Today was a very busy day which did not go as I thought it would. I planned on meeting with the technology specialist to work on learning how to create an online registration form. I created one using Google Forms which I would like load on the FWWPL web page once approved. The Tech Specialist took today off. Which is great for him, but I did ask last week if we could work together today. Now I will be sending an email to him, hoping this will be a better form of communication and getting on his schedule. This brings me back to Goal 3. Media and Technology 3.5. Graduates communicate effectively to a range of audiences using written, oral, and digital media. Remember to follow up with emails after a verbal conversation. Putting conversations in writing/emails helps get appointments or issues on everyone’s calendars and minds.

What did I do today? I started out in the Book Nook working on signage with the new logo, mostly the Friends Brochure. I rearranged a few areas to make room for a Registration. This work gave me the idea of a March Membership Raffle, sign up to be a member of the Friends group and enter to win a $25.00 gift card which will be raffled off before the end of the March 28th meeting. Hoping to purchase a gift card to Trader Joe’s or asking them to donate one. I created a flyer printed out this flyer plus the Brochure, to show the Friends that were working in the Book Nook. Once I showed the flyer to the Friends, she informed me that they cannot hold raffles without asking the State Gaming Commission, the local city council for permission and pay a fee of $5.00 to the Gaming Commission. So, this is a great learning opportunity for how different states have different laws. The Friend member suggested I talk with the secretary for ways around these laws. After a long discussion with the secretary, I was a bit lightheaded, with way too many thoughts and questions on this subject. I went back downstairs and took a few deep breaths then thought of a giveaway. We could giveaway WWPL mugs that the Friends are selling. I talked with the Friends Member, we discussed how much the mugs cost them, $4.50. They are selling them (or not selling them) for $7.50. They have about 3 dozen mugs, when I had shown them a few weeks ago. I changed the flyer with new wording for a giveaway. Crazy, the roadblocks you run into while planning events, activities, and flyers. This helps with Goal 4. Management and Leadership 4.5. Graduates define the concepts, issues, and strategies pertaining to principled leadership.

The Friends president stopped by to collect the money from the cash boxes. We gave him a copy of the flyers and brochure for his review. I then helped the Friend Member weed items from the downstairs shelves. We sorted the Hardcover fiction collection, added new items from the donation box and items given to the group from the library’s weeding projects. The sort was to turn down an item with a publishing date in the 90’s and pull it off the shelf with publishing dates in the 80’s or older. This gave me another idea for a sale in April, creating an 80’s theme sale with neon-colored signs. I also told her that my director at work turns down items she wants to delete from the collections. She leaves the items turned down and sticking out for a few weeks. This action or placement of the book gets patrons attention, which may stimulate the item to be borrowed. We could think about turning down items that are published in the 90’s that are on the shelves in the Book Nook, to stimulate a purchase. She will think on that idea. The items we pulled off the shelves are placed in a holding area. I organized the Patterson books by the publication date. This process made me think about the catalogers and librarians of the past before the Dewey or organization systems. It is a bit challenging to sort books that do not already have library labeling on them. Finding the author's name and reading the many different fonts and size graphics take a bit of getting used too.

Before the Friend member left, we worked on a March flyer that she had started working on at home. This could be my Pride Slide topic. I was so excited for her to attempt creating a flyer on her own. She had a few questions on how to place pictures. It is for the DVDs that do not have the original case and no graphics. There are about 100 DVDs. I suggested that we place the DVDs in paper DVD holders and retain the clear plastic cases for later use with a sale price of 5 for $1.00. She decided on $.25 for the cost. It was amazing to see her calculate the profit in her head, while she made her decision.

The Friend and I went upstairs to the public computers to print the flyer and brochure. A few weeks ago, I negotiated with the director the privilege of free printing for the Friends group. This will be interesting to see when we want to print 50 brochures. The director stated that the Friends group does a lot for the library, they should be granted this privilege. This partnership works on Goal 4. Management and Leadership 4.4. Graduates recognize the importance of partnerships, collaborations, networks, outreach, and advocacy and support community-building activities in library and information organizations.

