Kent_Campus_Library

We are extending our operating hours two weeks prior to the end of the term during the final exam period.
We will be open noon to 5pm on Sunday, April 19 and April 26.

Beginning Monday, April 20 we will begin opening at 7:30a.m, Monday through Thursday and 8:30 on Friday mornings.

After the exam period we will continue to open at 7:30a.m.Monday thru Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 3pm on Friday. The Saturday hours will not change.

A librarian will cover the circulation desk at 7:30 each morning and the Open Lab for computers will also be covered.

The other areas in the Learning Center will be covered from 8:00 a.m.

National Library Week will be observed April 12-18, 2009 with the theme, "Worlds connect @ your library®."
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.
Many school libraries also celebrate the month of April as School Library Media Month sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians, a division of ALA, with the same theme as National Library Week. National Library Workers Day, celebrated the Tuesday of National Library Week (April 14, 2009), is a day for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.
The Public Information Office of the American Library Association coordinates the promotion, placing articles in national media. Librarians, Friends and trustees of libraries join in sponsoring local promotions. Posters and other promotional materials are available through the ALA Graphics Catalog.
The ALA Public Awareness Committee assists in planning National Library Week and related activities. The committees hold open meetings at the ALA Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting. Suggestions are welcome.
History
In the mid-1950s, research showed that Americans were spending less on books and more on radios, televisions and musical instruments. Concerned that Americans were reading less, the ALA and the American Book Publishers formed a nonprofit citizens organization called the National Book Committee in 1954. The committee's goals were ambitious. They ranged from "encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time" to "improving incomes and health" and "developing strong and happy family life."
In 1957, the committee developed a plan for National Library Week based on the idea that once people were motivated to read, they would support and use libraries. With the cooperation of ALA and with help from the Advertising Council, the first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme "Wake Up and Read!"
National Library Week was observed again in 1959, and the ALA Council voted to continue the annual celebration. When the National Book Committee disbanded in 1974, ALA assumed full sponsorship.

If you have not heard the name then maybe you spent the last week living on another planet ? The amazing thing is that the name only hit the headlines 7 days ago ! In less than a week one video of Susan Boyle had over 20 million hits.
Just in case anyone missed this remarkable voice the link is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY&feature=related

So this week the review is not of a book but of a singer, and the link to one of the most remarkable pieces of television footage for a long time.
To me there are a number of messages. The obvious one is that you should never give up hope and I believe Susan Boyle will get the recognition that she deserves. A second message is that we often make judgments for all the wrong reasons and if we took the time to give people a chance then we might be surprised to discover the skills and talent they have. The third message for me was that giving Susan Boyle her chance is something we take on board as a community college.

A community college is about giving people a chance. It is about giving young people a second chance after maybe failure at a high school, it is about giving a chance to those wanting to return to work after raising a family, it is about giving a chance regardless of age, gender or race. Susan Boyle was discovered because someone gave her a chance. I wonder how many people have graduated from FCCJ because they were given a second chance ? I think the answer probably runs into thousands and those who gave that second chance have reason to be proud of their efforts.

There was also another side to this story. Could this have happened even ten years ago ? Certainly not twenty years ago ! This was news travelling so fast that within a week one name had travelled around the world, and for all the right reasons ! The first T-shirts were on ebay within a few days (being sold from Australia !). The website was in full swing, tweets were being heard across the twitter network, US television stations were competing for the interviews, rumor already has it that Oprah has lined up Susan for a guest appearance. It is a remarkable example of how communication has changed our lives.
I do hope Susan Boyle goes on to make an album and I hope it will appear in the library on Kent Campus.

Lets remind ourselves that FCCJ is not without talent with a link to another piece of film on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU_ZYcbS4PE

It just happens to be the first CD I bought when I moved to Jacksonville !
Wouldn’t it be nice to be reviewing the work of one our students in the future ? If you are a budding writer, poet, singer or film maker then why not use a platform to promote yourself ?

Thanks to Maria for taking down all the details today and for typing these notes up for the blog. Guess that you are already making a difference for the rest of us !

Five Star Customer Service

Five Star Customer Service:

· More than just satisfy needs

· React to each person as an individual

· What would make their day?

· What would put a smile on their face?

- What should I know?

- What can I do?

Five Star Standards:

· Consistently acknowledge, greet and welcome all students.

· Know programs of the campus and procedures.

· Be prompt and efficient. ex. telephone service

· Take responsibility for student inquiries, problems and overall experience. - ex. If you are not able to assist, you could say, “We’ll be happy to assist you. Let me get my manager for you.”

· Use proper uniform & nametag. People feel more comfortable when they know your name.

· Use of student’s name makes it more personal.

· Graciously help and direct when info is requested. Don’t point to an area; take the individual there if you can.

· Be consistently polite and professional at all times.

· Always end every student encounter with:

o Is there anything else I can do for you today?

What we call the “Wow Factor”:

· That something extra that makes a student say “Wow!”

