Weeding Correction

Today at the staff meeting I said that we were limited to 30 boxes.  I made a mistake.  We are actually able to send 50 boxes of weeded materials.

Meeting notes

Apologies for the lateness of these.

if anyone has any questions, please let us know,
Brandon

Staff Meeting

May 08, 2015

Place: Tuttle

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

Absent: Neisha

1)      General Information: Rosa, Tula and Brittany will be out on Wednesday for a meeting with the Deputy Director. Jeremy will go over to Pleasantville to help with coverage.  Brandon asked if anyone was having trouble with the signing in or out of the new Kronos system. Just keep documenting what is happening or what messages are showing up, if any, so Brandon can make sure your time is accurate.  

a)      Tier Designation Form – Email from Laurie Covington about the tier designation system needs to be completed. Tier 1 is for emergency responders, medical personnel, etc. Tier 2 is what they call support personnel; Tier 3 is relief staff. We are all considered Tier 3; this is for when emergencies happen (i.e. Ike). Basically in the case of an emergency we are still evacuated but in the aftermath, we may be called back to work at Central or other locations to help out.

b)      Staff Development Day feedback –  Some felt that the speakers were too long, possibly a break was needed between the two afternoon speakers. One of the breakout session speakers was good and should have been the main speaker. Some mentioned that the breakout session should have been longer to gain more information.

c)       Centralized Floating – As of Monday, there will no longer be float hubs. Anything that we get floated into us will be coming from central and will be coming specifically for us. If you think we are getting stuff we do not need or getting too many copies of, let Brandon or Tula know so that a note can be made. Continue to weed based on condition, if it is really old, let Tula or Brandon know. Continue to follow the 2/3 full or 20lbs limit on the boxes for the Friends/Discard boxes. As books come in, please do not forget to check it in; same thing for the new books as well. If it is a Biography, the dated books can be weeded as follows: If the person is living then the publishing date needs to be less than 5 years old; if the person is dead then the publishing date needs to be less than 10 years old.

2)      Manager’s meeting information:

a)      HPL Stories – Keep an hear out for more HPL stories, either from your own experiences or from a patron’s. The library really wants to hear more about them, how they have linked people to information or books, computers, etc. Brandon shared a few stories that was mentioned at the manager’s meeting, how the library has affected people over the past few years.

b)      Sprockets – Mary Hughes had come to the manager’s meeting and talked with us about how to do a sprocket. We can just continue to do how it is (make sure though that you are detailed about the information, e.g. if it is a leak, where, for how long, how much, any damage, etc.).  Also, be sure to not keep submitting sprocket reports on the same issue. If it is something that is not getting fixed, then let Brandon know so that he can contact SPACES, Pedro, etc. to find out what can be done. Also, keep in mind that GSD and custodial staff are not part of the HPL staff.

c)       Training Portal – The new portal is up and running, please get on it and check it regularly, to see what can be beneficial for your training. It will be to everyone’s best interest to become familiar with LMS, that is possibly the way HEAR may be conducted in the future.

d)      Survey – Dept. Director, Michelle Gorman, will be sending out a survey in the near future. It will be anonymous and unless you make it obvious who you are (i.e. as a large red-headed man, working at the TUT/PLE grouping…), they won’t know who sent it. The survey is just to see how people feel about the changes that have taken place within the past few months and how they see the future.

e)      New Managers- Johnson/Mancuso is officially split. Tamieka Price is over Mancuso and LeRoy Robinson is still over Johnson. Each of the branches will have their own manager but they will still work together and share staff conservatively, when needed. This is a pilot program, if it works this might be the first steps to getting the libraries back to individual managers. There are two new ones Vanessa Gimpes at Frank/Meyer and Dominic Spirelli at Smith/Young.

f)       Robbery Suspect – They caught the main suspect who primarily hitting all the libraries. He has been given 2 years in prison, we are still waiting to hear back about the lights so continue to keep them on until further notice.

g)      Youth Services Librarian – The interview process is coming to a close and we will have one in time for SRP.

h)      Quality Management System – This goes back to the unification of the way things are done procedurally at all the locations. If anyone wants to be involved with this process please let Brandon know so he can let Michelle Gorman know. The process will be done virtually and they are looking at how do we do things, what is the best way to do things, how to streamline the process.

