(Or, How to Stay Sane Dealing with Summer Volunteers) Megan Bowers Library Associate Readers’ Services High Point Public Library

 Started in May. Finished in October  Training ◦ Staff  Train the Trainer ◦ Volunteers  Collection Size ◦ Print = roughly 66,000 ◦ Non-Print = roughly 28,000  A Close Call – completed minutes before going live ◦ Red Tags (7 7.5 Gallon tubs)

 Creating an easy to use tag dispenser  Not everything will scan right away when checking in/out ◦ Scanned but not desensitized  Used ‘dot system’: tagged/untagged  Lingo ◦ Tagged ◦ Written ◦ Mobile Station ◦ Sting Rays ◦ Square Tags

 Our antennas have a range of about 6 inches  The size of the books determines how many can be checked out at once  Only 3 DVDs at a time, 4 at most ◦ Troublemaker: DVDs with multiple discs (TV shows)

 Training ◦ Roughly 50 volunteers this summer ◦ Group training -> Individual brush-up  Volunteer Assignments ◦ Assignment sheet specifying which volunteer worked on which section  Assignments based on ability level

 Double-Sided DVDs ◦ Roughly DVDs were removed  Books with Metallic Covers ◦ Multiple books from Fiction and Nonfiction were removed  Magazines ◦ Still checking out by barcode  Children’s Board Books ◦ Still checking out by barcode

 Figuring out the right number of items able to be stacked on an antenna at one time.  Determining if RFID would work with more than 1 disc in a case  Getting used to the different circulation settings

 Even more training… ◦ Have staff and volunteers available to help train patrons with the self-check machine  Signs and Handouts  Patrons LOVE incentives – even simple ones ◦ Card Holders ◦ Pens  Easy access to their account ◦ Renewals ◦ Items out ◦ Holds

 Not every item will have been tagged and written correctly – or at all  Already replaced an antenna  Square tags won’t stick to some surfaces

 Missing / Incomplete Items ◦ DVDs returned without the disc  DVDs found on the shelf with a missing disc  Check-in problems ◦ Returned in the wrong case ◦ Customers claiming discs were missing at check-out

 Removing Sting Rays from DVDs  Putting DVDs in books to hide them  Ripping back covers (with the square tag) off of paperbacks