Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 30, 1992COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY U20 - zl01h AVENU[E N. E. COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, MN 5542']-2996 PHONE: (612) 782-2805 FAX: (6'12) 782-2804 CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS TO: FROM: Stuart W. Anderson, City Manager M. Rebecca Loader, Library Director~ SUBJECT: October, 1992, operational report DATE: October 30, 1992 Significant Accomplishments A. The Board met on 10/6 with all members present. The annual pot-luck dinner was held immediately after the business meeting. B. The Friends met on 10/5 with seven members present. C. 35 senior citizens attended filmtime on 10/14. D. Redeemer Lutheran Pre-school came to the library on 10/12 with 36 children for a special field trip. E. Headstart came to the library on 10/19 with 38 children for a special field trip. F. Eight sessions of pre-school storytime were held in October with a total of 188 participating. G. Eight sessions of Tiny Tots storytime were held in October with a total of 211 participating. II. Departmental Goals A. Two new lobby chairs were recieved 10/2 as a gift from the Friends. B. On 10/8 Becky attended a Total Quality Management conference in Minneapolis. C. On 10/8 Jeanine and Kelly attended the fall Municipals banquet. D. On 10/13 the last session of "The Citizen as Customer" was held. 107 employees attended the six sessions of the class. E. On 10/13 the Friends decorated the children's department with a fall theme. F. On 10/15 Katie and Molly McClanahan participated in an in-service experience at the library during MEA. Both girls got to participate in storytime, inter- ~ library delivery, mending, and computer use. G. Statewide sampling week was October 19-24. During the week libraries collected statistics to be used in the 1992 annual report. 2,307 people came into the building and 451 items were used in-house. On 10/22 the library staff got to judge the fire poster contest again. III. Issues and Problems A. On 10/9 the air conditioning unit over the East Room turned on. Minnegasco responded quickly and corrected the problem. B. On 10/11 the janitor discovered the cash drawer unlocked. No cash was missing. C. On 10/12 the library was contacted by a local video store that a section of the 1961 Jamboree Parade on 16mm film had fallen into their possession. It was ours if we wanted it. This film is now ours and Becky is going to have it transferred to videotape for preservation purposes. In the future she will be looking for long-time residents to view it to see if the people pictured in it can be identified. The footage includes a police cruiser, a fire truck, an emergency vehicle, and the high school band. On Thursday, October 8, 1992, I had the opportunity to attend the Munici-Pals fall banquet. There was a short business meeting, dinner, entertainment, and a speaker. The theme for the evening was "The Old and New". In keeping with the theme, the guest speaker, Karen Ray, presented a short program on change. She pointed out that change takes many forms. She gave three examples of these forms and then outlined ten strategies for dealing with change. She is the President of Karen Ray Associates, a consulting firm which specializes in training and organization development for non-profit agencies. She focuses her work on collaboration, team-building and leadership. She was an excellent speaker, with several fresh and interesting approaches to the area of dealing with changes on the job. I appreciate the opportunity to attend this function. I had the chance to attend the Munici-Pals banquet on October 8, 1992, at the Northland Inn, hosted by the City of Robbinsdale. It was a good opportunity to meet with people from neighboring communities. After a brief meeting, dinner, and entertainment by the Satin Dolls, Karen Ray, our speaker for the evening, presented a program on change. She pointed out that change, in any work pi. ace is constant, and that change intended to help or improve your work load may actually end up causing you more work. You need to be aware of change and approach it with a positive attitude to be more successful at adapting to it. I enjoyed the evening and I look forward to attending another Munici-Pal banquet in the future. On October 8, I attended the conference, "Quality in the Public Sector--Beyond the Theory," as part of a team of administrators from the City. In this manner we were able to have representatives at nearly all the sessions. Total Quality Management is a concept for encouraging positive change and the incorporation of new ideas into the organization to improve service and image to the public. A follow-up meeting was held afterwards to let the group discuss how TQM could apply to the City and results it could have. The conference was a concentrated introduction to TQM and provided many ideas for consideration.