Director Briefing - August 5, 2024

OWWL Friends Groups - Save the Date

Patty from the Friends of Victor Farmington Library has asked if you would share the attached invite with your Friends groups to get this event on their radar.

There will be a Friends ideas session on Saturday, October 5 from 10am to noon at the Victor Farmington Library.

A formal invite is expected in September.

Save the Date OWWL.pdf

Libby Updates

A few Libby Updates went live on July 31. Here’s a short summary of what changed:

• Library branding (name, logo, and colors) is now prominently shown when browsing and searching your collection.
• Tags are now part of the navigation bar in Libby.
• The Timeline and Notices (i.e., in-app notifications) have moved to the Shelf.
• The menu is simpler and richer. All the major parts of the menu now appear on the top level, so it’s easier to find what you need.
• Title descriptions appear in search results and in lists for seamless browsing.
• You can now set up a recovery passkey in Libby (on supported devices) to back up your data. It’s simple, secure, and password-less. Learn more about creating a recovery passkey.
• Setup codes have reversed direction for added security. You read the code on the new device and input the 8-digit code on the original device.
• Plus, there are many other visual and wording improvements throughout the app.

Libby Help has been updated to reflect all the changes in this release. You can also watch a release overview video created by the OverDrive Training team.

Ask the Lawyer from WNYLRC

Ask The Lawyer is an excellent resource out of the Western New York Library Resource Council. Here are a couple recent questions.

Dealing With A PAFSA (passive-aggressive fake service animal)

Question: My library knows that service animals provide vital assistance to patrons with disabilities, and that they must be allowed on library premises without pre-approval. We also know that when a service animal is brought into the library by a visitor, we can only ask if the animal is needed for a disability, and what work or task it has been trained to provide. We also know that some disabilities are not easily observed, and not every person using a service animal will be perceived as having a “real” disability. Our library is small and we prohibit all animals—other than service animals—for a combination of reasons (including cleanliness, allergies, and fear). Our question is this: we have a patron who we think is faking it. The patron sometimes comes in with a dog, and based on a variety of factors, it seems the patron is bringing in the dog not to accommodate a disability but to taunt staff members and dare them to confront this patron. What can we do?

Answer: First: Because of the restrictions you cite, continue to not take the bait! If this person is indeed taunting library workers and daring them to deny access, continue to address the situation with tactical restraint… Read more.

Minimum Wage for Public Library Employees

Question: We have 12 employees of the Library. 3 are salaried the rest are minimum wage. Are Library employees subject to NYS DOL Minimum Wage Law as well as the Wage Orders for salaried employees? We are unsure where we would fall. Our funding comes from taxes/aid/grants. We are looking for an answer as soon as you are able as we are preparing our budget for next year. Thank you so much for your help.

Answer: First things first: as private entities (much like private colleges or historical societies) association public libraries in New York are without question subject to both state and federal laws governing minimum wage and overtime, as well as other worker protections that apply to private entities… Read more .

HBR: Tip of the Week

Don’t Let Passion Backfire on Your Team

Passion can drive high achievers to excel. But too much passion has been linked to overconfidence and can lead to unrealistic expectations and even burnout. Managing passionate people isn’t necessarily harder, but it does require proactivity and vigilance. Try these strategies to harness the power of passion on your team while mitigating its risks.

Build in “passion slack.” Encourage employees to add buffer time to ambitious timelines. This helps ensure realistic project completion dates and reduces the risk that they’ll burn out.

Pause and evaluate bandwidth. Coach employees to assess their workload before they take on new projects. This proactive step helps them avoid overcommitment.

Set realistic expectations. Provide regular, honest feedback to help passionate employees develop better self-awareness, a clear perspective on their performance, and a set of achievable goals.

Encourage objective evaluation. Promote a culture of data-driven performance reviews to counteract inflated self-assessments.

Foster openness to feedback. Cultivate an environment where constructive criticism is welcomed. Reinforce the value of growth and development to ensure passionate employees remain open to input on how they can improve.

This tip is adapted from “Research: How Passion Can Backfire at Work,” by Erica R. Bailey et al.