I showed the member the Friends Gmail account and demonstrated the Waffle button. We talked about how Google Doc is like using Microsoft Word with the advantage being, you can pull Google Doc up on any computer. We viewed the Google Form registration form for online registration. She did not know that the Friends email account had so much to offer the group.

The Friend and I worked from 9 am to 3 pm. Once she left, I cleaned up a few items and ate my lunch, then it was 5 pm. It was amazing.

List of this to organize for next week:

● Find out if the library creates Wowbrary Facebook post with new items weekly

● Figure about events or programs to attend and hand out flyers and brochures

● Ask if staff repost library Facebook post on their personnel pages or groups

● Crocheted and Knitted blankets, hats, scarves for Young/Needy Mothers

● Research creating a Free Library sponsored by the Friends group

● Senior center

● Civic Center

● Community Center

● Birthday Kits

● Homeless shelter

● Community center

● Local church

● Create a donation letter for FWWPL and ask Mikki to view hers

● Organize a package of suggestions and completed work for 2/28/22 meeting

● Demonstrate online registration form

● Demonstration Google Apps

● Sheets for budget information

● Docs for tax exempt forms and other docs

● Present Borrowing Bag design and paperwork

● Print Brochure for discussion

● Talk about the importance of sharing Facebook posts

● Suggest creating new posts each week - a quote, funny library picture, sale flyer, share a post from the library, highlight a few new titles in the BN

This week at my PFE is a big one. I will be attending my first Library Board of trustees meeting. I do not plan on doing anything besides saying hello after I am introduced then sitting back to take note while listening to the meeting for anything that the Friends group can help with and watching the dynamics of the group. I will be using my phone and earbuds for the meeting and taking notes on my laptop.

There seems to be a problem with technology at my PFE site when I arrived tonight. This is causing the administrative staff to be running around trying to fit it. Seems that they blew a fuse, and all their computers went down. The trustees meeting is a Zoom meeting. It is always a good thing to see how people, co-workers, and groups react in a stressful situation. I will write more once the meeting is over.

Started my second day with an email to the Technology Coordinator asking what time would be best to meet today. I also informed him that I was already in the building. We have tried to meet a few times, but his work schedule did not leave a long enough opening for me to learn. I asked him to show me how to change my Google Form into the proper format for the library’s website. The library had a survey up over the last month which gave me the idea of putting the Friends registration form online with payment to be mailed in or dropped off at the circulation desk or upcoming meeting.

Another idea was to send a recurring or time delayed email to the Friends members reminding them of the meetings with the upcoming agenda included. Hoping that more of the current Friends would get involved with the monthly work in between the basket sales.

I am still trying to write up a business proposal for the Tote Bag Borrowing program. I am using Canva.com, graphics are going well but the words are not coming. I must be overthinking this, I will give it 20 more minutes then move onto another project. I took some time to talk with the director about this proposal. He agreed to look at it. During this talk, the director told me about the results of an online and in person survey the library held. He will be emailing the results to me. This will be interesting. I plan on sharing the results with the Friends during the February meeting. I hope to find areas where I can suggest the Friends group help with. One of the Trustees is leaving. I spoke up to offer her best wishes and thanked her for her time with the trustees offering her a chance to become a friend’s member or more active Friends member Social Media person. This is probably not going to happen, but she would be great for the Friends groups. She reminded the director to reach out to ??? at the Chamber of Commerce.

We also talked about the Trustees meeting. I brought up the amazing number of outside organizations the library partners with, he gave me a list of 30 groups. During the meeting flags kept going off during different discussions. The flags are areas, if I was a Friends Board member, I would want to cultivate and explore. Even a simple gesture from the Friends group to help man a table or hand out flyers during an event, just offering help would stimulate more ways to work together.

The Technology Coordinator is not coming to the library until after 1 pm. Filled my time with gathering wording from Book Nook signs that will need to be updated once or if the logo is approved. Back downstairs for a long date with Canva.com and lunch.

