Q & A – Thursday, May 28

The Q & A began with a shout-out to Joanie for her idea to survey patrons about their library experience since we closed. Steve and his team had a survey ready and in the hands of library patrons that day. The survey runs through Sunday, so we don’t have a complete report on the results. We can share a few highlights though:
We have received more than 2,200 responses

• 750 respondents had used curbside
• 450 respondents had viewed virtual programs
• 120 respondents had used chat
• 750 respondents had checked out eBooks
• 150 respondents had checked out eAudiobooks

Next Anna discussed tentative plans to re-open. See her blog post for details.

Are we expanding MBB?

Yes! Lorraine has been offering contact-free delivery of materials to residents in the 5 senior living facilities we currently serve. We have also reached out to 7 others in the area to see if their residents would be interested in Mailbox Books, and have heard back from two. Lorraine is also reaching out to organizations in the community who serve seniors or homebound residents and informing them of our services.

Do we know when we will resume ILL services? 

We are discussing around June 15. The main concern is that there aren't many libraries that have resumed services from which we can borrow materials.

I am really liking the staff blog. Will this replace the Highlighter?

We have not discussed this, but would love to hear what staff thinks. Many of the attendees in the Q & A had positive remarks about the blog, including the timeliness of information and the ability to find previous posts easily, and indicated they would like for it to continue.

I am curious about our featured titles in blogs and videos – are they circulating more?

Yes, with OverDrive and RBDigital. Those tend to generate more holds when we feature them. We are looking to feature similar lists on the new website.

Patrons really appreciate chat service. What sorts of questions are we getting?
We get questions regarding card registration, summer reading, eBook and eAudiobook assistance, and curbside service. Some patrons have questions about resetting their PIN, returned items not being checked in, and why items are taking 4 days in shipped status.

Was there a Polaris update that allows patrons to place multiple holds for the same item?

Kim Tomblin noticed that a couple of times patrons have been able to place multiple holds on the same title. These are not item level holds but bibliographic record holds. Holly is not aware of an issue but will research it and report back.