Library Manager's Musings - by Katherine Gannett

Loading Dock Parking:

The Campus Police have begun to ticket cars parked in the library loading dock area. I can verify for you that they are $35.00 offense citations. So…..be forewarned.



Palomar Library Items May Achieve Fame!

In the upcoming theatre production, Boy Gets Girl, (beginning February 27) the books used in the stage sets are discards from the library. Some of them are items that were mended in the most recent LT 197 class.

At the Pink Zone women’s basketball match being played against Southwestern College on February 14, the lobby display will be mounted on the library’s display board—the one that has been residing most recently behind our new information desk on the second floor.



Need boxes?
There are a number of small to medium-sized boxes available for anyone who would like them. They are available in Jean Young’s workspace in Technical Services. You needn’t let Jean know, just help yourself.



We have been notified by the Student Affairs Director that a student who has been asked to leave the library in the past has ended his probationary period of six months and is now free to return to the library. This student has in the past viewed porn on our computers and was escorted from the building by police the last time this occurred. The Student Affairs Office has informed this student that he is at the zero-tolerance point and if a repeat of the behavior occurs, he will be banned from the library for good. This student has often come to the library wearing a fedora-style hat.



Fragrance reminder

The library strives to maintain a fragrance-free work atmosphere in deference to our employees here who have fragrance sensitivities. Please do not wear fragrance to work in the library.



Back entrance

The back entrance to the library is a workspace for some of us, and I am one of those people. If you are not Katherine or have not spoken with Katherine please do not disturb or mess with items there. Projects have had to be scuttled recently due to an unknown helpful hand taking things related to the project.

Please do not bring broken, outdated, no-good, weak, weary, shopworn or otherwise unlovely items to the back entrance and leave them there with no explanation or arrangement. I will be happy to surplus or dispose of items as appropriate, but a heads-up is helpful and appreciated.



Battery recycling

The battery recycling bin has gone missing. If you have any knowledge of its whereabouts, please contact Katherine



Rear door security

In the past we have had the habit of locking the back door between 5:30 and 6:00 PM as Tutoring staff leaves for the day. On most days, this works well. However, if you are leaving through the back door and find it unlocked after 5:30 PM, please lock it on your way out.



Acknowledgement of a job well done

At last night’s governing board meeting, Trustee Nelson expressed her awe and appreciation for the job done by Palomar College staff in getting everything up and ready for second semester this year. There are probably fewer places on campus where the size of the job was greater, the time line less reasonable, or the atmosphere less conducive than here in the library as we had to work around the unknown construction schedule and piled up furniture for the office project in Technical Services with people relocated in far flung corners of the building. Everyone who contributed to the President’s Associates textbook acquisition, transportation, cataloging, physical prep, and housing deserves kudos for this job and Trustee Nelson acknowledged that in a general way last evening. Thank you.

Public Services Meetings

Public Services staff will be meeting on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. Please put this meeting on your calendar. The first meeting will be Februrary 5 in the Library Conference Room, LL-112. More information about the meetings will be distributed soon. If you have any questions about this meeting schedule please contact Linda, Peggy or Pat.

Go Print and Customer Service

As we begin a new semester, there may be more changes with the operation of Go Print. Each new implementation can cause frustration and anxiety for students as well as library staff. Please remember that when you are on a public service desk, your one and only function is to serve the public. Everything else is secondary.

This may come as quite a shock to some of you. We sometimes carefully plan the kinds of projects we bring to the public service desk in hopes that we can get various tasks accomplished. That's great. What we must keep in mind is that the lasting impression our students and faculty have of our service is how they are treated when they approach a staff member.

We are all working hard to streamline the operation of Go Print. Sometimes it is through trial and error, and error prevails. Nevertheless, our goal remains the same - to provide excellent public service.

If you have any suggestions for improving our services, including Go Print, please let Judy, Peggy, Pat or me know. You can also just make a comment on this blog. We are listening and will try to make whatever changes we can.

Change in Policy for Making Change

Our policy of not changing $20 bills is a very old one, adopted at least 20 or more years ago when $20 was a lot more money than it is now. This is a barrier to helping our students with print or other issues. We will now make change for bills up to and including $20.00 at the San Marcos campus. At EJA in the Escondido Center, we will continue to have students go to Admissions for change.

Our Students Under Pressure

On January 13, Vice President Berta Cuaron was interviewed about the current budget crisis and how this is impacting our students. Click here to see the video.