Right-hand 3M Express Checkout

Customers are now able to use the right-hand 3M Express Checkout. Please be advised that the payment function on that machine is currently not turned on. They expect to work on it Friday morning.

Thanks for your patience.

Important Message from IT

The CyberSecurity Division has been made aware of a scam that affected one of our City employees yesterday. A message was displayed on the user system with a visual warning and repeating audio message that the system was infected. The notification provided a phone number to contact for assistance. The user was unable to perform any activity on the system until a call was placed to the provided telephone number and a code was entered. Investigation into the incident continues.

If you experience a similar event, immediately disconnect your computer from the network and POWER OFF the system (DO NOT Perform a normal shutdown) and contact the HITS Customer Service Center at 832-394-4487 (HITS) for further instruction.

Exciting News: eResource Central (eRC)

This Sunday April 3, 2016,  HPL will go live with a SirsiDynix product called eResource Central.

eResource Central (eRC) allows customers to place holds or download eBooks from the public catalog rather than going to the vendor  site.  eRC also allows you to see what ebooks you have checked out and what ebooks you have on hold inside your HPL catalog account.

eRC currently works with the following vendors:  Overdrive, Recorded Books, Axis 360, and Hoopla.

When eRC is implemented the ebook records in the catalog will be coming from a separate SirsiDynix eRC server that keeps track of our holdings with the participating vendors.

There are significant changes to the electronic resource check out process so we have developed a training document and posted it to the HPL training portal at http://training.houstonlibrary.org/library-function.  Look for the "eResource Central (eRC)" box at the bottom of the page.

We learned only today that Hoopla will be included in Sunday’s implementation.  The current training document does not include Hoopla, but we hope to have a revision out by the end of the day.

Until Sunday April 3, 2016, eRC is available for training purposes in HPL’s SirsiDynix test site:

https://catalog.houstonlibrary.org/client/en_US/hou-test/

The test catalog will have duplicate ebook records until the local records are shadowed on August 2.  On August 3^rd you can continue training in the live version.

We are working on communications to go out to the public on Friday and early next week.  We will let you know when these are completed ands sent.

Emails and Personal Information

The City has new servers that detect when emails contain Personal Health Information (dealing with health care, or healthcare coverage), Personally Identifiable Information (such as Social Security Numbers or Credit Card Information), or Payment Card Industry information. The server will automatically encrypt the email and notify the sender with a message similar to:

“The City of Houston Data Loss Prevention service indicates that your email probably contained social security number information, and automatically encrypted your message. In the future, add the keyword [encrypt] in the subject line of emails containing this type of information to ensure protection of the data.”

The recipient(s) will receive an email with a link that takes them to the secure server allowing them to view/reply/forward the message.

Additionally, messages sent that are determined to have Personally Identifiable Information in the subject line will be rejected with the message:

“Your recent email was rejected as it appeared to have SSN data in the subject line. As this part of an email cannot be encrypted, the message will not be sent as is. Please edit the subject line to remove SSN data or potential SSN data and resend your message. If you need assistance contact HITS Security at HITSSecurity@houstontx.gov.”

Sheltering Arms-Senior Services Division

This morning Katie Scott of Sheltering Arms gave a presentation on the services provided by her organization, specifically the facility located next door to the library. Ms. Scott works in the Senior Division and specializes in providing a variety of care options available to assist the elderly with dementia related problems.

Home Care: Provides assistance to older adults who are still able to live at home, but have difficulties performing daily functions such as cleaning, dressing, and shopping.

Care Management: Provides home visits to assess needs of the older adult to create a plan specific to the individual.

Caregiver Support Services: Provides telephone consultation to family members with care options of older adults.

Telephone Reassurance: Provides brief daily telephone calls to the home of an older adult as a safety check.

Senior Centers: Provide hot lunches and activities for older adults to improve socialization.

Tim Siegel and Jacob Hornbeak spoke with Ms. Scott about possibly offering a staff member to read a short story during one of the programs at Sheltering Arms. Patricia Tucker asked about if they are in need of any donated books for an in house library and Ms. Scott was receptive of donations.

Ms. Scott asked us to watch for any disoriented older adults that may have wandered into the library by mistake. The older adults will have a button attached to their shirt with “Sheltering Arms” and along with the facility phone number. If this happens, please contact Sheltering Arms.

