Staff Meeting Notes 3-16-16

March 16, 2016, 11:15 – 11:45 AM, 3rd floor conference room

1. News from February CE Managers Meeting and SW Managers Team Meeting (Karen): 

• CE Managers Meeting, 2/26/16: FY17 Budget Update; Open Carry Signs for School Events; Staff Appreciation Funds; Mileage Reimbursement; new PC reservation system being tested; online registration process in development; HPL mobile app displays library card barcode; Customer Service Review program (training by Lauren); see CE Manager Meeting Notes & handouts for complete minutes.
• SW Managers Team Meeting, 3/1/16: When doing daily deposit, prepare the deposit for your drawer, then swap with your colleague doing the other drawer to verify that the correct amount is being sent as the deposit and the correct amount remains in the drawer.

2. Training: HPL Customer Service Review Program (Lauren); PowerPoint presentation

Quick Notes

• PINS:  Please ask customers what PIN they would like to use.  Do not automatically give them the 5-digit number assigned by Sirsi or the customer’s phone number.
• Holds/ILL: Please do not check out holds/ILL items with another family member’s card because Workflows will continue sending copies to fill the hold until it is checked out on the original customer’s card.   
• Staying vs Going:  Make a habit of automatically separating holds that are staying from holds going to another location when you are doing paging, clear holds, or exceptions.  Once a hold is labeled, it’s easy to put it the “staying” pile or the “going” pile.  The benefits: 1) saves time; 2) sends the hold to the right place; 3) makes customers and colleagues happy.  
• Old Newspapers:  When you check in newspapers, remove the oldest ones on the shelf--we keep two weeks of daily newspapers and 4 months of weekly papers (Barrons’s, Houston Business Journal).  Put the discarded issues in the paper recycle bin in the Print Center.
• NEW: Suggestion Box: See a problem? Got a solution?  Suggest it here: KEN Staff Suggestion Box (upper right corner of Kendall blog pages).
• Money to Spend:  Lauren and Karen need your help deciding how to spend private funds we received for staff appreciation (like the monthly birthday parties).  We need to spend $200 by the end of April.  Snacks?  Cookies for staff meetings?  A pre-SRP pizza party?  (Sorry, no gift cards.) Submit your suggestions at What should we buy?.

Upcoming Staff Events

• Friday, March 18: Pay Day!
• Friday, March 18: CE Managers Meeting at CEN (Karen, Lauren)
• Friday, March 25: Last Day of Pay Period
• Wednesday, March 30: Programming Meeting
• Friday, April 1: Staff Training Meeting (Blue Group)
• Friday, April 1: Pay Day!
• Tuesday, April 5: SE Managers Team Meeting (Karen)
• Wednesday, April 6: Open Discussion Meeting
• Friday, April 8:  Youth Services Meeting (Jasmine, Leona, Nina, Shanti)
• Friday, April 8: Staff Training Meeting (Green Group)
• Friday, April 8: Last Day of Pay Period
• Wednesday, April 13: Staff Meeting

Staff Meeting Notes 2-17-16

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

1. News from Jan CE Managers Meeting and SW Managers Team Meeting
1. From SW Managers Team Meeting:
1. Self-check Percentages: target number is 85%; need to use expensive technology/equipment; express check is the new normal; will not cost us our jobs.
2. Sirsi override: Everyone should be using individual Sirsi password for overrides; do not use “s****”
3. Do not keep change in the drawer: if over, send extra money with deposit; if under, send deposit less shortage and provide an explanation; do not keep loose change in the drawer under any circumstances.
4. RFID Tags staggered: tags should be placed along the book spine at the top, middle, and bottom in a random fashion so the inventory scanners are not reading them all in the same place.
5. PIN numbers for Library Cards: let customers choose their own PINs; the 5-digit number is hard to remember; they’ll need a PIN to check out with Express Check; the more customers with random 5-digit PINs, the more who will forget it and the more times we’ll need to reset for them.
2. From CE Managers Meeting:
1. With new year comes new goals.  Mayor Turner has called for all City depts to participate in shared sacrifice facing budget shortfall coming in FY17.  He’s asked for slow-down in hiring but not a freeze; critical positions will be filled.  The mayor and Michele want transparency and will communicate any developments as they are confirmed.  View the City budget at www.houstontx.gov/budget.
2. HelpDesk phone calls are being recorded for quality management.  Extra customer service training will be provided for staff when needed.
3. Remember to slow down when using Telecheck and Smart Money.  Dimitri is seeing errors especially with staff putting transactions in Smart Money but not running the check or credit card through Telecheck.  This means the library doesn’t get the money but the fines or fees are cleared from the customer’s account.
2. Training: 2016 COH Summer Jobs Program and Application Process (Karen)
1. handout (memo from Ophelia Cespedes and copy of Summer Jobs Program flyer)
2. PowerPoint presentation: The 2016 Summer Jobs Application

