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August Meetings Recap

Collected from meetings held 8/2, 8/9, & 8/30:

Attendance & Punctuality
Everyone has a copy of the new Attendance & Punctuality metric. This starts September 1st. Please review the new requirements and sign the sheet on Leonore's desk before 9/28.

Closing Procedures
Everyone needs to be out on the public floor at least 15 minutes before closing. Book drop, etc., can wait. The priority is helping clear the building.

Collection Maintenance

• A lot of books with beginning reader labels are actually picture books. Pay attention to these items and give them to Yolanda if you find any.
• We are going to start holding IDs for Consumer Reports. We also hold IDs for the Book of Lists.

Envisionware

• Leave the reservation computers off, since they are rarely needed. Desk 2 staff should keep an eye out on the rare occasion sections get full and then turn on the corresponding reservation station.
• We don’t need to print guest passes ahead, since we don’t get too many requests for them. Just print as you go to avoid printing too many.
• Coin Copiers is supposed to provide us with envelopes for print cards with a minimum value of $1.  We don’t have these envelopes yet. In the meantime, use one of our envelopes. Get the customer’s contact info (name, phone #, home address). Keep the envelopes in the Desk 1 driver’s side drawer.  If you see a Coin Copier employee, give him the collected envelopes.

FlipKits
Customers must check out a Flip Kit and take it home in order to be eligible for a museum pass. A customer recently checked out all of the available Flip Kits, immediately filled out the surveys, and then tried to redeem them for museum passes.

Meeting Rooms

• Tina is in charge of verifying bookings.
• Please ensure the following things when booking a room:
• Must be open to the public
• No money can be exchanged
• No businesses
• Currently, no food or drink (except individual water bottles at room temperature) can be served. 
• Do not book a room until you have the meeting room form in hand.
• Leave notes in the note field on the Google calendar. Include the organizer’s name and contact information, your initials, and the date the reservation was taken.

Training
There is a required webinar for a new database called Small Business Builder. Please sign the sheet on Leonore's desk after viewing the webinar.

Everyone is required to take the ARA Records Management training through TMS. The deadline is Monday, September 10th at noon. Please make this a priority and email Leonore when the training is complete. There is nothing to sign.

Wellness
Sign up for Biometric Screenings here. The deadline to input data is 11/30.

Workflow
Friday afternoons – Staffing the desk is the priority. Therefore, all four stations will be staffed during opening hours. Desk 2 staff will do book drop and pickup, but staff shouldn’t be away from the desk for more than a few minutes at a time. If in-house can’t get scanned, label the cart/basket so it can get done later. PULL OUT THE BOOK DROP BASKET BEFORE YOU LEAVE.
Saturday afternoons – The priority opening procedures are $, turning on the computers, and stamping the newspapers. Staffing the desk is the priority at opening, but Desk 2ers should do book drop and pickup when possible. Any other normal task like paging and clear holds can carry over to Monday if needed, just be sure and notate that these tasks were not completed. Label any carts/baskets of in-house not yet processed, too. Pull out the book drop basket at the end of the day.
Monday mornings – Catch up on tasks not completed over the weekend, including in-house, clear holds, paging, etc.

July Meetings Recap

Collected from meetings held 7/5, 7/12, 7/19 & 7/26:

Scheduling

Starting the week of 8/4, full-timers will work the following schedule:

• Sat 12:15pm-5:15pm (no lunch) (5) 
• Mon 8:15am-6:15pm (1hr. lunch) (9)
• Tues 8:15am-6:15pm (1hr. lunch) (9) 
• Wed 8:15am-6:15pm (1hr. lunch) (9) 
• Thurs 9:15am -6:15pm (1hr. lunch) (8) 
• Fri. Off = 40 total

• Sat off
• Mon 9:15am – 6:15pm (8)
• Tues 9:15am – 6:15pm (8)
• Wed 9:15am – 6:15pm (8)
• Thurs 11:15am – 8:15pm (8)
• Fri 8:15am – 5:15pm (8) = 40 total

HEAR

The new HEAR review period started July 1st. HEAR reviews for FY18 will take place this month.  New plans for FY19 will be created in August. Smart Goals will change where applicable.