Their telephone number is 713-685-6577.

As neighbors, Sheltering Arms and the library share a parking lot and a customer base. Many times, a client of Sheltering Arms will be directed to the library for printing/copying services and computer help. The presentation by Ms. Scott gives us another resource to assist our customers and providing them with the best information. 

Posted: Tim Siegel

Sirsi Upgrade

Sirsi performed an upgrade over the Easter weekend to improve system performance.  We expect to see an improvement during peak period processing as well as with the PC reservation system 999 issues.  Please call the HelpDesk if you experience any issues so we can continue to monitor the system.

Stella Link Team Meeting Notes March 23, 2016

Attending: Patricia Tucker, Nhu Le, Carol Wu, Alex Gabitto, Jose Zamora, Frances Saldana, Amethyst Taylor, Jacob Hornbeak, Mark Hall, Ray Williams, Ade Odusanwo, Marjorie Hackley, and Tim Siegel.

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Out: Jesse Farias, Amy Stanley, and Jonathan McFarland

Thank you: Amy, Alex, and Carol worked together to complete a massive Discards project in just a couple of hours.

HPL News: Budget-Dr. Lawson attended the last manager’s meeting to announce that the library’s preliminary budget has been approved and that the budget was not cut.
Awards-The Texas Library Association has presented HPL with two awards for branding and the MyLink Library Card Campaign.

Manager’s Meeting Highlights:

• Smith and Park Place have an After School Food Program and HPL is interesting in expanding this program.
• Volunteer Appreciation is on April 27 from 3-5pm. HPL is looking for nominations of outstanding volunteers. The deadline for nominations is April 1. 
• Any professional communication between HPL staff and councilmembers must go through Mary Hammond. As a citizen, you may communicate with political leaders, but not as a representative of HPL. 
• Job posting for the Jungman manager will be a Librarian III. 
• GSD  duties are to clean restrooms, vacuum, clean windows in the front doors, wipe tables and countertops, empty trash cans, help with recycling, mop floors daily, pick up the parking lot daily, clean graffiti off inside walls & building, and restock restrooms. They are NOT responsible for the fridge, microwave, and staff areas. We are responsible for these areas, so please keep them clean. GSD are also to dust 2-3 times a week, and strip and wax floor or shampoo carpet 2-4 times a year or as needed. Since our floor has been waxed recently, whenever possible, please try to avoid dragging the delivery bins across the workroom floor. GSD has been polishing the floors and dragging the bins scratches up the finish. Please use the dolly or place bins on a cart to move them to the back area. The person in charge should clean large messes in the absence of the GSD custodian. Please flush toilets at the end of the day, and when needed. When the custodian is out, we can call the GSD after hours number. If you feel GSD duties are not being done, please let Edgar know.

SPACES Updates:

• John Middleton from SPACES presented designs for the remodel of the Central Plaza. Construction will begin  this Summer. 
• The Young Library project is on schedule. 
• Jungman is expected to open in 2-3 months. 
• Alief starts construction this week. 
• SER Ninos is a private school in the Gulfton area that will also serve as a hold pickup location for HPL. 
• Frederick Lee is no longer with the City. Any security issues email Karrington and CC John Middleton.

IT Updates

·     Samia Kadir indicated that if customers have issues with remote databases, they can enter “000000” as the card number. That information appears to customers when prompted to enter their card number.

·     Rick Perales indicated he is negotiating with Coin Copiers on a solution for a new print system with scanning and faxing capabilities that will not require a print card. The system would also allow customers to print from their personal devices.

Youth Services Updates

·     The Summer Reading Program theme is “Aim for the Stars.” Kids will get a Scholastic book just for registering. There will be bigger prizes this year – one bike for each location’s top elementary, middle, and high school readers. Children’s Book Celebration is on May 14. 

Flip Kit Surveys
Blank Flip Kit Survey forms were made available on the STE Youth Blog in case a customer returns a FLIP Kit and indicates there was not a survey inside.

Open Enrollment
March 16-April 13 is Open Enrollment. If you have insurance through the City of Houston, you may add or make changes to your medical, dental, vision, or supplemental plans, and designate beneficiaries. You must enroll each year even if you do not make changes to your plan.

