This Month at CLC: February 2019
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Jennifer Keohane
Executive Director
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
I’ve had people comment more than once that CLC “seems to be everywhere” and it “seems like we have so much fun.” We are, and we do! But, as with anything that looks easy, there is a lot of planning, communication, and hard work that goes on behind the “seems.” Here's a little glimpse of what we do at CLC:
- Research - Behind every discount is a lot of research into what your needs are, what other products are on the market, and what other discounts are available through other consortia or contracts.
- Communication - CLC staff spend a lot of time communicating with members. We visit member libraries; attend roundtables, workshops and meetings; and of course, respond to emails and have in-depth phone conversations. At weekly staff meetings, we all share what we hear, see and experience, so as to better understand your needs.
- Evaluation - We’ve adopted a strong continuous improvement practice that includes the 3 D’s: Debrief, Document, and Don’t reinvent the wheel. Our ability to pull out a file with all the how-tos about a project has made it possible for us to provide continuous service despite changing personnel.
- Creativity - We schedule brainstorming and problem-solving sessions regularly. The result is “whiteboard madness” - lots of ideas which we capture and preserve.
- Protecting the value of the CLC membership - Did you know that we regularly send membership lists to our vendors, so they know who is entitled to discounts and who is not? They have to sign an agreement to not use membership information for any other purpose than to verify membership. We monitor and follow up with vendors who violate our agreements. In addition, we work hard to make sure that CLC members get a greater value than non-CLC members in every deal we negotiate.
- Anticipating issues - CLC is always watching how state and national trends and issues will impact you and us. For example, we’ve been working behind the scenes on ways to make adhering to the Student Data Privacy Act easier for our members.
What drives us all is our belief in our mission and desire to serve you. Read on for more glimpses of a day in the life of a CLC team member.
Warmly,
Jennifer
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Julie Yulo-Medeiros
Member Relations Manager, Academic & School Libraries
DISCOUNTS: MAKING THE MAGIC HAPPEN
CLC is perhaps best known for the discounts we negotiate on the products and services you use most. Let’s pull back the curtain to see what a typical discount cycle looks like for us working at CLC.
Once we've settled on a product or service to offer, worked out the details, and finalized a contract, it's time to let our members know about it. We set up a product information page on our web site, and start marketing the product or service to our members through our newsletters and emails.
Next, we create an online order form to capture your requests as accurately and specifically as possible. This form helps us identify the contact person and to who and where to send the invoice. We also set up a master spreadsheet for the subscription or renewal period, which involves updating data, checking formulas, and verifying pricing.
Now we are ready to send out the renewal notices to members with current subscriptions. At the same time, we start to get lots of emails and calls from our members with questions about the product, service, renewing cycle, and cost. No question is too big or too small to answer, so keep them coming!
As we approach the end of the subscription/renewal period, invoices are sent and we send out another email reminding members that the deadline is coming soon. Finally, we wrap up the discount cycle by processing payments, sending out late notices for invoices that haven’t been paid, updating the master spreadsheet, and informing the vendor of renewing and new contracts.
Speaking of discount cycles, our next one is for
Scholastic Digital
products. Now is the time to explore our site for more information, ask questions, and check in with us about a free trial. CLC members saved an average of 58% on Scholastic Digital products last year - and that's the reason why we do what we do! Scroll down to the discounts section for more information, or visit
ctlibrarians.org/ScholasticDigital
.
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Amanda Stern
Events & Special Projects Manager
CLC ROUNDTABLES: A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK
You know that CLC has professional development roundtables. You may have been to one. You may even be a regular participant. But did you know we have 33 active roundtable groups, led by 58 roundtable chairs? Did you know that each roundtable meeting involves much activity behind the scenes? Please join me on a walk through the roundtable process from start to finish.
A team of dedicated roundtable chairs meets and determines a date, time, and location for an upcoming meeting, as well as the meeting topic. This involves consulting calendars, finding a host, and brainstorming topics that will be relevant and useful to the group. The roundtable chairs communicate meeting details to me here in the CLC office, and I create an event on our CLC website
event calendar
and open up online registration.
