Vol. 38, No. 3
Fall 2008

HELP US, HELP YOU

Mail Room Suggestions for Better Service

By Lorin Lindsay
Technical Services Librarian

After the mail is delivered each day, each book is inspected by mail room staff to rewind tapes, to make sure the correct tapes are in the green box, and to check for damaged tapes. Please help us to give better service by:

After you listen to a tape, please rewind the tape. Sometimes as many as 30-40% of the returned tapes need to be rewound in the mail room. Many times it is the last tape that the person used.

After you listen to a tape, please put it back into the correct green book box. Sometimes books are sent back that contain tapes from several books, and those books are out of circulation until all the tapes can be put back into the correct boxes.

After you find a defective or damaged tape, please stop your recorder and put a rubber band around the tape before you put it back in the box. Please do not rewind the tape because it helps the mail room staff to know where the tape is damaged. Then check the box marked Damaged in the upper left corner of the return mailing address card. Putting strings, ribbons, or rubber bands on the outside of the box can cause problems for the postal sorting equipment.

When you receive a defective or incomplete book, contact your Reader Advisor right away to request a replacement copy. Then return the defective or incomplete copy to the library.

Before you send a tape back, please make sure the tapes are rewound. If you forget to return all the tapes in a book, the missing tapes have to be duplicated before the book can be sent to another patron. Please make sure the correct tapes are in the correct box.