Quick Notes

• Cleaning and GSD: See email from Pedro, below.
• Closing & Pick-Up--What does this  mean?: At the end of the day we want to reset the public spaces (and the workroom) back to their original setup--to move furniture back to its original position, open the blinds, and clear the service desks of clutter--so we’re ready to start the next day with a clean work space.  When you are assigned a closing duty, work with the other staff on the floor to make sure everything is neat and ready for tomorrow.  If you finish early, go see if your colleagues need help on the other floors.
• Lynda.com Training: Must be completed by Mar. 4.  When you complete the training, add your name and the date completed to the sign-in sheet on Karen’s door.
• Study Rooms and Multiple Reservations: At the top of each reservation page: “ONE reservation per customer at a time; finish one before booking the next”.  The change in meeting room policy does not apply to the individual study rooms, because our practice is specific to Kendall, not official HPL policy.
• Answering the Phone & Teamwork:  Everyone needs to make the effort to answer the public line during open hours, and the private line at all times.  Don’t expect someone else to do it.  If  you are trying to call in or are waiting for an important call, you would want someone to answer the phone.
• Dr. Lawson at the White House: See memo from Dr. Lawson about the ConnectED Library Challenge (handout).

Upcoming Staff Events

• Friday, February 19: Pay Day!
• Friday, February 26: CE Managers Meeting at CEN (Karen, Lauren)
• Friday, February 26: Last Day of Pay Period
• Tuesday, March 1: SE Managers Team Meeting (Karen)
• Wednesday, March 2: Programming Meeting
• Friday, March 4: Staff Training Meeting (Blue Group)
• Friday, March 4: Pay Day!
• Friday, March 4: Lynda.com Training deadline
• Wednesday, March 9: Open Discussion Meeting
• Friday, March 11:  Youth Services Meeting (Jasmine, Leona, Nina, Shanti)
• Friday, March 11: Last Day of Pay Period
• Wednesday, March 16: Staff Meeting
• Friday, February 26: CE Managers Meeting at CEN (Karen, Lauren)
• Friday, March 18: Pay Day!

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Email from Pedro 4-22-15

Please communicate with staff about cleaning up after themselves.  If there is an arts and craft that we provide, we need to clean up after ourselves.  GSD does not need to clean up after something that we did.  If there is a paint project and kids need to go clean up, the staff is responsible for making sure the kids are not making a mess and the staff should clean up if they do, since it is a craft they are doing.  Make sure tables are clean and if glitter is used, try and pick up as much as possible.

GSD is also not responsible for cleaning the microwaves, refrigerators, washing someone else’s dishes or wiping down our staff/public computers. If they do, then that is them being nice and providing that service on their own.  I suggest  you work a weekly or biweekly rotation among staff into your schedule to clean the refrigerator, microwave and wipe down the computers if you yourself do not want to be the only one responsible for it.  You are able to order air cans from Supplies to spray keyboards if need be.

Open Discussion Notes 1-28-15

Workroom, 11:15-11:45AM Recorder: Evin    Moderator: Alisa

1. New Staff: welcome to Trish from COL and new-to-HPL staff Lauren and Doug. Trish appreciates coming back to KEN
2. Meeting Room Reservations: ask customers to try to at least estimate number of people who may be attending, so we have something to base the “meeting room used” stats on.
3. AV Repair Shelf: Temeka is going take over duties from Juli [now being done by Trish. KL].
4. Printer Settings: please don’t change the printer settings, especially the Delivery printer and the receipt printers.  They are configured specifically to work with the software.
5. Duplicate applications:  Before creating a new account, check for duplicates with a name and ID (TDL or TID) search.  
6. Evanced: everyone had turned in their programs for March and they are already in Evanced.
7. New Procedure for Lost Cards: go to “Modify User” > “Privilege” > Change to “Lost Card” and save.  Then open account again and scan in new card number.  
8. Override password in Workflows:  Use your Workflows password, not the default one.
9. Workflows discharge:  Don’t use fine-free discharge.  Use “Special” > “Discharging Bookdrop” if you need to backdate items.  Whenever waiving or reducing a fine, put a note in “Extended Info” to explain and document your action.
10. When in doubt, always have another person with you.
11. Appropriate government-issued IDs for library cards are Texas driver’s license and id card, US and foreign passports, US military cards, etc.
12. Don’t forget to check in returned laptops!  Customers will be charged $25/hr late fees, which could block their card.
13. When holding items at the desk for customers, please include the date, so we can tell how long the item has been sitting there.  (Desk holds for 24 hours or less only.  If longer, need customer’s account number to hold item and place on hold shelf.)
14. Jose did a great job helping a Colombian family.
15. If someone calls for Jose saying she’s his mother, it’s customer who wants to speak to him, not his mom.  Take a message.