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CLC promotes the meeting with targeted emails. Mailing lists are pulled using the interests all our members have selected in their profiles. If you have not checked your profile in a while, give it a look. See if your interests are still current so we can send you only the information that is relevant and useful to you. Visit
ctlibrarians.org/profile
, log in with your username and password, and select "Edit Bio."
We review the roundtable calendar at our weekly staff meetings and identify which CLC staff member can attend each meeting. We try to get to as many meetings as possible.
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Interlibrary Loan East Roundtable meeting, November 27, 2018 at Middletown Library Service Center. Join them for their
next meeting
, March 19 at the Groton Public Library.
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The day before the roundtable, our Office Administrator, Tracy, runs the registration list and formats it into the sign-in sheet you’ll see at the event. Tracy also packs a bag full of CLC notepads and pens, the sign-in sheet, nametags, and any other goodies to share.
The day of the event, our chairs and our host librarians arrive early, set up, and run the meeting. If CLC staff are present, we may offer some information about what's happening at CLC, we are available for questions, but mostly we listen. Roundtable days are some of our favorites here at CLC. We get to travel across the state – often to the far corners – to meet with you, share CLC news, hear your concerns, and find out what we can do to help you better meet the needs of your library patrons. We feel a part of the great library community we have here in Connecticut.
Once the meeting is over, we are still busy with roundtable work – entering attendance into our computer system so we can keep accurate data about our programs, posting minutes onto the appropriate pages on our website as necessary, and addressing any action items that arose during the meeting.
While it may seem like our roundtables are a simple program, much hard work – often hours for each event, not counting the meeting itself – go into the planning and facilitation of each one. It is truly a labor of love.
We hope this information helps you to understand how seriously we take our roundtables, and how much we care about providing you with opportunities for both professional development and networking. Please consider making roundtable attendance a regular part of your work life! Scroll down for a few roundtable highlights, and
visit our website
for the full schedule and registration.
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Jen Datum
Special Projects Assistant / CLA Liaison
CT LIBRARY BFFs: CLC & CLA
CLA, CLC, CSL – I could go on with all the Connecticut library acronyms. We’ve all had our share of confusing them and being unsure what each organization does. Because I work for both CLA and CLC, it’s a challenge sometimes to remember which "library hat" I have on. But actually, working for both helps to provide a more seamless customer service experience for everyone.
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I was hired by
CLA (CT Library Association)
in the fall of 2012 to do three main tasks: provide support for the StarChapter association management software that CLA uses, update the CLA website, and produce a newsletter (
CLA Today
) every other month. The newsletter is no longer printed and mailed (shoutout to those of you who remember all the great issues of the
Connecticut Libraries
newsletter -
you can visit the archive here
) but we now post it to our
website
and ask libraries to print a copy out to post and distribute to their staff members. I do most of this work from home, but I do attend the monthly CLA board meetings, which really helps me to know what is going on at the state level in the library community.
Because CLA is primarily an all-volunteer organization, CLA contracts with CLC for a variety of administrative functions, such as providing a physical office space, phone and email; financial tasks; and of course, conference support. I began work for CLC a few years ago, and my primary duties were to help with that CLA support - answer the phones and return messages, record payments, and respond to emails. Going to the CLA board meetings and working with CLA board members has been valuable when questions come in from members about programs, membership, or software issues. In times when CLC was short staffed, I have also helped with distinctly CLC tasks including roundtable support, the programming catalog, and invoicing and entering payment information. I also manage CLC's
museum pass program
.
I drive to the office in Middletown once or twice a week and spend the day in the CLC office, and I always look forward to those days. I enjoy working with my CLC colleagues, and I think they are glad I am there when the CLA line rings! One thing I know for sure is that all of the "alphabet soup" of library organizations are dedicated to supporting the library you work at, and to always advocating for our profession.
