Ken Cummings Email & Phone Number

I provide reference services through print and electronic resources to the members of the firm with a commitment to service excellence. I process, catalogue, and order books, journals, law reports, newsletters, and periodicals, while maintaining distribution lists and answering reference questions.

• Supervise all staff in department, including performance evaluation, appraisal input, and training orientations
• Manage escalated situations: negotiations, fire alarms, security incidents. Navigate difficult customer service interactions using tact and diplomacy to defuse situations.
• Perform a variety of system-wide supports: on call for all branches for customer service/account issues and Workflows problems, answering all customer service emails from public and staff for the system, answering all calls to the library main line number, handling all customer account enquiries, managing collection agency account issues, and garbage tag inventory and system-wide distribution
• Provide guidance and training to 3’s regarding customer privacy and account information disclosures aligned with relevant policies and legislation; control access to customer accounts by ensuring compliance with policies surrounding the verification of identity and personal information
• Provide all system-wide Symphony training for Pages and new 3’s, 3A’s, 3B’s, and 3C’s, including coordination and conducting sessions multiple times per month (In 2017, 46 3’s and 34 Pages trained across the System). Develop curriculum, scenarios, and modules, and maintain system-wide Symphony Guide (120 page manual for the system).
• Perform the largest volume of cash handling in the system (~$5,000/week), prepare daily cash floats, daily deposits, enter revenue, process cheques for the entire system, and deposits from administration, and FOL book sales
• Develop a robust Customer Service culture through continuous staff training, coaching, and promoting learning and development of core skills and competencies. Provide 1 on 1 coaching, re-training and shadowing opportunities while evaluating staff performance and providing feedback to Managers on areas for improvement
• Retrieve and store important data while also maintaining strict levels of confidentiality and privacy

Meadowvale Library, Lakeview Library

• Organized and ran regular children’s story-times, involving stories, singing, dancing, and other activities • Provided one-on-one eResource and eBooks support to patrons through Book-A-Librarian program, helped people set up OverDrive, Zinio, Adobe Digital Editions, and assisted with Facebook, Word, and basic photo editing• Developed an original program for special needs high school students, using a PowerPoint presentation and hands-on support to help the students access eBooks, eAudiobooks, Mango Languages, and Zinio eMagazines • Developed lengthy summer programs for large (25+) student groups as part of TD Summer Reading Club, including themes of urban ecology, and ocean exploration• Coordinated Meadowvale Library donations and book-sale, ensuring well-stocked shelves, and managing signage for special sales.

City Of Mississauga, Central Library

-Regularly provide excellent reference services to patrons, including providing readers advisory and support that includes book resources, internet databases, rare book collections, and periodical titles -Assume in-charge positions at library branches to cover staff shortages; responsibilities include managing the branches’ regular operations and dealing with any problems pertaining to branch function-Conducted a department–wide analysis of periodical use, leading to the cancellation of over 80 under-utilized titles, saving the department more than $5,200 per year in subscription fees-Successfully negotiated a collective agreement for 450 library staff in December 2012 as a key member of the library union’s negotiating committee, averting a strike or lock-out, despite difficult economic conditions; membership support for the ratified agreement was strong-Serving as chairman of the part-time benefits committee, leading a team dedicated to investigating possible library employee insurance coverage plans-Coordinated the organization and publicity for several successful public programs, including a wellness program, run by the Chairman of the Mississauga Library Board, and a LinkedIn Basics interactive workshop-Serving as the Two-Way Communication department representative, as per City of Mississauga mandate-Re-wrote a comprehensive, printed reference text for system-wide release at all 18 library locations, detailing community information and Mississauga Library services-Conduct regular career tours, in partnership with the Newcomer Information Centre of Peel, aimed at introducing new community members to the library’s job-search resources, including comprehensive, interactive demonstrations of the business directories Scott’s and Canadian Business Online-Resolve conflicts, disruptions, and facility problems in a timely manner; log issues in a database and follow-up by contacting other City of Mississauga departments as appropriate

- Provide professional customer service to hundreds of patrons every week in a frontline service position, representing one of the largest public libraries in Canada- Exhibit strong negotiation and dispute resolution skills by resolving both regular and escalated customer inquiries and disputes in person and over the phone- Quickly navigate library records, registering new patrons, answering general inquires, directing patrons, cash handling, and noting security and building concerns - Served on the bargaining committee for CUPE Local 966, representing 450 unionized library workers; successfully negotiated a new 60 page collective agreement including wages, benefits, and work hours. Also serving as department steward, and ready to respond to colleague inquires - Manage effective interpersonal relationships with diverse team of colleagues

- Worked in a frontline customer service position, providing patron assistance in all respects of a library- Oversaw collections management, including weekly magazine shipments and processing, book indexing changes, and all book repairs and lamination processes- Managed a pilot project to increase staff database literacy. Performed weekly training in various library online databases to all staff, which lead to more focused customer reference assistance- Developed and managed strategic initiatives including theft prevention strategies (security tagging), sales and promotion (book sales and publicity displays), and staff recognition (lunches and awards)- Ran monthly reports for management, compiling circulation statistics and lists of lost library items- Communicated system-wide to resolve issues such as overflow items and mismatches- Completed daily procedures including cash handling, record keeping, and IT troubleshooting

-Professionally represented the firm in client meetings, dozens of phone conversations, and website blogs-Helped several businesses by performing competitive market research: identifying local competitors and their business models and niches-Developed a plan to connect science and academic communities; cold called 95 companies for a survey and received 26 positive responses. This lead to greater exposure for the RIC Centre testing facilities at the UTM campus -Conducted work under strict deadlines, including extremely detailed business plan critiques, RIC Centre policy analyses, and database research. This improved the RIC Centre clients’ funding proposals and increased their market intelligence and readiness

- Created invoices, called and booked patients; used QuickBooks and other scheduling software- Reception, messaging, office upkeep- Conversed with patients in reception; ensured a positive experience

Master'S Degree, Information Science/Studies

-I have gained experience writing professional reports, including business analyses using Tableau software, writing RFP’s, and studying.

Honors Bachelor Of Science, Biology And Anthropology

Education record