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The Institute of Museum and Library Services recently blogged about Libraries being a Beacons of Strength, providing mental health resources to cope with COVID. We are all experiencing the mental health fall out of Covid-19 in one way or another, be it how we operate our libraries, the interactions with our staff and patrons, and experiences within our own personal lives. How can I be a Beacon of Strength to my library, my staff, co-workers , patrons and family when I am struggling?

You are NOT alone. We are Librarians. We have resources. The National Library of Medicine provides free, research based resources to public libraries. Katie Scherrer, who was here to train NH Librarians in 2019 in her Stories, Songs, and Stretches!® program writes about Mindfulness in Times of Extreme Stress. The Mighty recently posted It’s OK Not to Be OK: A Digital Toolkit for Prioritizing Your Mental Health with some great resources. My library friend Richard Moniz, co-author of The Mindful Librarian has updated his Annotated Mindful Resource List. (Side Note: He is a co-author of The Dysfunctional Library – Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships that might be of interest to some.)

One of the best resources we have is each other! Explore online mindful librarian groups. Regularly talk with other like Librarians via zoom or telephone. I don’t have to tell you the amount of self-help material on the market right now–again–we are librarians. Even before Covid-19 entered our lives, what was the number one prescription for failing mental health–Get Outside–Get Moving and we just happen to live in a most perfect state to do that. I dug my cross-country skis out and took a brief run around the house just last night. We are hardy Northern New England folks. A little snow and cold doesn’t shut us down. But, if it does–I am never one to say no to the hot chocolate and good book by the fire scenario.

If you would like to join the Mindful NH Librarians group, drop me a line. We meet via zoom every other Wednesday for discussion, sharing of ideas and good old support. These are closed non recorded zoom session where privacy is one of our top agreements. We have been working on material in the free Palouse Mindful Based Stress Reduction program online which even in a group has been a bit daunting. Therefore, the group will be exploring other practices in mindfulness and stress reduction and finding little ways to incorporate mindfulness in our lives everyday. If you are more interested in just the resources from the group, I recently started a Mindful NH Librarians Facebook page where I post links to resources such as the Mighty’s digital tool box and inspirational meme’s. I am currently scheduling a workshop for Mindful NH Librarians with Liz Korabek-Emerson, Korabek Training, Building Resilience Through Mindfulness for mid January.

I want you to know that I appreciate how hard you are all working to continue to meet the needs of your community under the terms of Covid-19. It is Not easy! If you feel like you need help, direction or just a sympathetic ear for a bit–Get it!!! We may pride ourselves as The Strong Librarian, but like everything, that is just a label. As one of my Mindfulness coaches Kain Ramsay eloquently said yesterday, “Label’s are for tin cans..not for human beings.” Do not restrict yourself to a label. You are human. Seek help and support when necessary.

Best,

Deborah Dutcher

https://www.outstandinglibrarian.org/lets-celebrate.html

Join the OutstandingLibrarian.Org on Facebook

Watch the ALA Rural Library Management Webinars presented to date–free to all NH, ME, VT, MA library staff & volunteers. This was a series of library management webinars crafted last year by representatives from NH, ME, VT and MA State Library systems with ALA. In NH, the webinar series and the upcoming ALA Basics courses are funded by the NH Charitable Foundation, making it FREE to all NH library staff & volunteers.

Leading Conversations in Small and Rural Libraries: Facilitation Guide

Week One:

Workplace Strategies for Mental Health website

Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) from the CDC

OSHA & COVID19

ACOEM Recommendations for Use of Cloth or Disposable
Face Coverings in the Workplace During COVID-19

Week Two:

Interim Guidance for Implementing Safety Practices for Critical
Infrastructure Workers Who May Have Had Exposure to a Person with
Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19

Week Four:

CDC Facility Cleaning Page

EVS Considerations Infographic

Cleaning Disinfection Tool

Reopening America Guidance

Our last meeting was May 28, 2020–thank you for being a part of these talks. Here are the google docs for each meeting:

Google doc for 5/21

Google doc for 5/14

Google doc for 5/5

Google doc for 4/30: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-ihoksJ_M8axZZ-7zucKHl5tHibByTtmxZvWRZQZWx0/edit?usp=sharing

Google doc for 4/23: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_jr_FiCZ5Z7u4Q8nd87zM6dO3IJi2c5RZbrVyNYpENs/edit?usp=sharing

Here is the google doc agenda for 4/16: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lacwcHp14-YyvPqxxIBDstaYZNUIR-0Q44__7vlZjcU/edit?usp=sharing

4/17/20

Hello Public Librarians,

     IMLS has finally gotten back to the SDC’s with some information on the FY2020 annual report and I’m going to parcel out the information over a few emails.  This first one is to make a slight revision to the guidelines for virtual programs.  You will still continue to track them separately: in person programs, live-streaming virtual programs, and downloadable virtual programs. 

     However, IMLS does not want me to include the numbers for downloadable programs in the numbers for other downloadable videos offered through services like Hoopla and Kanopy.  They want to keep the numbers for downloadable streaming services limited to videos that 1) have a set circulation period & 2) the library pays a subscription fee to access.  I will still have a state-level question for downloadable programs, though, so I am still tracking them.  The only change is that they are no longer part of the summation for downloadable videos.

     I have posted the revised guidelines for virtual programs below.  Thank you for your patience and understanding while we try to work through this unique situation at both the state and federal level.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

To NH Public Librarians:

The NH State Annual Report currently asks for number of programs and program attendance by category (children, young adults, and other). Many libraries are changing the nature of programs offered during the current situation. It will be important for you to keep virtual program counts separate from physical programs.  There are now three ways to count programming:

  *   Physical Programming – Count physical programs for the months that they were available as normal.

