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Volume XXXI, Issue III - September 2023

What's new at HQ?

And with that, summer is over! This was a busy summer at Shortgrass- full of events, the launch of a new Patron Point campaign, and visits to 12 member libraries to support summer reading programs! Read more about the summer further down the page, in the Client Services Update.

Additionally, there have been some staffing updates over the last couple of months. Check out the CEO's Update to learn more!

Thanks to everyone who contributed pictures or write-ups to this edition!

Upcoming Events

September 18: Library Manager Meeting.

September 20: SLS Board Meeting.

October 2: Shortgrass office closed in lieu of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation; missed deliveries will be made up the following business day.

October 9: Shortgrass office closed for Thanksgiving; missed deliveries will be made up on the following business day.

October 18: SLS Board Meeting.

November 6: Library Manager Meeting.

November 13: Shortgrass office closed in lieu of Remembrance Day; missed deliveries will be made up the following business day.

November 15: SLS Board Meeting.

December 6: Shortgrass Christmas Dinner & Social.

December 22: Last day Shortgrass office is open until 2024.

Shortgrass Clippings Archive

Did you know that Shortgrass has Shortgrass Clippings newsletters available to read online, going back almost twenty years? Our digital archive dates back to the end of 2003! Check out our previous editions to see how the newsletter has changed over the years- and if you've been following us for less than twenty years, catch up on everything you missed!

Programming Kit Guide Shared Drive

Did you know that almost all of Shortgrass' 80+ programming kits come with a "program guide" - a short booklet that offers suggestions for how to run your program?

Print versions of these guides are included in the kits, but these guides are also available online, on the Shortgrass Programming Kit Guides Shared Drive! Accessing the guides before your programming kit booking will help you plan and promote the program well in advance.

To access this shared drive, visit the Programming Kits page on the Shortgrass website, and follow the link that says "Click here to access all Programming Kit Guides".

If you do not yet have access to the drive, please contact Kait to request access.

Patron Point Email Marketing Tool

In June, Shortgrass launched our first Patron Point email campaign at participating libraries: a Welcome Campaign, which sends brand new patrons a series of three "welcome to your library" emails, introducing new members to all the amazing things their library has to offer!

We are now working on our next campaign, Recommends, which will send lists of reading suggestions to interested patrons. Stay tuned for more information!

Member libraries: if you are interested in using Patron Point to distribute newsletters to your patrons, get in touch with Kait and Lauralee for more information and to set up training.

Revised Land Acknowledgement

The Shortgrass Library System Land Acknowledgement has been updated, to reflect changes in Métis boundaries. The new land acknowledgement is as follows:

Shortgrass Library System honours and acknowledges that we are situated on Treaty 7 and Treaty 4 territory, traditional lands of the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Stoney-Nakoda, and Tsuut’ina as well as the Cree, Sioux, and the Saulteaux bands of the Ojibwa peoples.  We also acknowledge and honour that we are on the homeland of the Métis people.

Five Fun Facts about our Driver, Rod!

1. I have been married to Janice for 33 years (she claims that I married "UP")... and we have a 32 year old daughter, Devon, who I am told is a mini me...lucky girl.

2. I am a gear head, and follow all forms of automotive, aircraft, and motorcycle, related activities, history and competition. I enjoy riding the river valley trails on my mountain bike. I have been told that I can divert any topic of conversation to something vehicle related within 20 seconds.

3. I have been a board member and volunteer at "Twenty Mile Post Historical Society" in Irvine for over twenty years. We maintain the museum buildings, grounds, and cemetery. I also volunteer at the MH Stampede.

4. We have enjoyed living with 7 Airedales over the past 35 years....2 from pups and the other 5 as rescues from the western USA and Canada.

5. Prior to joining Shortgrass I spent 34 happy years at Telus and worked all over southern Alberta

Rod is one of Shortgrass' three delivery drivers, transporting library materials across the system. He makes sure that all your books and kits get to where they need to go!

CEO Update

Petra Mauerhoff, CEO

Another summer is coming to an end and this one was very magical at Shortgrass. For the first time in many years the summer performer was a magician, and from all the feedback I heard, including from my little nephew who visited from Germany, he put on an amazing show at member libraries! You can read more about it and see some photos in the next section.

This summer saw the return of our June BBQ event, for the first time since 2019. Library managers and board chairs from across the region joined the Shortgrass staff & board for a morning of learning and a delicious lunch. Thank you to Katrina and Ken from PLSB for an informative and engaging presentation on library & board relationships, and to all attendees for making the day a great success!

We were very excited to welcome back our Bookkeeper / Executive Assistant, Bernadette, who returned from her maternity leave in August. In less cheerful staffing news, we also said goodbye to our summer student Sierra, and learned that our cataloguer Val would be retiring at the end of 2023. Val has been with Shortgrass for 18 years, and will be much missed!

