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January 12, 2021   |  News

January Employee Spotlight - Annie Watkins

My duties are simple. I receive a notification that a new book list has been submitted to Ingram. I attempt to check each list to make sure that there aren’t duplicates, or materials ordered in the wrong area. I try to put a day or two between each order so that Ingram doesn’t send the items on a pallet. While I wait for new ones, I process the items that are already here. Processing new materials is pretty easy. Boxes are either one of one or multiples. If they are multiples, I keep them on adjacent carts, making sure never to mix them. Books get a barcode, a letter representing their branch on top, and the appropriate branch stamp. They also get a spine label if they need it. DVDs get a barcode, a movie rating sticker as needed, and later a spine label. Audiobooks get a barcode and later a spine label. I find out the book’s location by checking and rechecking the titles on the packing list with their P.O. (purchase order) numbers.

I use an assembly line process with this, moving on to the next cart until I’m back at the beginning of the line. Once that happens, I move on to receiving each item in the system and checking them out to processing. Receiving the item lets us know which items have come in and it allows me to make sure that the P.O.’s are correct, plus it allows me to assign each item to their barcode. Checking them out to processing gives me the time I need to get them ready. So, after that, I move on to checking to see what items are already in our system. That just involves me scanning each barcode. Items already in the system get put to the side. Items not in our system go back on the cart. Items on the cart need a MARC record downloaded from OCLC. That’s usually a quick process. Unless there’s not a record. If there’s not a record, then I have one of two options.

Option One: Put the book to the side and wait to see if a record gets made later.

Option Two: Original Cataloging.

Original cataloging isn’t hard per se, but it is annoying and time consuming.

Once the records have been downloaded for each of the items on the cart, I rescan the items so I can edit them. That takes only a few seconds. It involves removing lines that aren’t needed and making the titles reflect the book better. Editing the records allow the patrons to find them easier in the catalogue. I print spine labels as needed. I do the items that already have records after the downloaded ones are finished. Once a cart is done, I discharge them and put the items on their outgoing shelves if they’re ready. Our softcover items need plastic covers so that they last longer. I usually wait until all the softcovers have been added, so I make sure to have an extra cart put aside in case there’s a lot of them.

I set Thursdays aside as my Misc. Day. It’s a day where (if it’s possible) I handle the shelves of donated materials and repairs. Fridays are for paying invoices. Invoices are sent via email and I pay them in the system, add the information into an Excel worksheet. We mail out payment on the 15th and the last business day of the month.
[January Employee Spotlight - Annie Watkins]

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Madison County Library System
102 Priestley Street
Canton, MS 39046
601-859-7733

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