  *   Virtual Programs – I will add a question to the report for virtual programs.  Count each instance of a live-streamed virtual program as one (1) virtual program.  Count the audience while the program is live as attendees of the virtual program.  Again, these numbers only apply to live-streamed programs via online meeting applications such as Zoom, Facetime, or Jitsi.

  *   Downloadable Programs – I will add a question to the report for downloadable programs.  If you post a recording of a program to YouTube, Facebook, etc., count that as one (1) downloadable program and include the views for that video in downloadable program views.

This is the second email reporting on changes IMLS is making to the annual report in FY2020.  Three new questions were approved for the annual report going forward.  They are:

·         Reference Transactions – Method: A new data element to track the method used to record Reference Transactions

o   Annual count

o   Annual estimate based on a typical week or weeks

·         Library Visits – Method: A new data element to track the method used to record Library Visits

o   Annual count

o   Annual estimate based on a typical week or weeks

·         Minor changes to the definition of Reference Transactions to make it match the definition used by the Reference & User’s Association (RUSA). (full revised definition and rationale for the change below)

There are two more changes that really won’t affect you.  They are:

·         Making Public Service Hours Per Year a summation of the open hours for the branches… which it is anyway, you just previously had to enter it separately.  This change will prevent mathematical errors.

·         Eliminating Current Print Serial Subscriptions.  This will not affect you because I will continue to collect the data at the state level, it simply will no longer be reported to IMLS.

     I am happy to address any questions or concerns regarding these new changes, while reminding you that they are coming from IMLS, not me.

Tim Rohe

Reference Librarian/State Data Coordinator

New Hampshire State Library

603-271-2060

603-271-2144 (Reference Desk)

Timothy.Rohe@dncr.nh.gov

Revise Definition of 502: Reference Transactions

Summary:

The proposed change revises the main part of the definition to be the same as that used by the Reference & User’s Association (RUSA). Various additional instructions about what to include (or not include) are retained as numbered “notes” so that the basic definition is nearly unchanged, yet the sticking points for those who enter the data are (hopefully) clarified. Finally, instructions related to using an estimate rather than an actual count (i.e., extrapolating from some number of weeks to the full year) would be delimited from the rest of the definition and clearly marked as such. The attached file shows the original and proposed data element documentation with comments about each of the segments.

Rationale:

Although an IMLS staff member submitted the proposal, the proposal was based on the work of an ad hoc subcommittee of the Library Statistics Working Group (LSWG). The committee reviewed various definitions of reference transactions, the literature on the trend in this data element, and the results of IMLS data element review research about the accuracy and utility of PLS data elements. It was clear that the lengthy definition was confusing for those who enter data. Yet the research indicated that there was potentially great utility, as one of a handful of PLS data elements that provided a metric about librarians’ one-on-one interactions with the public.

The proposed instrumentation seeks to separate the actual definition from notes and other information related to how individuals can report on reference transactions.

Current Definition:

Reference Transactions are information consultations in which library staff recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help others to meet particular information needs. A reference transaction includes information and referral service as well as unscheduled individual instruction and assistance in using information sources (including websites and computer-assisted instruction). Count Readers Advisory questions as reference transactions. Information sources include (a) printed and nonprinted material; (b) machine-readable databases (including computer-assisted instruction); (c) the library’s own catalogs and other holdings records; (d) other libraries and institutions through communication or referral; and (e) persons both inside and outside the library. When a staff member uses information gained from previous use of information sources to answer a question, the transaction is reported as a reference transaction even if the source is not consulted again. If a contact includes both reference and directional services, it should be reported as one reference transaction. Duration should not be an element in determining whether a transaction is a reference transaction.

NOTE: It is essential that libraries do not include directional transactions in the report of reference transactions. Directional transactions include giving instruction for locating staff, library users, or physical features within the library. Examples of directional transactions include, “Where is the reference librarian? Where is Susan Smith? Where is the rest room? Where are the 600s? Can you help me make a photocopy?”

If an annual count of reference transactions is unavailable, count reference transactions during a typical week or weeks, and multiply the count to represent an annual estimate. [If the sample is done four times a year, multiply totals by 13, if done twice a year multiply by 26, if done only annually, multiply by 52.] A “typical week” is a time that is neither unusually busy nor unusually slow. Avoid holiday times, vacation periods for key staff, or days when unusual events are taking place in the community or in the library. Choose a week in which the library is open its regular hours.

New Definition:

Reference Transactions are information consultations in which library staff recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help others to meet particular information needs.

Reference transactions do not include formal instruction or exchanges that provide assistance with locations, schedules, equipment, supplies, or policy statements.

NOTES:

(1)A reference transaction includes information and referral service, unscheduled individualinstruction and assistance in using information sources (including websites and computer-assisted instruction).

(2)Count Readers Advisory questions as reference transactions.

(3)Information sources include (a) printed and nonprinted material; (b) machine-readabledatabases (including computer-assisted instruction); (c) the library’s own catalogs and otherholdings records; (d) other libraries and institutions through communication or referral; and (e)persons both inside and outside the library.

(4)When a staff member uses information gained from previous use of information sources toanswer a question, the transaction is reported as a reference transaction even if the source isnot consulted again.

(5)If a contact includes both reference and directional services, it should be reported as onereference transaction.

(6)Duration should not be an element in determining whether a transaction is a referencetransaction.

(7)Do not include transactions that include only a directional service, such as instruction forlocating staff, library users, or physical features within the library. Examples of directionaltransactions include, “Where is the reference librarian? Where is Susan Smith? Where is therest room? Where are the 600s? Can you help me make a photocopy?”

Tim Rohe

Reference Librarian/State Data Coordinator

New Hampshire State Library

603-271-2060

603-271-2144 (Reference Desk)

Timothy.Rohe@dncr.nh.gov