Week of FEBRUARY 12-17

VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION

WE LOVE OUR VOLUNTEERS AND STAFF!!!

A great deal of furniture, collections, shelving and other items has been moving over the past few months all over the library. This would never have been possible without the hard work of our many volunteers and helpful staff members willing to go the extra mile. Thanks in particular to Romina for the extra hours of assistance from the Elders and Sisters, and to Joe for getting our many young volunteers, particularly the large Project SAY contingent. Collections are now in place, with fine-tuning the next step. Whenever there was a need, staff and volunteers stepped in to fill it. APL is AWESOME!

RENOVATION READY TO BEGIN NEXT WEEK

Library representatives met with all parties involved in the renovation on Tuesday, February 13^th. The principal players are: Angeles Contractor Inc. - lead contractor; Paul Chelminiak – the Library’s project coordinator from RDK; Richard Aguirre – contract administrator from Anaheim Dept. of Public Works; and Carol, Audrey, Tom, and Rick – Library project liaisons. Construction workers will not fraternize with staff or patrons. All authorized construction personnel will be identified by either their logo clothing or an I.D. badge.

CENTRAL LIBRARY – SERVICE IMPACT DURING RENOVATION

The primary goal of our renovation is to finish as quickly as possible. The second goal is to maintain library services to our patrons. As construction hours will generally be from 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., service and construction will overlap. Areas of the collection may sometimes be inaccessible to patrons, staff, or both. Depending on the type of work scheduled, Central library hours of operation will be shifted to an 11:00 a.m. or noon opening as needed. Evening and Saturday hours are not expected to be impacted. As the contract requires only 48 hours advance notice, both patrons and staff can expect inconvenient interruptions to regular services and assignments. Because of the uncertainty of opening hours, morning storytimes at Central will be discontinued until mid-March. The changes to hours or programming will be publicized in the building and through communication channels.

RENOVATION SCHEDULE:

The project schedule is estimated for the next 7-9 months, with a grand re-opening of the new Children's area potentially scheduled for the Fall. Contractor work hours will be from 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. generally.

If possible, the most dirty or noisy work will be done prior to 9:00 a.m.

Contractors will provide at least a 48-hour notification for any work that will impact operations for the staff and public, or affect the neighborhood or street traffic.

Regularly scheduled meetings for contractors, library representatives, and design team members will be held weekly in the Central conference room, Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. Staff and patrons will receive updated information after these meetings take place.

RENOVATION – THE SET-UP

This project will get underway this coming Monday, February 19^th when the contractor will be fencing a staging area in the Library parking lot just west of City vehicle parking. This area will be blocked off for use by the construction team, including an office trailer, for the duration of the project. A map will be forthcoming.

The contractor will be establishing a work site. This includes connecting to the Library’s power, water, etc. Paths of travel to the work areas will be marked. A temporary wall, separating the construction area from the public area will be installed, perhaps as early as the end of next week.

RENOVATION – THE 1^st PHASE

The removal of the hazardous materials in the work area is scheduled to begin Wednesday, February 28^th. Very little hazardous material is involved, and the removal is expected to take 5 working days. This will involve noise because tile will be removed from the bathrooms, and the interior wall in the Children’s Room will be demolished. This work is under Federal law, and an independent inspector is in charge of this process. All dust and debris are contained within the removal area. Staff and custodial staff cannot be in the building until 9:00 a.m. on these days. This is not a health issue. This restriction is to provide a path of access for equipment and removal of debris from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Tentatively, the restricted schedule is from Wednesday, February 28^th through Tuesday, March 6^th. The exact dates/time will be posted when confirmed by the contractor.

RENOVATION – NEXT STEPS

A three-week work schedule will be presented at the 1^st project meeting on Tuesday, February 27^th. This will identify the type of work that will be happening during March and April. This schedule will be posted as approved.

RENOVATION – STAFF IMPACT

There are only two guarantees for the next 7 to 9 months. First, this will be a period of change and disruption, especially for Central staff. Full and part-time staff may have hours, tasks, and workplace shifted for some of the project period. At this time, any staff members who may be particularly sensitive to dust and noise may request a reassignment through their supervisor. Audrey Lujan will be coordinating the transfer of staff to our branches.

Secondly, all of us – management, staff, and public – are in this together and committed to upgrading the Central Library facility. Similar to the Haskett project, the interim period of disruption is the necessary cost for new space that will provide improved areas of service for many years.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

Our users will reflect our attitudes. I ask each of you to serve with a positive message and a smile, even when the public is negative and frowning. Agree that there are interruptions and service limitations at Central, suggest that patrons take advantage of our other branches, and remind our users and ourselves, daily, that this is an interim period and, by Fall 2007, Central Library will have wonderful new space (and 2 large windows) for our users. Months of “ugh” will result in years of “ahh!”

Thanks for you service and support,

Carol