September is always a busy month as it includes the “away” meetings for both the library managers and Shortgrass Board meetings, amendments to the operating budget for the upcoming year, and the vote on the materials (including eBook) allotment for the next fiscal year. The library managers are meeting at Medicine Hat Public Library this month and the Shortgrass Board will be holding their regularly scheduled meeting at the Redcliff Public Library. Visiting member libraries always adds a special note to these meetings and I can’t wait to see you all there!

Petra

Client Services Update

Kait McClary, Client Services Librarian

Summer Reading Program 2023

It's hard to believe Summer Reading is over!

Shortgrass Summer Student Sierra and I were busy all summer long, visiting member libraries to host 12 programs across the region.

We tried our hands at hydrodipping in art programs, and experimented with making kinetic sand, bouncy balls, and coke & mentos geysers at science programs! We also had a great time assisting three libraries with their community parades.

Libraries across the system were busy too- Shortgrass loaned out over 100 programming kits during the months of July & August!

Shortgrass was also thrilled to offer the annual children's performer series, with a new guest for 2023: magician Christopher Cool! The magic show, "Check This Out", visited all 14 of our member libraries and was a ton of fun!

We hope you all had a great summer- and don't forget to submit your statistics!

eSkills Challenge

The latest eSkills Challenge is live!

As a reminder, the eSkills Challenge gives you a chance to brush up your skills on different digital resources. Practice logging in, searching, and more, and you'll be an expert in no time! The challenges are open to everyone across the system, and those who successfully complete the challenges are entered in the draw to win a $25 gift card.

This month, we're focusing on Read Alberta Books! Follow this link to brush up your skills and enter the draw to win!

Programming Kits

Shortgrass has some new programming kits! These kits are available to borrow now- contact Kait for details.

Escape Game - Saving the Beauty of Winter: A mad scientist wants to stop winter from coming! Find his secret lab and break into a top-secret room to stop his evil plan!

Escape Game - Houdini's Secret Room: When exploring Houdini's museum, you become trapped in a secret room. Solve the clues before the time runs out to escape the secret room!

Escape Game - Wooka Booka Island: Explore four animal kingdoms to uncover a long-lost treasure in this fun new escape game for kids aged 5-8!

Systems and Technical Services Update

Lauralee Gilmour, Manager, Systems and Technical Services

Upcoming WorkFlows Upgrade

We have scheduled a WorkFlows upgrade to version 4.0.0 for Monday, December 18th, starting around 8am.  WorkFlows will be down during the upgrade. The upgrade is expected to take 2-3 hours, and all staff will be notified by email when we are back up and running.

More information about the upgrade will go out by email in early December.

Scammer's Payback at the People's Call Centre

Submitted by Blaine H

We've all been there: you get a call saying there is an arrest warrant in your name, or an email about how your non-existent Netflix account has been compromised. These scam attempts are commonplace, but unfortunately, some people do fall for these sorts of scams- otherwise, scammers wouldn't be sending out these calls and emails.

The good news is that there are things that you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones, and there are people who are fighting back against these scammers. That is what I decided to do this summer, along with 75 other amazing people from around the world!

I travelled to Florida to spend a week working for Pierogi, of the YouTube channel Scammer Payback. Pierogi is a scam-baiting YouTuber with nearly 6.5 million subscribers, and a background in cybersecurity. His channel started after he decided to turn the tables on a scam caller and hack their computer, deleting their files so that they couldn't add spyware to their victims' devices, and steal their personal information. Since then, his channel has grown from pranking scammers, to stopping them, and helping protect people from online scams.

Earlier this year, Pierogi made a call to his subscribers to ask for volunteers to help with a unique project. I applied and was accepted, and spent a week in Florida with the Scammer Payback's People's Call Centre. Due to the non-disclosure agreement I signed, I cannot share too much, but essentially I spent the week calling scammers, helping to get approximately 2500 scammers banned from remote access computer programs such as AnyDesk (a supporter of this project), and trying to scam the scammers. We even managed to convince some scammers to give up the information about the local "Florida Money Mules", whom the US Federal Police were able to arrest. The goal of the People's Call Centre was to prevent scammers from talking to real potential victims- and you may notice fewer scam calls this summer!

From this experience, I learned that no one is immune to scams. The scammers I talked to would have been very convincing, had I not known better. Some scams are so clever that you may never notice that you are being scammed! My top tip is to be aware and informed on what kinds of scams are out there. Check sites like the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Don't just google customer service phone numbers to verify them, as scammers often pay to make their fake numbers be the first search results- instead, visit the company website and find the Contact Us page. And lastly, if ever in doubt, rushed, or treated poorly, hang up and talk to anyone else for help. Trust me, that one tip is important!

A video featuring my week at the People's Call Centre is scheduled to go live on Saturday September 16th!

What's New at Shortgrass Member Libraries?

