Discarding Automatically Yours items (new books w/yellow call number labels)

Automatically Yours (AY) items will begin arriving with yellow label protectors over the spine labels in the near future.  These orders have been made part of our new Baker and Taylor subscription plan, which will allow us to return unneeded copies as demand for the titles drops over time.  These items should be treated like any other circulating books for customer transactions and shelving.  The yellow spine labels will only make them easier to identify on the shelves when they are recalled to be returned.  The other change you may notice in the processing of these items is that they will no longer have property stamps.  The barcode label will continue to have Houston Public Library printed on it, but the property stamp across the top edge of the pages will be omitted on the subscription items.

In practical terms, please do not discard these items via the regular procedure. Since they have been leased, copies in bad condition can be returned to Baker and Taylor. Please send any copies in bad condition to the Float Team (Sara Karow - LMS). Make sure to include a note indicating the problem with the book.

Post N Parcel

If a customer asks for fax services, the closest place to us is Post N Parcel, which is in the shopping center on the other side of Walgreens (going towards Whataburger).

3733 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77027
713-961-9696

From the website:

Post N Parcel Offers:

Mailbox rental
Street address and P.O. box address
24 hour access
Mail forwarding
Postal stamps
Mailing and packaging supplies
Pack N wrap and ship
Notary service
Copy and fax
Rubber stamps
Passport photo

We also offer keys and shredding services.

We carry UPS, FedEx, DHL and postal service.

New Layout for YA!!

As you all know the YA layout has recently changed. First, we have incorporated the uncatalogued paperbacks into the fiction section. Next, a Biography section was carved out to make it clear that we do actually have some YA bios. (As you will notice each section has lovely labels to make it clear where you are browsing.)

Also, the graphic novels were split from the general superhero comics. As previously discussed, they have been placed in order by their call number. The manga has also had it's own space thoroughly laid out, and individual comics have been neatly organized into a pair of small bins. You will note these bins separate the titles between English and Spanish.

Finally, a separate display has been created for new arrivals for the teen section. Please remember to check this table when trying to help a customer locate a newer title. Thank you all again for your patience! -M.A.

Overdrive & Replacement Library Cards

When new library cards are issued the user’s Overdrive account does not automatically convert over to the new library card number.  The merge has to be done manually, and the Digital Strategies Help Desk has the tool and permission to do it.  In order to merge the accounts, we need the following information:

 Old library card number
 New library card number
 Contact e-mail address
 Name of customer                        

The account merge should be active within 24hours.  The Overdrive user should use the new library card number to access the service.

Axis360 Training

The recorded Axis360 webinar is now available at http://training.houstonlibrary.org/Axis360. This training is required for all front line staff by December 18th. Please let me know when you've completed it.

Harris County Items

Harris County Public Library (HCPL) will be migrating from SirsiDynix Horizon system to SirsiDynix Symphony system beginning on Monday, November 9, 2015.  What this means for HPL staff:

• Starting Monday, November 9, you can no longer check in HCPL items at HPL locations;
• Customers may return HCPL items at HPL but staff need to inform them that the items will stay on their account until they are discharged at HCPL;
• Staff are encouraged to place a Post-it note on the item with the date returned written on the note;
• Staff will continue to use the same procedure for labeling HCPL items and send them in delivery to Central.

This change will be in effect until further notice. We will implement a new procedure for checking in HCPL items at HPL locations in the near future.

Required Trainings

Time is running out to take the following trainings:

Cyber Security I - due November 30th
Workplace Discrimination and Harassment - due November 30th
Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt - due December 1st

All trainings can be accessed through the TMS website.

Halloween 2015

LOO/MNT CMC Fall Festival Team!

League of Women Voters Guide

The Print Shop doesn't have any more voters guides, so we will not be receiving more when we run out.  Here is a link to the electronic version: http://lwvhouston.org/voters-guide/

Door Count

Door count is next week: October 25-31.

HVAC

The new contractor for the HVAC system is TDI.  We don't yet have an after hours number for them, so if the building is too hot or too cold after 4 PM during the week or on Saturdays, call the GSD Property Management On Call After Hours Contact number (713.213.8776) and call or email Karrington Burnett.  Sprocket any A/C issues that occur during normal business hours.

Meeting Room Policy Update

Links to the new meeting room form, new garden room form, and new meeting room rules can be found under Documents.  Please read the new rules carefully.  Please note that every reservation for the meeting room or conference room will require a separate form.  Also, keep in mind that no business can use our rooms, regardless of purpose (such as a free seminar).  Groups may only book 6 times within a 90 day period, and the rooms may only be booked 90 days in advance.  We are honoring existing reservations, but we should adhere to the new rules with any new room requests.