Training

There is a required webinar for a new database called Small Business Builder. Please sign the sheet on Leonore's desk after viewing the webinar. https://houstonlibrary.libguides.com/c.php?g=852808&p=6104220

Library Card Applications

• We are no longer doing paper library card applications. Youth cards must be done on the catalog computers, but adult cards can be done with the tablet. If a customer is not in the postal database, then input the information manually in Workflows and put a note on the account.
• If a customer is applying online and nothing seems to happen after the “register” button is tapped, then there is an error somewhere on the form. Scroll through what was entered to check for blanks or typos.
• A customer must still show a photo ID and proof of address to get a physical card. Do a name and ID search as you would for any new registration, just in case a duplicate got past the online system.

Statistics

The statistics sheet has been updated to include Computer Help. Put a mark down every time you assist a customer on the computer. Marks for questions answered while you are helping customers at the computer should still go under Directional or Reference. If you assist a teen or child on the computers, please notate it on the bottom of the daily statistics sheet. Computer Help is considered a program, so the age breakdown is needed for the statistics.

Payroll

• We are getting raises: 3% FY19, 2% FY20, 1% FY21. The 3% pay raise goes into effect on August 3rd.
• Floating Holidays may only be used in full-day increments.

Policies

Executive Order 1-12 Controlled Substance and Alcohol Abuse: http://www.houstontx.gov/execorders/1-12.pdf

Technology

• The City is eventually blocking Google Drive on staff computers. All documents will eventually be migrated to OneDrive.
• We only have one of the old PC laptops left. Donna will use it on movie days, so don’t lend it to a customer if a movie program is scheduled to take place.
• Starting August 1st, ebooks and downloadable audiobooks will no longer be available on Hoopla. This information is on the website.

Programming

• The International Services Team is planning on making site visits in August.
• Mary Wagoner will meet with us on Thursday, August 16th at 11:15 pm to discuss youth services.
• Central is offering one-on-one business consultations. They are not writing business plans for customers, but they are helping with resources. Have customers contact Central for more information.
• There is a graphic novel contest that ends on September 1st.
• Children should receive Whataburger coupons at every SRP prize level and at checkout.
• We are going to move the coloring sheets and crayons to the desk. Crayons will be in baggies.  Donna is thinking about making a sign-out sheet.

FlipKits

• If a FlipKit comes in from refurbishment missing something or with the wrong book (make sure the barcode on the book and tag match!), then send it back to CMH with a note describing the problem.
• Don’t check out a FlipKit without a survey.

Serials

Tina is doing serials now, so put new magazines on her desk.

Garden Room

If someone from the Garden Club of Houston calls about using the garden room on a specific date and time, it is okay to schedule them in the calendar.

Utilization of Time

• If an assigned task does not take the whole hour, please find something else productive to do.
• Don’t abandon the service desk for too long. It is a disservice to customers and your coworkers.
• Be on time to the desk!
• Please separate adult and juvenile books when emptying book drop, and put things in order on the carts. Also put things in order on the carts out front! Shelving goes so much faster and easier if items are already in order.

Closing Procedures

If you are assigned to check upstairs, you need to check that the closet in the meeting room is secure.

June Meetings Recap

Collected from meetings held 6/7 & 6/14:

Closing Procedures
Since it is now the busiest time of year, everyone needs to be out on the floor 15 minutes before closing to help clear the building. If you are scheduled to do book drop or in-house, please complete those tasks beforehand.

Collection Maintenance
I have replaced the “Log - Books from Other Systems” link on our blog with the “Log – Missing AV and Orphan Items” system-wide link: https://houtx-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/laurie_covington_houstontx_gov/ETQLOYk86L9OoXglBV3oU08B4op-3L3PfVz7RTdBMIEIAg?e=vX2HVM This is an Office 365 spreadsheet that will required you to log in with your email credentials to view or edit. There are two tabs: incomplete items & items from other libraries.