Visit http://cohemployeenews.com/openenrollment for more information. These changes can be made by logging in to Employee Self Service. Those of you who forgot your ESS password can call HITS (832-394-4487 and ask to have it reset). If you have any questions about Open Enrollment, you can ask me, or you can also call 832-393-6000.  

Holds for Wide Items
The current 1-Up Holds Label does make stay in place when plan on a wide item such as a large book of and audiobook with multiple discs. Marjorie had the great of idea of printing two hold labels and sticking them together to cover the area completely.

Passport Printer
The new passport photo printer is working. However, please continue to advise customers to bring passport photos because our printer has been giving us intermittent issues, which we are working on resolving.

Posted: Tim Siegel

3M Express Checkout

Please do not turn off the right-hand side 3M machine. Techs are trying to log in to it remotely to try to fix it.

Open Enrollment

Those of you who have insurance through the City of Houston: Remember to complete Open Enrollment as soon as possible. Log into your Employee Self Service from InsideHPL or the Stella Link staff blog. After you have reviewed your selections, hit "SAVE" to complete the process. You may see dates at the end that are not for the current year. These dates reflect the last time you made changes to your plans.

If you have any questions, please call 832-393-6000.

National Library Worker's Day - April 12, 2016

Checking Out

Since we only have 1 express checkout station working, please assist customers with checking out at the desk when lines are long. Please assist all other customers with checking out (unless they express otherwise) at the one working station to help move things along quicker.

Flip Kit Surveys

The forms are now available on the STE Youth Blog.

Passport Photos

We are able to take passport photos again!

Delivery Bins

Whenever possible, please try to avoid dragging the delivery bins across the workroom floor. GSD has been polishing the floors and dragging the bins scratches up the finish. You are welcome to use the dolly or place bins on a cart to move them to the back area.


-Edgar

HBJ Office Leasing Guide

A supplement to the Houston Business Journal (HBJ) called the Office Leasing Guide came in with today's periodical. Jacob will be placing it at the desk next to the HBJ Book of Lists for customers who may ask to read it. It is for reference use only.

-Edgar

Indoor Easter Egg Hunt Info Saturdays 3/19 and 3/26

The Indoor Easter Egg Hunt will be this Saturday, March 18^th and next Saturday, March 26^th.

If you have questions or concerns – Please see Nhu, Frances, Amethyst, Alex, or Amy.

Plastic Easter Eggs containing one colored paper (pink, neon green, or yellow) will be scattered throughout the children’s area (include shelves that hold juv book materials & the children’s computer stations) and teen room (includes shelves that hold teen book materials).

The hunt is all day during library’s hours at the convenience of the customer.

Limit 3 eggs per participant. For all ages 0-17. No need to ask for I.D. If you only see the adult collecting the prize but no kid, just assume there is a kid somewhere.

The participant will need to hand over the egg and the colored paper in order to collect the prize. This will help us replenish the hidden eggs as the day goes on.

Prize:       PINK – Candy

                GREEN – Sticker

                YELLOW – Mini Toy

Golden Egg (the egg is not literally golden) – Will contain a RED paper. The prize is a DVD (Hopper)

The prize box (blue boxes with snowflake design on them) will be on top of the laptop cart for easy access.

The paper in the egg states that the participants will collect their prize at the front desk, however, if you happen to be on the floor and not busy at the moment but see participants with eggs walking toward the front, please assist the front desk by taking the initiative and giving out the prizes.

If participant have dietary needs or just prefer another prize, go ahead and give them their prefer prize. 

Staff Meeting Notes 3/16

STE Staff Meeting 03/16

Lead: Edgar Fuentes

In attendance: Patricia Tucker, Jacob Hornbeck, Alex Gabitto , Mark Hall, Amy Stanley, Frances Saldana, Amethyst Taylor, Majorie Hackley, Ade Odusanwu , Ray Williams, Carol Wu, Nhu Le, Jose Zamora, Kayren Alexander, Jonathan MacFarland

Not in attendance: Tim Siegel, Jesse Farias

Thank you
Thank you to Jacob for helping clean out the Book Sale room.

To our passport team for doing a tremendous job this busy Spring Break week. Saturday we processed 87, Monday we did 85, and Tuesday we did 82. Let’s aim for getting 100 passport applications processed this Saturday!