Please feel free to give customers a copy of the new rules.  They are also posted on the public website (HPL Home --> Find It --> Meeting and Rental Spaces --> Neighborhood Library Spaces).  Customers can also download the new form from the website, but they will still have to bring in the form in person in order to reserve the room.

The "study room" policy is not posted on the public website but has been updated on the HPL Intranet (under Admin 1.3).  The garden room is still first-come, first serve but can only be used in two-hour increments.  If no one is waiting to use the room, then time can be extended.  Copies of the new form are on the clipboard at Desk 2.  The garden room is now on the Google calendar so we can better track the room's use.

NCAA Read to the Final Four Reading Challenge

Sixty-eight HISD schools have been selected to participate in the NCAA Read to the Final Four Reading Challenge, which begins September 24th.  Participating third grade students will receive a My Learning Link library card from their schools.  The cards are completely free: there will be no fines assessed for late or lost items!

Twenty-five libraries will serve as designated NCAA resource locations.  Please note that Looscan and Montrose are not among them, but we still may have students come in with My Learning Link cards.  Things to know about the cards:

Who will receive a card?
Cards will be given to all 3rd graders at participating schools (approximately 7,000+ students).  This is a pilot program for the 2015-2016 school year and we hope to expand the program to ALL K-3 HISD students in the 2016-2017 school year.

How will students receive their cards?
During the launch of the NCAA “Read to the Final Four” Program at your child's school, he/she will be given a Learning Link library card. It’s set up to begin using immediately. A parent or guardian signature is not required for activation.

What are the limitations to the students?
- No laptop checkout allowed
- No gaming checkout allowed
- No ILL
- Only juvenile materials allowed to be checked out (books, DVDs, CDs)
- 10 item limit
- Card expires July 31, 2016.

What are the special perks of this card?
- Unlimited virtual access
- In-house computer use allowed
- Holds allowed
- Renewals allowed
- Card cannot be sent to collections (no fines)
- Card replaced free of charge (student needs to tell staff their name, school, and ID if they know it)

Who should I contact if I have more questions?
Please contact our Youth Services Advocate, Kallie Benes (832-393-1428, Kallie.benes@houstontx.gov) with any additional questions.

Sticker Books

Please be on the look out for these two juvenile paperbacks:

Jasmine and the Star of Persia ISBN 9780736430487
Petite's Winter Wonderland ISBN 9780736433556

They are sticker books and are to be used as giveaways. Please use a marker to mark over the barcode and other stickers on the books.

GED/ESL Classes

If customers inquire where to go for GED or ESL classes, direct them to the Harris County Department of Education and HCC.

FLIP Kit Update

FLIP RULES

1. Patrons may check out as many FLIP kits as they’d like.

2. Patrons may receive 1 CMH museum pass for each kit they return with a completed survey. Ex. Customer checks out 3 FLIP kits & only returns 2 with completed surveys- they only get 2 passes. Passes should be given when the kits are surveys are returned, so you can easily verify that they checked it out.

3. There is a PLEASE RETURN checklist on the inside cover of ea. FLIP kit that lists ALL items that MUST BE RETURNED. THE BOOK AND ALL NON-CONSUMABLE ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED. However, we can only charge them if the book is missing. This doesn’t mean they shouldn’t return the other items. Please notify the patron if there are several items missing from the kit that are on the please return checklist and ask them to return them. Upon receiving any missing items, please send them in to CMH to be reunited with their kits.

4. ALL FLIP KITS MUST BE RETURNED TO CMH AFTER EACH CHECKOUT. Do NOT hang them back on the kiosk after they are returned & checked-in. They need to be restocked by CMH staff.

5. If a patron cannot find the kit they are looking for, please direct them to the website, FLIPkits.org, where they can browse the interactive catalog and place holds.

6. Please ensure there are FLIP business cards located on your kiosk or front desk that contain the cards (flip website and instructions).

7. When sending a kit that has a hold to CMH to be refurbished, please highlight the hold location and attach to the tag (on the non-barcode side), so it can be refilled and sent directly there (without having to come back to your location first).


Any questions or concerns, please feel free to email Beck Gorman, the new CMH- FLIP project manager. She is listed in our directory and on our blog roster if you need help finding her.

