Meeting Notes

Staff Meeting

April 3, 2015

Place: Tuttle

Attendance: Brandon, Tula, Jeremy, Rosa, Ashley, Nadine, Neshia, Brittany and Courtnie.

Absent: Wendy

General Information: Staff Development Day is May 1^st, remember that it is all day long and that part-timers will need to start talking to Brandon about arranging their schedule for that week. Also, no outside food or drink will be allowed in the GRB.

1)      Manager’s meeting information:

a)      Changes @ LMS – the department is being rearranged and in the future there will be no more Float Hubs; it will eventually become more centralized. Also, Fred Schumaucher is no longer the person to call for circulation admin, he is now the Administration Manager for LMS; you will need to contact Esther Reyes if you have any questions about circulation.

Hold labels will be changing sometime in the future. They are eventually going to be printed out on sticker labels that can be fixed onto the item and sent through delivery easier with the patron name already on the label. This will be eliminate the need for rubber bands and easier for labeling the items.

b)      SPACES – RFID tags/scanners are going into place at 5 more locations by the end of the year. The locations have not been named but eventually this is a process that will be put into all the locations over time.

Service Animals –Only miniature horses or dogs are allowed, according to the ADA, to serve as service animals. If someone comes into the library with either one, staff are only allowed to ask two (2) questions: Is this animal required because of a disability?  … and …. What work or task has this animal been trained to perform? Please read over the ADA information sheet about service animals, of course if you are unsure of anything, you may ask Brandon or Tula to help.

c)       Weeding-Pilot Program – the pilot program is to see if they can get a more organized system of weeding and discard box pickup established. Right now, select locations are given the go ahead to weed not only by condition but by last check out. Tuttle and Pleasantville have until April 3^rd to finish their discards and update the tally sheet on the G drive. The idea is that select NL locations will be given 2-3 weeks to weed their collection. Following that, Central will weed for 2-3 weeks and the cycle will continue back and forth. During special booksales (i.e. Children booksale) the weeding may be more specific the weeks leading up to that, where children books will be weeded.

i)        Weeding by condition – Apparently, there have been books found in the Friends boxes that are discarded but seem to have little damage to them. If you are weeding by condition and you feel like the item may be questionable (i.e. a stain, or torn page/ cover, reference copy), let Brandon or Tula see it first.

If the items are from another library and being returned to our location and it is damaged, then you are allowed to discard it. It does not have to be sent back to the home location to be discarded. The only ones that is excluded from this are items that come from the “Closed Stacks” location. When these are checked in there is a pop up that says “closed stacks”. These items were more likely damaged by age and condition, long before they were sent out for a hold. Closed stack items can tend to be the last copy in the system or just really old books, so if you think the item might need to be reviewed for discarding, attach a note to the book before sending back to central.

If the items are severely damaged then you send it to Discard. Friends items still need to be sellable condition. Also, remember that the boxes should not be filled completely; keep them half full or less, so that the delivery drivers aren’t lifting boxes that are too heavy.

d)      Changes in Positive Performance – changes are coming soon but it may not actually affect us too badly.   The change will actually occur to the wording and phrasing of the procedures and bring the library in line with other city departments.

2)      Nuts and Bolts:

a)      Reconsideration form vs. Comment form – If you have a patron that comes in complaining about a book or item in the collection or if they say they want the library to reconsider the item for the collection; please offer them the reconsideration form. Comment forms are for general comments, whether they are good or bad about the library staff, service, etc. The reconsideration form is more specific and will ask specific questions of the patron about the item. This form will then be forwarded to LMS where someone will review the item in detail. If a patron fills a comment form about a book being in the system, then it will take a lot longer for the process to begin. The forms will be printed up and kept up at the front desk at both locations. Keep in mind that unlike the comment form, the reconsideration form cannot be filled out online through the HPL website; we have to give them form directly.

b)      In-house flyers -  If you want to print up your own in-house flyers for an event, then you need to use the pre-approved template, but you must not use the clipart that comes with it. The flyers have to fall within the guidelines of HPL. Of course if you give enough notice, you can design the flyer you want on the template and send it to the print-shop who can print it up for you.   These need to be seen by Brandon before they are sent in.

c)       Scheduling – Please remember to follow the schedule exactly. If there is something that you need to do that day or during the coming week, let Brandon or Tula know so that the schedule can be updated accordingly. Also, everyone needs to be on rotation for operational duties. No person needs to be doing the same opening/closing procedures every day.

d)      New Notice to Users – the wording within the library rules have changed in a few of the lines and some of the rules have moved from being prohibited inside the building to prohibited on library premises altogether.  Key changes to remember is the line for  “No Smoking within 25 feet” is now “Smoking of any type”. Also, use of any tobacco products of any type is prohibited, yet this does not include e-cigarettes, those do not involve tobacco and the City of Houston has not officially banned those yet. If you have any questions about what other changes have occurred to the notice, do not hesitate to ask.

e)      Open Enrollment ENDS APRIL 15^TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have questions or need assistance ask Brandon.

*One last thing, please remember to refrain from counting the money until after the doors to the public are officially locked. This is for all of our safety, if you are concerned with the time you have to count the money, remember that you can print up the sheets and count the money in the morning when you have more time.