There are twenty-five people working in my branch, and I have met all of them at one point or another, although I have only had brief contact with some. To meet someone outside of my branch, I waited until I was subbing at Westminster, and met with Michelle Sicotte. She's a page there who occasionally works on the Circ desk, and she's been at Westminster for a little over two years. She's thinking about learning how to do some Info sub work as well, since one of her two girls is about to enter Kindergarten.
The Emergent Literacy Peer Coaching project was begun with LSTA funds. The Emergent Literacy Peer Coaching project "seeks to improve and continue the use of emergent literacy and best practices in story times," (http://www.imls.gov/pdf/StateProfiles/Maryland.pdf) and was responsible for the formation of the Emergent Literacy Peer Coaching wiki available on the intranet.
Someone is eligible for the services of the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped if they are:
"Legally Blind - vision of 20/200 or less with glasses; a visual field of 20 degrees
Visually Limited - difficulty focusing long enough to read standard print without special aids
Physically Limited - difficulty handling a book or turning pages.
Reading Disabled - due to an organic dysfunction such as dyslexia."
They can apply by:
"Print and complete the application and return to LBPH
Request an application at your local public library
Request an application by calling LBPH at any of the numbers listed at the top of [their webpage]."
(All quotes from http://www.lbph.lib.md.us/brochure.html)
Helen, our branch manager, says that Taneytown has never really had much of a problem with challenges to library materials. Under the old system of sharing books, Taneytown didn't get many copies of the controversial material, being smaller than some of the other branches. Usually, when we do have a complaint, it's something with violence or sexual references, and it's resolved by following the regular procedure. She said that because we can point at policy while responding, nobody has been particularly persistent. She did remember a few unusual cases, however. "Heather has Two Mommies," would get repeated complaints. There was one book, "Getting Jesus in the Mood," that members of a local church would check out and then never return, having unsuccessfully tried to have it removed. Helen mentioned a slightly more humorous example of one lady who wanted a warning label on a book because it talked about the non-existence of Santa Claus, and she thought parents should know ahead of time in case their kids wanted to read it.
The Risk-Taker's Network is a way that staff can share a risk they took through a short video and written application that show the risk taken, the anticipated and unanticipated outcome, and the reason for taking the risk. Once a year, a vote is taken, and the winner receives a cash prize on Staff Day.
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