The best practices used to maintain efficiency in the Circulation Department:

• Trained part-time staff to take on those tasks traditionally performed by full-time staff, such as opening/closing duties, pulling holds and select background tasks.
• Revised weekend teams to consist of even numbers of staff, including part-time staff.
• Moved the Holds shelving to a more accessible area so patrons could pick up their own materials.
• Eliminated the schedule for answering the phones and instead implemented the practice of having those staff checking in materials take on that responsibility.
• Create a list of daily priorities.
• Desk schedule is done on a weekly basis so any scheduling conflicts can be addressed with minimum disruption to the overall schedule.
• Holds are pulled three times a day, once in the morning, and twice in the evening.
• All circulation activities are conducted from one service point so that all staff are familiar with pertinent circulation and reference activities and duties.
• Maintain a schedule for the pay period to ensure part time staff don't go over their alloted hours.
• All departments assist in pulling holds in the morning and the circulation department pulls holds again in the afternoon.
• Checked-in materials go directly onto carts, not onto pre-shelving.
• Encourage volunteers to help with holds, shelving and checking in.
• Ensure thorough training for all volunteers and staff.
• Use branch distribution list to inform all departments of changes in collection codes, locations, displays, etc.
• Rely on cross-trained staff from other departments to help when there is an overload of work or the department is short staffed  
• Staff have "claimed" the Popular Library for Reader's Advisory purposes with book bundles, performer spotlights, Oscar winners, classic movies and other sub-genre displays to encourage checkout.
• Scheduling is done from week to week, leaving room for flexibility.
• Children's staff created a cheat sheet that lists which series are shelved on which paperback spinner.
• Use a white board posted prominently in the circulation room to broadcast important information.
• Communicate changes to staff via email.
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The best practices used to handle the day-to-day operations of the Children's Department:

• Each children's staff member has an assigned shelf reading, weeding, shifting area that rotates each month.
• Create a daily desk schedule to ensure staff have "off desk" time to plan programs, attend workshops, etc.
• Plan the staff work schedule one year in advance so staff know what weekends they will work to better plan time off.
• All staff are expected to perform certain duties such as book bundling and programming.
• Provide excellent Reader's Advisory using the team approach and pooling staff knowledge, and knowledge of our online resources.
• Create subject cards and bibliographies to better help patrons find appropriate materials.
• Schedule more staff to work on busier times of the week and during big events.
• Send out reminders of deadlines.
• Remind circulation staff of registration dates or of school visits.
• Inform both Information Services and Circulation of any large scale events we will be having that may impact their departments.
• Children's staff answer main telephone line on the first day of registration.
• Pull books from pre-shelving to make book bundles, reducing the number that need to be shelved. 
• Children's staff works with re-distributing "extra" audiovisual and print items as a result of shared collections.
• Color-coded the tops of the paperback spinners for easy indentifcation and directing patrons.

The best practices used to handle the day-to-day operations of the Information Services Department:

• Use a monthly schedule of assignments to cover duties such as changing displays, cleaning the computers, shelf-reading, etc.
• Staff help pull holds in the morning.
• Staff help pull expired holds.
• Public service desk scheduling is shared among department staff.

   

Other:

• As a neighborhood branch, there are not separate departments, per se. All staff engage in all operational activities so that everyone knows how to do everything, be it answering Ready Reference questions, engaging in Reader's Advisory service, etc.  The staff are also acquainted with their co-workers areas of expertise and do not hesitate to ask for assistance when necessary. 
• All departments cross-train and help cover desks as needed.
• Schedule more staff to work on the busier times of the week.
• One or two staff members come in thirty minutes early to ready their department for the day.
• Each staff member participates in special background tasks to ensure the smooth running of the library.