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Scholastic Digital Products -
"FLIX" & GO
FOR SCHOOLS & PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Now is the time to order favorite e-resources from Scholastic at CLC's amazing prices - average savings 58%! Choose BookFlix, FreedomFlix, ScienceFlix, TrueFlix, or GO. Order, renew, or add additional products by Monday, 2/25. Contact Julie for assistance.
ctlibrarians.org/scholasticdigital
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CRPA Entertainment Showcase
Thursday, 2/14 in East Hartford
Attention library programmers! CLC has once again partnered with the CT Recreation & Parks Association to bring you members-only pricing on a full day of programming inspiration on Thursday, February 14 at the East Hartford Community Cultural Center. For just $25, preview 42 live performances and network with over 75 performers in the exhibit hall. Includes lunch.
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Computers in Libraries Conference
March 26-28, Arlington, Virginia
CLC is pleased to offer our members discounted online registration for the upcoming
Computers in Libraries 2019 Conference
, to be held March 26-28, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, VA. Save up to $190 on "the world's leading library technology and innovation conference," beneficial for all library types!
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KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
CLC's Weather Policy
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Did you know that CLC has a standard policy for determining whether or not your roundtable or other CLC event is happening on inclement weather days? We follow the decision of the public schools in the town where the meeting is being held. Just follow these guidelines next time the weather looks questionable:
- Morning Meetings: If the public schools in the town where the meeting is being held are CLOSED, the meeting is cancelled/postponed. If they have a DELAYED OPENING, the meeting proceeds as scheduled.
- Afternoon Meetings: If the public schools in the town where the meeting is being held are CLOSED, or have a weather-related EARLY DISMISSAL, the meeting is cancelled/postponed.
If you are still unsure, contact your roundtable chair or the CLC office.
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Monday, February 11, 10:00am
Oliver Wolcott Library, Litchfield
THE SCIENCE OF READING
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Join us for a discussion led by Caroline Wilcox Ugurlu, PhD about the science of reading and how parents and libraries can be part of the solution in ensuring that all readers reach their highest potential.
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Friday, February 15, 10:00am
Beardsley & Memorial Library, Winsted
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Come join your fellow Northwest Corner library directors to discuss the issues that are applicable to our libraries. We'll work together to revitalize this roundtable and make plans for this upcoming year's meetings.
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Friday, February 22, 11:00am
Otis Library, Norwich
INAUGURAL MEETING!
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Libraries perform essential functions for immigrants, helping them to integrate into the community, and libraries also introduce culture and traditions of different groups to people who were born and raised in the United States. Please join us as we discuss the goals and mission of this new group. The meeting will also feature an introduction and overview of the Piers Libraries Citizenship Collaborative (PLCC) project.
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These meetings are just a sample of upcoming roundtables -
10 meetings are happening in February!
Please explore and register for your favorites. Everyone is welcome at a CLC roundtable.
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TAKE YOUR CHILD TO THE LIBRARY DAY
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Did your library participate in this year's 8th annual
Take Your Child to the Library Day
? These five libraries did - and they were the lucky winners of a bag of Take Your Child to the Library Day promotional goodies! CLC staff enjoyed delivering these prizes to the winners and seeing their beautiful libraries. Don't forget to upload your TYCLD photos to our archive - just email them to
higher62ace68door@photos.flickr.com
with your library name as the subject. Visit
CLC's Facebook page
to see all of the amazing TYCLD promotional videos featuring CT librarians, produced for us by
CT Public
. And if your celebration is still to come, we wish you a very happy Take Your Child to the Library Day!
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Amanda Urcinas and Alice Freiler, Harwinton Public Library
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Jessica Nelson,
Plainville Public LIbrary
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Marie Spratlin, Amanda Richards, and Jodi Papazian, Burlington Public Library
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JoAnn Yachulke and Kathy Bopp, New Fairfield Public Library
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Mary Hogan (right), Cora J. Belden Library, Rocky Hill, with CLC's Jennifer Keohane at a CLC board meeting at the Middletown Library Service Center
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"We rely on CLC for so many things, large and small!"
--Beryl Harrison, C.H. Booth Library, Newtown
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You have received this newsletter because your library is a CLC member or partner, or you signed up for our mailing list. To adjust your CLC email settings,
log into your CLC account
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