Once I printed these Google sheets, I found that the print was too small and will need to redo them.

The Technology Coordinator and I had a grand conversation about how to upgrade the Friends page on the library’s website. He has printed instructions on how to navigate the wix.com site. Amazing. My Google Form will be dropped onto the page once approved.

List of this to organize for next week:

• February Meeting

  • Texas Roadhouse is offering a possible Gift Basket. A community spokesperson has approached the library twice for partnerships or collaboration opportunities

  • Introduce the Friends to Google Apps for accounting, signs, outreach letters, forms, surveys, and creating their own site

  • Show list of Community Partners from the Library

    • • Little Free Library

      • Birthday Kits

• Show results of survey - how can we help WWPL using these results.

This week I spent the morning in a Reference Zoom meeting about marketing physical and virtual collections. It was not a bad meeting but for the time spent, one hour, I did not get as much out of it as I had hoped. While I was in the meeting, I did miss an opportunity to speak with the President and Treasurer of the Friends group. Hindsight is 20/20. I should have dropped the meeting to talk with him instead.

After the meeting, I organized documents and talking points for the Friends Monthly meeting next week. I sent an email to the Friends member who gathers food gift cards for the raffle baskets, about a possible donation from Texas Roadhouse with a suggestion to stop at Trader Joe’s for one also.

I purchased letter stencils to try to create the friends name on a canvas bag, but that idea will not be feasible for 20 bags or easily reproduced once I am done with the PFE. Instead, I created a possible stencil suggestion in Canva.com and contacted the library staff member for her input on materials needed. Will stop at Hobby Lobby on the ride home to look for Cricut stencil material.

Worked with one of the Friends on Canva.com printing issues. She cannot print flyers she has created at home, which will be a larger problem once this PFE is done. I need to remember this. What I suggest to this group is that they need to feel totally confident in their ability to troubleshoot problems. This is the hardest part of this PFE, the what if’s once I am gone but we have a few more months to go.

After lunch, I tried to create the changes to the website that the Technology Coordinator gave me last week. The website is at wix.com. I need to include these directions in a Google Doc on the Friends account. We talked about items that have already been downloaded onto her computer. I showed her where her “downloaded files” are located on her computer. This was very exciting to her because she can access these downloaded items without the need of the internet. She truly wants to print at home, even though the library has given permission to print color copies at the library for free.

Goal 3. Media and Technology

3.3. Graduates identify and analyze technologies and applications to design and implement innovative services.

Outcome:

1. created an online FWWPL registration form

2. introduced the graphic design site Canva.com for future flyers, brochures, and social media post

3. demonstrate how to create an updated brochure with suggested wording taken from current brochure

4. create with the FWWPL help a donation letter that represents the Friends group

5. created, design, and implement a borrowing program of 20 Tote bags for patrons with large book haul to borrow during library visits courteously donated by the FWWPL

6. introduced the Friends to the many different Google apps within their Gmail account

3.5. Graduates communicate effectively to a range of audiences using written, oral, and digital media.

Outcome:

1. used emails to invite FWWPL board members to technology demonstration sessions

2. communicated different ideas at FWWPL meetings using handouts as visual guides

3. advised and demonstrated the use of social media as a promotional tool for monthly sales and recruitment of new members

4. presented the proposal for the Tote Bag Borrowing Program to both WWPL and FWWPL board during the meetings

Goal 4. Management and Leadership

4.4. Graduates recognize the importance of partnerships, collaborations, networks, outreach, and advocacy and support community-building activities in library and information organizations.

Outcome:

1. collaborated with the WWPL with the Tote bag borrowing program

2. partner with the community to set up a Little Free Library within West Warwick

4.5. Graduates define the concepts, issues, and strategies pertaining to principled leadership.

Outcome:

1. listened to board members and watched for non-verbal body language while making suggestions at meetings

2. continually updated the director each week of progress and difficulties on projects

3. worked with all members of staff during research, planning, conceptualizing website updates, and community outreach suggests for the FWWPL