Memorial Library Staff Information

Building the nation’s premier four-year work experience program is one of Berry College’s strategic initiatives, and as a large student employer the Library has an important part to play in accomplishing that goal. We should also view this initiative as an opportunity: to add to a history of nurturing students who later choose librarianship as a profession, to have a direct role in the educational mission of the college, to develop an innovative program that connects library student workers to information literacy and the Library to student success. The Student Work Committee:

• Coordinates the development of an integrated, Library-wide student work program that recognizes both the Library’s basic operational needs and the opportunity to develop a more cohesive, programmatic approach to mentoring student staff.

• Provides ongoing oversight of the Library’s student work program.

• Develops Library-wide training materials for student staff and provides support for the development of job-specific training materials.

• Coordinates documentation and training for library staff.

• Develops and disseminates knowledge on student employment in higher education.

OPEN CAMPUS LETTER: "Worthwhile Work Well Done,” President Steve Briggs, February 26, 2010

• Student Worker Library Orientation – Sun., Aug. 25 at 2 pm
• Orientation Agenda:

Combining students from different departments and using iPads and QR codes to identify approx.. 15 informational /departmental areas within the library the descriptive information will be embedded in the QR codes; this activity is meant to be both informative and facilitate teamwork

Sherre will introduce herself as the library director and review and discuss the Privacy Student Worker Agreement form which includes information about confidentiality of library records and procedures for responding to law enforcement requests

Department orientations

Snacks will be provided for the students

Name tags will be distributed for students to write their names as they arrive for the orientation session which will also include departmental identification information

·         Sherre will update the master library student worker list

·         Optional Student Training Workshop Ideas– Fall 2013

Customer Service – Robin Holt

Relaxation/Yoga – Jeanne Schul

Career Center offerings

Need to determine other incentives for students to attend one additional training workshop (in addition to being paid by the library as part of their work).

·         Training workshop for student supervisors – Fall 2013

In response to President Briggs’ Report on Student Engagement (Oct. 20, 2011) the Library is applying the concept of student engagement to student mentoring – a literature search has identified some articles  concerning student worker mentoring: “Student Workers Can Learn More on the Job” - http://chronicle.com/article/Student-Workers-Can-Learn-More/31506/ and “The Accidental Mentorship: Library Managers’ Roles in Student Employees’ Academic Professional Lives” – http://crln.acrl.org/content/72/2/99.full (see meeting minutes from March 13, 2013)

 The workshop will focus on reading and discussing some articles relating to student mentoring in the library environment.

 The workshop will be primarily for those who supervise students, but also those who do not supervise students will also be invited to participate

·         Library Administration will assume responsibility for facilitating SOAR this year with the understanding that all supervisors will hopefully participate in at least one session and then meet as a group before the end of summer to discuss our conclusions.

·         Library Administration will also assume responsibility for updating the Library Student Worker Guidelines which will then be converted to a Libguide for ease of access.

·         Each individual department will be given an annual “party” budget to be used at your discretion throughout the academic year. There will be no library-wide social events planned by the Student Work Committee but various department can collaborate (or not!) as they choose.

·         Fall Orientation will continue to be coordinated by the Student Work Committee as an all-library event. As in the past, individual department supervisor can and should plan their own orientation to follow and advise their particular students well in advance in regard to the time commitment expected.

·         We will no longer require 2 training workshops per semester. Instead, we will offer one training opportunity each semester (in addition to orientation) and offer some type of bonus for participation. (What type of “Bonus” this will be has yet to be decided!)

·         The Student Work Committee will pursue additional training opportunities throughout the year for Supervisors and other library staff in regard to ways to better mentor our student workers.

·         Michelle has agreed to (or rather the Committee has agreed to let her) chair the Student Work Committee for the upcoming year.

Library party planning

·         Library party is scheduled for Fri., April 19, from 6-7:30 pm

·         Discussed food entrée items, condiments, and dessert – meatballs, baked potatoes, and ice cream will be served for about 40-50 people

·         Invitations will be sent to all library workers; staff can bring guests

·         Crock pots will be needed for heating and serving food

·         Entertainment ideas include – distribute stress balls and gift bags, board games, coloring contest, piñata, guess the M&Ms in a jar

