"Shadow for a Day" - LIBS 677

I had the pleasure of shadowing Katie Hoffman, Public Services Librarian of the Bedford County Central Library. I sat at the main circulation desk while shadowing because Katie was one of two staff members working since it was a Saturday. I checked materials in and out through LS2 Staff. The process was relatively easy. I scanned barcodes and made sure DVDs were in the case. Due dates were either printed or emailed to each patron. I could also reserve a meeting room for a patron who wanted to study. I even took payments for café items, which was also done through LS2 Staff. It was a busy day, but Katie allowed me to perform many tasks, and I got a great experience.

Keranakis, L. (2024). The open floor plan. [Photograph].

The Bedford County Public Library system uses LS2staff from The Library Corporation (TLC). TLC also provides the online catalog system. They use the LS2 PAC for their OPAC. I have visited numerous public libraries that use this system. The user interface is extremely straightforward. Bedford County Public Library adheres to the Dewey Decimal system as well. I got to explore the LS2 PAC. I am very familiar with this system. I worked at a public library for five and a half years, and that library system used this OPAC. Like I said before, it’s very straightforward. However, I can’t help but think my opinions on usability are biased from my past work experience. The screenshot below shows an example of what a patron would see if they searched for an item through the Bedford Public Library's OPAC. It readily provides the summary, title, edition, authors, and subject terms. The MARC for this item is accessible through the same landing page of the Bedford Public Library catalog entry. It contains similar metadata but looks drastically different.

Bedford Public Library System. (n.d.). The Color Purple [Screenshot]. https://bplsonline.tlcdelivers.com/#section=resource&resourceid=1998760&currentIndex=2&view=fullDetailsDetailsTab

Bedford Public Library System. (n.d.) The Color Purple MARC record [Screenshot].

https://bplsonline.tlcdelivers.com/#section=resource&resourceid=1998760&currentIndex=0&view=fullDetailsDetailsTab The kid’s catalog has a walk-through tutorial but no formal OPAC learning opportunity for adult services. However, the staff does provide 1-on-1 catalog training for patrons who require assistance.

The overdue shelf reading list is run every Wednesday at 3 p.m. There is a specific volunteer that looks for overdue books. This public library system keeps their overdue dates recorded in a spiral notebook. Each date is written by hand. I found that extremely surprising and interesting. The same library volunteer that looks for overdue books also searches for lost and missing materials on a scheduled basis. Missing items are looked for once a month. Most items are looked for once a quarter. Once a quarter, the missing and lost report is run for the entire library system.

Some reports run monthly are “Items with Statuses and Linked Borrowers by Holding Codes” and “Count of Borrowers by Location and Zip Codes.” Katie ran the “Circulation Counts by Owning Holdings and Codes of Location” report for me. As you can see from the image below, 4,330 transactions took place in April 2024. The Bedford County Public Library has a total inventory of 42,892 items.

Bedford Public Library System. (2024). Circulation Counts Report [Screenshot]. https://www.bplsonline.org/ I went on the same day that Summer Reading started, and many kids were there for that. The signage was clear and visible, hanging from the ceiling. On the second floor, the Virginia History Room has historical materials for local and state in the original library’s physical structure. It also has the entire printed code of Virginia.

Print materials are ordered through Ingram, and media materials are ordered through Midwest Tape. Some materials are pre-processed with labels and jackets, and some are not. Additional stickers are placed on items handled through Tech Services at the central library. Tech Services also adds new materials to the OPAC and prepares them for shelving. Tech Services handles the entire process of ordering, processing, repairing, and binding materials for the library. Unfortunately, I could not see this process, considering it was a Saturday and these employees were not at the Central Library.

Keranakis, L. (2024). The Virginia Room. [Photograph].

Overall, I had a great experience and enjoyed chatting with Katie. Her passion for libraries was contagious. She has been working at the Bedford Central Library for almost 20 years. She got her MLIS from Syracuse University and is originally from Ohio. References Bedford Public Library System. (2024). Circulation Counts Report [Screenshot]. https://www.bplsonline.org/ Bedford Public Library System. (n.d.). The Color Purple [Screenshot]. https://bplsonline.tlcdelivers.com/#section=resource&resourceid=1998760&currentIndex=2&view=fullDetailsDetailsTab 

 Bedford Public Library System. (n.d.) The Color Purple MARC record [Screenshot].

https://bplsonline.tlcdelivers.com/#section=resource&resourceid=1998760&currentIndex=0&view=fullDetailsDetailsTab

  Keranakis, L. (2024). The open floor plan. [Photograph]. Keranakis, L. (2024). The Virginia Room. [Photograph].