Scheduling - American Library Association · Library Association. Amanda was a recipient of the...

Scheduling in Library Youth Services

Quotations

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.

Henry A. Kissinger

As you schedule individual tasks, give yourself a cushion. Mark the due date a few days

ahead of the actual deadline so you have time to deal with changes or last-minute

emergencies.

Harvey Mackay

You need to be proactive, carve out time in your schedule, and take responsibility for being

the healthiest person you can be - no one else is going to do it for you.

Mehmet Oz

Today’s Instructors

Amanda Yother is the librarian at Park View Elementary School in Cookeville, Tennessee. She

is an active member in the Association for Library Service to Children and the Tennessee

Library Association. Amanda was a recipient of the 2014 Penguin Young Readers Award and

the 2015 Putnam County School System Make a Difference Award. Amanda is seriously

passionate about early literacy, use of imagination, and having fun.

Megan Egbert is the District Programs Manager for the Meridian Library District in Meridian,

Idaho. She is a member of ALSC’s Managing Children’s Services committee and author of

the upcoming book “Creating Makers: How to Start a Learning Revolution at Your Library”

(July, 2016).

Rachel Fryd is a material selector at the Free Library of Philadelphia. She is a member of

ALSC’s Managing Children’s Services committee and YALSA’s 2016 Best Fiction For Young

Adults committee. She has no free time as she is nearly constantly reading.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will learn:

● How to create and manage a staff schedule

● How to create and manage a program schedule

● Tips on successfully managing your own schedule

Creating and managing a staff schedule

Creating a desk schedule is basically this:

Photo used with Creative Commons License from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/filu

Creating and managing a staff schedule

• Keep in mind other library departments as well as events, outreach, processing

• Understanding the staffing expectations of your department/organization

• Free Software to help you manage your schedule

• Balance your preferences with your staff needs

• Share with your staff what you have going on

Keep in mind other library departments as well

as events, outreach, processing • Things to keep in mind when scheduling:

-School Calendar

-Impact on other parts of the library

-Seasonal peaks

-Ordering of materials

-Large programs

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kellymccarthy

Understanding the staffing expectations of your

department/organization

-Have a staff model

-Use stats and stories

to guide your decisions

-Be transparent in your

expectations of staff

and yourself

Free Software to Help

-Create a template so you

only need to make small

changes

-Have staff do as much of

the work as you can

-Create minimal work for

requests and

communications regarding

the schedule.

http://www.capterra.com/em

ployee-scheduling-software/

http://www.capterra.com/employee-scheduling-software/

Your Preferences/Your Staff Needs

-Where are schedules

kept?

-How are they viewable?

-How do you

communicate about

schedule changes?

Used with Creative Commons licence from https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/

Communicate with Your Staff What You Have Going

On -Staff want to know the big picture behind

scheduling.

-Staff care about fairness, so transparency is

beneficial for everyone.

-Staff can only help each other out when they

know what is going on and who needs help.

Creating and managing a program schedule

• Managing your space, resources, and paid performers

• Space reservations

Creating and managing a program schedule

● Dispersing programs over calendar/disbursement of budget

● Observing and evaluating outside community factors/needs of all community

members

○ School schedules

○ Community programs

● Program attendance/evaluations in relation to program scheduling

○ Formal and informal evaluations

○ User surveys

Creating and managing a program schedule

Managing paid performers

● Get it in writing!

● Check with bookkeeping on required tax documents.

● Research performer’s liability insurance.

● Keep all information in a staff accessible location.

Managing your own schedule

• To Do Lists vs Scheduling Appointments

• Set yourself up to win by paying attention to your energy flow during the day

• Time management - prioritize!

• Respecting yourself & your time (spoiler alert - overcommitment will burn you out)

• Manage those sneaky time wasters

• Use technology wisely!

To Do Lists vs Scheduling Appointments

Setting Yourself Up to Win ● What time of day are you most productive?

● What time of day is it easier (or harder) for you to focus?

● What are the busy times in your library? Early storytimes or afterschool hours?

● When are you more likely to be busy answering questions and finding books vs having a block of uninterrupted time?

● Try tracking the ebb and flow of your time for one week and see if you can identify patterns.

source: http://alifeofproductivity.com/

Time Management - get your priorities on!

● What’s more important - the new book display or the staff member

performance evaluation that’s due tomorrow? (hint, you should

schedule an appointment to work on it.)

● When we are really busy and there is a lot on our to do list sometimes

it's easy to focus on the discrete tasks that are easily completed as

opposed to the open-ended, never quite finished day to day work of a

manager or supervisor

● Get comfortable with chaos - be ok with the unfinished and the open

ended.

● You’ve graduated from (the really satisfying) smaller tasks - you’re on

to the big picture now! (I know, I’m sorry.)

image source: launchcycle.com

Respecting Yourself & Your Time

● Does committing to three things seem so manageable that

you automatically say yes to the next 10 things?

● If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed and short with your

colleagues you’re past your limit.

● Every person has limits - learn yours. You’ll be happier and

so will your the people who work with you.

● Saying yes to opportunities is great! But take a step back

occasionally and ask yourself - What purpose does saying

yes to this next item serve? Is this in line with my

department’s priorities?

image: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

On overcommitment in library world:

http://hacklibraryschool.com/2014/12/08/on-overcommitting/

Ask the Experts!

Strategic youth services planning is best seen as a marathon and not a sprint. There is a time for

everything in balancing services - and it needn't be ALL.THE.THINGS. all at once!

Marge Loch-Wouters

Youth Services Consultant for South West Library System, Wisconsin

Adjunct Lecturer, School of Library and Information Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison

http://tinytipsforlibraryfun.blogspot.com/

You can be genuinely enthusiastic and encouraging about a new project or idea while being strategic at

the same time. Your staff and partners depend on you to keep the balance between resources and

output, so sometimes saying “I think we should hold on to this for later,” or even “I see the value, but I

don’t think we have the staff time to devote to this” is the most positive thing you can say.

Nina Lindsay

Supervising Librarian, Children’s Services, Oakland Public Library, Oakland California

http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/

Beware The Sneaky Time Wasters

● The Internet - Seriously, where did the last ½ hour go?

● Your email - Are you checking your email every time a new message pops up?

● Your chatty coworker - Either this person just volunteered to help you cut out flannel

board pieces while they talk about last night’s Netflix discovery or you might need to

invent a reason to walk away. (No, it’s not mean, its work).

image source

http://tinyurl.com/htuxyua

Questions / Thoughts / Comments

How to Contact Us

In case you think of a question later

Amanda Yother – amanda.yother@pcsstn.com

Megan Egbert – megan@mld.org

Rachel Fryd – frydr@freelibrary.org