Door Count

Door count is coming up: Sunday, July 26th-Saturday, August 1st.  During this time, we will need to get the gate count hourly and count everything during pick-up.  I will probably schedule people to pick-up throughout the day so that our numbers are more accurate.

Future door count dates:

October 18 – 24, 2015

April 17 – 23, 2016

FLIP Kits/CMH Passes

Contact Vanessa Chenault (vhernandez@cmhouston.org / 713-535-7206) for any FLIP or library related issues (except passes).

Please email or call FLIP assistants, Barbara & Eunice (flipassist@cmhouston.org / 713-535-7295), for CMH passes for completed FLIP surveys or FLIP business cards.

Items from Other Systems

Items that belong to other systems should be sent to Circulation Administration, attn: Heriberto Salas.  Please remember to check in Harris County items using the HCPL system first.

Lean Six Sigma Training

Recently, the Learning and Development Center (formerly the E. B. Cape Center) developed a web-based training for Lean Six Sigma Yellow-Belt Certification. It is an hour-long online training program that can be conveniently done locally at your individual work location. To keep in line with the City of Houston’s Lean Six Sigma initiative, we are asking that all HPL employees complete this web-based training.

Please register for this training via the TMS. The course number is 00022086. Staff may also conduct a simple search by typing “lean six sigma” in the Catalog Search Box. Upon completion of this web-based training, staff will receive 1-hour of training credit. There is no need to submit a certificate of completion as we receive TMS reports monthly.

This training is mandatory for staff at all levels, so please be sure to register for and complete this training. All staff are expected to complete the training December 1st, 2015.

Summer Reading Program Tutorials

SRP training videos

SRP 2015

Info about the program: http://houstonlibrary.org/summer

Registration (customer side): http://hplsr.evanced.info/

Staff online access: http://hplsr.evanced.info/pwlogin.asp

Overdrive Handouts

Additional (and much more detailed) handouts for Overdrive can be found at the HPL Staff Training Portal.

Check Item Status Log

I created a Check Item Status Log so that we don't duplicate our efforts to scan everything and clean up our collection.  Feel free to edit the form as necessary.  The link can be found under "Useful Links" in the side menu.

Door Count

Sunday, April 19th begins our Spring door count week, which will run through Saturday, April 25th. Door count is a process where we count two things: 1. Visitors on an hourly basis and 2. All In-house reference and circulating materials use on a daily basis. This means we need to check the gate count every hour and count pick ups.

LOO/MNT Meeting Notes 3/30/15 & 3/31/15

Updates from Manager’s Meeting:

Staff Development Day
When: May 1st
Where: GRB
Time: 8:00am-5:00pm
Attendance is Mandatory
Carpooling is suggested
More information to follow

LMS Update
Esther Reyes is now Manager of Circulation Administration
Sara Karow is responsible for collection selection and balance
Materials will be fully processed. Beginning of fiscal year

SPACES Update
Library Rules - Branches will receive a copy soon
Electronic cigarettes – City doesn’t have a ban, so HPL cannot yet ban them

List of repairs:
MNT - Re-carpet meeting room floor
New teen and juvenile furniture
Re-upholster all furniture
LOO - Re-upholster all furniture

AV equipment: those who know how train the others. If no-one knows how call IT

Weeding Pilot
Involves coordinating: FIDS; Friends; Systematic; Enforce Procedures; Schedule Rotation; Improve communication
Usually alternates 1 week for Central; then two weeks for NL
Approval from LMS for weeding (other than condition)
Box count – update every Friday
Box – like items should be together; don’t over-fill
Sara Karow will be resending guidelines
Never weed a ‘Stacks’ item without approval (STX or S)

Announcements:
Job openings
More coming
Let Melissa, Leonore or Laurie know
Be sure to update info on application, such as dates, etc.

Training
Training Request / Approval Form (handout) for classes that cost
TMS – must be approved or staff will be dropped.
Training Portal has videos on serials, etc.

MYLINK stories
Collect stories
How HPL has made a difference

Service Animals
Only two questions we may ask:
“Is this animal required because of a disability?”
“What work or task has this animal been trained to perform?”

OPEN ENROLLMENT
By April 15th
Must select, or you will be put in the highest paying one.

PROGRAMMING AT LOO/MNT
Knitting and Crochet – added to Looscan on Mondays, Cynthia and Melissa
Computer Classes – Luis or Leonore will do Looscan’s in the interim: Renee will do Montrose’s classes and Melissa will be the backup.
Any ideas for programs are welcome!

Large Print

Large Print mysteries are now interfiled with the Large Print fiction.  Thank you, Dodie, for volunteering to take on this project!