• Discussed the idea of developing a set of core competencies for library student workers representative of each department that can be integrated into the library Student Worker Guidelines  
• Identified 2 articles concerning student worker mentoring: “Student Workers Can Learn More on the Job” - http://chronicle.com/article/Student-Workers-Can-Learn-More/31506/ and “The Accidental Mentorship: Library Managers’ Roles in Student Employees’ Academic Professional Lives” – http://crln.acrl.org/content/72/2/99.full
• It was decided that the “Behind the Curtain” student training workshop will not occur during the spring semester – there is not enough time to adequately plan and design workshop content; future plans include incorporation into Orientation training during the fall semester when departmental functions/different work areas can be better illustrated
• A listing of online student training workshop/webinar options are accessible thru VikingWeb
• Links to archived content for online professional development workshops are posted on the staff info libguide - http://libguides.berry.edu/staffinfo in the Professional Development tab
• Discussed the idea of developing a student supervisor training module
• Each department will receive funds to be used for student activities; budgeted funds will be determined according to the amount of student worker staff in each department
• Discussed plans/food arrangements for a library party to be held on Friday, April 19 from 6 – 7:30 pm in the lobby

 

 

·         Reviewed survey forms and attendance sheets from the first workshop of the spring semester – “Dealing With Difficult People,” conducted by Robin Holt, Student Work Training Coordinator on Jan. 31

·         Need to determine the resulting consequences of students not meeting their workshop requirements

·         Need to determine alternative, online workshop choices for students; for example, selecting from LYRASIS Education Services   

·         Some library student workers attended the Business Etiquette Dinner, offered by the Career Center on Feb. 7

·         Discussed ideas for the “Library – Behind the Scenes” workshop (March 21); previous student survey responses demonstrated an interest in learning more about the different library departments

·         Reviewed comments from the Library’s External Review regarding the student work experience and mentoring; discussed the idea of mentoring students includes matching job tasks with student talents/interests and being engaged with students and the importance of time management in the workplace    

·         Reviewed survey results determining interest in future workshop – Dealing With Difficult People workshop to be conducted by Robin Holt, Coordinator of Berry Student Enterprises and Student Work Training; students expressed an interest in attending this workshop, scheduled for Thurs., Jan. 31 at 11 am and 5 pm in the classroom

·         It was agreed that Cheryl will continue to serve as the committee chairperson for the remainder of the term (expiring on May 1, 2013)

·         Student worker lists need to be updated in VikingWeb and the library’s spreadsheet – Student Workers – 2012-2013 to reflect recent changes in student staffing

·         Discussed winter/spring party ideas and scheduling options during the spring semester

·         Discussed other spring workshop options/ideas, including Career Center offerings which can be made accessible to students thru VikingWeb  

 

November 8, 2012

• Finalized preparations for the relaxation workshop on Dec. 4 at 11 am at the Cage Center conducted by Jeanne Schul for students and staff; a publicity poster will be created
• The idea of offering online workshop options via VikingWeb was discussed as an alternative to classroom training scenarios
• Discussed upcoming holiday season student celebration ideas; departments will be able to  arrange and finance events for their student workers

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October 5, 2012

• Discussed training workshop ideas for the fall semester
• Create a survey using SurveyMonkey to determine interest in future workshops for the spring semester
• Relaxation workshop will be scheduled for Dec. 4 at the Cage Center, space is limited and advance registration will be required
• Discussed end-of-semester/winter party future plans for students with themes and door prizes

 

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September 14, 2012

• Discussed the relationship between student engagement and student work; see 2011 report re: Student Engagement
• Information about training classes will be posted on a VikingWeb
• Offer 2 workshops each semester; schedule 2 training times for each workshop
• Discussed training ideas – Learning about the LC Classification system, customer service/dealing with difficult people, intellectual freedom, and evaluating information sources
• Dealing With Stress workshop – scheduled for the week of Dec. 7; Evaluating Web Sources in the 2012 Elections – scheduled for Oct. 23, create publicity poster thee week of Oct. 8
• Workshop ideas for the spring semester – study skills and taking ownership of work roles/responsibilities

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June 7, 2012

• Cheryl will serve as committee chairperson from June-Nov. 2012 and Michael will serve from Dec. 2012-May 2013
• Reviewed upcoming SOAR dates (Tues. & Fri. during June) – June 12, 15, 19, 22, 26 to arrange meetings with groups of new students
• Library job descriptions, applications, and student availability schedule forms will be reviewed and updated as necessary for SOAR information packets
• Sherre will e-mail a welcome message that introduces students to the Library and students will also receive welcoming e-mails from their departmental supervisors
• Discussed orientation session planning logistics; library orientation is scheduled for Aug. 26 from 2-4 pm and departmental orientations will be from 4-5 pm   

• E-vites were distributed, which resulted in more than 30 confirmed responses. The R.S.V.P. is by Friday, April 23. Vivienne will check for additional confirmed responses by Monday, April 26.
• Graduating seniors will be recognized.
• Door prizes will be distributed for students only, who must be present with a valid ticket. Need to determine gift card limits, such as for books and restaurants.
• Grill tools and charcoal will be provided.
• The Library will provide: ready-made burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, buns, condiments, cheese, plates, napkins, utensils, and drinks.
• Library staff will be asked to provide door prizes, side dishes, and/or desserts.
• The Garden Room at Oak Hill has a full kitchen; the refrigerator will be available throughout the day for onsite storage of food items before the party.
• Michael will provide additional coolers with ice.

