Hi
after cleaning up the mess that is the weekend papers - again - I'd like to suggest a $5 deposit for everyone borrowing our newspaper with the money going to a nominated charity if the paper isn't returned in proper order
that's my vent for the day :D
enjoy your weekend
Cheers
Kristen
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Book Club boxes
For your information:
Book club box procedures
1. On receipt of box:
• Check contents of box against label
• Issue box to Branch book club card so its location is identifiable – manually make due date 1 week after meeting for that title.
• Check-in all items in the box so they show available at your branch - see Note below.
That is, the box is checked out to the branch; the items are checked in to the branch
Note:
o The exception code for the Book club will come up for each item so will have to be OKed correctly to proceed with each check-in. (exception code = BKCLUB)
o The box has normal status (exception code). Only items within the box has BKCLUB status
o The exception code for book club should stay on the item and will only come off if manually changed (for example, if put to mending, CR, etc)
o If am item doesn’t have a BKCLUB exception code, reset (same as setting to mending etc)
• Display or promote items as appropriate for your book club.
2. Loans:
• Issue items to patrons as required. No renewals allowed?? Loan period? What do you think- 3 weeks as per usual or extended to a month to fit with meetings or even 6 weeks for extra reading and thinking time????
3. Returns (or check-ins)
• Book club exception will come up. If not, set status as BKCLUB.
• Put book in book club box. (or send to current branch if returned at another branch – check catalogue for box location if necessary.)
4. On completion of Book club meeting
• Check-in (return) individual items in box.
• When all copies of items are accounted for, check-in (return) box. Do not check-in box in until all copies are accounted for
• If box is reserved, send to that branch, if not, send to Support Services Caddy Club (Admin)
5. Reservation of box for future meeting
• Titles can be found in catalogue by keyword search : BOOK + CLUB + BOX
• Check whether already on reserve for another branch, and if so reserve for future meeting if desired but meanwhile consider another box for next meeting
• Reserve as normal – but it must be under a supervisor’s login. AND be sure to reserve the specific D-number for the box.
Note: Be sure to reserve the specific D-number for the BOX!!!
• If the box/title you want is at Support Services, perhaps let someone in SS know you are reserving it so they know to look for it for you.
Support Services
• Check-in all items within box
• Check- in box
• Attend to physical maintenance of items and box if necessary
• Regularly watch pull list for reserve of boxes
• If on pull list, wand in box barcode only.
Book club box procedures
1. On receipt of box:
• Check contents of box against label
• Issue box to Branch book club card so its location is identifiable – manually make due date 1 week after meeting for that title.
• Check-in all items in the box so they show available at your branch - see Note below.
That is, the box is checked out to the branch; the items are checked in to the branch
Note:
o The exception code for the Book club will come up for each item so will have to be OKed correctly to proceed with each check-in. (exception code = BKCLUB)
o The box has normal status (exception code). Only items within the box has BKCLUB status
o The exception code for book club should stay on the item and will only come off if manually changed (for example, if put to mending, CR, etc)
o If am item doesn’t have a BKCLUB exception code, reset (same as setting to mending etc)
• Display or promote items as appropriate for your book club.
2. Loans:
• Issue items to patrons as required. No renewals allowed?? Loan period? What do you think- 3 weeks as per usual or extended to a month to fit with meetings or even 6 weeks for extra reading and thinking time????
3. Returns (or check-ins)
• Book club exception will come up. If not, set status as BKCLUB.
• Put book in book club box. (or send to current branch if returned at another branch – check catalogue for box location if necessary.)
4. On completion of Book club meeting
• Check-in (return) individual items in box.
• When all copies of items are accounted for, check-in (return) box. Do not check-in box in until all copies are accounted for
• If box is reserved, send to that branch, if not, send to Support Services Caddy Club (Admin)
5. Reservation of box for future meeting
• Titles can be found in catalogue by keyword search : BOOK + CLUB + BOX
• Check whether already on reserve for another branch, and if so reserve for future meeting if desired but meanwhile consider another box for next meeting
• Reserve as normal – but it must be under a supervisor’s login. AND be sure to reserve the specific D-number for the box.
Note: Be sure to reserve the specific D-number for the BOX!!!
• If the box/title you want is at Support Services, perhaps let someone in SS know you are reserving it so they know to look for it for you.
Support Services
• Check-in all items within box
• Check- in box
• Attend to physical maintenance of items and box if necessary
• Regularly watch pull list for reserve of boxes
• If on pull list, wand in box barcode only.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
damaged books procedures
Charging for damaged books: a Support Services perspective
Introduction:
Pretty much the only customer interaction Support Services gets is dealing with angry and defensive customers. After all the work we put in to delivering a quality product, this often makes us feel very sad.
Current procedure:
The current procedure is that items returned and put to damaged are sent up to Megan who analyses the books for damage and suggests a damage fee based on the age of the books.
They are then sent to me for approval where I assess whether the damage fee is warranted. I check dates to get an idea if an item may have deteriorated further since return (ie in cases of mould)
Once I have approved damaged analysis, Megan prints out the damaged letters, enters the finance on each borrowers record, files the letters and keeps the books in a crate for instances where the borrower rings up to challenge. Megan has measured the time it took her to deal with problem items over the week and for 8 books it ended up taking over an hour and a half of her time.