Checking In New Books

Please use Discharge to check in new books. Items that are scanned using Receive Transit will show the location "HPL Floating Location" in the catalog instead of Looscan!

HEAR Logs

We are testing out a new Google form version of the HEAR logs that are currently in the red binder. Links to the 'holds processed log' and 'shelving & shelf reading log' are under the HEAR menu on the right. You can also see your results by following the appropriate links.

If you have suggestions for changes/additions to the form, let me know!

AR Books

Parents often ask where the AR books are located in our library.  AR or Accelerated Reader is a program schools use to evaluate students' independent reading.  The child reads a book of their choice, then takes a short quiz to prove that they read and understood the selection.  The answer to the question, "Where are your AR books?" is "Everywhere!"  The vast majority of the books in our collection are a part of the AR catalog.

There are two easy ways to confirm that a books is part of AR.  One way is to look in the HPL catalog.

In the entry under the heading Program Information, you see "Accelerated Reader AR LG 2.2 0.5 107422."

This entry tells you three things:  The interest level of the book, the title's reading level, and the number of the associated  AR quiz.  In the example above, LG indicates the interest level is "lower grades." In other words, K-3rd kiddos will likely enjoy the material.  MG = middle grades (4th-8th), MG+ = middle grades plus (6th and up), UG = upper grades (9th-12th).

Next you see the number 2.2.  This means that the text could be read independently by a student whose skills are at the level of a typical second-grade student during the second month of school.

The next number indicates the number of AR points that title is worth.  (Teachers often have a target number of points the students are working to earn in a particular grading period.)  The 0.5 in the example tells you that this picture books is worth half an AR point.

Finally, we see the number 107422.  This is the test number of the AR quiz associated with this book.

Another place to find this information is at arbookfind.com.  (There is a link to this site in the Reference section of this blog.) Click on "Librarian" and hit submit. You will see a search tool that allows you to type in a title; the site will then generate an entry that gives you the same information in a clear format.  IL = interest level and BL = book level.

ILL Holds

Please begin printing hold wrappers for ILL items using colored paper. This is to distinguish them from regular holds, so that they don't accidentally wind up on the regular hold shelf.

Incident Reports

Please name all incident reports in the following manner:

Date-location-staff initials-subject-name of person involved if known

Also, please be aware that when an incident occurs at a location, ALL staff present when the incident took place should write and submit an incident report. This is because there are several sides to a story and we want to make sure that all information needed to aid in the resolution of the matter or incident is available to us.

FLIP Kits

Patrons only receive a Children's Museum pass when they return a FLIP Kit along with a completed survey. Please make sure the survey is, indeed, complete.  Many of our customers are pulling the surveys from the kits in order to receive the free pass -- without even opening the book or looking at the activity!  This is unfair to the next customer who will be without a survey, and it does not provide constructive feedback to the Children's Museum staff members who use customer comments to improve the service.  If a patron brings you a loose survey, please encourage them to check out the associated kit and return the completed survey when they bring the kit back to the library.

If a customer returning a kit complains that the survey was missing, I have extra copies of the survey (in English and Spanish) in a file folder in the drawer by the circ desk.  You may leave completed surveys in that folder as well; I will pass them along to the Children's Museum staff.

Renewing Items Using Self-Checks

Items eligible for renewal can be renewed using the self-check machines! Just follow the normal procedure for checking out a book.  The receipt will say the item has been renewed and give the new due date.

Expired Holds

To see expired holds, go to a customer's account, click on holds, and change the type of hold using the drop down menu on the bottom of the screen from Active to Inactive. This will show all previous holds and the status associated with it (FILLED, EXPIRED, or CANCELLED). It's easy to replace the hold on the expired item by right clicking on it.

Explaining Fines to a Customer

If you go to a customer's account, click on bills, and then click on the dollar amount of the fine, a window will open up with detailed information about the fine.

Tax Forms

Customers seeking tax forms can find them a number of ways:

Online - view and print

Order online - standard forms (1040, etc.) and business forms (1099, etc.) by mail

or by calling 1-800-829-3676

The local IRS office phone number is 281-721-7021. Nearby offices are located at:

1919 Smith St.
Houston, TX 77002

8701 S. Gessner
Houston, TX 77074

Overriding Holds

Please pay attention when overriding holds. If you see the message "Item has available hold" pop up, that means the item is currently being held for someone and was likely taken from the hold shelf. Do not override the hold in that instance. If you see the message "Item has holds", then the item can be checked out to the customer.