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March 24, 2010

Present: Vivienne Durbin, Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, and Michael O’Malley.

Spring semester party planning

• The "Berry Bus" can be rented for $17.50/hr. plus .65 cents/mile (the bus driver remains with the group for the duration of the event). For reservations contact the Physical Plant - Auto Shop.
• It was determined that the House o'Dreams and the Keown Picnic Center would not be accommodating due to lack of restrooms and space for food preparation.
• Facilities rentals (http://www.berry.edu/oakhill/facilities.asp) - Vivienne contacted Cheli Rouse to inquire about the availability and cost of renting facilities. It was determined that restrooms and an option for an indoor/covered facility would be essential for the location of the party.
• Another option considered was the pavilions at Ridge Ferry Park through the Event & Rentals Coordinator of the Rome-Floyd Parks & Recreation Authority.
• Games & Activities - the E-vite will mention that students will be encouraged to bring games and pursue recreational activities.
• Door Prizes will be given to those students who attend the party. Sherre will coordinate the plans for selection and distribution of door prizes.
• Sherre will send a separate staff notification soliciting "side dish" contributions.

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March 4, 2010

Present: Vivienne Durbin, Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, and Michael O’Malley.

Spring semester party planning

• Check facilities rentals – Keown Picnic Pavilion or House o’Dreams; need to determine attendance and availability of bathrooms and space for food prep (Vivienne)
• Students organize games & activities
• Transportation – Michael will check “Berry bus”
• Dates – week of April 26-30 > plan for Friday, April 30 from 4-6:30 pm
• The Library will be responsible for beverages, main dishes (burgers), utensils, and paper plates/napkins
• Vivienne will arrange for the E-vite creation and distribution
• There will be announcements recognizing graduating seniors (each department will be responsible for gifts for their seniors

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 in the conference room at 2 pm.

 

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February 22, 2010

Present: Vivienne Durbin, Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, and Michael O’Malley. The meeting began at 11:03 am and 12:25 pm.

Agenda –

• Future training issues/ideas: evaluation of information sources, Building Emergency Action Plan (BEAP) – understanding roles & responsibilities, and Disaster Recovery Plan (what to do?) what steps to take?
• Sherre has been developing a self-paced tutorial re: evaluation of information sources. The tutorial needs to be tested

BEAP

• There will be future training “sessions” and testing (drills) concerning disaster preparedness to include building evacuations.
• Training should consist of reviewing plan contents, identifying and understanding of roles & responsibilities, and materials handling. 
• ALL library student staff MUST be able to have a general understanding of plan contents.
• Departments will be trained concerning SPECIFIC job tasks
• Create a training tutorial concerning materials handling
• One hour training during the semester
• Train the trainer training
• Tornadoes
• Fires
• Flooding/water damage
• Students need training re: BEAP
• Identification of training areas
• Action
• Evacuation
• Create a .pdf version of the BEAP for distribution to student staff
• Weather radios – located in the Director’s office and at the Circulation Desk.

Next meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 4 @ 2 pm in the conference room and will concern spring semester party planning.

 

November 20, 2009

Present: Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, and Michael O’Malley. The meeting began at 3:45 pm and concluded at 4:30 pm.

There was further discussion concerning the holiday party on Friday, December 4, 2009.

• Tablecloths and festive plates and bowls will be used
• The Library will provide and reimburse expenses for the piñata, plates/eating utensils and beverages
• Laqeuida Joiner may be able to provide assistance with shopping for suppliesat Sams Club and Walmart
• The Library will provide for a taco bar with fixings
• Students may be able to provide dessert and side dishes as well as chips & salsa
• Xiaojing will bring fajitas
• Jenny will look into providing food warmers, ice, and beverages
• Michael will bring extra serving utensils
• Last year’s guitar music was provided by Skylar, a student worker, the Library will ask if he can also provide guitar music for this year’s holiday party
• Other music may be provided, such as a radio, for festive music tunes
• There are 3 6 ft. long tables in the classroom storage room that the Library could use for serving the food; also, contact physical plant for additional sources of tables
• Sherre will inform department supervisors that graduating seniors will be recognized at the party

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November 10, 2009

Present: Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, Kaitlin Maginnis (student representative), and Michael O’Malley. Cheryl invited Kaitlin to this meeting to be a student representative concerning planning for the holiday party.