Thank you to Nhu and Amethyst for helping out yesterday with a customer with a claimed return ILL. While I was helping a customer, they stepped in and offered to help search for the items. Between the three of us, we discovered that they had been returned and logged in the “items from other library systems” spreadsheet and sent to their respective libraries. Great example of teamwork!

Checking out
If customers ask if they can check out a book that is on hold for a family member, please remember to let them know that they will need the family member’s library card and PIN number in order to check out.

Expired Holds
So that we can better keep track of Expired Holds, we will designate one workroom computer for printing out Expired Holds lists. That way, we can see if the holds have been done. When you click on the link for a particular date, the color changes. This will help all staff see whether holds for the previous date have been done (such as when the list has not been generated and does not appear on the Intranet). If you are doing holds and see that the previous day’s expired holds have not been done, please print the previous day’s holds as well.

Hold Shelf
While clearing the expired holds this morning, I came across at least a dozen items that were holds for other locations. The holds label has the library name printed on it, yet somehow they got past us - either when we did Book Drop/Others or when processing holds.

We want to avoid delays in customers getting their items. Please try to pay close attention to any holds you shelve to ensure they are not for other locations. Also, try to monitor the hold shelf daily for any items that may need to go to another location in addition to those that may be expired and have not been pulled.

Remember to pull items with dates older than 2 weeks and run them through our sorting machine. We hold items on the hold shelf for 1 week, and it takes several days for delivery to drop off the items, so past 2 weeks the item is most likely expired.

Smart Money and Telecheck
Smart Money and Telecheck are two independent components for ringing up transactions. We need to first use Smart Money to figure out how much money is to be paid by the customer (in fines, book sale, bags, headphones, replacement cards etc). Once the total is established in Smart Money, slide over to use Telecheck to complete credit card or check transactions. Once the transaction is approved, return to Smart Money to select the payment method (credit card or check), and then select “Check out.”

If you complete the checkout process in Smart Money and the Telecheck transaction fails (either system error or transaction is not approved by the bank), Smart Money totals will not match up to Telecheck totals because we did not collect the money from the customer.

Anytime you have a transaction error, please try to make a note of the error and put it in the register drawer with your initials so that if we need to reconcile the money, we can know who to ask.

Events Calendar
Mark and I are working in getting all classes updated to the new events calendar, which went live last week. There are some glitches with the system, so please assure customers that our regular programs are still happening, and apologize for the error. We are working on getting it corrected today.

Please refer to the monthly calendar of events or the computer class booklet to verify any computer classes that are happening at our location to avoid giving customers incorrect information. As always, you can also ask Nhu or Edgar for clarification.

Frequently Used Resources
I am compiling a list of frequently used resources for students and teachers on our website, and would like your feedback as to which ones we use frequently:

·         Catalog

·         Ask a Librarian

·         HPL App

·         Overdrive and Ebsco e-books

·         Hoopla

·         Brainfuse

·         Learning Express

·         Gale Courses

·         Lynda.com

·         Mango

·         Resources for Educators page on the Database list

·         Novelist

·         Houston Area Digital Archives (Educator resources)

·         FLIP

·         Tumblebooks

·         Kids Search

·         Student Research Center

·         Culturegrams

·         Academic Search Premiere

·         Power Search

·         JSTOR

·         Facts on File Science

·         Literature Criticism Online and Literature Resource Center

Adult Book Club

Jacob will be starting a new program this month. It is a Book Club for adults with a book and film pairing. Meetings are on the last Wednesday of each month. The book and film will be available digitally on Hoopla.

Library Items on Book Sale Shelf

Please do not put library items on the book sale shelf in the book drop room. A few library materials have been found on that particular shelf. These could be items that are still on patron’s account or wanted by our patrons.

Thank You

Alex wants to thank staff for all the help and encouragement she’s been receiving.

Frances wants to thank Nhu, Edgar, and Gabrielle for helping with the two Easter Baskets that will be raffled out to two lucky kids ages 2-6.

Events

Continue to send Mark events that need to be put on the calendar.

Books that need Labeling

Amy is in charge of labeling books that need labels. Please assist her by attaching a note explaining why the item needs a label. She does not change the item’s record (that goes through LMS). She only adds labels.

Red Bag Book Sale

Since our book sale stock is currently low, we no longer have the $5 fill a HPL red bag sale promotion.

