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Monthly Archives: September 2015

Information and Action Items from Library Management Team 8/31/15

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INFORMATION ITEM: LMT reviewed the proposed agenda and made additions/adjustments.

INFORMATION ITEM: Update on 114 Ellis Library: Pat Jones reported that carpet will be installed around 9/14/15. We hope the room will open to students soon after that date.

INFORMATION ITEM: Campus Facilities Department is updating the specifications of the UMLD expansion (Phase II).Plans and cost estimates will be used to further consider the Libraries proposal to complete the expansion as originally designed.

INFORMATION ITEM: Update on the conversion of room 205 Ellis Library into a US Census Regional Data Center:  Two meetings are planned with contacts from the RDC in the near future.  The meetings will discuss the security needs of the room and some of the operational details. The Center is operated independent of the Libraries but everyone is eager to explore how the resources of the two entities might complement each other.  

INFORMATION ITEM: Ellen and Ann Riley will meet with Risk management soon to talk about traditional insurance for the collection until the Libraries’ self-insurance fund is replenished. The self-insurance account is allocated an incremental amount of money per year.  The library lets that account build-up in order to draw money from the overall pool in the event of an emergency.  The pool of money was nearly all used up to deal with the mold situation.  Discussion ensued about how to insure the collection going forward.  More information and clarifications will be sought from Risk Management.

INFORMATION ITEM: LMT discussed specific and general issues about Ellis Library extending its hours beginning 9/8/15.  The Library will stay open 24 hours during the semester. The 24 hour operation will begin Sunday at 12 Noon and extend to Friday at 12 Midnight (during a typical semester week).  After Midnight, Security will ask library users to move to the ground and first floors.

INFORMATION ITEM: Library employee representation – Ann visited with Bryce McDonald who, along with others, would like to form a library staff organization as a comparable group to MULAC (MU Librarians and Archivist Council).  LMT expressed support.  The group would be initiated and organized by the staff.

INFORMATION ITEM: MU Libraries employees are encouraged to go to educational and training sessions, especially those offered by the Libraries. Division heads will ask supervisors to be as supportive as possible, acknowledging that coverage is sometimes an issue, especially with the reduced number of staff members.  As always, supervisor permission is still required to attend.

INFORMATION ITEM: Staff Development Committee will be conducting a needs assessment survey in September.

Centennial Committee Meeting, 8/31/15

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Attending: Shannon Cary, Sheila Voss, John Budd, Marie Concannon, Jim Cogswell, Gary Cox, Rebecca Graves

Library Society Dinner on April 15, 2016

  • Jim announced that David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, has agreed to make an additional public presentation as well as serve as keynote speaker at the annual Library Society Dinner on April 15th. The committee recommended that we reserve Room 114A for the whole day and choose a time for the event that is convenient with Mr. Ferriero’s schedule. Jim recommended that we advertise with various University departments – history, political science, journalism, library school, etc. – for the public event.

Centennial Kickoff Celebration on September 23, 2015

  • Shannon announced that all the Kickoff giveaways have been ordered and the proofs approved. The t-shirts should be arriving any day.  
  • Marie Concannon created the red star currently attached to the Libraries’ centennial poster advertising the Centennial Kickoff on September 23rd. Shannon will have more stars made to advertise other centennial events for the centennial posters.   
  • Sheila announced that she, Jim and Pat Jones met last week to discuss the layout of Lowry Mall for the Kickoff celebration. Room 114 Ellis Library will be the fallback location if it rains. The carpet in Room 114 should be laid by that date. 
  • Last week, the committee chose the bean bag toss, library trivia, and a cartoon caption contest for the kickoff games. Rebecca has been emailing people to find an artist for the cartoon captioning contest but has not received any responses yet. She would like three different cartoons for the contest. Rebecca also asked the committee to send her any library trivia questions for that game. Lastly, the committee approved the purchase of a bean bag toss game for the kickoff. The committee will donate the game to MULSA after the kickoff.  

Centennial Art Contest

  • Jim and Gary met with Jo Stealey, head of the MU Art department, to discuss the centennial art contest. He and Gary still need to finalize the prospectus for the contest. Jim asked the committee for names of people who might be willing to serve as judges for the contest. The committee recommended asking Bill Bondeson, Lawrence Rugolo, Anne Stanton, Joan Stack and Ruth Tofle to be judges. Jim inquired if the art submissions could be submitted via the MU Libraries website for judging purposes.
  • The MU Libraries would purchase and display the winning artwork from the centennial art contest. We would like all of the art submissions on display in Ellis Library sometime in the centennial year.    

MU Libraries Gateway Website

  • Shannon announced that a centennial page has been created on the Libraries’ gateway website. Information about the centennial events is displayed but the centennial poster graphic has not been added yet. The page can be found here:  http://library.missouri.edu/centennial/

 

Social Media Training Opportunities

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Interested in learning more about social media? Mark your calendar for upcoming training opportunities.

The Social Media Team is working on new processes and guidelines to create dynamic, engaging presences on Facebook and Twitter for the MU Libraries, and we need your help.  Join us to learn more about using social media to communicate with our users.  Find out how you can contribute information, news, and other pieces of content to be featured online. 

Training will be offered during the week of September 28, with the exact date TBD.  Mark your calendars, and contact Kelli Hansen or Grace Atkins for more information.  In the meantime, check out the links below:

The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media

A Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Advertising

Notes from the Director, 9/2/15

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Hello everyone,

As we approach the end of the second week of regular semester classes, I have to wonder if you all feel the same way I do, that the fall semester hit like a tidal wave.  Of course Law, School of Medicine and Vet Med students were already back, but they are fewer in number. Apparently the graduate students and administration are working through their differences with the help of the Chancellor’s task force and other groups, and we all wish them well.  The campus strategic plan emphasizes graduate student enrollment and enhancing the graduate student experience, which should help.

We have been experiencing delays with returning Ellis rooms 114 and 202 to service, mostly because of the new carpeting. We need the rooms back, but we also need the new carpet that is still coming. Both rooms should be available now after Sept.14. A small committee will be working with Facilities to get the furniture in 114 re-arranged, and will plan for new furniture as part of the fee campaign. Without the orange periodical shelves, the traces of its old role as CPRR will be almost gone. It will have a very different look and feel, and we want to make it an attractive, usable space. 

On the 24/5 transition for Ellis, we should be ready by Sept 8.  Some new security staff has been hired and trained, and signs, some new locks, and other details solved or in process. We are hoping to get self-check machines installed in Ellis as soon as we can also, but that won’t be before Sept. 8.

Work continues on plans for the addition to UMLD, and I hope to have more good news on that soon.

Special thanks this week to Michaelle Dorsey and her staff for their vigilance in monitoring environmental conditions across the University Libraries to ward off any mold or related problems in library collections. It’s a thankless, continuing task but makes a difference.

This week was the second meeting of the newly re-constituted Library Management Team (LMT).  Most of you have heard that in addition to Jeannette Pierce, Mike Holland, Deb Ward and me that Ernest Shaw, Sheryl Cullina, Ellen Blair, Pat Jones and Corrie Hutchinson are now LMT members.  We all meet together twice monthly.  I hope that adding more operational people to the team will help us address many issues more promptly and effectively.

Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.

Ann