Holiday Party

• The holiday party is scheduled for Friday, December 4, 2009, from 5:30-7:30 pm. The Library will close at 5 pm, at which time setup for the party will commence.
• The Library will provide beverages, cups, plates, napkins, and eating utensils. It was noted that last year’s party saw an abundance of main dishes. Due to a shortage of staff preparing main dishes, it was suggested that the main focus should be on selecting staff and students who could prepare main dishes and then have others contribute appetizers, chips & dip, and dessert. It would be easier to organize the party food around those that could prepare main dishes and have others contribute various food items.
• A distribution list will include staff as well as students. Sherre will create an “e-vite” which will encourage staff & students to invite friends & family.
• Cheryl will check with Jenny re: the availability of buffet warmers & hotplates.
• Entertainment will consist of a piñata (for the children), which will be obtained by Cheryl and holiday music (provided by students? or recorded songs?).
• Kaitlin Maginnis will assist with party setup and Michael O’Malley will assist with party cleanup.
• December graduates will be recognized by their supervisor during the party.

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 at 2 pm.

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October 19, 2009

Present: Vivienne Durbin, Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, and Michael O’Malley.

Announcements:

• Student Orientation Advising and Registration (SOAR) dates for 2010 are during June: 14-15, 17-18, 21-22, 24-25, and 28-29.
• Ideas for a Student Training Session during spring 2010 concern disaster planning OR evaluating information sources. Sherre will check with her student workers (Daniel Kohl and Mary Jinglewski).

Christmas Party or a Welcome Back party??

• Need to decide between dates – Dec. 4 (last day of classes) or Jan. 12 (beginning of classes)
• Cheryl will send an e-mail soliciting staff feedback re: selecting a party date

Other Semester “Holidays”

• The Library will distribute candy for patrons on Friday, Oct. 30

 

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September 17, 2009

Present: Vivienne Durbin, Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, and Michael O’Malley.

Orientation training review

• Overall, orientation went well and was positively received by the students
• Privacy agreements were given to Sherre and student staff members were accounted for by department
• LC Easy training update: students must complete the tutorial and the first quiz by Fall break and the remaining 2 sections (Basic & Advanced Book Sorting) by Spring break; students will print “certificates of completion for each section
• Student evaluations will be solicited for future orientation training sessions
• The classroom was too hot and crowded, the introductions went too long, there was a lot of content for little time
• Future orientation training planning will include students

Future events

• Christmas party scheduled for Friday, December 4, the last day of classes.
• Vivienne will coordinate the initial plans and remaining committee members will continue with planning and organizational responsibilities during Vivienne’s leave of absence

Announcements

• Establishing a student worker spending account for each department
• Next meeting will be scheduled during the week of Oct. 19

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August 20, 2009

Present: Vivienne Durbin, Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, and Michael O’Malley.

Discussion and review of Library student worker training/orientation to be conducted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 from 3-5:30 pm:

• Jenny Kleine will coordinate dinner arrangements. Pizza will be delivered from Papa John’s and drinks (purchased from Sams Club) will be provided by the Library. The total cost of the pizza dinner is $185.81.
• Sherre will send all students an e-mail introducing herself as the Library Director and confirm the time of the orientation as being from 3-5:30 pm. There will be about 44 students attending the orientation.
• Students will sign-in at the circulation desk, at which time name tags and folders will be made available. Folders will contain information concerning the Library’s Privacy and Confidentiality policy and forms will be signed by each student indicating that they are aware of the policy. Sherre will ensure that all students return the form with their signature.
• Library staff (Emily and Leah) will assist with introductions which will take place under the chandeliers. Discussion about the Library’s Privacy and Confidentiality policy will also occur under the chandeliers. Training videos will be shown in the classroom. Videos are grouped into 3 categories: intellectual freedom, customer service, and materials care. Students will receive instructions for the scavenger hunt in the classroom at the conclusion of showing the videos. Students will be grouped into 7 teams and must answer 8 assigned questions along with as many of the remaining questions as possible within the remaining time to qualify for prizes. Students will collect puzzle pieces which are “clues” to two library work environment themes.

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July 30, 2009

Present: Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, Michael O’Malley, and Vivienne Durbin.

