Transparency

Seems like everybody's talking about transparency these days and DPPL is no exception. When I first began working here in 2007, one of my first impressions of the library Web site was that it provided no information whatsoever on the staff and how a person might contact someone! We've come a long way since then. Our "Contact Us" page has important phone numbers and email addresses for departments and staff members. If you have a specific concern and are not sure to whom it should be addressed, you can read about our department heads and contact them from an additional page. Many of our library trustees have made their email addresses accessible, as well.

You may be aware that our Board of Trustees meetings, generally held on the third Tuesday of the month, in the evening, are open to the public. The previous month's meeting is also available for viewing on Cable Channel 24, on a DVD available for checkout at the 4th floor reference desk and online through our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/user4284312

Board meeting minutes are also published on our Web site once they have been approved - this generally means waiting until the following month's meeting date.We have just added the current monthly financial report to the meeting minutes page.

As always, this blog, PlainTalk, and our Facebook and Twitter accounts remain excellent sources of library news and don't forget our weekly e-newsletter. Our "What's New" page gathers much of that information together and includes the latest local news articles about DPPL.

Last week, a patron stopped in to share his feelings with me about our new catalog, BiblioCommons, which we hope to roll out next month. He asked me why I hadn't been telling the public about the new catalog - but I have been writing about it here and on Facebook for months. We have eliminated the printed library newsletter to help keep our expenses down so we hope you will make use of our Web site and other online services to keep informed. Need to know? Just stop in and ask. We'll keep doing everything we can to become a more transparent and responsive community organization.