the entire staff. As I told the Library Board on Tuesday, an average return rate of 73% is phenomenal! AND our customers love us! On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being Excellent, most locations scored above 4.5%! You are ALL doing a wonderful job, and we so appreciate it. Best regards, Laura-Ellen

Total Total

1st

Batch

2nd

Batch

3rd

Batch Unused Sent Returned % Returned

MN CIRC 750 750 750 463 1787 893 49.97%

WR 750 1002 1000 500 2252 1997 88.68%

MN REF 500 750 1250 550 44.00%

RB 500 750 1250 1196 95.68%

GN 500 750 838 412 284 68.93%

MR 500 247 253 195 77.08%

MC 300 500 500 353 947 925 97.68%

JN 300 236 64 58 90.63%

BC 300 213 87 70 80.46%

HN 300 98 202 191 94.55%

KG 300 172 128 109 85.16%

BK 300 500 329 471 268 56.90%

Outreach 100 100 12 12.00%

TOTAL 9203 6748 73.32%

From King: The R.A.C.E. Reading program reposted 12 readers this summer reading a total of 82 books – all using books checked out from the King Branch!

A “Bright Idea” from Gunter: “We have decided to start a training program for all Gunter Staff. Each employee has been scheduled one hour to train on Credo, World Book and other online databases that RPL offer to the public. We will have a training checklist to ensure all employees cover all areas.”

Continued from News from the Front Lines

Page 4

King Branch News

...A Book By Its Cover

The old adage, “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” could

not have been uttered by someone who has visited the library recently. Book jackets, covers, etc. have become

almost mini-stories in themselves. The competition for book sales seems to have made the cover the most important part of the book. Once you would open the book and read

the synopsis of what the book was about on the inside of the cover to decide if you might like reading the story, but

these days one glance at the cover and you are hooked. Don’t you remember a time when the title, done in a lovely

script or an outrageous scrawl was all the hint you were getting? Now, many novels have taken to displaying very telling and even seductive scenes on the front of the covers.

Those pictures taken into consideration, the content some-times lives up to the cover’s hype and other times one finds

the read disappointing and a complete let down.

Appealing to the sense of sight seems to have become the trend for paperbacks especially.

Of course, they have always leaned more toward visual appeal: having extremely hand-some men and gorgeous women on the outside in skimpy clothes and daringly sexy poses

is the norm for the romance paperback. You find yourself going back to the cover to make sure you remember just what the hero or heroine looks like. Other paperback

genres have also followed this trend. For instance, science fiction paperbacks with weird looking aliens and dangerous looking armed soldiers or horror stories with Jason’s mask or Freddie’s blades fill the shelves of the bookstores.

But seriously, the covers or jackets have become very important in the sale of books,

which is why a fairly large part of the investment dollar is now being spent on it. Recruiting the perfect models, extensive photo shoots and hours of deliberation go into this final stage in preparation for release. So as the battle for the reader continues, maybe

we can change the old adage as it becomes more and more likely that you CAN judge a book by its cover!

Starla Jones

King Branch Manager

Page 5

The Library and the Piano

As you look at the title of this article, you might be thinking, “What do a library and a piano have in common?” As you read through the article you may discover the connection I have made between them. I entertain many children during Wednesday storytime with our day care center, and with our home schooled children on Thursdays. I always try to emphasize the wonders of the library and the joy they will find in having a library card and checking out books of interest to them. When I see the smiles on their faces and the realization that the library REALLY is a place of wonder and enjoyment I know my efforts are not in vain. I find the piano to be a fascinating instrument and one of great reward in learning to play it. Just as it takes years to perfect the technical aspects of the piano, so having a library card will give you years of enjoyment in the tremendous number of subjects, ideas, great fiction, history….the list just goes on endlessly. I bet you would even find books on the piano in the library! I found a neat saying from Charles Cooke, a famous magazine writer and amateur pianist. Mr. Cooke said, “Every piano, upright or grand, long owned or newly bought, is literally a treasure chest, waiting to give forth its inexhaustible gifts to elevate and enrich the lives around it.” You can change the wording to read “every book… long owned or newly bought, is literally a treasure chest, waiting to give forth its inexhaustible gifts to elevate and enrich the lives around it”. Find these treasures at your library! Donna LeBlanc Martin Branch Manager

Martin Branch News

Page 6

On Friday, October 28th at 1:30 p.m., employees gathered in the lounge at Main Library to tell John Thomas goodbye. He will be greatly missed by all. We wish him the best in his new career at Cleco.

Chester Mealer, Bill Huffman, Janie Primeaux, Trina Kirk and John Thomas

Page 7

In support of Breast Cancer Month, library employees were encouraged to wear

PINK on Friday, October 14th!