Please try to put items in order on the carts.

We are still finding a lot of items on the shelf that are still checked out to customers. Please watch the screen when checking things in!

Garden Club of Houston
The Garden Club of Houston has new board members. Sally Hilliard is now in charge of the archives located inside the garden room. She is a former librarian at River Oaks Baptist School. She will be requesting the room in the coming weeks to reorganize the collection. If she or someone else from the garden club request the room in advance, it is okay to block off the room in the calendar for them. Garden club members do not have to fill out the garden room form to use the room.

Meeting Rooms
The upcoming change in library hours is not yet public knowledge, so if someone requests a meeting room on a Friday or Saturday morning after August 1st, just tell them the room is unavailable. You can also refer them to Jungman for Saturday morning requests.

Summer Reading Program
Customers who participated in SRP last year can use their same account to enroll in this year’s program. You can tell they are properly enrolled if there is a green check mark next to where it says Babies (or Kids or Teens) Summer Reading Program 2018. If there’s a box with no check mark, they haven’t registered for this year’s program.

SRP prize reminders

• Green pins are for kids. Purple pins are for teens.
• Participants get a program pin after logging 5 activities. The truck with color is for completing 5 HPL activities. The plain truck is for Around Town activities (bird watching, taking a walk, etc.)
• When making pins, make sure the smooth pieces aren’t stuck together.
• Babies only get a book at registration.
• We have the 10-day and 20-day prizes for babies. Don’t give the parent the whole bag of finger puppets to look through. Pull out a handful for them to choose from or just pick one for them.
• A folder with prize information is in the drawer where the garden room clipboard is.

Details about SRP programs are on the back of the SRP calendars.

Flip Kits
There is a new folder in the Desk 1 drawer for surveys that CMH has sent over for specific customers. These surveys are for customers who checked out a kit without a survey. If this happens, get the customer’s name, library card #, and phone number and give that information to Donna. She will contact CMH for a survey. After the customer fills out the survey meant specifically for them (it will have their name on it), you can give them a CMH pass.

Do not give a customer a CMH pass if they only give you a survey. One of our Montrose colleagues observed a customer remove a survey from a Flip Kit at Montrose and then try to get a pass. The customer then came here and tried the same thing, even claiming Montrose sent them to Looscan.  Customers are only eligible for CMH passes if they return a survey WITH a Flip Kit they have checked out.

May Meetings Recap

Collected from meetings held 5/3, 5/17, 5/24 & 5/31:

Attendance

• Everyone acknowledged receipt of the Interoffice Memorandum regarding Absenteeism and Sick Leave Usage.
• If you are going to be late or absent, you must call within 30 minutes of your start time. You must call the branch and speak to whoever is in charge that day.

Circulation & Account Procedures

• Please be cautious when checking in material. Watch the screen at all times! Pop-ups, bad tags, or a lag in the system can result in items not getting checked in properly.
• Please put notes on customer accounts. This is extremely important when a customer has turned in an item that can’t be checked in because it is missing a part or if a customer is being charged for a damaged item. Another person looking at the account will have no idea what’s going on if there’s no note.
• Remember to do a name search before creating a new customer account. This will cut down on duplicate cards.
• We will no longer be doing paper registration for library cards after June 30th. I have already requested that IT put an icon with a direct link to the online MYLink registration form on both catalog computers. I have also requested a security cable so we can secure a laptop to the desk and use that as an alternative to the catalog computers.

Collection Maintenance

• Yolanda is asking for assistance with shelving certain juvenile material during the summer.  Nonfiction, beginning readers, and board books are the areas anyone can help shelve.
• HPL will no longer order music CDs or audiobooks when the new fiscal year starts.
• To better track in-house use of board books, let’s face all of them in the same direction with the spines out. If you are scheduled to do in-house or happen to notice books facing in different directions, collect and scan them for the in-house count.

