Hello,

Wanted to updated everyone that YES Prep does have early dismissal EVERY Wednesday. I could not get an accurate confirmation as to what time this was for the Fifth Ward Branch, but I will try to contact them directly tomorrow to find out. I believe the students get out at 12:30 though. So do not be alarmed if you see students coming in on Wednesdays with YES Prep attire on before the curfew lifts.

Tula

Tuttle Backroom

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for all their hard work getting the Tuttle backroom in shape.

We were able to get rid of a lot of the detritus that accumulates over time in a library.  Additionally, IT has already come out and picked up a lot of the outdated technology that was filling the back shelves.

I have contacted other managers in the system to see if they need any of our 100s of bookends.

If you find anything else that you don't recognize, please let me know so I can update our salvage forms and hopefully get it taken away.

Thanks!
Brandon

This was just sent out about the SRP. - Tula

Hi all,

Summer Reading Club officially ends August 1st. Please remember that you should continue to hand out prizes during the month of August. The customers will no longer be able to log books but you can log for them.

Thanks for a great summer!

Sandy Farmer, Manager

Staff meeting Notes

Staff meeting notes for 7/2/2015 (June meeting)

Due to staffing issues, holiday closures, various training sessions, and the ALA conference, it was not practical to have our usual meeting the Friday after the Manager’s meeting this month.  Instead we used a different format.  The staff meeting was held in two parts, the first part was held at PLE at 9:30 with Ashley McGill, Jeremy George, and Brittany Moore attending and was led by Brandon Pope.  The second half was held at 11:15 at TUT with Neisha Brewster, Wendy DeWalt, and Nadine Arrington attending and was also led by Brandon Pope.  The same agenda was held at each meeting and care was taken to give the same information.  Tula Gorden, Rosa Fernandez, and Courtnie Penson will have access to the notes and I will talk with them in detail when I return from vacation.

I.                    PCAP

Brandon Poe attended training on Administrative Policy 3-7: Positive Correction Action Program.  He went over their NEO power point presentation with the staff and discussed how it was different From the last system we used with employees. He also explained why the change was made.

II.                  Announcements from the manager’s meeting

Brandon went over his notes from the manager’s meeting on June 19^th. 

A.      Staff was told about the new Public Services Cluster in HR and was shown the new org chart.

B.      Tomika Price has left the system and Leroy Robinson is managing her branch until a replacement hire is found.

C.      The new Youth Services Advocate has been hired and will be having a meeting with the Youth Staff from each branch.  Ashley McGill and Neisha Brewster will be attending this meeting and will share what they learn at the next staff meeting.

D.      HMRC got a $3000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support a Latino exhibit.

E.       Michelle Gorman has a new Executive Assistant.  Her name is Leah Frasier and she will be starting next week.

F.       The library has a new Assistant Director of Digital Strategies.  His name is Ricardo “Rick” Paralis and he was mentioned in an email from Dr. Lawson dated June 10^th.  He has already started working for HPL.

G.      The Solicitation Policy was gone over and staff were again told that with certain rare exceptions, people were not allowed to sell stuff in the library or on our property.  Exceptions would be determined with assistance from Roosevelt Weeks’ office.

H.      The Phones have all been updated for all public lines.  The message should be appropriate for the general greeting, the closed greeting, the busy greeting, the alternative greeting, and the holiday greeting.  Furthermore, the phones at both locations have been set to an alternative greeting telling people about the closures on the 3^rd and 4^th.

I.        Staff was reminded to keep detailed records of when Johnson Control is called with an AC problem.  This has not been an issue in the past few months for the branch.

J.        Disaster Preparedness guides and the Emergency Preparedness Brochure were shown and everyone should know where to get them if they do not already have one.  Additionally, the Red Emergency Binders were shown to staff again and staff was alerted that material would be updated within the binder by the SPACES group.

K.      The way the library closures on the 4^th were going to be reported in KRONOS was again gone over with staff to make certain that everyone understood what was going on.