Donna Crawford and Jeanette Hayward from Hineston Branch

Judy Skluzacek, Stacy Dubrock, Lisa Salard, Kelly Kingrey-Edwards, Joyce Hamilton, Dee Thompson, Charlotte Morris, Jana Fryday

Jimmy Holsomback, Carolyn Colwell, Stacy Dubrock, Steve Rogge

Seneca McGinnis, Brenda Harvey, Tina Verrier

Page 8

Bouquets of Thanks

To: Jana From: Laura-Ellen

Thank you SO MUCH for the time and effort you have spent to collate all the Customer Service

Surveys. It got to where I felt guilty to give you the next packet! I really appreciate your efforts!

To Jimmy, Laura-Ellen, Kelly, Wes, Bev, Jana, Stacy, Janie and Bob, from Steve,

for asking the hard questions, expressing heartfelt opinions and providing insights and information that all contributed to the challenging 2012 budget proposal that we’ll be

presenting to the Library Board of Control.

To Jana, from Steve, for the huge job of

compiling the thousands of customer surveys

that we collected.

To John Thomas, from Steve: I hate to see

you move on, although I understand. Thanks

for all the good service, always delivered with a

smile, and for never telling me how technology

-challenged I am.

Happiness Thought for November: “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”

- Mark Twain

To: Lisa From: Laura-Ellen

Thank you so much for helping me to come up with the idea of having a lunch for the location

which turns in the most Customer Service Surveys. AND thank you for being willing to help me make this a reality. You are the best!

The Johnson Branch is happy to announce that we

have a new entrance to the library. We’ve moved our

front access just one door down the hall. So come on

down the hallway to Johnson.

Mary Mahoney Murry, Branch Manager

Johnson’s New Entrance

To: Jonathan From: Laura-Ellen

Thank you for faithfully sending me clippings regarding RPL from The Town Talk. I really

appreciate this!

Page 9

HR Corner

Florence Roberts 1 Mary Ellen Kenyon 10 Maryann Strange 23 Amanda Patterson 25

Service Years: Lois Lawcewicz 5 Brenda Rodriguez 5 Saconda Baty 15

Tracy McKern has been selected as our new Security Monitor.

He began his employment in this position on October 3.

Tracy lives in Pineville with his wife, Charlotte. His daughters, Christine and Kimberly attend Pineville High School and his daughter, Kayla is

enrolled at Northwestern. Tracy owns and operates Tom’s Computer Service in his spare time.

He worked for Personal Computers for twelve years.

Tracy’s hobbies and interest include computers and gun collecting. He is a veteran of the first Persian Gulf War.

25 YEARS OF SERVICE

(September 22, 1986)

At the October 18 Library Board Meeting,

Laura-Ellen Ayres presented Brenda Harvey

with her 25 Year Service Award. Brenda

received a certificate, a plaque, and a new

name badge with a 25 year pin. Laura-Ellen

said Brenda was known throughout our

Library organization as someone who is very

good at handling difficult customers with tact

and fairness. She also mentioned Brenda

spent a lot of time promoting RPL at schools

and elsewhere in the community. The Board

applauded Brenda, and she thanked them for

the opportunity to work at RPL.

Steve Rogge presenting Brenda Harvey with her 25

year plaque

Page 10

Halloween at the Library

(L to R)

Amanda Patterson, Tammy DiBartolo,

Karla Kirby and Joy Luttrell

Westside Regional

Cherry Collins, Volunteer

King Branch

Dixie O’Quinn and Mary Murry

Johnson Branch

Brenda Harvey, Main Library

Page 11

Robertson Branch

Tom Sawyer's Book Discussion

on October 25. Linda Ainsworth, Donna Spillers,

Diane Kitts, and Patricia Jowers

“Little Read” held at Robertson.

Deborah Boerboom, Jennifer Earnest-King, Jo Ellen Barton

and the O’Banion girls Alyssa, Samantha and Hannah

Front: Jo Ellen Barton and Monique Richmond

Back: Mariann Strange, Jennifer Earnest-King and Deborah Boerboom

Robertson Staff

Page 12 Flu shots and wellness screenings were given at HDH on Friday, October 28th from 7:00—11:00 AM.

Lois Lawcewicz getting

ready for her shot.

John Thomas and Susan Baker are all smiles

as they complete their paperwork.

Londa Price waiting her turn.

Vickie Carter and Lois Lawcewicz completing required information.

Page 13

Page 14

Book Quotes

This certificate was given to Robertson

Branch in appreciation of Jo Ellen Barton’s hours at Tioga Elementary Community Days

on October 8. There were 100 workers and 600 people who visited all the booths.