Jennifer Umbstead (FFB) is the December 2018 Employee of the month.
Jennifer was nominated once:
Jen responded to the question that many of us have received, at one point or another, about recycling batteries. However, she took it a step farther and was able to hunt down where our patrons keep getting this idea, since we have not provided this service for some time. Jen discovered that we are first on the list for recycling locations on a battery co.’s website and actions have been taken to ask them to kindly remove the Lane from the list. This is impressive detective work, I wish I would have thought of it myself. Thank you Jen Umbstead for being so awesome!
Congratulations Jennifer! She will receive her choice of a $50 gift card or 4 extra hours of vacation.
Also nominated:
Debbie Dallman, OXB
Last night we had a patron looking for Beast Quest #7. Unfortunately, the library only offers a digital copy and that would not work for the boy. Debbie called home to see if her daughter owned that title and offered to bring it in for the patron today. She made an exceptionally happy patron. That is way above and beyond exceptional customer service. Thank you for your kindness, Debbie.
Brad Spurlock, LPL
Brad is an absolute professional in his field, and the Lane is extremely lucky to have him. This year he has spearheaded an LPL team of 3 part-time reference librarians (including myself) and Penny at LAC who tackled several very large projects. Most recently, the team finished digitizing all of the Cummins Room historic photos. This 6-year project-which was completed at the end of November-involved scanning and categorizing over 5000 photos. Additionally, he supervised the gathering of data on Hamilton’s roll in WWI, WWII and the life on the home front, as well as a study of 1950’s-to-current decades in Hamilton for videos being made locally about those subjects. He trained us, mentored us, and provided guidance and encouragement when necessary, all while kindly serving patrons at the desk and planning and executing his own special programs periodically. Brad is an outstanding librarian, historian, and mentor, and deserves much recognition for his many valuable contributions to the Lane and LPL.
Tamara (Tammy) Brooks, FFB
Tammy is creative and a forward thinker. Her programs are successful in that they pull new faces, along with regulars, into the library and many patrons compliment her hard work. Tammy is helpful to everyone she works with, she makes sure that the job is getting done and is a helping hand for anyone in need. One of Tammy’s biggest strengths is her teamwork and willingness to brainstorm and try new ideas brought to her by other staff. Tammy really puts her heart and soul into her role here at Lane Library. She is an inspiration to work with and beloved by many of our young patrons and their parents, grandparents and caregivers.
Connie Van Frank, OXB
Connie just makes everything more fun! She has worked with me on an ELL Conversation program adding so much energy to the group.
Tom Tierney, BKM
Tom saved not one, but TWO scheduled stops today when we were short staffed. He also sacrificed off desk time today to help me get more propane in the bookmobile. The students at our two schools were thrilled to see the new bookmobile, and this evening’s staff will be happy and warm! Thanks Tom!
Sara Stapf, LPL
Sara is a whirlwind of activity when she is at work! She is a willing volunteer for projects and has often come up with her own to make work flow a little more efficiently.
Matt Leffler, Tech Center/LAC
Matt Leffler has been pulling double and triple duty as of late. He is newly promoted to the systems admin position and is working hard to learn the ropes there. With another person in his department away due to illness, Matt has done a great job of stepping in and stepping up. He’s doing all of this and still covering quite a bit at the Tech Center while we grapple with a medical absence and try to hire someone who can fill his toe-shoes. He is unfailingly polite and helpful to both patrons and staff. Our patrons at the Tech Center ask about him almost daily. I’d like to send a big shout out to Matt and thank him for all that he does.
Tracy Ward, LAC (2 nominations)
This is a tough time of year in the business office and Tracy handles it so well! She is so flexible and knowledgeable that it’s just a pleasure to work with her. Thanks Tracy.
Tracy should win this award every month. Shes so crucial to getting things ready for Fiscal close. She needs some appreciation.
Sarah Gifford, OXB
Sarah is such a dependable coworker–I always know I can count on her. When I lost my voice after having a cold, Sarah was completely willing to cover an afterschool club visit for me with only a few hours notice. She also comes up with and executes stellar programs!
Akiko Urayama, OXB
Akiko is always willing to help out. When I lost my voice after having a cold, Akiko enthusiastically covered our first Saturday Story Time for me. She’s a rock star!
Amanda Chafin, Tech Center
Amanda has become the resident expert on many of our new maker items in the Tech Center. She is a fantastic asset for staff and patrons.
Laura Donnell, FFB
I think Laura Donnell should be December’s employee of the month. Laura is always helping her coworkers. If you are in the back and being drowned in returns, Laura will be right there helping you catch up. Last night, I had the last hour in Drive-Thru. An especially challenging patron pulled up to the window with multiple cards for her family(which she had of course left at home), multiple things she wanted to know about each card, returns, holds, and questions galore. Laura stepped up and pulled the wooden bin under the return and fielded everything else in the back room while I dealt with this patron. She was the best! She always has your back!
Adam Fisher, FFB
“Adam presented the idea of refreshing both the Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Adult Graphic Novel sections to give them a fresh look and make the collections more browsable. After going through the necessary channels and coordinating with the other branches, Adam weeded our collection for condition using the dead list, and began to divide up what items to send to which branch.
Since the swap, we’ve noticed a bit more traffic in those areas, and a complete series of books was available for a patron to pick up all at once instead of needing to call items in. I commend Adam’s efforts to give these areas some needed attention!”
Odalis Jimenez, FFB
Odalis completed a 4-week online course in November titled “Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca”. Her goal was to learn as much as possible in order to offer a Storytime en Espanol at the Fairfield library. Her efforts are certainly paying off as she is slated to begin offering this new storytime in March! In addition to this program, Odalis has agreed to coordinate with Celeste to offer training and support for any interested youth programmers system-wide. I appreciate her dedication both to our branch and its patrons, and also her willingness to share her knowledge for our whole system and community!
Caitlin Campbell, OXB
Caitlin is a staff member who always does her best with every project is involved in. She juggles a number of duties and performs them all at a top drawer level. Her leadership on the tree decorating contest for Oxford’s Chamber of Commerce demonstrated that she is organized, creative and focused on the task at hand. It was a great event and she effectively incorporated it as a project for her Kind Club that meets at the library. Thank you Caitlin for all the work do at OXB and within the Oxford community.
Danielle White, FFB
Danielle needs to be recognized for all that she’s done for us at FFB. Not only does she organize some amazing wellness events, she keeps us informed, and she makes some truly awesome informational posters for each month’s theme. For the holidays, she’s done everything she can to help us keep our spirits up, despite the dreary weather we’ve had thus far. We love her holiday BINGO, and it’s really helping me get in the mood for the season. And also, a major thanks to her for organizing the gifts for the Extended Care facility!
Sarah Gifford, OXB
Sarah Gifford is an amazing co-worker. She is always ready and willing to help in any way possible. Sarah also creates amazingly popular programming. Sarah brought the AAF in for Tinsel and Tails Animal Adoption Holiday Party. All of the animals that were able to come to our party have now been adopted! And in addition, Sarah set up a giving tree for supplies needed at the shelter and the community has responded generously. Thank you Sarah, for helping make the Oxford branch a special place!