Staff Blog

The staff blog is constantly being updated with new information. Please check the blog on a daily basis to keep up with the latest news concerning HPL and STE.

Break Room

Please clean up after yourself. Do not leave dishes in the sink. It is understandable that sometimes we are in a rush and cannot clean the dishes right away, but the dishes should not be left in the sink for 3 days. Items left in the sink for more than 3 days will be thrown out.

Clue Board Game

Ray is in need of a Clue board game. He needs it for Anime Club. If you have Clue, and would like to let Ray borrow it, please see Ray. 

Second Chance Job Fair

HPL will be participating in the Second Chance Job Fair on May 9th, 2016 from 9am - 1pm at the George R. Brown Convention Center.  The Second Chance Job Fair provides job training opportunities for individuals in need of a second chance. The job fair is open to non-violent ex- felons and it will help to bridge the gap between the unemployed, underemployed and potential employers and provide job training and employment opportunities and skills development. 

This event is being sponsored by District D.  We do not know if there will be flyers from the event coordinators.  Please share information about the event with customers during Open Job Labs.

-Edgar

Collection Management Mtg - 16 Mar 16

At the start of the meeting Kayren and Alex introduced themselves and we went around the table telling these newest members what tasks we perform.

I gave a brief overview of how both the summer and SRP would impact this team and the Library.

Edgar spoke about interfiling the language learning items: we will run these items through Bertha first and then shelve them amongst other nonfiction adult items. This will enable anyone who uses the Catalog to find them easily, quell questions of location for volunteers and meet the standardization of HPL Neighborhood Libraries. The question of location for state & country books has not been standardized as of yet, therefore these items will stay where they are currently located.

As we are shelving, please keep in mind our physical weeding as well. Please float duplicates. When possible leave the second shelf of your cart for float items and the bottom shelf for discards, while shelving.

In order to ease the interfiling of the language learning items, SMI is asking for adult nonfiction, specifically dewey 600 thru 900 and STE's 300s are tight. Floating items from both these sections of adult nonfiction will help with the impending shift and interfiling.

Juvenile fiction/Chapter books expand and contract. When weeding, float any third or more copies, leaving only two of a title on the shelf. Shifting in this collection will be appreciated.

Edgar and Alex will work together on finding additional duties for her.

Audiobooks are also tight...please float.

Please don't weed base on content or age (year published) of a title. Use the CREW Manual to discern possible discard items. Once chosen, these items/titles must be approved for discard by a member of LMS.

During the next few weeks we will focus our attention on adult fiction, in a blitz of weeding.

Salvage

We now have a new procedure for salvage requests. If there are items you think need to be salvaged, please check with Edgar or Tim first before proceeding.

Salvage instructions can be found here: http://hplnl.blogspot.com/2016/03/salvage.html

GSD Security

Effective immediately Frederick Lee is no longer with the GSD Security or the COH. In the event that we need to include an GSD Security representative on an email, please CC Zachary McMahon and Elva Alvarez.

-Edgar

Passport Photo Printer

Please advise customers to bring their photos, as our photo printer is currently down. It has been reported.

- Edgar

Open Enrollment

Open Enrollment is from March 16 - April 13

Open Enrollment is your chance to evaluate your current plans and make changes accordingly. If you have previously waived coverage, log on and choose a reason. You can also re-enroll in the Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, add or drop dependents, elect voluntary life insurance and designate beneficiaries. Read more

3/14 - Person in Charge

Mark is the person in charge for the last two hours of the day. Please assist him with closing, putting away the money, forwarding phones, and all the other standard closing duties.

If you all have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me on my cell 832-729-0677.

-Edgar

Hold Shelf

While clearing the expired holds this morning, I came across at least a dozen items that were holds for other locations. The holds label had the library name printed on it, yet somehow they got past us - either when we did Book Drop/Others or when processing holds.

We want to avoid delays in customers getting their items. Please try to pay close attention to any holds you shelve to ensure they are not for other locations. Also, try to monitor the hold shelf daily for any items that may need to go to another location in addition to those that may be expired and have not been pulled.

Remember to pull items with dates older than 2 weeks and run them through our sorting machine. We hold items on the hold shelf for 1 week, and it takes several days for delivery to drop off the items, so past 2 weeks the item is most likely expired.

eBook Classes

Team,

A customer called to inquire about the ebook classes at Stella Link and was apparently told by one of our staff that there are no ebook classes offered at this location.

