Staff Meeting Notes 8-10-16

11:15 – 11:45 AM, Break Room

1. Updates
1. Staff Changes (Karen)
2. July CE Managers Meeting & CItizenship Institute (Karen)
3. SRP Wrap-up (Leona, Jasmine)
4. New Jungman (Alice, Temeka)
5. Customer complaints about smell (Karen, Temeka)
2. Training: The Correct Way--Lost Cards & FLIP Kits (Karen, Alisa)

Quick Notes

• Tag all incoming items:  Be a good team member and tag all incoming items without tags (except ILL).  This includes items from Central and other locations and it will save everyone a lot of time since we’ll handle them again when they’re checked out and when they’re returned.
• Don’t erase room reservations (accidentally) by scanning a barcode into the spreadsheet.  If you do, click on the Undo arrow to restore the previous version.
• Sorting ADU DVDs:  Non-Fiction DVDs on cart, Fiction DVDs in orange bin (to be scanned and loaded in AllCirc). Put JUV DVDs on the Juvenile cart, not the Adult cart.
• Donation Slips: Put them in the manila envelope marked “Donation Slips 2016“ on the Time & Attendance desk.  Don’t leave them downstairs.
• Deposit Slips:  Don’t save the data you entered in the Excel deposit slips when you’re finished.  We want to start each day with a clean slip.
• Clear Outgoing Holds and Bin 9 Exceptions each day: Outgoing holds are waiting for labels and need to go into Delivery ASAP--someone is waiting!  Bin 9 Exceptions need to be checked in first, then tagged/retagged  While these items are waiting to be tagged, the catalog shows them as “Check Shelf”--ready to check out.  Let’s get them on the shelves as soon as possible.  
• Labor Day is September 5.  Labor Day is a City of Houston holiday and HPL will be closed on Sunday, 9/4, and Monday, 9/5.

Events

• Thursday, August 11: Lunch with CE Administration @ WAL (Alice, Kathrine, Pam)
• Friday, August 12: Last Day of Pay Period
• Friday, August 12: Youth Services Meeting @ PAR (Jasmine, Leona)
• Friday, August 12: Staff Training, Green Group (Karen, Alisa, Nina, Temeka, Trish)
• Wednesday, August 17: Farewell Party for Albert, Doug, Rita & Nagma
• Friday, August 19: Pay Day
• Monday, August 22: Sunday Streets Planning Meeting @ KEN (Karen, Jorge Sanchez)
• Wednesday, August 24: Staff Training with EAP Counselor--Dealing with Difficult Situations
• Friday, August 26: CE Managers Meeting @ VIN (Karen, Shanti)
• Friday, September 2: Pay Day
• Monday, September 5: Labor Day

Staff Meeting Notes, 5-11-16

Kendall Staff Meeting, May 11, 2016

11:15 – 11:45 AM, 3rd floor conference room

1. News from April CE Managers Meeting and SW Managers Team Meeting (Karen)
2. Training: 2016 SRP--Aim for the Stars! (Leona)
1. New for 2016
2. 2016 Incentives
3. 2-16 SRP Dates and deadlines

Quick Notes

• Exceptions Bins:  With the new sorter setup, if the item does not have a tag or the sorter cannot read the tag, then the item will go into the #9 bin
• Bin #1 has holds and CEN items. Bin #9 has items not read plus holds and CEN items.
• FIRST, discharge the items from either bin.  
• Second, after dealing with holds and CEN items, sort the remaining items into the following groups:
• No Tags: Add and program new tag.
• Rectangular Tags: Remove old tag and add/program new tag.
• Other Tags: Run through the sorter again with the cover open (or AV--tag on top).  If the item sorts correctly, yeah!  If not, remove the old tag and add/program a new tag.
• If items have metallic ink on the cover OR do not sort after 3 tries, float to a new location.
• Clear the exceptions from both bins throughout the day.  
• If you’re on SORT, empty the excpetions bins frequently onto the Exceptions cart so the items can be easily identified.  If you have time, groupg  together the not-tag and rectangular tag items.  If there is no one at the Delivery desk,, discharge and sort the items.
• If you’re on DELIVERY, discharge the items on the exceptions cart every hour.
• If you’re on the LOBBY or DRIVE-UP desks covering Sort, work together as a team to empty and discharge the exceptions throughout the day.  Customers will be asking you to check their accounts and to find and clear items they returned which were not discharged by the sorter.  Work together to tag items as time allows.
• Tag all incoming items from CEN and other locations (except ILL).  It will save us a lot of time later when they’re returned.
• Items will not be discharged if they don’t have a tag.  And customers will be checking their accounts  since they don’t get a receipt.

