Category Owner News — May 7, 2023

Hello Category Owners,

Lot of things to mention, so let’s get started…

Boxes from Rough Sort: I know this happens to you–books in your boxes that belong somewhere else. For example, the other day in mystery I got the book The Mysteries of Certificates of Deposit. Mysterious, yes, a mystery, no.
What to do when this happens? If you know where the book belongs, put it in the correct rough sort bin.
Not sure? Put it on the rough sort table.
If you feel like books are misplaced in your category too often, please do any or all of the following:
1. Email the chairs and let Debbie and Jeanette know.
2. Put examples in the purple box with a post-it that identifies your category and why it doesn’t belong to you..
3. Put a post-it on the front of your rough sort box describing what you don’t take.
Debbie and Jeanette will use this information to further train rough sorters. It is an on-going issue and will never be completely perfect.

Lookling errors: This is another thing that you have experienced. An example–Last week I scanned Martin Cruz Smith’s Wolves Eat Dogs, a mystery. Lookling categorized it as belonging in Cooking. When this happens to you, use your knowledge and experience to keep the book or move it on.

Don’t want to keep a book? We have lots of options:
1. If self-help, AA, or for Native Americans, put it in the Gallagher box in the rough sort area below the World History rough sort bin.
2. The jail asked for paperback (not hardcover) textbooks and other paperback instructional manuals, any subject. Other jail books are on hold right now as they “build shelving.”
3. We have box for “Little Libraries” in the bottom left of the Literature area. They want interesting reads.

Going to be gone from the warehouse? We hope when this happens it is for something fun, but we also know that life sometimes intercedes. If you will be gone from the warehouse for more than a few days, please email the chairs and let them know what dates you will be gone. This helps us in three ways.
1. We can check to see if you need any help while you are gone.
2. It helps us coordinate your boxes when we run out of warehouse space for your overflow.
3. It keeps us from informing you that you have lots of boxes stacking up as we will know when to expect you back.

CO Frequently Asked Questions We created a pdf of the category owner “Frequently Asked Questions.” If you haven’t yet taken a look at the FAQ, you can download the FAQ by CLICKING HERE.  Take a look! You may find answers to questions you didn’t even know you had.

Remember to RSVP Natalie if you’re going to the Volunteer Appreciation event on June 1.  Her email address is: [email protected] . We hope to see you there!

As always, thanks for your hard work.

Fran, Christina, and Eliot