Please refer to the monthly calendar of events or the computer class booklet to verify any computer classes that are happening at our location to avoid giving customers incorrect information. As always,  you can also ask Nhu or Edgar for clarification.

-Edgar

Stella Link Team Meeting March 08, 2016 Notes

Attending: Patricia Tucker, Carol Wu, Jonathan McFarland, Jacob Hornbeak, Amy Stanley, Marjorie Hackley, Amethyst Taylor, Jose Zamora, Mark Hall, Frances Saldana, Kayren Alexander, Lauren Holmes, Ray Williams, Ade Odusanwo, Patrick Atkins, and Tim Siegel

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Not Attending: Jesse Farias, Alex Gabitto, and Nhu Le

Thank you: Alex Gabitto created a wonderful display to celebrate Women’s History Month. The display is posted above the children’s computer stations. The display features outstanding women and includes a poster of Wonder Woman.

Missing Team Member: Marjorie Hackley will be out for a several weeks in the near future. She will be missed and wish her well until her return. Jacob Hornbeak volunteered to cover floating duties in her absence.

Sense of Urgency: Please focus on the assigned task and display a level of speed and urgency to accomplish the task quickly and proficiently. Please avoid extended conversations with customers, visitors, or security guards.

Ex-Library Books: Donated items that are ex-library books should be sent to Friends if they are in good condition. These items include HPL items that were previously discarded, sold, and donated and any item that was discarded or withdrawn from another library system. Older items may be rare and could be sold for a considerable amount by Friends. Please box these items to be sent to Friends. Check that the item is not an ILL before shipping.

Interfiling Books: Ranges that have been pulled for display will be refiled in the correct location in the collection. The adult language learning area that is currently at the end of the biography section may appear hidden from customers searching for an item from the catalog. When shifting please check that the items are not listed as missing by running through the Check-In machine. The interfiling of other collections such as the State and Country books in the juvenile nonfiction and teen graphic novels is under consideration.

Graphic Novels Call Number: Graphic Novels are now being cataloged by series or character, instead of by author. Older copies will not be changed and should not be sent to LMS.

Phone Use: Please avoid the use of cell phones or other technology devices to breaks or lunch time. If an emergency arises, please let Edgar Fuentes know.

Cataloged paperbacks: New paperbacks will now have a call number label. Please check all paperback items before depositing in the uncataloged paperback bins. Cataloged paperbacks will be placed with the cataloged section and uncataloged paperbacks will the shelved as normal.

Forwarding Phones:  At the end of the day, the team members assigned to Rove and Desk should ensure that that the public line is forwarded. To forward the public line, select the 2630 line, press “CFWDAll” and then the messages button. If forwarded correctly, a small arrow and envelope will appear at the top right of the display window.  Customers will receive a prerecorded message with the library’s operating hours.

Saturdays: Avoid working on special project on Saturdays. Please focus on shelving, bookdrop, assisting customer, and doing pickup. Saturday is the busiest day of the week and all team members are needed to keep the library running smoothly on this day.

Wellness: March 12, 2016 is the deadline to complete the requirements to qualify for the discount on the City insurance plan. Visit https://hplnet.houstonlibrary.org/wellness.html for more information.

Library Cards: Consent is implied from the owner when a library card is presented by another individual. Team members can give out information on the account such as items checked out, fines owed, and items on hold. However, an ID is still required for access the PIN.

A fine for an item can be paid by the person returning the book other than the card holder. No other information can be given without the card.

Allow customers to create a personalized PIN when applying for a new or replacement card. A parent can access a youth account as long they present a photo ID and are listed as an authorized user on the account.  

Renewing Items on Hold: On occasion, a customer may want to renew an item that has an available hold. Please check on the availability of other items to fulfill the hold to facilitate a renewal. If there is only one hold on the item and several copies exist, please call another branch to check on the item to fulfill the hold. If there are two or three holds on an item and numerous copies are available, please override the hold to allow a renewal. The actions promote good customer service.

Posted: Tim Siegel

Book Sale

Frances has pulled the $5 Bargain Book Sale sign. We currently have a lower stock of book sale items than usual, so the $5 deal ($2 Bag + $3 Book Sale) is currently suspended. We may reinstate it once we replenish our book sale supply.

