Managing Substitutes at the Fort Vancouver Regional Library

By CRS Advanced Technology

The Fort Vancouver Regional Library District in Vancouver, Washington was established in 1950 and serves an area of 4,200 square miles and a population of 436,605. The district is composed of thirteen libraries and three bookmobiles and offers a variety of services, including: community outreach, telephone information services, and books by mail for those physically unable to get to the library.

The district's collection is made up of over 766,500 items including books, magazines, videos, books on audio, and periodicals in both print and electronic format. In 2007, the library circulated 2.92 million units and logged 1.8 million visits. Even more impressive is the fact that all this was accomplished by approximately 214 full time employees and additional part-time staff; roughly an average of 300 people.

The Problem

During high-peak times, which usually fall around holiday seasons and summer vacation times, the district can use up to 40 subs per week. That is also a time of year when staff plans vacation time, in addition to increased traffic in the libraries. Even during tax season, the libraries offer assistance to families needing help filing taxes.

This also contributes to long lines. To cover these critical time periods, manual calls were made and emails sent, which was a very time consuming task, taking valuable time away from serving library patrons during these peak times.

The SubFinder Solution

Sherry Braga, Volunteer and Substitute Coordinator, had heard of a neighboring library using an automated system for managing their substitute pool. After contacting the library, and researching a few options, she found CRS Advanced Technology and the SubFinder product. Once preliminary references were contacted and a comparison of other similar products made, Sherry quickly determined that SubFinder was the best choice for Fort Vancouver Regional Library District.

Among the features she was most interested in included Substitute Scheduling, Tracking Sub Hours, Skill and Preference Lists, Over 600 Reports Accessible, Both Phone and Web Accessibility.

"We mainly use SubFinder to schedule subs and track sub hours, including part-time staff who want to work extra hours. We use skill levels and preference lists to meet union contract requirements and limit what staff sees as available hours. Additionally, we utilize several of the reports for a variety of reasons. Many help us in tracking costs of projects, budgeting, and so much more," Sherry explains.

Fort Vancouver Regional uses both the phone and web components of SubFinder, although Sherry has found that the subs really prefer the online accessibility. The branch supervisors are responsible for reporting absences for their branch and then will monitor each job for fulfillment for daily scheduling.

Sherry stresses the importance of the library's use of SubFinder, "The fact that it is available 24/7, 365 days a year is fabulous because that's how we operate and it would cost a lot to have a staff person available that much." And as for her personal opinion of the SubFinder product, Sherry emphatically states, "I love it! I love it! I love it! I can't imagine my job without it. I heavily depend upon it daily and would definitely recommend it to other library systems to assist them in managing their substitute staff."

For flexibility, ease of use and the ability to maintain a fully operational organization with minimal effort while adhering to stringent guidelines, the SubFinder solution was THE solution to keep the staff and patrons of Fort Vancouver Public Library District happy and accessible, minimizing the stress and frustration during high peak traffic times.