L.       The Recommended Label design for the new holds system was shown to the staff

III.                 Brandon’s Schedule was gone over with the staff to make sure they all knew he would be out of touch from this evening until he retunes to work on July 13.

IV.                Dr. Lawson’s email from June 26^th about the Charleston SC shooting was gone over and all staff was made aware of how they could sign the card and/or contribute if they wished to do so.

V.                  Jeremy and Neisha went to training on SIRSI last week.  The staff was told to expect one on one training with them about what they learned and that this would be a regular expectation from them each quarter.

VI.                Suzy Benton’s email about the mandatory training on LeanSix Sigma Yellow Belt Certification was explained.  Staff is aware that the training is online, mandatory, and needs to be completed by December 1^st.

At the Tuttle meeting, Wendy DeWalt  asked about the man who habitually smokes outside the main doors and what we should do about it.  Brandon referred to Dr. Lawson’s email from 7/23/2014.  Staff are instructed to ask customers to not smoke on library, or city, property.  However Staff are not encouraged to go out and confront people smoking outside the building.  SPACES is planning on putting up signs and once that happens, enforcement of these rules might change.

With no further questions, both meetings concluded.

The following was sent out from Jennifer Schwartz about the Dynamo/Dash tickets. The important info is that Raising Cane's wants all theirs gone by the end of summer.

Team,

Apologies again on how long it is taking to receive the Dynamo/Dash passes. The latest update is that the Dynamo has finally created the voucher and is now in printing process. I am really hoping for this week. In the meantime, please feel free to substitute with any of the prizes from the programming incentive pack (Rockets, Raising Cane’s,  Zoo). Raising Cane’s especially wants all of their cards distributed, with none leftover after the summer. We still have a big supply of those, Chipotle, and Circus (and of course we print Zoo and Rockets in-house). So, if you need any replenishment, let us know.

Best,

Jennifer Schwartz, MLIS

Programming Manager

Houston Public Library

500 McKinney Street

Houston, TX 77002

(O)  832-393-1652

(C)  713-775-0868

-Tula

Hello, 

Brandon and I were talking and we realized that we had forgotten to go over the SRP incentives. These are the prizes we give out to those who have completed the reading logs (online or on paper) and attended the STREAM programs and activities. 

Once a child is registered for SRP and they will be awarded the prizes as follows: 

5 books/hours = A certificate and a Houston Dash ticket (has yet to arrive). 

10 books/hours = 1 free book and a Dynamo ticket (has yet to arrive). 

20 books/hours = a chipotle coupon, 1 free book, and a Circus coupon. 

30 books/hours = a Children's museum ticket and automatic entry in the drawings. 

Now, if that child, or any child, has read at least 5 books and attended at least 5 library programs; Which can include arts & crafts, CAMP STREAM, or by completing a Wonderopolis (only substitute this for 1 program) activity online, (must provide printed proof of the Wonder Cards) or any of the special events the library is hosting, etc. 

The prizes for that are: 

Houston Zoo ticket voucher

Houston Rockets ticket voucher

Raising Cane's gift card. 

Please understand that while we may have a lot of tickets or prizes especially towards the end of the Summer Reading Program, we need to make sure that the prizes are being accounted for. Please do not just hand the prizes out to anyone, unless the child is registered for the SRP. 

At the end of the program, all remaining left overs should be sent back to Central Youth Programming, unless otherwise notified. In the past we have had a couple of the vouchers being counted and matched up with actual awarded prizes. 

Staff members can sign their children up for the SRP but must follow the prize guidelines as well. 

Also, remember there is an Adult SRP and Staff SRP as well. I have not seen flyers about the Adult version of SRP yet, but please let the parents and other adults know about this wonderful opportunity to win prizes just for reading and logging in their books. 

If you have any questions, please ask Brandon or I. 

Thank you, 

Tula

Smart $$ update

Update on using telecheck.

When it asks for the Clerk ID number, please enter the last four digits of your Employee ID Number.

This is different than what some of you were taught at Smart$ training.

Talk to Tula or Brandon if you have any questions.