Desk Etiquette

• Please keep in mind that customers can see what you are doing on the computers at the desk. Do not go on Facebook when you are at the desk.
• Be on-time to the desk.

Flip Kits

• There is a new procedure for returning Flip Kit surveys. Instead of filing the completed survey in a folder at the desk, just put it back in the kit. Remember to check the kit out to LOO-REFURB and send it to CMH.
• If a customer reports that a survey is missing from a Flip Kit, get the customer’s name, phone number, and library card number and give the information to Donna. She will forward the information to Evelyn at CMH, who will send back a personalized survey for the customer. The customer must fill out the form to receive a museum pass.

Holds
KEN holds are now going to ROB.

Incident Reports

• Do one for anything that causes a disruption
• Do not do them in all-caps
• No abbreviations
• No opinions
• Write in the third person
• Describe the person (clothing is optional)
• You must call the police if you do an indefinite suspension
• Indefinite does not have to mean forever
• Do not use your personal definition of obscenity or pornography when assessing the content being viewed by customers
• Obscenity, as defined in Section 43.21 of the Texas Penal Code, “means material or a performance that . . . depicts . . . patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, including sexual intercourse, sodomy, and sexual bestiality; or patently offensive representations or descriptions of masturbation, excretory functions, sadism, masochism, lewd exhibition of the genitals, the male or female genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal, covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state or a device designed and marketed as useful primarily for stimulation of the human genital organs; and taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value
• Per the above definition, that means that customers can watch women twerking in thongs, wearing bikinis or sheer t-shirts, and can look at the naked torso of a woman.  Customers can also look at fine art, artistic photography, and legitimately medical websites that depict full-frontal nudity.
• Use your best judgment, but don’t base your actions on personal opinions. You can always ask a customer to be cautious if an image is borderline obscene. You can also ask a customer to switch computers.
• Issue a suspension notice if you suspend someone for more than a day. A customer does not have to sign it (put “refused to sign” if they won’t). Do mention the suspension notice in the incident report.
• Accurately calculate the suspension time (Google it… “90 days from today”)
• The yellow suspension binder in the manager's office is organized with tabs for each suspension level. Each section has a legend with the person, description, violation, and date.  The incident reports are organized alphabetically if the name is known and then by date (newest first) if the name is not known. Blank suspension notices and trespass affidavits are in the front of the binder. Trespass affidavits are presented by the police and are only valid for one year.
• Copy Leonore and Melissa when emailing incident reports to NL Incidents.

Meeting Rooms

Please use loo.library@houstontx.gov to email meeting room forms if a customer cannot come in person to make a reservation. Advise the customer to follow up with a phone call to ensure the form was received.

Printing

• Coin Copiers has new paper: Relay MP International Paper
• Staff paper is still DPS by Staples

Public Computer Use

• The patron type for computer cards should be ACOMP (not ADULT). ADULT is for library cards only. If you make a computer card with the ADULT p-type, then the card can be used to check out material.
• The public computers currently automatically extend time to 60 minutes when 7 minutes are remaining, except at closing.

Statistics

Please remember to notate foreign language spoken as well as questions about citizenship classes, ESL, or language learning on the statistics sheet.

Summer Reading Program

• There is an online tutorial for Beanstack on the homepage of the training portal: http://houstonlibrary.libguides.com/training-portal
• This year, library staff will have to help sign-in and serve breakfast to Camp Stream participants. Camp Stream is July 24th-26th. Donna is coming in early all three days. Tina is scheduled to help on Wednesday, and Antoinette will come in early on Thursday. More on this later.

Volunteers

Our summer intern will start on June 11th. The intern will attend a training at Central on June 13th.  The intern’s last day is August 3rd.

Summer!

TECHLink

Check out HPL's TECHLink page to see the types of technology available to patrons. Click on each section (Graphic Design & Art, Digital Creative Space, Music Studio, Tiny Techs, Video Studio, and Workshops) for detailed information.