Staff Meeting Notes, 11-20-13

1.     Floating Updates (Alice)
o    Adult overflow has been cleared finally; Leona and Regina sending JUV and YA items too.
o    Mancuso staff is taking our overflow and distributing it to other branches
o    Overflow items—perfect condition; don’t change status to missing or repair shelf
o    Return overflow items sent by other locations and add a note that we don’t take overflow--we have enough already. 
o    If overflow items have been requested, ask that they be sent to your attention, or we will send them back.

 2.     SirsiDynix Updates (Nina)
o    Symhony continues to be super slow at different times of the day
o    When should we go offline?  How long should we wait before switching to offline mode?   Will the software automatically upload any offline work?  What’s our back-up plan if the system is down for an extended period of time?
o    New accounts: look up customer first by name (last, first only) and ID# in browse search; use child’s birthday instead of ID search.
o    Google docs (esp. schedule and room reservations) not accessible, esp. in Chrome, limited/sporadic access in IE.  Room reservations spreadsheet has been saved in Excel on 2R computer (left side); refer all reservation requests/questions to this desk.  Schedule is updated and paper copies distributed to each service desk and workroom as changes occur; check header for most current version.

3.     Program Deadlines Updates (Meg).  Copy of program deadlines for 2014 distributed to mailboxes.

4.     Incident Report Practice (Karen); Handout and practice report will be distributed to mailboxes.
 

Upcoming Staff Events

●      Nov 21:  NL Managers Meeting, 9:15-12 Noon (Karen, Meg)
●      Nov 28-29: Library Closed for Thanksgiving
●      Dec 5: Service Innovation Team Meeting, 9:15-11:15  (Karen)
●      Dec 19: NL Managers Meeting, 9:15-12 (Karen)
●      Dec 20: Youth Services Meeting, 8:15-10:15 (Leona, Regina)
●      Dec 20, HPL Staff Holiday Party, 11-1:30; RSVP to e-invite.
●      Dec 24-25: Library Closed for Christmas
●      Jan 1: Library Closed for New Year’s Day

Remaining November Programs

ADULT PROGRAMS
●      Intermediate MS Excel, Thursday, November 21, 10:30 AM – 12:30PM, 2^nd Floor Conference Room
●      Kendall Bee Quilters, Monday, November 26, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM, 1^st Floor Meeting Room.

TEEN PROGRAMS

●      Teen Video Game Time, Wednesday, November 20, 27, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM
●      Teen Movie Time, Tuesday, November 26, 3:30 PM-5:30 PM

KIDS PROGRAMS

●      Babytime, Thursday, November 21, 11 AM – 12 PM
●      Babytime: Baby Yoga, Friday, November 22, 2:30-3:00 PM

Open Discussion Notes, 10-2-13

3rd floor conference room, 11:15-11:55AM Recorder: Albert Moderator: José

1. Shelf Read
1. Take turns
2. pull misshelved items, esp. WLC, 700s, fiction
3. takes longer to shelve when time must be spent reshelving items in wrong place.
4. suggested schedule: Tues & Thurs shelf read, Mon, Wed, Fri shelve
5. volunteers: review how to shelve fiction
6. staff: shelve where items go instead of at end of shelf (like they’re tired of shelving)
7. if not finished, bring items back downstairs
8. we can all learn how to shelve again.
9. it’s happening a lot!
2. Bins for tagging
1. don’t put holds in tagging bins!  Found item for customer there
2. not good customer service
3. also discard bins--don’t put problem books or holds there
4. Checkout discards to KEN discard account to change shelf status, so items doesn’t appear to be on the shelf
3. AllCirc
1. check and make sure the DVD barcode matches the one on the case
2. also check boxes and replace broken ones with supply in workroom
3. discard damaged disks (scratched, cracked) and worn cases with old covers (call number sitckers on case)
4. Relieving the Desk
1. Get to the desk on time, especially when returning from lunch.
2. hour lunch doesn’t mean you can come back to the desk late--public service takes priority.
5. Workroom
1. clean your own dishes from sink; Angie is not our maid.
2. leave strainer in left sink to keep solid food bits out of the drain pipes, causing plumbing problems.
3. clean up your own mess.
4. refrigerator full of stuff, no room for lunches; big water bottles taking up too much room!
5. need to clean frig--Temeka will do 10/3.
6. Statistics
1. mark questions answered and holds on stats sheets at desks
2. if customers call with reference questions and too busy, refer/transfer them to Telephone Reference (ask if okay first).
7. Meeting Rooms
1. give customer contact info for outside meetings if requested.
2. meetings in library buildings (city facilities) must be free and open to the public.
3. Library does not publicize outside meetings but can direct customers to contact for the meeting (the person who filled out the form).
8. Symphony
1. User look up--if you can’t find new cardholder, change to HISTORY in profile from NO HISTORY.
9. Holds Shelf
1. shelve in alpha order by last name, first name.
2. not good customer service to mis-shelve items that can’t be found by customer or staff
10. Paging
1. bring items checked in downstairs asap--they’re HOT and ready to be picked up.
2. some customers come very quickly to pick up holds and staff can’t find them if they’re not on first floor.