Available Technology

Scanners

The copiers at Central Library (2nd floor) and Shepard-Acres Homes Neighborhood Library are able to scan documents. Scanning is free, but a USB drive is required to store the document. Please see staff for instructions on scanning.

Fax

Fax service is available at Central Library (3rd floor), Shepard-Acres Homes Neighborhood Library, Scenic Woods Regional Library and Smith Neighborhood Library. Faxes can be sent but not received, and they can be sent to local and toll free numbers only. Cost for fax is $1/page.

Printers/Copiers

Color copiers are available at the Central Library on the 1st floor and in KIDS. Cost is $1/page for color.

Recycling & Trash Pickup

Abitibi Bowater (our recycling company) picks up every other Thursday (2nd & 4th weeks).
Republic Waste Services (our trash company) picks up every Thursday.

Smart Money

Financial Services wants to remind staff to please make sure that all transactions clear through Telecheck (check and credit card) before clearing things in Smart Money.  There have been several recent occurrences in which the customer signed the Smart Money receipt and the fines were cleared, but no funds were actually taken from their card or check.  In those cases, fines have to be put back on the accounts and the customer contacted.  Sometimes, the customer has not been known so HPL is out those funds.

Goodreads

HPL has recently launched a new Goodreads online book club, the HPL Reads Book Club.  We would like to promote this to all staff and to let our patrons know about its existence.  The book club is open to all Goodreads members, in Houston and beyond, but does require patrons to set up a free Goodreads account. Once patrons have a Goodreads account, they would then select to join the HPL Reads Book Club.

Books are chosen from previous LibraryReads Newsletters and are selected with the availability of the book in our catalog in mind. Voting for the first book is already open, and will close on August 11th. HPL will then announce the winning selection Friday, August 12th. Patrons are invited to read along throughout August and September and post their comments, thoughts, and reactions during the two month window. We will be posting question prompts to stimulate discussion. In October, we’ll start all over again with another poll.

For our inaugural reading, we have selected the following four books as nominees:

My name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katrina Bivald
The After Party by Anton DiSclafani
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Read the blogpost and share with your library customers. Check the Book Clubs page for more info. Share with your book club whether it’s HPL or not! Share on your social media. Share with other staff members.

Gaming

Several locations have received new gaming systems or gotten gaming systems for the first time.  Youth Services is developing a comprehensive guide/rules for gaming at HPL and Rebecca will share them as soon as they are finalized but in the meantime these are the two hard and fast rules of gaming:

1.       Game ratings:

a.       Players under 13 years old are NOT allowed to play T rated games.  Players 13+ can play T rated games.  No one under 18 years old can play an M rated game. (i.e. No M rated games for youth programs)

2.       Tracking controllers:

a.       If a staff member is actively running a gaming program or physically facilitating game play then controllers do not need to be checked out.  If gaming is occurring on the floor without direct staff supervision, then controllers must be checked out using a valid My Link card.

Pokemon!

Software Updates

Staff computers will be updated tonight with the following software:

Adobe Air
Adobe Flash for I.E.
Adobe Flash for Opera
Adobe Flash for other browsers
Adobe Reader
Google Chrome
Java 8 101-b13  32bit
Java 8 101-b13  64bit
Microsoft Silver Light
Mozilla Firefox 47.0.1
Opera 38

In order to receive all the updates, computers must be left powered on and logged out of Windows. If tomorrow staff computers are still being prompted for updates on any of the software above please contact the Help Desk.

Books from Other Systems

Books returned that belong to other library systems should be sent to ILL.  Please remember to add these items to the log on the blog.

Yoga Classes

One of our new volunteers, Jean, will be teaching yoga classes in the meeting room on Mondays from 11:30 am-12:30 pm: July 18, August 1, August 8, August 15, August 22, and August 29.

Stamping Guidelines for Friends/Discards

Items for Friends or Discards should be stamped only once from now on: top edge of the book if possible, next to the HPL property stamp. HPL items lacking a stampable top edge should be stamped in 1 place where you find an HPL property stamp or label, typically on the back interior label/book pocket.