Events

• Friday, May 13: Pay Day!
• Friday, May 13: Youth Services Meeting at CEN (Shanti, Leona, Jasmine, Nagma)
• Friday, May 13: Tech Specialists Meeting (Pam)
• Wednesday, May 18: Farewell Party for Lauren
• Thursday, May 19: Lauren’s last day
• Friday, May 20: Pay Period Close
• Wednesday, May 25: Program Meeting
• Friday, May 27: Pay Day!
• Friday, May 27: Staff Training (Blue Group), rescheduled from May 13
• Monday,  May 30: Memorial Day, Library closed
• Wednesday, June 1: First day of SRP
• Friday, June 3: Pay Period Close

Staff Meeting Agenda 1-20-16

11:15 – 11:45 AM, Breakroom

1. Staff Changes:
1. Jose promoted to SR CSC, starting at STE 1/19
2. Christopher, new CSC-PT, starting 1/19
3. Karen interviewed candidates for CSC-FT opening, 1/19
2. News from Youth Services Meeting 1/15 (Jasmine, Leona, Shanti)
3. Kronos Review (Lauren), new interface; leave requests; Lauren's Kronos presentation

Quick Notes

• 2016 Customer Experience Meetings with Deputy Director Michele Gorman, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM (aka lunch & chat with Michele): Wednesday, Feb. 3 at Collier; Thursday, July 21, at Walter; Thursday, Nov. 10 at Alief; staff names are drawn randomly by CE Admin staff, attendance is highly recommended/ mandatory.
• 2016 CyberSecurity Training: Must be completed by Feb. 11.  Each employee will receive an emailed link to the  training.  Send Karen or Lauren the date you complete the training.

Upcoming Staff Events

• Friday, January 22: Pay Day!
• Friday, January 22: CE Managers Meeting at CEN (Karen, Lauren)
• Friday, January 22: Serials  training with Gail Ibarra (all staff)
• Friday, January 22: 2016 CyberSecurity training time (online)
• Monday, January 25: Send disks needing repair to LMS Jan 25-29.
• Tuesday, January 26: Worker’s Comp Training at STE (Karen)
• Wednesday, January 27: Management Team Meeting (Karen, Lauren, Alice, Shanti).
• Friday, January 29: Last Day of Pay Period
• Friday, January 29, 2016 CyberSecurity training time (online).
• Tuesday, February 2: SW Managers Team Meeting at FRA (Karen)
• Wednesday, February 3: Lunch and Chat with Michele at COL (by invitation)                                       
• Friday, February 5: Staff Training: Super Star Shelving with Leona and Shanti
• Friday, February 5: 2016 CyberSecurity training time (online)--last chance!
• Wednesday, February 10: Open Discussion Meeting (need Moderator and Recorder)
• Friday, February 12: Last Day of Pay Period
• Friday, February 12: Staff Training: Super Star Shelving with Leona and Shanti
• Wednesday, February 17: Staff Meeting

Links:

KRONOS full-service log-in: https://coh.kronos.net/wfc/navigator/logon; KRONOS comments saved in the Kendall folder on the G: drive and on the Kendall blog on the Staff Links page.

Jobs @ HPL: http://houstonlibrary.org/jobs-hpl (or go to the bottom of the HPL website home page).

City of Houston Job Opportunities: http://agency.governmentjobs.com/houston/default.cfm (or go to the COH website,  www.houstontx.gov, and click on “I Want To” and select “Jobs”).

Open Discussion Notes 7-29-15

11:15-11:45, Break Room
In Attendance: Albert, Jose, Doug, Nina, Alice, Leona, Alisa, Lauren, Kathrine, Evin, Trish, Temeka, Pam, Shanti.

________________________________________________________________________

Nina: We need to be swiping every bill other than $1 with the counterfeit pen.  Houston has been getting a lot of counterfeit bills.  This needs to be done before you finish any transaction, and if the bill is bad you must ask for another form of payment.

Jose: Is there a system rule about waiving fines?  Is there a maximum amount that can be waived?  Alisa added that Fred Schumacher approved a 10% waive in the condition of a hospital stay or a death.  Temeka suggested otherwise the customer must be directed to Circ Admin at x31330

Temeka:  We need to be charging for print cards, computer cards, and copies.  $1 is the fee for getting a replacement computer card.  We can make exceptions one time for lost cards and we can give them their card number (we must then make the reservation for the customer), but after that they must be charged for a new card.  Make a note in their account if you give them the exception.  Trish added that it is also good practice to ask for ID if a person needs a password for their computer card.  We want to make sure we are not allowing a customer to use someone else’s card.

Pam:  Please do not send  patrons up to the stacks by themselves to do shelf checks.  We either need to do the shelf check ourselves (after making sure desks are covered), or we need to call up to the staff desk and have staff do the shelf check on the correct floor.  Volunteers will be leaving after this week, and she will be throwing a party!

Temeka: Shelve holds carefully.  Make sure you are putting items in the correct, alphabetical order.  Pam added that if we know a volunteer is making a mistake, bring it to her attention immediately.  Albert added that we can also gently remind the volunteer of the correct procedure.

Leona:  This is the last week of SRP!  Kids don’t go back to school until 8/24, so we will still be hosting programs and we will still be busy.  We are out of CMH coupons and won’t be getting any more, so we can award one program prize instead.  For teens, we can give them the MFAH ticket if they want.  Booklets are due by 8/10, but we will still be giving prizes if we have them.

Temeka: In delivery we need to be scanning everything in.  Do not leave Flip Kits on the cart for exceptions.  Take the new holds wrapper off the material after it is turned in.

