APLE General Membership Zoom Meeting

March 19, 2021

Meeting called to order at 7:04 pm

Attendance - 21 members

Officer Roll Call:

Present: Brooke Cox, Teresa Alvarado, Steve Nichols, David Lutz, Michelle Gasser, Eisha Hern, John Cook, Carlye Seybold

Excused: Sally Sherman-Weckerlin


Officer Reports

Chairs: Check out the Toledo Women Walking Tours https://www.toledolibrary.org/womens-history-month#podcasts

Secretary-Treasurer: We have $89.20 in petty cash.


Old Business

  • COVID Protocols - Even though it appears we are nearing the end of restrictions, we must continue to do our part. Keep up with mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing.

  • Role of Regional Managers - Have been in continuous discussion with HR. Role is very fluid right now. Regional managers should be engaged with frontline staff. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your regional manager if you have a question or concern.


New Business

  • COVID Test Distribution and Vaccine Sign Ups

    • You must have a webcam on a laptop or desktop for the COVID Test to work.

    • Library staff have helped roughly 1,000 people sign up for appointments

    • Brooke and Teresa asked Jason about symptomatic coming in to the buildings. Jason said if someone says they are not feeling well, you can ask them to leave the building. The new A-frame signage tells people not to enter if they are not feeling well. Do NOT ask someone to leave if they are sniffling or coughing though, there could be other reasons for this (ie allergies).

    • King Road has run out of tests already.

    • For vaccine appointments, we should only be using the health department’s website. If someone wants to use another site, assist them on a public PC with Veyon.

  • Evaluations

    • Members have asked, “What happens when evals are done?”

    • Cathy Bartel reads all the evals, then they go in to personnel file.

    • Past evals are looked at by HR when staff member applies for new position in Library

    • New managers may look at past evals to get a sense of what their new work team is like.

    • Evals are supposed to be an overall snapshot of the past year of work, they should not be compared to the previous evaluation, unless goals carried over.

    • SMART goals should be a collaboration between you and your manager

    • New eval form shared on screen. Proficient is good, developing is OK too.

    • New eval is meant to be worked on and discussed throughout the year. No gotchas. If something bad shows up and it’s a surprise, talk to APLE or HR.

    • First time going over eval is a fluid process. If you don’t agree with it, you don’t have to sign off on it right away. There is always the appeal process, too, if things don’t change on eval.

    • APLE input form does not go in personnel file. APLE is working with HR to update the input form so it fits better with new evaluation form.

  • Circ Supervisors and APLE coverage

    • It is OK for a supervisor to cover the ref desk if the need is not anticipated and immediate (ie APLE staff goes home sick for the day).

    • Supervisors should not be covering ref desks in a consistent and planned out manner (ie to cover lunches everyday of the week your APLE coworker is on vacation). Sub coverage should be requested.

    • Let Brooke and Teresa know if this is happening at your agency.

    • Member asked, “Should supervisors be assigning work to librarians?”

    • While we are moving towards seeing Circ Supervisors and Agency Managers as a management team, your circ supervisor should not be directing your professional growth or professional work (ie programs). They can direct you with anything involving the day to day operation of the agency, or assistance with anything the Manager has asked them to delegate. This should not include any work that is done by CWA staff unless it is an emergency.

  • National Library Week

    • April 3-10

    • ELT and admins will be visiting each agency and working greeter desks at all locations.

    • Make sure you talk to them!

  • Water Bottles

    • A directive came out of Regional Managers meetings for staff not to have drinks on the floor. Must drink in non-public places.

    • This is not easy to do at many locations.

    • Brooke and Teresa have voiced concerns with HR. Employee health concerns about not staying hydrated through they day.

    • Expect a revision or update soon. In addition to this, Admin is looking over COVID procedures.

    • Reminder to take your 15 minute breaks!

    • Member asked, “How do you feel about patrons using water bottles in the building? Is this a rule we could change for everybody?”


Open Floor

Positions posted (see HR email on 3/19/2021)

Allison Fiscus is new Adult Services Coordinator

Regional Manager opening may result in regions being reorganized.

APLE did not know ahead of time about Erin Baker’s promotion.

  • Recent incidents created some confusion about Public Safety and their role in enforcing mask wearing. Public Safety Officers are supposed to enforce mask wearing and back up staff when needed.

HR updates on APLE positions?

  • They have not done any interviewing - the current posted positions did not have any current APLE applicants so will be external (CWA is considered external). We were told these would be filled after the Adult Services and other currently unoccupied positions. They had a large pool of applicants. They are trying to find a balance between being staffed and prepared to offer more services etc., and overstaffed while we are still working with restrictions.


Meeting Adjourned at 8:05 pm