Author Archives: Kellam Ayres

Returns mania! And other end-of-term reminders

It’s that time of year again — when thousands upon thousands of library materials are returned to us. Here are a few tips to keep in mind during your final shifts of the term:

  • Keep up with returns — don’t let things pile up!
  • Scan books for damage and pull any that are in serious need of repair
  • Scan book carts and make sure that errant items (ie. NExpress, VT Coll, Armstrong, etc.) aren’t being sent to the wrong places
  • Be pro-active and take full carts to the reshelving areas during your shift
  • If you receive an “on the fly” message during check-in, give the item to a supervisor
  • You may field questions about borrowing books over the summer — our borrowing policies apply year-round. Students can borrow a book for the usual four-week loan period and renew via MyMIDCAT. They are also responsible for mailing the item back to us if it’s recalled.

Please let a supervisor know if you have any questions. We’re here to help you during this busy time!

Circulation meeting minutes

April 27, 2011
Circulation Services Meeting minutes
Present: Shawn, Todd, Rachel, Dan, Nancy, Janine, Kellam (minutes)

Roundtable

Shawn: a techy kind of week at Armstrong; troubleshooting printers.computers. Possibility of converting the color copier to a color printer? Will follow up with Peggy. Armstrong set with summer student schedule, might have one extra student (please send him/her to Davis!)

Todd: could use help with shelving; students and subs are welcome to extra hours. Reminder to wipe fac/staff laptops upon return; finding some that haven’t been cleaned.

Rachel: microfilm machines repaired (all but one). Working on turning on renewals via Illiad. Will work on courtesy notices with Dan. ILL has summer student hires taken care of.

Dan: 24/7 Costco shopping, Also, Senior event for grads — Kim and Janine will coordinate once Kim returns from vacation

Nancy: just busy!

Janine: great IUG conference in SF. Please see her blog post for more info. Webcam is broken — not repairable, just replace. Four new Canon cameras coming in soon.

Kellam: BL and LS reserve processing; shifting reserve collection

NEH Fellowships binder on temporary holdshelf

A NEH Fellowship binder is currently located on the temporary holdshelf and available for faculty to borrow for a two-hour loan period. This item was brought to us from Franci Farnsworth in the Academic Affairs office. She anticipates that just a few faculty will need access to the binder over the next week or so. Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for accommodating this special request!

Intercom issues

Beeeeeep. Beeeeeep. Beeeeeep. (repeat)

When the intercom system decides to act up (as it did late this afternoon on three occasions), it’s helpful to know what to do. First, if it occurs during regular business hours, contact Joseph, our fearless facilities coordinator. If Joseph isn’t in, Charlie Conway is skilled in the ways of intercom repair. It the issue occurs after hours, please call Public Safety. They can coordinate with Facilities to access the intercom system (located in the server room on the lower level). The fastest solution is to simply turn off the intercom.

The issue today seems to have been resolved by shutting down the system and then turning it back on. Other occasions may warrant turning it off for the rest of the day/evening. It’s good to know that we can resolve strange and annoying intercom issues rather quickly, returning the library to its natural state of peace and quiet.

Personal copies on reserve

All personal copies of reserve books and media are now off reserve and ready for faculty to pick them up. They are on carts near Kellam’s desk and arranged alphabetically by faculty last name. The items can simply be handed over — no need to check out or desensitize. Please provide access out of the rear of the building for faculty who have a large number of items to pick up. Thanks, and please let me know if you have any questions.

Fall Family Weekend

Fall Family Weekend is under way and we’ll have lots of visitors to the library over the coming days.  Campus maps and a schedule of the weekend’s events are at the Circ Desk — please help answer questions and hand out these materials as needed. A link to the events is also here.

The Classics Department is hosting a reading of The Aeneid that will take place outside of the Davis Library all weekend. Here’s an earlier blog post about this annual event.

Thanks for making our visitors feel welcome and pointing them in the right direction!

Walk-thru items from P&P

Please pay special attention to walk-thru items from P&P. These have the bright yellow slips of paper in them and are dropped off at Circ each day (this is a separate delivery from the blue cart of new books that comes up). The yellow pieces of paper often indicate that the item needs to be processed for Reserves, so please look at the entire slip closely and hand the reserve items directly to Kellam for processing. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Language School pins

Those of you behind the Circ Desk who speak a language other than English can now wear a LS button during your shift that states the language(s) you speak. Our LS borrowers are always appreciative of LIS employees who speak their language and can help them avoid speaking English when receiving service at the Circ Desk. The pins are available in a little bin at the Circ Desk — please remember to remove them at the end of your shift. More pins coming soon for RUSS, CHNS, and JAPN.