Albert:  We need to be sending money bags in delivery every day.

Shanti: If you get a patron returning a disc without the case, make notes on the item and on the patron account so we know what is happening.  Include the date, your initials, and details about the situation and put the material on Trish’s desk or her cart.  Make sure she knows what is happening.

Trish:  Check any A/V item for completeness before checking the material in and before they are checked out to another patron.  We need to be doing our part to catch missing material.

Alisa:  Do not print the old hold wrapper when you scan in a hold with a new wrapper.  Cancel the printing and leave the new holds wrapper on for the patron to pick up.  We also need to be clearing holds by running the Clear Holds report.  The date on the new holds wrapper is not the expiration date.  Please call IT if you need to get a username and password for the clear holds report.

Staff Meeting 6-3-15

11:15 – 11:45 AM, Breakroom

1. Updates from Managers Meeting (Karen, Lauren)
2. HEAR Year End (Karen)
3. SRP Prep: parking, schedule changes, helping with programs (Karen, Leona)
4. Summer Volunteers (Pam)
5. First week of SRP: How’s it going so far (good and bad)?

Quick Notes

• HEAR Year Ending Soon: We have about 2 more weeks to collect statistics and documentation for this year’s reviews.  Karen and Lauren will start preparing year-end reviews June 15 and meet individually with everyone starting June 18.  All reviews must be completed, signed, and locked by the close of the fiscal year on June 30.  And it’s not too soon to start thinking about your FY16 SMART goals--the new review period begins Monday, July 1.    
• Smart Money Training: Please sign up for one of the SMM trainings scheduled in June and let Karen know which date, location and time you would like to attend so I can add it to the calendar/schedule.  
• Texting and Music in Public Service Areas: Texting and listening to music in public service areas is not appropriate because it distracts you from paying attention to customers’ needs.  Texting or listening to music when customers are around tells them you’re not available or interested in helping them.  These activities need to be done in non-public areas or during non-public hours with the volume turned down low enough so you can hear someone speaking to you.  

Upcoming Staff Events

• Friday, June 5: Last day of Pay Period
• Wednessday, June 10: May Monthly Report due
• Wednesday, June 10: Staff Training Meeting
• Friday, June 12: Pay Day
• Wednesday, June 17: Open Discussion Meeting (need recorder)
• Friday, June 19: Last day of Pay Period
• Friday, June 19: CE Managers Meeting (Karen, Lauren)
• Wednesday, June 24: Tech Training Meeting/ Management Team Meeting
• Friday, June 26: Pay Day

Staff Training Notes 5-13-15

2nd floor conference room, 11:15-11:55AM
1.  Teen Readers Advisory by Jasmine; handout
2.  Excel: Consolidating and Linking Spreadsheets by Pam; handout

Staff Meeting Notes 5-6-15

11:15 – 11:45 AM, 2nd floor conference room

1. Updates from Managers Meeting
2. Opening/Closing Checklist (Lauren)
3. Staff Development Day (Lauren)
4. Training: SRP Registration for FY15 (Leona); handout

Quick Notes

• HEAR Year Ending Soon: We have about 6 more weeks to collect statistics and documentation for this year’s reviews.  Karen and Lauren will start preparing year-end reviews in the beginning of June and meet individually with everyone starting June 18.  All reviews must be completed, signed, and locked by the close of the fiscal year on June 30.  And it’s not too soon to start thinking about your FY16 SMART goals--the new review period begins Monday, July 1.    
• Voids in Smart Money Manager: Once you begin to “Check Out” a transaction, you cannot void or reverse the process.  The TeleCheck machine (which processes checks and credit card payments) can void/reversel transactions (see attached handout) but once you submit the type of payment and amount in Smart Money, it cannot be reversed.  Handouts: Smart Money Manager and How it Works, TeleCheck-Payment Type Process.
• Smart Money Training: Please sign up for one of the SMM trainings scheduled in June and let me know which date, location and time you would like to attend so I can add it to the calendar/schedule.  See emails from Laurie Covington and Lauren on May 2,
• Texting and Music in Public Service Areas: Texting and listening to music in public service areas is not appropriate because it distracts you from paying attention to customers’ needs.  Texting or listening to music when customers are around tells them you’re not available or interested in helping them.  These activities need to be done in non-public areas or during non-public hours with the volume turned down low enough so you can hear someone speaking to you.  
• Workroom Doors: Make sure workroom doors are closed before public opening hours.

Upcoming Staff Events

• Friday, May 8: Last day of Pay Period
• Saturday, May 9:  April Monthly Report due
• Wednesday, May 13: Staff Training Meeting
• Friday, May 15: Pay Day
• Saturday, May 16: Children’s Book Celebration at Central (Leona)
• Wednesday, May 20: Open Discussion Meeting (need moderator and recorder)
• Friday, May 22: Last day of Pay Period
• Monday, May 25: Memorial Day, library closed
• Wednesday, May 27: Tech Training Meeting/ Management Team Meeting
• Friday, May 29: CE Managers Meeting (Karen, Lauren)
• Friday, May 29: Pay Day