Open Discussion Notes 10-19-16

Break Room, 11:15-11:50AM
Moderator: Trish
Recorder: Leona
Present: Alice, Alisa, Chris, Iffat, Jasmine, Karen, Kathrine, Leona, Melinda, Nina, Pam, Trish, Valentin.

1. Pumpkin Carving Contest at CMC Fall Festival at CEN on Friday, Oct. 28.  $5 entry fee, ideas welcomed.  We have two pumpkins--one ugly one, one beautiful one--plus assorted smaller pumpkins to attach/decorate and other supplies.  The carving should be ready by Thursday evening so Karen can deliver it when she goes to the CE Managers Meeting Friday morning.
2. Staff Development Day was a win according to the KEN staff.  Esp. popular--gift cards and other prizes, presentation from HEB, info about lending hotspots, location at JIB, seeing colleagues from other locations.
3. Work at giving great customer service, as talked about in the HEB session at SDD, esp. the element of surprise and random acts of surprise.
4. Remember all books with yellow labels are not to be discarded.  Please p ut them in the float bins.  These are leased items and need to be returned when we don't need them or they're in poor condition.
5. Classics that are cataloged can be put on the the shelves with other cataloged items.  Non-cataloged classics still go on the designated shelves by the restrooms.
6. Please log all "orphan" items (those belonging to non-HPL libraries).  Do not put them in the Lost & Found bin.
7. When pulling items to float, please discharge them first to make sure there are no holds and they're off the customers' accounts.  Check the condition too--items in poor condition should be discarded, not floated.
8. When the picture book bin on the sorter fills up, the overflow will go into Bin 9.  If you can scan the book on the RFID pad, it doesn't need a new label. Karen is going to see if we can get Bin 9 changed to an overflow bin for picture books.
9. Pam asks us to save all small empty water bottles for her New  Year's Eve kids party--she's using them to make noisemakers.  She'll put a bag in the break room for collection.

Open Discussion Meeting Notes 10/21/2015

In Attendance: Lauren, Albert, Jose, Iffat, Alice, Janalyn, Doug, Alisa, Nina, Temeka, Kathrine, Shanti, Pam, Leona, Trish, Karen

Note Taker: Trish
Moderator: Lauren

- The sorter will be fixed.  The barcode scanner will be removed as well as the receipt printer.  The sorter will now read RFID tags and any items that are not tagged will go into the exceptions bin.  There will be no voice!

- Blinds must be open at night.  If the blinds are not functional, just leave them open as much as possible.

- Holds are still being put on our shelf that belong to other branches.  Please pay close attention when shelving holds.  Keep items going to other branches separate from KEN items both when you are paging and when you are doing delivery/exceptions.  Expired holds must be cleared first thing in the morning and we should be checking the holds shelf for old holds just to be sure they are being sent out as necessary.  There have been issues with the clear holds list, LMS is aware.

- A-Z webinar is asking for a $25 payment and we can't pay for it, so do not take the most recent A-Z webinar.

- Please make sure customers in the meeting rooms and study rooms are leaving 15 minutes prior to closing.  Make announcements at 30 minutes, 15 minutes, and at closing and make sure the people in rooms are aware of the closing time well in advance.

- Make sure to give customers the new room reservation guidelines when they reserve a room.  Customers may make up to 6 reservations in a 90-day period, but they must fill out a separate reservation form for each reservation.

- Make sure to make tallies on the stats sheets!  This week is door count week, so it is very important but we should always be diligent about making tallies and keeping track of our activity on every floor.

- Jose went above and beyond in customer service with a customer on Monday.  Go Jose!

- Iffat did 3-tier work on Monday night, taking care of delivery, exceptions, and the sorting room.  Go Iffat!

- Name That Book contest is very intense right now.  Leona has a list that will be on 3rd floor and in the sorting room to make locating these items easier.  You can also print out a list for customers by going to the HPL kids page.

- CMC team still needs help with the festival at Central on Friday, October 30th.  Let us know if you'd like to participate.

Open Discussion Notes 10/1/14

Updates/General Reminders:

• CMC starts today and runs through Oct 31. You can easily contribute via ESS.
• Facilities is ordering a new microwave for the breakroom. Hopefully it will arrive in the next few weeks.
• We will be using booksale funds to make much-needed purchases for the branch. Shammi will be sending the information soon.
• Shammi thanked us for all our hard work during the amnesty program. We processed nearly 400 library card applications in one week!

Circulation/Collection:

• If you notice any non-KEN foreign language items floating our way, please send them on to a location that does house those items. 
• The DRIVE-UP option will be merged with KEN soon, eliminating the need to override transit on holds. (ILLs, Flip Kits, need to stay behind the drive-up desk.)
• The stats at the drive-up desk are lacking. Please remember to mark down directional and reference questions. Don't forget to mark any and all holds that are outgoing!

