Mail and Delivery Services: General

Answer

Mail and Delivery Services: General

Regular Mail

Mail needs to be handled quickly and efficiently. If a deadline has been put on the correspondence for a response from you, it is very important that you do your best to meet that deadline. Ensure that local procedures are developed and followed for consistency in case of the need to troubleshoot in the future.

Have an area and/or mailbox set aside for items that go to:

  • Library Manager
  • ILL
  • Library Staff
  • Programs and Displays (eg, pamphlets, bookmarks, posters, etc.)
  • Board Chairperson
  • Treasurer
  • Secretary
  • Recycle and Shredding

Have a space for an outbox, so all outgoing mail can be stored in one place.

 

Here are some questions you should ask and hints on developing local mail procedures.

  • When?  -How often do you pick up the mail: daily? Weekly? Is there a daily deadline (eg, 10 am)?
  • Who?  -Does the same person always handle the mail? Is it a team job?
  • Where?  -Where do you sort it?
  • How?  -How do you sort it?
  •  
Email

Check your email every shift. There may be important messages about Polaris or other services that you may need for your day. Be mindful of scams and junk mail and delete as necessary.

 

Three Easy Ways to Share with the Library Community

Because members of the library community are spread so far apart and across the province, three different ways have been created to communicate and share.

 

To share with all NLLS members:

  • A group called NLLSpartners@groups.io has been created for NLLS members to share with each other. An invitation to join is sent to each new library manager. The invitation is sent to the library manager’s email. Additional staff can be added by request from the library manager.

 

To share with all TRAC members:

 

To share province-wide:

  • A listserv called Jerome-L, created and maintained by the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta, is a province-wide library listserv which includes staff from public, academic and special libraries and is maintained by Information shared: Initiatives, professional development opportunities, requests for proposals, publications, employment opportunities.
  • To subscribe, click on the following link: http://www.mailman.srv.ualberta.ca/mailman/listinfo/jerome-l

 

Things to remember about sharing on all or any of these groups:

  • They are all listservs, which are like a mailing list and broadcast system in one: emails sent to these lists are broadcast to everyone on the list.
  • They are different from a forum or a newsgroup (online discussions that anyone can view), because only the individuals subscribed to the list can view the messages.

 

Etiquette Tips:

  • Do not post or ask questions of a list if it does not pertain to the "purpose" or subject matter of the list.
  • Check archives (if possible) before posting a question.
  • When you click reply it goes to the whole list, not just that person. Gauge if your answer is of interest to the whole group. If not, just email that person.
  • Keep your welcome message and follow instructions for unsubscribing. If unsure, email the list owner not the whole list.
  • Always include the original subject line in your replies.
  • Always include your contact info in your postings.



Answered By: Tracy Paradis
Last Updated: Jul 19, 2021
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