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Beverly J. Obert, Executive
Director
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Stop, Drop, Pick-up, and Move On
This could be the motto for the
RPLS delivery staff. Each day
they begin early packing the vans with bins of books, DVD, CDs, puppets, and
an occasional costume. What is amazing is that with little more than a slip
of paper, a bit of tape, and a rubber band, nearly every item arrives where
it was intended to go and returns safely home.
The delivery staff at RPLS is pretty darn good at this.
In October, they delivered an average of 4,400 items each day during a
two-week sample period. That is pretty awesome.
Every once in a while we do have glitches in this
system. While it runs smoothly most of the time, on occasion there are small
hiccups. What can you do to help?
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First, remember to
label all items clearly and legibly. Also, check to make sure that the
library name and city are correct. This is especially crucial with our
schools and any library with Lincoln in its name.
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Second, don’t forget to use rubber bands to hold items
together and to hold delivery slips in place. Removable tape is good, but
when books rub together in the bin it can come loose and bye-bye label.
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Third, if you have items that can be
delivered on to the library down
the road on the same delivery route,
band them together; label them with their destination and most important “Put
Them on the Top of the Bag or Bin”. It does no good to hide them in the
bottom, as the driver will not see them and this will delay delivery.
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And finally, if the pick-up point in your building is
somewhere other than the library, be sure that everyone, including the
RPLS
drivers, knows where that location is. It is also important that the
material is at that spot early enough to make the pick up. In our schools,
there are more and more security hurdles to cross before anyone can enter
the school. The easier you can make it for the RPLS delivery personnel to
pick-up and drop off materials, the better.
Remember those 4,400 books I talked about earlier? We
are anticipating that that number will continue to rise, as it has the past
few years. They say “If you build it, they will come.” At RPLS, we say “If
you give them a PIN number, they will use
HIP.” If you don’t
believe me, just ask your RPLS delivery person.
Rolling Prairie Library System
A Library for Librarians
Helping Libraries Serve Illinois Citizens |