Q & A, Tuesday, November 17, 2020

 Submitted by Tricia Syler

Bookmobile

The bookmobile is finally here and she now has a name – Loanie!  On Monday night Hampton Park Library hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating her arrival.  The ceremony was a success with the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, FCPL Library Board members, FCPL staff and others getting their first look at our new addition.  The adorable bookmobile cookies created in Loanie’s likeness were a bit hit as well!

Annual Audit

The annual audit is being conducted at HQ.  The audit normally happens in late August or early September but Forsyth County put this out for bid to several companies and our audit was delayed while bids were received.  In the end, the County decided to go with the same company we have used in the past for our audits.  The auditing process should be complete sometime next week.

 

Anna at Home

Anna was at home for the Q & A as she is waiting to hear about a potential COVID exposure and if she should continue to quarantine.  She will not return to the office until she is sure that she was not in close contact with anyone who may have been contagious.

 

Board Meeting Update

Our November Library Board of Trustees meeting was held at the Hampton Park Library following the Bookmobile ribbon cutting ceremony.  Here is a recap of some items discussed at the meeting:

·         A name has not yet been chosen for the new library that will be located on Fowler Road.  The Board will discuss this at their January meeting.

·         Library visits are down 46% from last year at this time.  Because of COVID people are likely staying home more and possibly coming into the library fewer times while getting more items at their visit.  Since the study rooms are closed and we are not holding in person programs, these things are not drawing people in like they have in the past.  Although visits have significantly declined, the good news is that checkouts are only down 16%!  People are still checking out many items- they are just using creative was to get what they need.  eLibrary checkouts & curbside pickup are tools being used by patrons to get those items without an actual library visit.

·         The Library Board of Trustees congratulated FCPL Friends & Advocates on their win of the statewide Fabulous Friends award and presented Jodie Barger, FCPL Friends President, with a plaque of appreciation for their continued support of the library.  The plaque listed all of the authors for the Forsyth Reads together events which were made possible by the financial contributions of the FCPL Friends & Advocates.

·         The Board approved two budget adjustments for financial donations the library received.  The first was for continued support of the Seed libraries at CU and HP.  The second was a donation to purchase supplies for literacy areas at two Forsyth County laundromats.

 

COVID and FCPL Operations

As always, Anna, Steve, and Nikki, continue to monitor the current conditions and review recommendations from Federal, State, and local government.  They meet regularly with FCPL leadership to discuss findings and issues that arise as well as work to create plans to deal with an ever changing situation.  This is a tightrope walk to providing quality service to our community while keeping a safe environment for staff and patrons.  They encourage each of us to do our part to stay healthy by practicing social distancing, washing hands and surfaces regularly, and wearing a mask in and out of work.  As of Thursday, we will no longer be quarantining items as they are returned.  Based on scientific evidence, we have chosen to focus our efforts on areas that pose a greater risk of exposure.  Eventually, we will begin to accept donations again but a date for this to begin has not yet been set.  There are no other intended changes in the near future.  We are fortunate to not have many cases at our libraries and have not seen any staff to staff transmitting so far.  If at any time cases do rise or transmitting becomes an issue we will evaluate the situation and if there is a need, we are open to the possibility of adjusting services to address these issues.  We have much more access to safety protocols and supplies than we did when the pandemic began and feel we can make more informed decisions.

 

Some Fun Facts

The drive thru trick or treat program at the branches was a fun event for both human and canine!  The Humane Hearts Therapy Dogs who participated at the CU event have really been missing their work and were pleased to be involved.  Staff were so happy to see all of the families and children they have been missing since programs have stopped.

We are still almost fully staffed at the library are happy to have enough hands to get things done in this otherwise stressful time.

Lola Nichols was excited to announce that 50+ Yoga Shorts programs have been published.  This is such a fun project and we look forward to a celebrating when 100 programs have been published!  Great work!

Two past members of the Teen Writers Club at CU will be getting married this month and some library staff have been invited (virtually) to the wedding.  This creative duo will have a Marvel themed cake and tables covered with maps of famous literary journeys.  Pictured below is the beautiful wedding card created by our very own Melissa Gunter, IS at CU, to congratulate the happy couple.