The Good Noodle Board at Sharon Forks

Submitted by Christina Donaghy

At Sharon Forks, the CSAs and our wonderful Circulation Supervisor, Teresa, have been working on ways to make Collection Support consistent and efficient. We’ve compiled *The Binder*—a compendium of knowledge that is a one-stop shop for anything a CSA could need! But it’s not perfect. One problem we ran into had to do with Shelf Reading accountability.

How do we get grown adults excited about shelf reading? We tried The Binder, but it wasn't enough. We needed something BIGGER. Something bolder. Something… ABSORBENT?

Before The Binder, Teresa would put index cards in our mailboxes, and she wanted a better tracking method so sections didn’t get lost in the shuffle (pun intended). The answer? Add it to The Binder.

But something was still missing. Without the in-your-face reminder of those index cards, we CSAs (and Info staff) were not keeping on top of our weekly goals. After some brainstorming and an offhand comment, the most in-your-face accountability tracker was born: The Good Noodle Board. 

(Okay. It’s not very original. As a matter of fact, we kinda sorta ripped off Spongebob.) 

Here’s how it happened (as I remember it.):

Teresa: What if we had something we could hang on the wall? Something the CSAs could check off. Ooh, maybe we could add stickers! Or stars!

Me: You mean, like a Good Noodle Board? 

Teresa: …

Me: Like on Spongebob?

Honestly, I said it tongue in cheek. But a few days later, with branch leadership’s enthusiastic approval and the creativity of our YSS, Stephani, our whiteboard was transformed into the most colorful, whimsical, and FUN shelf reading tracker in the history of all shelf reading trackers. It has every staff member’s name on it, the weeks of the month, and, of course, lots of shiny star stickers. There’s even an enthusiastic SpongeBob cheering us on with “The Wins of the Week!” He’s surrounded by cards of praise for staff members who have gone above and beyond.

Shelf reading at Sharon Forks has not only become more consistent and efficient, but now it’s fun as well. We still log our reading in The Binder, but now we have the added satisfaction of placing a shiny star by our name.

Are you a Good Noodle? At Sharon Forks the answer is a resounding yes!