Customer Service:

• Language assistance: Mark languages spoken on the stats clipboard. Call 311 when absolutely necessary. (It's a service HPL must fund for each phone call.)
• Be consistent about our services (e.g. phone use, applications, fines, etc.). Follow policy and procedure and give a reason WHY to the customer.

Staff Meeting Notes, 10-16-13

1. Kronos Updates (Karen)
1. See email about password (in mailboxes too)
2. Please review your timecard regularly and email me before the end of the pay period any comments or missed punches before the end of the pay period.
3. The pay period ends every two weeks (see Upcoming Staff Events below).  They’re also posted on the in the cubicle on the end where the Vocera battery recharging stations are plugged in.
4. When swapping Saturdays with another staff member, email  me who is swapping and the changes for the dates worked and days off (or not) the following week, so I can update the Staff Schedule calendar.   
5. Overtime must be approved in advance.  Please pay attention to the schedule and punch out on time.  
6. The Library does not have a budget to pay out comp time so you need to use an accumulated comp time within 120 days.  If you request vacation leave, Kronos will automatically substitute any available comp time.     
2. Combined Municipal Campaign (Sharon)
1. Access from Kronos by going to My Links > CIty of Houston ESS Portal > login and click on CMC Sign Up.
2. Giving options: biweekly payroll deduction or one-time contribution.
3. Campaign runs Oct. 1-31.
4. Check out the online auction on the CMC page at http://cohemployeenews.com/home-cmc, See Library fundraising events at https://hplnet.hpl.lib.tx.us/cmc-2014.html.
3. Application Review Process (Nina)
1. Applications go to CEN to be indexed on the 15th of the following month.
2. Don’t forget to:
1. change library location to HOU-KEN
2. enter both phone numbers
3. ask customers if they want a custom PIN
3. Renewals and Lost Cards: enter updates from applications, esp. address and birthdate.
4. Add notes when making any  changes to a customer’s card.
5. Lost Cards: change status, add note to account and destroy card--it can’t be reinstated.  Use current expiration date.
6. New Registrations: check for duplicate accounts first and update online applications in existing record.
7. Address Change:  paste old address into a note with date changed (and your initials.

Upcoming Staff Events

• Oct 18:  Youth Services Meeting, 8:15-10:15AM (Leona, Regina)-CANCELLED
• Oct. 20-26: Fall Door Count
• Oct. 21: Childrens’ Book Festival Meeting, 4:30-6PM (Leona, Regina)
• Oct. 24: NL Managers’ Meeting, 9:15-12 (Karen)
• Oct. 24: Outreach--Budewig Intermediate School, 5-7PM (Karen, Nina)
• Oct. 25: Last Day of Pay Period
• Oct. 30: Open Discussion Meeting
• Nov. 5: Stats due
• Nov. 7: Service Innovation Meeting, 9:15-11:15 (Karen)
• Nov. 8: Last Day of Pay Period

     

Remaining October Programs

ADULT PROGRAMS

• Kendall Bee Quilters, Mondays, October 21, 26, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM, 1st Floor Meeting Room.
• Kendall Book Club, Tuesday, October 22 • 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM, 1st Floor Meeting Room.
• Intermediate to MS Excel, Thursday, October 31, 10:30 AM – 12:30PM, 2nd Floor Conference Room
• The Affordable Care Act Open Lab, Wednesday, October 30, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
• Computer Basics I &II (Bilingual), Wednesday, October 23, 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM
• Social Networking, Wednesday, October 16, 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM
• Intro to MS Word, Thursday, October 17, 10:30 AM – 12:30PM, 2nd Floor Conference Room
• Getting to Know Your Gadgets: eBook Open House, Tuesday, October 22 & 29, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Advanced MS Word, Thursday, October 24, 10:30 AM – 12:30PM
• Computer Help Session, Wednesday, October 30, 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM

TEEN PROGRAMS

• Teen Video Game Time, Wednesday, October 16, 23 & 30, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM
• Advanced Origami, Tuesday, October 22, 4:00 PM-5:00 PM

KIDS PROGRAMS

• Toddler Story Time, Tuesdays Oct 22, 29 at 10:30-11:00 AM and at 11:30-12:00
• Preschool Storytime, Wednesdays Oct. 16, 23, 30 at 12:30-1:15PM
• Babytime, Thursdays, October 17, 24, 31 at 11 AM – 12 PM
• Babytime: Baby Yoga, Fridays, October 18, 25 at 2:30-3:00 PM
• R.E.A.D (Reading Education Assistance Dogs), Saturday, October 19 – 2:00-3:00pm
• Kendall Book Mania Club, Wednesday, October 23 – 4:45-5:45pm
• Halloween Book Celebration, Thursday, October 31 – 4:00-5:00pm