-Edgar

Graphic Novel Cataloging Update

The manner in which graphic novels are being cataloged has changed. According to a member of the Teen Services Team, the call number will now reflect lettering to match the series or character name, instead of by the author's last name. For example, previously a Geronimo Stilton graphic novel would be cataloged as 741.5 S and now will be cataloged as 741.5 G. All new items will now have labeling to reflect this change. As older items become worn out and eventually discarded, a newer item will replace it with the new cataloging criteria. 

Older items will not be changed and should not be sent to LMS.

Posted: Tim Siegel

HPL ACE Scholarship Program

Announcing the 2016

HPL Academic and Continuing Education (ACE) Scholarship Program

The HPL ACE Scholarship Program provides financial

support for Houston Public Library employees to further their education. Scholarships are available for continuing education workshops or for regular course work as part of a degree plan. Eligible applicants are full-time and part-time employees, in good standing, with one or more years of continuous employment with the library.

Full-time employees may be awarded up to $1000.00.

Part-time employees may be awarded up to $500.00.

Applications are available on the intranet at https://hplnet.houstonlibrary.org/personal.html

Application Deadline:

Friday, May 6, 2016

How To Submit Your Application:

1. Click on Open Form. Save the electronic form to your computer.

2. Fill out form electronically.

3. Attach completed form to an email and send to:

HPL ACE Scholarship Program Administrator

andrea.lawrence@houstontx.gov

Stella Link Team Meeting March 2, 2016

Attending: Patricia Tucker, Jesse Farias, Kayren Alexander, Mark Hall, Amethyst Taylor, Jacob Hornbeak, Jose Zamora, Ade Odusanwo, Alex Gabitto, Jonathan McFarland, and Frances Saldana.

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Not Attending: Nhu Le, Amy Stanley, Ray Williams, Carol Wu, and Marjorie Hackley.

Welcome: Kayren Alexander is the newest member of the STE family. She is a part-time Customer Service Clerk and is a graduate of Sam Houston State University.

Thank you: Frances Saldana and Nhu Le did an amazing job on the Easter display at the Express Check-out. Please add Easter related books that can be checked-out by customers.

Computers: Please leave the computers turned on at closing time. Only the monitors should be turned off. IT often performs maintenance and updates during the evening hours. Computers that are turned off cannot be accessed remotely and will not receive the updates.

Cash Registers: For security purposes, please leave the cash registers open at the end of the day.

Outreach Opportunity: The Village of Meyerland care facility contacted STE to ask about having a library team member read to a group of retirees ages 50 to 90. The facility requested that the story be easy to follow, but not too short or too childish. A short story would probably be best for this outreach. Please contact Edgar Fuentes if you are interested. In an effort to increase our outreach, please bring any ideas to Edgar Fuentes for visiting a school or similar group.

Homework Help: On the 4^th Monday of the month, Amethyst Taylor will be conduction a Homework Help for the after-school students. Edgar Fuentes also suggested creating a PowerPoint presentation to be displayed during the Quiet Lab to promote Brainfuse. Quiet Lab is another opportunity to assist students with homework.

Friday Expired Holds: When scheduled to pull expired holds from the shelf on Friday mornings, please pull any item with a print date older than 2 weeks and feed the items through the sorter. Long expired items have been found on the hold shelf for more than a month.

Autism Awareness Art Workshop: STE is hosting an autism workshop in April 2016. Families with autistic children are invited to visit this workshop to create two small-scale art pieces using a variety of unique, recycled, and sensory-friendly materials. One of the art pieces created may be taken home by the family, and the other art piece will be kept for a special exhibition in September 2016. The program is being hosted by visual artist and art educator Janice Warren.

April 16 | 12:00 PM – 2 PM                           April 23 | 12:00 PM – 2 PM

New Sign Display for Open Carry of Weapons: The new sign display provided by HPL Spaces is to be only used to hold the restriction of Open Carry of Weapons during a school sponsored event at the library. The sign can only be displayed when students are present that attend an accredited public or private school. Note: Daycares are not school groups.