· DO THE COMMON THINGS, UNCOMMONLY WELL.

· Be in their world.

· Do the extra to make their day!

· Turn transactional service into personalized service

· Anticipate their needs – even before they have them!

· Can and must to Wow!

You can make a difference…

· Be the consummate professional. ex. use correct grammar

· Be here when you’re here!

· Treat your co-workers as well as you treat your family.

· Have fun on the job! (It’s up to you!)

· Choose your attitude. Leave your problems at home. You cannot control what happens in the world, you can only control your attitude.

Choose to WOW !

I looked at some definitions of a library, ranging from the rather narrow original idea that it was viewed as a collection of books to some of the more inclusive definitions. These tended to increase the range of printed material, newspapers, pamphlets and other printed material. Then there were expansive definitions that included records, tapes and other media, definitions relating to purpose and a very simple collection of material systematically arranged.

So here are just a few of the ways in which my view of a library has been formed.

I have come to know Maria as a person who very kindly keeps me informed about new material that might be of interest to me. It reminds me that libraries contain collections of people who disseminate knowledge in a way that computers cannot be programmed to do.

Jacksonville has public libraries that offer light open spaces where we can sit at leisure and read; they offer tuition and classes of general interest. The transitions to Learning Commons are not just events confined to colleges and universities.

As a child I grew up waiting for a library van to visit a rural area, relying on the librarian to have traced and obtained resources that I needed for study during vacation when I was at college. Over the years I have been able to enjoy music, film and audio books as libraries have expanded their collections.

Earlier this year I was down at Keystone Heights browsing around and chatting about a collection of vintage agricultural machinery. It reminded me that collections about history are not always found in books, and discovering history is about a whole lot more than a collection of dates relating to man’s violence against other men.

Around five years ago I spent part of a summer with two nieces, who had no real love of history, visiting castles in north Wales, Roman remains at Caernarfon, an Elizabethan town house at Conwy and bronze age remains at Bryn Celli Dhu and other places. In Wales history is all around you. Collections are not always found in one place, my library is everywhere!

There are stately homes in England containing libraries that are collections of leather bound books, purchased to show the wealth of the homeowner. I look around at my collection and see something very different. There are collections of photographs many of which are treasured. There are collections of books, the collection is very fluid and very few books have survived all of my travels, collections of music that change even more rapidly than the books, , and collections of software which have the shortest span of all. So my collections are related to knowledge, they are related to entertainment that I like, they are related to memories and they are related to something else.

At any moment in time there is a further collection of material that I am working with. It is kind of an in-tray that you will never see on my desk. It is the collection of ideas that I share with Victoria, Laura, Gina and others, the collections of images and ideas that I hope one day will bring a little excitement to those we help as students.

Finally there is another collection, which is of people. This I see as my collection of resources that are untapped, resources that I may or may not be able to use in the future because so much can depend on opportunity. Whether it is the young lady who waded out to pitch an orange in the current on Saturday, the young man measuring slope, or those who had stopped to look at the marsh by Egan’s Creek, they are all resources I would love to be able to use more fully. These are my virtual library that I hope will become reality.

So where do we go with our ideas of libraries and a Learning Commons?

From this ……………………. To where?

National Crime Victims' Rights Week
25 Years of Rebuilding Lives:
Celebrating the Victims of Crime Act
April 26–May 2, 2009
Each April since 1981, OVC has helped lead communities throughout the country in their observances of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW). Rallies, candlelight vigils, and a host of commemorative activities are held each year to promote victims' rights and to honor crime victims and those who advocate on their behalf.
Announcements
Apply now for the National Victim Assistance Academy, to be held August 2-7, 2009, in Louisville, Kentucky. Continuing Education Units will be awarded to all participants who complete all the requirements of the Foundation-Level Training, Professional Skill-Building Institute, or Leadership Institute. Apply by June 30, 2009.
Raise awareness about child safety issues by getting involved with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s “Take 25: Make Time To Talk About Child Safety” campaign. This campaign, with funding from OJJDP and support from OVC, encourages parents and other trusted adults to teach children how to be safer.
National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW)
April 26–May 2, 2009
National Crime Victims' Rights Week serves to promote victims' rights and services in all sectors of our society. Download our screensaver as a reminder of this important commemorative week
Leading up to the national commemoration, OVC will hold two prelude events in the Nation's Capital:
• The National Observance and Candlelight Ceremony.
• The National Crime Victims' Service Awards Ceremony.
To commemorate NCVRW 2009, OVC has released five new resources to help providers enhance victim services:
• Good Samaritans: Volunteers Helping Victims
• Strengthening Sexual Assault Victims’ Right to Privacy
• Victim Services in Rural Law Enforcement
• Ethics in Victim Services
• Terrorism and International Victim Assistance Services brochure
Coordinate your 2009 NCVRW activities with other national victim-related observances planned for April 26–May 2, 2009. Use OVC’s Calendar of Events for help in planning ahead.