HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 3, 1994COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
PUBLIC LIBRARY
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III.
CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Patrick Hentges, City Manager
M. Rebecca Loader Library Director
February, 1994, operational report
DATE: March 3, 1994
me
B.
C.
D.
E.
Significant Accomplishments
The Board met on 2/1 with all members in attendance.
The Friends met on 2/7 with 10 members present.
Thirty people attended Senior Citizen Filmtime on 2/9.
Six sessions of pre-school storytime were held in February with a total of 72 attending.
Six sessions of Tiny Tots were held in February with a total of 134 attending.
II. Departmental Goals
A. Becky attended the quarterly automation meeting on 2/3.
B. Read-to-Me Club started 2/7 and has 83 registered so far.
C. Becky attended a public service meeting on 2/17 for librarians in Anoka County.
D. Marsha participated in Highland Elementary's I-Love-To-Read program on 2/18.
E. Jeanine participated in a cable shoot 2/25.
F. The elevator/restroom project pre-construction meeting was 'held 2/25.
G. The adult reading club, "Books--the other Channel," started 2/28 with 34 registered so far.
H. Both editions of the library's 1993 annual report are completed and submitted.
Issues and Problems
A. None
January
Circulation LIBGIS
1993 1994 1993 1994
Adult 6'647 6,658 Reference 2,437 2,224
Juvenile 5,260 4,926 Dir. A 394 286
11,907 11,584 Dir. B 34 79
Work days 24 24
February
Circulation LIBGIS
1993 1994 1993 1994
Adult 6,634 6,377 Reference 2,506 2,298
Juvenile ~_,029 5,319. Dir. A 793 233
12,663 11,696 Dir. B 60 68
Work days 23 23
recy¢le¢l paper
On January 25, 1994, I had the opportunity to attend the Munici-Pals winter workshop.
The theme of the workshop was successful strategies for providing service in the public sector.
The program was presented in two parts.
The morning session was presented by Vicki Perri and was entitled: "Going for the gold".
This speaker was very energetic and enthusiastic. The main focus of her presentation was
providing customer-driven service in your organization. She reminded us that the "customer" is
not only the citizens whom we come Jn contact with, but also it can be co-workers. These co-
workers can be from another department or from within our own department. I will be able to
incorporate several ideas she presented in my daily contacts with patrons and the people I work
with.
The afternoon speaker was, James Connolly. His session was entitled: "Creating a
positive communication climate." This speaker used humor to make his points. He did an
excellent job of making one think about what communication really is. He stressed that language
is just one component of communication. Other components include attitude, non-verbal and
listening. He focused on how to communicate effectively with co-workers in order to provide a
team effort to serve the citizens. I felt both speakers were excellent, and I will be able to focus
on and use the ideas they presented in my daily tasks. I appreciate the opportunity to attend this
workshop and to become more effective in my position.
On February 1, 1994 I attended the MUNICI-PALS WINTER WORKSHOP on Successful
Strategies for Providing Service in the Public Sector.
Our first speaker, Vicki Perri, spoke of customer service for municipal employees. She spoke
of customer driven organizations in which the customer is the most valuable asset - the most
important part of the business. Even though the customer may not always be right, you don't
need to focus on who is correct, but making sure the customer received what he came in for.
She gave us a few suggestions on ways to improve customer service. One way was to clean up
the "coffee stains", which simply means that the customer remembers the little things; it's the little
things that matter. She was very enthusiastic and used a short film, audio cassettes, and
brought books and posters on customer service to get her message across.
Our second speaker was James Connolly, a professor in the Department of Rhetodc at the
University of Minnesota. His topic was how Creating a Positive Communication Climate in your
Organization Leads to Better Service. Communication is in your attitude, language, (verbal and
non-verbal), and how listening is a major part of communication. He talked about how
communication can lead to better service. It's not what you say, but how you say it. It's not
enough just to say the words, but to really mean them. He presented his topic in an entertaining
manner. I thought he was a very good speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to attend the winter
session of munici-pals and look forward to upcoming workshops.
Kelly Olson