• The last SOAR session during Viking Venture may produce additional freshmen workers. Sherre will contact the Student Work department to check if more students have selected the library as their place of employment.
• All students need to be contacted regarding the mandatory training/orientation scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 23 from 3-5:30 pm.
• Library staff and students will wear name tags; students will be given folders which will contain worker guidelines and a library privacy and confidentiality agreement that must be signed during the training/orientation session.
• During their work in the library, students will be exposed to the Library of Congress classification system. The library has acquired training software, LC Easy, which will be completed by all student workers no later than the beginning of fall break (Oct. 10). Supervisors are encouraged to have their students complete the training as soon as possible; students will be able to print a certificate upon successful completion.
• Training/orientation consists of student/staff introductions, library privacy & confidentiality, viewing training videos, and a scavenger hunt.
• Vivienne is responsible for coordinating student/staff introductions (about 20 min.).
• Sherre will present information concerning library privacy & confidentiality issues and students will sign statements which will be inserted in their training folders. Sherre will collect the signed statements to be filed in the administrative office (about 10 min.).
• Cheryl is responsible for selecting training videos which focus on customer service behaviors in the library environment (about 30 min.).
• Michael will arrange a library-wide scavenger hunt which will expose students to the different library departments (about 30 min.).
• Students will report to their work departments for additional training where they will learn about departmental guidelines and their main functions/roles (about 60 min.).
• A pizza dinner will be served at the conclusion of their departmental training at about 5:30 pm.

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May 22, 2009

Present: Vivienne Durbin, Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Chery Hawkins, and Michael O'Malley.

Privacy issues & confidentiality statement forms:

• Student Employment Confidentiality Statement/Agreement forms are retained for 7 years
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) - Sherre will create a policy that addresses privacy issues with regard to the Library/Archives
• Students will formally sign a confidentiality agreement upon completion of library training

Library Training:

• Scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009 from 3-5 pm
• Duration: 1.5 hrs. (required/paid training), training will include a video, an introduction to the various departments, and a scavenger hunt; snacks/refreshments will be served
• Students will be directed to come to the library on their SOAR date and will presented with a training packet which will include information that describes the library work enviornment along with various job descriptions
• If hiring a student, an e-mail message will be sent which will introduce the student to the library staff

Updating policies & guidelines for consistency to include information such as:

• stating that student workers could be shared between departments during times of need
• student workers' awareness of being approachable to provide assistance for patrons

The next meeting will be scheduled by Michael O'Malley during the week of June 8, 2009.

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May 11, 2009

Present: Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, Michael O’Malley, and Vivienne Durbin.

It is important to have a steady amount of freshman workers employed in the Library. Incoming freshman class consists of 11 students who want to work in the Library. Need to obtain the application information from these 11 incoming students

Training Day

• Scheduled so that it doesn’t conflict with Viking Venture
• Student Worker Guidelines
• Gather departmental student worker guidelines
• Review & update student worker guidelines
• Create broad student worker guidelines for the Library
• Create policies as necessary
• Determine goals
• Show video, “Murder in the Stacks”
• Search YouTube for other library training videos
• Review BCC materials for training materials
• Include Archives “treasure hunt”

In two weeks, Michael O’Malley will send an e-mail to committee members to schedule the next meeting.

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April 14, 2009

Present: Vivienne Durbin, Sherre Harrington, Cheryl Hawkins, and Michael O'Malley.

Plans were discussed for the Library's end-of-the-year student recognition party. Space near the volleyball courts will be reserved and charcoal grills will be rented. The main entree, beverages, and plates/utensils will be provided by the Library; side dishes and desserts will be provided by the staff. Vivienne will distribute and e-vite which will include party details. Invited guests are encouraged.

It was agreed that each department would be responsible for their own senior gift ideas.

The next meeting is scheduled for 1 pm on Monday, May 11, 2009 in the library conference room; the agenda consists of discussing the upcoming "Training Day" at the beginning of Fall semester 2009.

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April 6, 2009

The meeting was facilitated by Sherre, who recognized that there is much emphasis placed on the Student Work Program at Berry and that the program provides many difference types of work opportunities for students. It would be beneficial for students to be exposed to a more complete library experience through a training program that is inclusive of all library functions and can occur in the form of formal training, conducting meetings & tours, and through social gatherings.

Orientation training "modules" could include information about the different types of library operations, department locations, specific library resource information, and department training manuals.

Graduating senior student workers will be recognized at the the of the Spring 2009 semester.

There will be an end of the semester party held on Thur., April 30, 2009. This social event will include a cookout and will be held at the volleyball courts between Thomas Berry Hall and Richards Gym. There will be a Training Day scheduled for Fri., Aug. 21, 2009. In addition to orientation training, Sherre will also be providing training regarding library privacy issues.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tues., April 14, 2009 at 1 pm.