3)      Nuts and Bolts:

a)      Statistics – Last month we have gotten pretty lax about how many books were being brought in or sent out for delivery. Also, we have been letting the count slip on how many questions were asked throughout the day. The reason statistics is important is that this is how they determine staffing levels so we need to be as accurate as possible.

b)      Training on Library Security – 5 things to do maintain security in libraries. 1) complete incident reports, which we do. 2) Keep the Rules of Conduct posted in a public area. 3) Behaviors are more important than profiles. 4) Peace is more important than justice. 5) Chain of command or not, if you feel threatened, you are all empowered to call the police. You need to keep yourself and your coworkers safe, you do not need to wait for the manager to get help, if things are escalating out of control. If someone is getting upset and they are being difficult but they have a good relationship with a fellow coworker, let that coworker possible see if they can calm them down in a gentle way. We have to work on our acting skills; some of us may be introverts but when we are on the floor, we have to be extroverts with the public. We have to be able to enforce the consequences, to keep things from getting worse. Language to keep in mind is to Introduce, Explain, and Ask; this will give the people the choice to either leave or stay and obey the rules. Also, come up with code word or phrase to refer between your coworkers to signal when 911 needs to be called. Remember when calling 911 to be as specific as possible. Brandon has suggested to use the phrase “purple folder”.

c)       Summer Vacation and SRP  -  People have already requested the end of June and start of July.  If you plan on taking a vacation this summer, go ahead and request it on Kronos, if you have trouble with the new Kronos, send Brandon and email. If you are not familiar on how to sign up the kids with SRP, please get with any staff member who is familiar with the process to ask for help. Registration started May 1^st, but prizes cannot be claimed until June 1^st. We are not the book police though so it is not our job to decide whether they actually read the books or not.

d)      New Hire –  We have a new hire, Shinetra Castillo, who started May 11^th. She was a substitute for HPL and has been hired as a PT CSC. She will be at both locations so make her feel welcomed!

e)      Tuttle door – The back door to Tuttle lately has been found unlocked during lunch time. It is because some people may think the door locks automatically just like at PLE but it does not. You have to turn the key back around the opposite way in order to lock it once you opened the door. So just double check it, especially before you leave the building for lunch or the night; so far no one has come in the morning to find the door unlocked.

Also, be aware that the notes from the manager’s meeting are available to you for reading so you won’t be left in the dark. Feel free to read through them and if you have any questions just ask Brandon or Tula.

Training Part 2

Please make sure that you have confirmed with Tula or I that you can go to a training before you sign up for it.

This will make sure that we don'[t run into any scheduling snafus.

Thanks,
Brandon

Training

The new training system no longer automatically lets me know when you've signed up for training.

If you sign up for something, please make sure you also send me an email letting me know so I can approve it.

Apparently, this is why several people arrived at Defensive Driving and were not on the roll.

If your training is coming up, and you still haven't heard from me, please let me know again so we can be sure you get the credit you deserve.

Thanks,
Brandon

In coming Floats

Centralized Floating is going to be gradually ramping up in the next few weeks.

As part of this, we *may* be receiving items as floats without float labels on them.

These items have been floated out by our collection development team, and that we do not have the option to send them back.

Keep them, check them in, and shelve them like normal.

Thanks,
Brandon

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.

   The Pleasantville/Tuttle grouping finally completed the wall in time for Wild Rumpus Day! Thanks to everyone for the teamwork for making this possible. The teachers and kids have already been complimenting it.

Our next artwork will be for the summer with them based around "Back to the Future". Any ideas or suggestions will be welcomed.