Margit has decided that now is a good time for her to retire from her work for UC Libraries.

Margit came in last week to clear her work area. Margit has not actually returned to work following the earthquake. Margit has been on sick leave however she is about to start some annual leave as she is travelling to Australia with Denis. Hopefully the time away from the aftershocks will be enjoyable for them both.

Margit has agreed to a farewell function to be held at the staff club on Friday, 22 October, time to be confirmed but probably around 4.30 pm.

Margit has asked that no gift be purchased for her however she would like colleagues to donate to the SPCA in lieu of a gift. So I would appreciate it if you could collect donations within your teams and put them with the card that will be circulated. I would like the card and money back to me by Wednesday 20 October.
Joan Simpson

Wednesday 6 October, S7 @ 12.15 pm or Monday 11 October, Commerce O11 12.15 pm

Information sessions are being offered at the above times for the university community. These sessions will be opportunity for Joan Simpson the Central Library Manager to outline some of the work being undertaken within the library following the earthquake and to answer any questions staff or students may have. Advertising will be organised next week. Joan Simpson

It is planned to open Level 2 and part of Level 3 at Central to students for study. We had been aiming for Monday 4 October but this timeframe has proved too tight. So the new date is Monday 11 October. There will be an additional 60 computers installed for students. As noted before students will be able to return books but there will be no lending. At this stage the opening hours will be Monday – Friday 8 am – 5 pm. With the removal of stacks there is less lighting than was available before. The idea of using security to stay open longer is being considered especially for the last 3 weeks of semester. Any queries please get in touch. Joan Simpson

Hi all

When checking in items from the Central Library they should be put into hampers for either Law or Education. Both libraries are shelving the Central Collection.

However, the High Demand items must be sent to Law. The DVDs must be sent to Education.
Interloans still come back to Central along with anything for the Collections team, Library Admin or Library IT

From next week Central staff will be retrieviing items from level 2 including the music CDs and items from level 6 which is music and arts. We will collect once a day – so it may take 3-4 days for an item to get to the preferred pick up location.

For some reason the vast majority of stock on level 6 stayed on the shelves. The items which did fall have been stacked in piles on the floor so retrieval from this floor is relatively easy. Two staff will retrieve and they will be expected to take the lending cell phone with them as a safety precaution. All items on level 2 which came off the shelves has been reshelved so in a very small area of the library we look norma.

There will be a notice going out to staff and students advising them that requests are possible on a limited area of the Central collection.

Jack Aarron, FIona Horne, Sandra Gover, Janette Nicolle and Cuying Mu are based in the Law Library. Helen Doidge and Angela Berry are based in the Education Library. The remainder of the Central staff are working in a number of libraries but mainly in Law.

Any queries please get in touch.

Joan Simpson

The fencing around the south side of the James HIght building has been shifted to accommodate the crane. Contractors are working from a cradle attached to the crane to replace the windows on the upper levels of the building.
There are no circumstances when it will be allowable for staff to exit the building from the south side. The south side is a hazard area and the contractors do not want any injuries. You can exit the building into the undercroft area from the lift well foyer or from the staff entrance. I am working with Kevin from the warehouse to organise the deliveries and hamper runs.
Thanks
Joan Simpson

I spoke with Claire earlier in the week and Max is home and on the mend. All good news.
Joan

Claire has been in touch today and the Doctors are expecting to discharge Max sometime on Saturday. So that is good news. They will review his return to work date after two weeks. So Max may be back with us sooner than we first thought. Max will return on reduced hrs to begin with.

Joan Simpson

Max was operated on last night as his condition worsened during the day.

The blockage was cleared and a stent or stents were inserted. Claire thought Max looked well after theatre.
Claire wasn’t sure what ward Max would go in to next. As you can imagine Claire is exhausted and she was hoping for a good sleep today.

Joan Simpson

Hi all

We have heard today from Max’s wife Claire that Max is in hospital following a heart attack in the early hours of today.

Claire will keep in touch with me as they know more about his return home and when we can expect him back to work.
At this stage I am not expecting Max back until the end of October.

Max is in Ward 12 of Cardiology at the public hospital. No flowers are permitted in this ward. Claire thought he would be in hospital for another 4-5 days.

Janette and the Information Services team will be reallocating Max’s work load and contacting the Academic staff.

This is a good reminder to us all to assess how we are coping. The medical centre is open and offering services to all university staff if required.

Regards Joan

The $2 book sale starts today at the Central Library and runs until Thursday 19 August. Books are on tables at the back of the library near the Copy Centre. Payments are made at the Copy Centre until they close. Then only payments from a canterbury card are accepted at the Lending Desk. Please advertise the book sale with your staff and students. Thanks Joan Simspon