Five Fun Facts about Duchess & District Public Library Manager, Sarah

1. I am left-handed.

2. The first book I remember having read to me, is Stop That Ball! by Mike McClintok.

3. My favourite hobby is drawing.

4. My favourite animal is the mule deer.

5. The coolest place I have ever visited is the Vancouver Aquarium.

Sarah Braun is the new manager of the Duchess & District Memorial Library- welcome, Sarah!

Honeycomb House Opens at MHPL!

MHPL's "Honeycomb House" officially opened on September 9th! 850 people visited the library during the Grand Opening Event, which offered free BBQ, live music, giant board games, a graffiti artist, video games, and more.

The Honeycomb House is a space designed by teens, for teens. It offers drop-in video games, homework space, creation stations/gaming computers, and more, including an on-call Child and Youth Care Counsellor!

It will be open limited hours six days a week, and will always be staffed.

Congrats to MHPL on the opening of this fantastic new teen space!

Teddy Taxidermy at Bassano Memorial Library

Bassano Memorial Library hosted their ever-popular Teddy Taxidermy aka “Franken-Teddy” program in August!

Open to all ages for the first time, participants made some fantastically unique critters, and staff had a great time seeing how creative everyone was!

Several of these are currently on display in the children's section- if you're in the area, stop by to take a look!

Update: Irvine Community Library's New Home!

The brand-new Irvine Community Library is just months away from completion, with an estimated move-in date of late January 2024! Check out the work in-progress, and stay tuned for future updates!

In Library News...

New on Libby: One-Tap Magazines

Libby will soon introduce the following enhancements to how users discover and enjoy magazines:

• One tap to read: Users can start reading magazines with just one tap, generating a checkout for your library.
  
  
• Streamlined access: Magazines will be highlighted on the Shelf, in the Magazine Rack.
  
  
• Easier subscriptions: A new subscribe option is available on the search page, which will allow patrons to automatically check out new issues of their favourite magazines.
  
  
• Improved discovery: From their Magazine Rack, users can navigate to the Newsstand to find other titles they may be interested in.
  
  

Professional Development & Training

Beyond Books: Adult Library Programs That Work!

Looking for program ideas to draw your adult patrons in the door of your library and keep them coming back for more? Join author and library director Jenn Carson to explore workable program models that can be adapted to your patrons and your physical (or virtual) space.

Wednesday October 4th, 12-1pm

Weed 'Em and Reap: Getting Your Collection from Awful to Awesome

Reap the benefits of a well-weeded collection! This session discusses the life cycle of a collection, including weeding techniques, collection management policies, and how to motivate reluctant weeders.

Available any time on-demand.

Dewey Divas: Fall 2023 Best Bets

The Dewey Divas and Dudes are back with another webinar series presenting the best new books for Canadian libraries!

The fall webinar series will be held on October 24th (Adult Picks) and October 25th (Kids & Teen Picks), featuring publishers' top new books for Canadian libraries.

Tuesday October 24th, 11am - 12.30pm

Wednesday October 25th, 11am - 12.30pm

2023 Stronger Together Conference

Northern Lights Library System, Parkland Regional Library System, Peace Library System, and Yellowhead Regional Library have joined together to host a hybrid 2023 Stronger Together conference.

The virtual Stronger Together conference will take place on November 3rd, with dozens of sessions available. In-person learning will occur the following week, with an ALTA Symposium on November 9th and the in-person Stronger Together conference on November 10th.

Registration closes October 27th for in-person events and November 3rd for the online event!

The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness

Until December 2023, Shortgrass Library System is providing member libraries with The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness. This is an empathy-based training program aimed at providing frontline library staff with the tools to help them manage problem situations.

Consisting of a three-hour Core Training session and 30+ additional one-hour modules, this training is available to all member library staff/volunteers.

While "Homelessness" may be in the title, the course goes far beyond that one subject. Various modules dive into issues such as dealing with unsupervised children and teenagers; handling sensitive subjects such as body odour; de-escalating fights before they happen; and more.

To access the training, please get in touch with Kait. This training is available until mid-December, 2023.

Don't forget that our virtual meeting software, Zoom, is available to all Shortgrass member libraries.

Please contact Lauralee or Bernadette if you would like to book Zoom to host your next virtual program or Library Board Meeting.

Share Your Stories!

Anything new to share? Send us your photos, stories, and updates!

• Screenshots of a popular online event
• Photos of what's going on at your library- displays, programs, renovations, weeding projects
• News about your library

Submit updates to newsletter@shortgrass.ca

Shortgrass Library System

Resourceful by Nature

shortgrass.ca

2375 10th Ave SW, Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8G2

Tel. (403) 529-0550 ext 101 Toll Free Number 1-866-529-0550 ext 101

Shortgrass Library System honours and acknowledges that we are situated on Treaty 7 and Treaty 4 territory, traditional lands of the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Stoney-Nakoda, and Tsuut’ina as well as the Cree, Sioux, and the Saulteaux bands of the Ojibwa peoples. We also acknowledge and honour that we are on the homelands of the Metis people.

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