• Public school search: http://mansfield.tea.state.tx.us/TEA.AskTED.Web/Forms/SearchMain.aspx
• Private school search:  http://www.texasprivateschools.org/member-schools.html. Please note that there are 15 different forms of agencies offering accreditation to private. These associations are listed on the accreditation page of the above link. It may be easier to search for the school on the internet to determine which association has accredited the school and verify that association is accredited by the Association of Texas Private Schools. 

The sign can be put up 15 minutes before the school group arrives on a field trip (with a teacher) or for using the library for research, and taken down once the group leaves.

Work Instruction:

1. When a school group is scheduled for a field trip (or appears unannounced), staff should remove the sign holder from storage and place near the entrance facing outward so that customers can see the information as they enter.

2. If a customer(s) is already in the library prior to the school visit and has a weapon openly carried, approach the customer(s) and inform him/her that a school group is currently using the location for a school sponsored event and that weapons are prohibited during that time. If questioned, staff can explain the law or show them the section in the Texas Penal Code.

3. After the school group leaves, the sign should immediately be stored in a staff area (the book drop room).

4. The sign and sign holder are designated for the purpose of announcing the school visit. The sign may not be switched out for any other sign.

Similar to school sponsored activities, weapons are prohibited “on the premises of a polling place on the day of an election or while early voting is in progress” (Texas Penal Code Section 46 (a) (2)).

Summer Food Program: STE will be a participant of the Summer Food Program. The majority of the staff should sign up and receive the training for this program. A posting is displayed in the workroom listing the location and times for training. As a new participant, STE can only take training in April. Once you have registered, please let Edgar Fuentes know so the information can be added to the team schedule.  Registration information is listed on the posting and our location may be known as “HPL-Stella Link Library” for this purpose.

Bibliographic Record Change Request: Please become familiar with the Bibliographic Change Request on the Intranet under Forms>Library Materials. Items can be sent directly to LMS cataloging whenever an apparent error or inconsistency is found.

Discards and Float Items: Please keep items on the discard and float shelf separate. It has been reported that items sent to float were stamped with discard.

A stamp was provided that is labeled “Friends of the Houston Public Library.” Please use this stamp on items that are in good condition. This new stamp will hopefully increase the value of an item for resale instead of stamping it discard.

Continue to stamp damaged items “Discard.”

Kronos: Please email your direct supervisor with request for a change in your Kronos such as adding or deleting a punch that was missed or duplicated.

Labeling Books: Please do not mark books or other items. In the past individual locations would place stickers on items belonging to a common genre such as romance or crime. HPL is now a floating collection and there is no need to label books for a specific location within a branch. The only labeling necessary is for Blue Bonnet Nominees and Lone Star Award books.

Others/Exceptions: Items that are deposited into this bin need special attention to be routed to the correct location. Please use care when scanning these items and check for items being transferred to CEN or other locations to fulfill a hold, items to be placed on the STE hold shelf, items that need tagging, and items that have a cataloging error. Any item that does not appear to have an issue need to be fed through the sorter a second time to check for an error and to ensure it is properly sorted.

Team Comments:

Frances Saldana is holding an Easter raffle for two baskets. Tickets are located at the circulation desk. The raffle is open to boys and girls between the ages of 2 and 6 years old. Please make sure a valid phone number is written legibly on the ticket. Winners will be notified on March 24, 2016.

Amethyst Taylor will be placing crafting supplies on the tables in the Teen Lounge during the After School Zone. Students may create a craft to displayed to participate in National Craft Month.

Jose Zamora expressed gratitude to Jesse Farias and Patricia Tucker for their instruction and assistance in taking passport photographs.

Public and Private Schools Links

I have added links to Texas public and private schools to our blog under "Helpful Links."

Dr. Seuss Scavenger Hunt

From February 29th- March 5th, there is a Dr. Suess Scavenger Hunt passive program in celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday which is on March 2nd.

The scavenger hunt is for kids of all ages. There are 7 famous characters from Dr. Seuss many books hidden in the children's area which includes the trees and the children's computer station area.

The scavenger hunt sheet has the questions for the kids to fill out and return. The sheets are by the Meeting Room binder along with the bookmarks for the kids to pick once they complete the scavenger hunt. One book mark per child. I also left the answer key on top of the bookmarks for your reference.

You are more than welcome to give the kids hints if they ask for it.

If you have any questions, let me know.

- Nhu