NORTHERN LIGHTS LIBRARY SYSTEM MEMBER LIBRARY PROCEDURES MANUAL WHAT DO I DO AS A NEWLY APPOINTED LIBRARIAN? Welcome! You’re hired! Start here: Obtain relevant information on the history of your community's involvement with Northern Lights Library System (NLLS). Visit the NLLS website: http://www.nlls.ab.ca to see what the system has to offer you and your patrons. Phone NLLS headquarters and introduce yourself to the Administrative Assistant who can schedule an orientation visit from the Public Services and Technical Services staff. Familiarize yourself with the procedures manual. Write down questions to ask the consultant over the phone or when she visits or for when you come to headquarters. Familiarize yourself with your own library’s services and collections. Write down all your questions and don’t be afraid to ask them. The only stupid question is the one you don’t want to ask. Review your library’s plan of service and make note of when it expires. Ask your board any questions you have about the document’s development or contents. Contact NLLS headquarters if your plan has expired or is expiring soon. A current Plan of Service is a mandatory requirement for public libraries in Alberta. As you become more familiar with library policies and procedures … … welcome and help everyone who comes to the library. - Be sensitive to the needs of all the people in your community, be they teenagers, seniors, immigrants, unemployed workers, children, homemakers, and everything else under the sun. - People who only use the Internet are just as important as the people who only read books. … learn how to take and too fill patron requests for books from other libraries. - Check the local library materials first for any reader requests. - Always suggest that the patron put a hold on anything not available at your local library. - Handle interlibrary loans/requests/holds from your patrons and requests/holds sent to your library within 24 hours. - Remember, the role of the library is service: a library is useless if the books remain on the shelves. … establish and maintain constant communication with NLLS headquarters. - Inform headquarters of any changes in staff, hours, location, phone, email address. - Ensure that headquarters has a copy of your most recent: - Plan of Service - Technology Plan - Annual Report - Budget & Statement of Receipts and Disbursements - Policies - Review your book allotment report.. - Review your collection codes when they are sent out annually. Evaluate your cataloguing profile. - Contribute news articles to Aurora, the NLLS Newsletter. - Send requests for TRAC/TAL cards, registration forms, patrons barcodes, plastic covers, and bookmarks to headquarters - Send updates for this member library procedures manual as required to headquarters. … operate the library under the guidelines established by the local board. - Establish and maintain constant communication with board members. - Report to local library board at every regular meeting. - Know the difference between board responsibilities and library manager responsibilities. June 2009 BACKGROUND page 1-1 NORTHERN LIGHTS LIBRARY SYSTEM MEMBER LIBRARY PROCEDURES MANUAL … maintain accurate and relevant usage statistics of library use. - Complete the annual report for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Libraries Branch. Send a copy to headquarters, keep a copy for your board file, and send the original to the Libraries Branch. - Communicate statistics to your board and community regularly. Be aware of and knowledgeable about NLLS services: - The TRAC/TAL Card - Interlibrary Loan - Multilingual Resources - Online catalogue - Paperbacks-by-Mail - Summer Reading Program - Talking Books and Large Print for the Visually Impaired - HQ Blocks available for your library to borrow (Large Print, DVD, Playaway, Audio, Specialty blocks) - Programming Kits available to your library - Virtual Reference - Bulk purchasing for libraries - Online databases - Cataloguing sheets - 35% outside purchases - Acquisitions order form - Consulting Support Maintain a well-organized and attractive library. Try to be informed about community, provincial, national, and global topics. Join professional associations if you can (Library Association of Alberta memberships are sliding-scale $35 and up) Attend workshops to further your own professional development, i.e. Librarians’ Council meetings and NLLS Annual Conference Establish a good rapport with businesses and the newspaper in your town. - Contribute regularly to a column for library news in the local newspaper. - Maintain a high library profile in the community so businesses will use your resources and support you when you need it. - Public relations and community awareness are good tools for preventing tough times for your library. Plan and oversee the summer reading program, including supervising summer staff each year and applying for STEP grants to fund them. - NLLS supplies summer reading program materials and a traveling children’s entertainer. Every year, review the periodicals you are ordering to determine if they are meeting the customers' needs email / mail is the vital link among member libraries and between member libraries and NLLS headquarters. Please handle all email/mail promptly and respond accordingly to any deadlines or questions mentioned in correspondence weed on a regular basis to maintain a collection that is current and attractive- keep the collection up-to- date and the actual material in good repair do an inventory every three to five years (ask a consultant for assistance) display best sellers prominently in the library don't forget to have fun while doing your job June 2009 BACKGROUND page 1-2 NORTHERN LIGHTS LIBRARY SYSTEM MEMBER LIBRARY PROCEDURES MANUAL WHAT IS A LIBRARY SYSTEM? Northern Lights Library System The Northern Lights Library System (NLLS) consists of individual libraries organized in a network that collectively serves the needs of residents in northeastern Alberta. By banding together as a unit, the NLLS member libraries are able to accomplish more than any single library could alone. The combined resources of our member libraries provide an excellent inventory of materials for all our patrons. Specialized services and programs are also offered. NLLS is able to offer system wide services that would be otherwise unavailable. Funding for NLLS has been established with municipal and provincial governments, so that membership is available to any citizen living in a NLLS library community. Limited library membership is also offered to residents of non-participating municipalities for an annual fee. Each participating municipality appoints a representative to the NLLS Board, which sets policy on the operation of the system. Located in Elk Point, NLLS headquarters is operated by a team of library specialists who coordinate all Northern Lights functions and assist each member library in a variety of ways: consulting; ordering, cataloguing and processing books; library workshops and training. Central Purpose of the Northern Lights Library System Philosophical Statement: Northern Lights Library System believes that all citizens should have equitable access to library services. Mission Statement: The aim of the Northern Lights Library System is to manage our resources so as to best provide services and support to autonomous member libraries to assist them in the provision of comprehensive and efficient library service. The System may provide access to library service for residents of supporting municipalities where no library exists. June 2009 BACKGROUND page 1-3 NORTHERN LIGHTS LIBRARY SYSTEM MEMBER LIBRARY PROCEDURES MANUAL NORTHERN LIGHTS LIBRARY SYSTEM HISTORY The Northeast Library Steering Committee was formed in January 1985 to actively lobby for a regional library system after three successful years of cooperation among the five libraries serving the M.D. of Bonnyville area. Based on the belief that by working together the public libraries in the region could better use their material and human resources, the Steering Committee investigated the feasibility of establishing a co-operative library System in the Northeast. Following several years of effort by volunteers and project staff, the system was established in April 1990 with the first provincial operating grants made available late in 1991. Following the original plan of services, the system concentrated on increasing the collection size at member libraries and providing centralized purchasing and processing of library materials. A resource contract was established at the Lloydminster Public Library to assist member libraries with reference questions and coordinate interlibrary loan requests. This contract ended in December 1999 and a reference contract is currently in place with Yellowhead Regional Library system. With receipt of provincial funding the system was able to undertake the following major activities: the purchase and renovation of a building in Elk Point to house the system headquarters and full automation for the system headquarters as well as member libraries. The system held its official grand opening in September 1992. From 1992 to 1998, the system maintained a steady membership of 14 municipalities and their libraries. With the development of provincial initiatives on resource sharing particularly The Alberta Library (TAL) and electronic networking through Alberta Public Library Electronic Network (APLEN), system membership rapidly increased. By the end of 2001, there were over 40 member municipalities