If a customer rings up and complains about the fee, I grab a copy of the letter sent out and go and find the item in question. I then bring up their record to see if they often receive fines or have had previous disputes with the library. This helps in my judgement of whether the fine is warranted. This is also disruptive to my day and is a very frustrating experience because borrowers making the effort to ring up have pretty much already made up their minds that the library is useless, they are not paying the fines, the book was like it when they borrowed it etc.
Stats:
o I would estimate at least a third of the customers that I send letters to I hear back from.
o Average 2 hours per week dealing with all aspects of the issues between at least 2 people.
o We have 4 crates up here in the compactus divided into half yearly sections. There is still half a crate of items from Jan-Jun 08 that are waiting to either be paid or hear back from the customer. Megan recently cleaned out the Jul-Dec 07 crate and deleted the items. The fines are still on those borrowers cards, after this amount of time we will probably never hear from them again.
Issues:
At the end of the day, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Whatever the customer tells me to get out of the fine, no matter how much I think they are telling fibs, I have no way to prove it. All I have is a damaged item sent to me- usually I don't know the circumstances of its return or even its state at the time of return.
Mould: items that are returned damp or with a little bit of mould seem to be easily missed- see dvd cover. What has a spot of mould on it (which is not noticed) at time of borrowing could grow enormously over borrowing period and even more still by the time it reaches my desk.
Staff members are not consistent in identifying damage. Many customers claim they often find damaged items on the shelves and I believe them because I have found them myself. Some may be damaged in the library- eg children's books. Some may just be missed coming through.
Comments:
Even our current procedure seems a little off. We charge people based on the age of the book and if the book is old and unpopular we may not even bother, especially if they question it. The charge is actually a fine, not a replacement fee. If we are going to punish our customers, shouldn't we do it fairly and based upon the act of damaging, rather than what kind of books they borrow?
I can understand why people get upset- for just about every customer who says they won't be using the library again after paying the fee, I believe we really have falsely accused them.
Suggestions:
Regardless of the decision, a new procedure needs to be written. It will include that no item can be charged for if it was pulled from the shelf or from a trolley or found in the library. Only those pulled from the returns chute.
If we do continue charging, could it be a flat rate damage fee?
I realise that it is often difficult to check every item upon return esp in high volume branches. But perhaps introducing a culture of having a brief glance at the books before loaning them out could also save a lot of hassle. I did this on Saturday and saved two separate customers the danger of being blamed for damage that was already there. The items had been returned that day and the day before.
Introduction:
Pretty much the only customer interaction Support Services gets is dealing with angry and defensive customers. After all the work we put in to delivering a quality product, this often makes us feel very sad.
Current procedure:
The current procedure is that items returned and put to damaged are sent up to Megan who analyses the books for damage and suggests a damage fee based on the age of the books.
They are then sent to me for approval where I assess whether the damage fee is warranted. I check dates to get an idea if an item may have deteriorated further since return (ie in cases of mould)
Once I have approved damaged analysis, Megan prints out the damaged letters, enters the finance on each borrowers record, files the letters and keeps the books in a crate for instances where the borrower rings up to challenge. Megan has measured the time it took her to deal with problem items over the week and for 8 books it ended up taking over an hour and a half of her time.
If a customer rings up and complains about the fee, I grab a copy of the letter sent out and go and find the item in question. I then bring up their record to see if they often receive fines or have had previous disputes with the library. This helps in my judgement of whether the fine is warranted. This is also disruptive to my day and is a very frustrating experience because borrowers making the effort to ring up have pretty much already made up their minds that the library is useless, they are not paying the fines, the book was like it when they borrowed it etc.
Stats:
o I would estimate at least a third of the customers that I send letters to I hear back from.
o Average 2 hours per week dealing with all aspects of the issues between at least 2 people.
o We have 4 crates up here in the compactus divided into half yearly sections. There is still half a crate of items from Jan-Jun 08 that are waiting to either be paid or hear back from the customer. Megan recently cleaned out the Jul-Dec 07 crate and deleted the items. The fines are still on those borrowers cards, after this amount of time we will probably never hear from them again.
Issues:
At the end of the day, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Whatever the customer tells me to get out of the fine, no matter how much I think they are telling fibs, I have no way to prove it. All I have is a damaged item sent to me- usually I don't know the circumstances of its return or even its state at the time of return.
Mould: items that are returned damp or with a little bit of mould seem to be easily missed- see dvd cover. What has a spot of mould on it (which is not noticed) at time of borrowing could grow enormously over borrowing period and even more still by the time it reaches my desk.
Staff members are not consistent in identifying damage. Many customers claim they often find damaged items on the shelves and I believe them because I have found them myself. Some may be damaged in the library- eg children's books. Some may just be missed coming through.
Comments:
Even our current procedure seems a little off. We charge people based on the age of the book and if the book is old and unpopular we may not even bother, especially if they question it. The charge is actually a fine, not a replacement fee. If we are going to punish our customers, shouldn't we do it fairly and based upon the act of damaging, rather than what kind of books they borrow?
I can understand why people get upset- for just about every customer who says they won't be using the library again after paying the fee, I believe we really have falsely accused them.
Suggestions:
Regardless of the decision, a new procedure needs to be written. It will include that no item can be charged for if it was pulled from the shelf or from a trolley or found in the library. Only those pulled from the returns chute.
If we do continue charging, could it be a flat rate damage fee?
I realise that it is often difficult to check every item upon return esp in high volume branches. But perhaps introducing a culture of having a brief glance at the books before loaning them out could also save a lot of hassle. I did this on Saturday and saved two separate customers the danger of being blamed for damage that was already there. The items had been returned that day and the day before.
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