1. Help for busy supervisors

2.  Competent shelvers
 Confident employees who know their role in the library
 Individuals who can be trusted to work on their own

3.  Job description
 Tax forms
 Employment Eligibility Verification
 Workplace Policies
 Dress Code
 Schedule

4.  Take your trainee on a tour of the building
 Explain the check in, check out process
 Let them know their work matters
 Introduce them to as many staff as possible
 Givethem permission to ask you questions, lots of
questions

5. TRAINING SLIP
Shelver in Training
This book can be checked out
Circulation staff: please return
this slip to the shelving
supervisor
Booktown library
Read for your life!

6. I can see three mistakes on this cart already
 You’re not being very careful are you?
 You did much better than this on your test

7.  Itlooks as if you have nearly everything in the right
place
 Some of these long Dewey numbers can be tricky to
begin with
 This one catches most people out at first

8.  Where to put the cart
 Straighten and tidy ‘as you go’
 Check ends and beginnings of shelves
 Shift books to other shelves as needed
 Pull damaged or mislabeled items

9.  Patrons are allowed to take the books you have just put
away
 They can take them off your cart too
 Youare new, you know nothing, so send patrons with
questions to the reference desk
 Youdid really well on your test and I know you are
going to do a good job

10.  Ask them if they notice anything about the book that
still has the training slip in it.
 Allow them to put it right
 Congratulate them for having seen what the problem
was
 Explain any uncorrected errors with a minimum of fuss

11.  Take your trainee aside and ask them nicely how they
think they are doing
 Tell them how they are really doing
 Explain how this affects you and your workload
 Give one more chance
 Let them go

12.  Visits from friends and family
 Talkative patrons
 Browsing or reading while shelving
 Chatting at length with other shelvers

13.  Tell the patron they are being inappropriate
 Alert at least one other staff member
 Take refuge in a non-public area of the library
 Shout ‘get away from me’ very loudly
 Call the police

14.  Materials are constantly being added or weeded
 Shelves can get tightly packed or empty out
 Overcrowded shelves are hard to work with
 An un-shifted collection looks bad
 The longer you leave it the worse it gets

15.  Patrons often put books back in the wrong place
 We can identify items that are damaged or need
cleaning
 Tidy shelves in good order are inviting to patrons
 Our goal is to make sure items are findable

16.  Touch each book as you check the spine label
 Re-shelve as needed
 Pull items that need cleaning, mending or new labels
 Move books to the left and push in book ends
 Stop after thirty minutes
 Write down what you have done

17.  Put away any unattended piles of books
 Straighten and tidy shelves as time permits
 Check study carrels and rooms for library material
 Put magazines away
 Hand in any stray belongings

18.  It will save you time
 Your experienced shelvers will enjoy the responsibility
 Your trainees will have more mentors

19. Name: Start date:
First Day
forms tour scheduling work logs
First Floor
board books picture books easy readers
youth fiction young adult fiction new books
movies cd’s tv dvd’s games comics
Second Floor
adult fiction large print paperbacks
audio books biography reference

20.  The staff at the reference desk can help you with that.
It’s this way
 Ifyou come with me I’m sure they’ll be able to find
that information for you at the desk
 Would you like to follow me over to the desk? They
will be happy to help you with that
 Let me find you an expert

21.  They do not feel pressured into offering help outside their
skill set
 Patrons don’t waste time speaking to the wrong person
 The reference staff get the chance to meet the needs of the
patrons
 Patrons will be impressed by your helpful shelvers
 Shelvers can feel good about how they handle these
situations

22.  Does the patron know if the library owns the book?
 Fiction or non-fiction? Print, audio or download?
 Title and author correct?
 If they found it in the catalog is it checked in?
 Is this the book they really want or need?
 Do we have something else that will do?
 Do we need to get it from another library?

23.  Where do I check out?
 Is there an elevator?
 Where are the restrooms?
 Have you read this book?

24.  Public computers
 Public copiers/ fax machines
 Filling in a form
 Complaints

25.  Anyone who seems to need help (such as a lost child)
 Possible damage to library property
 Theft of library property
 Unattended property (such a patron’s laptops)
 Rowdy behavior
 Pornography being viewed in the presence of children

26.  An employee who can do everything you ask of them
 An employee you can rely on
 An employee who will need a minimum of supervision
 An employee who will feel they are a vital part of the
library

27.  PatTunstall
 Indian Trails Public Library
 355 Schoenbeck Road
 Wheeling, IL 60090
 Phone: 847 279 2207
 E mail: ptunstall@indiantrailslibrary.org