Employment During the Closing

It's now certain: BUSP's door will close to the public on December 23, so your position here can only extend through the end of finals week. If you're still wanting alternative employment during our closure, a good place to look for current campus-wide listings is the Career Development Center's site (www.indiana.edu/~career). Go to the student log-in at the upper right-hand side of screen, then click on "job search." Terry will keep you posted of available library positions by e-mail as they become known to her.

Whatever you end up doing for spring semester, it is your supervisors' hopes that you will return to the new and improved BUSP to work with us again next fall semester. (Unless you're graduating, of course.) So please get a job you enjoy, but don't enjoy it too much!

Gentle policy reminders...

We're rounding the bend toward the end of the semester, so a few reminders are in order:

Do remember that in order to remain an employee in good standing and be eligible for employment next semester (in this case, that would be next fall), you must have completed your shelving and shelf reading requirements by the end of the last day of finals.

Also remember that headphones are not to be worn at the circulation desk. I know it's tempting on days when we're slow, but we can't because it makes us look unapproachable. We want to invite patrons to come to us with their needs, and not deter them in any way. You can wear your headphones in the stacks, so if you're behind in stack maintenance chores, put them on, and head on out to the bookshelves.

Thanksgiving break

The Thanksgiving holiday is rapidly approaching, so this is just a reminder that BUSP will be closed from 6:00 on Tuesday, Nov. 24, through Saturday, Nov. 28. BUSP will reopen on Sunday, Nov. 29. Anyone subbing on the 29th will receive one full hour of timebank credit for each hour worked.

You're probably wondering...

...about the status of BUSP's renovation. Your supervisors are too. We should all know something concrete in about a week. According to Steven, if funding and plans aren't in place by November 1, nothing will happen during spring semester. Time will tell us all.

So you're sick...

Most all of us get sick from time to time. If illness keeps you from making it in to work your shift at BUSP, call 855-1957 and ask to speak to the supervisor on duty. Your call alerts us to your absence, and allows us to plan around it. Do not send your supervisor an e-mail. He/she may not be reading e-mail because he's sick too, or she's taking a vacation day, attending a training session somewhere, etc. Call each time you'll miss a shift. For example, if you're scheduled to work Mondays and Wednesdays, call us both days. The exception to this is if a doctor has told you that you cannot come back to work until a certain day. In that case, you only need to call once and let us know that date. Do remember that if you do not call in, time and a half comes out of your time bank. And do talk to Terry if an illness causes you to miss a lot of hours. She can make exceptions to the time bank rule for serious illnesses.

After you've called us, hop back in bed and get your rest. Better still, call us from your bed. We'll miss you, and want you well so you can be back with us as soon as possible. Take care!

Can you tell me what this fine is about? I don't owe this. This bill is wrong. I returned that recall on time. Etc., etc., etc.

How do you reply to a patron's questions (or demands!) regarding bills and fines?

a) Tell them you don't know.
b) Look up their patron record and report your findings to them.
c) Get your supervisor.
d) Pretend like you don't see the patron.

Answer: C, get your supervisor. Although you like being helpful, do not try to look up the patron's bill & fine record yourself. The bills and fines screens on Workflows are not easily interpreted. Believe it or not, your supervisors had to go through TRAINING to understand them. PLEASE do not give out bill and fine information to patrons, because what you plainly see on the screen is probably not accurate. The screen may say the patron has no fines when he does. Or it may say the patron has paid fines when she hasn't. And you know how some people are...they can get pretty snarly when they're given incorrect information. Especially when it concerns their money. Can't really blame them for that, can you?

Don't be shy!

When checking out a study room key, look that patron square in the eye, smile sweetly (Can you smile any other way?), and tell him/her that the key is due in two hours. This is valuable information for patrons to have, since they will be billed $10.00 when the key is just one minute overdue, and an additional $10.00 for each hour overdue after that. If you smile and tell them when the key is due, they just may smile right back at you. If you don't tell them when the key is due and they unknowingly return it late, they won't be smiling when they get their Bursar bill. What do you want in this world, more smiles, or more scowls? It's all up to you, you know. You're just that powerful.