Stella Link Team Meeting Notes July 27, 2016

Present: Patricia Tucker, Carol Wu, Jesse Farias, Ray Williams, Ade Odusanwo, Alex Gabitto, Jose Zamora, Amethyst Taylor, Frances Saldana, Jacob Hornbeak, Mark Hall, Nhu Le, and Tim Siegel

Not Present: Marjorie Hackley (training)

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Thanks: Thank you to the entire team for your patience and flexibility as we endured plumbing and A/C issues the past two weeks. Things are slowly returning to normal and everyone was tough as we worked through it. Thank you to Jacob for continuing to visit the Village of Meyerland and Sheltering to perform songs with his guitar. Thanks to Amethyst for establishing a partnership with YMCA and for all of the outreaches she was done. Amethyst also helped with the Young Library tagging project and they all worked extra hard to complete the task in one day.

Holiday Books: Some areas of the collection have been shifted to allow space for the children’s holiday books to be brought out of storage. Thank you to the volunteers and team members who assisted in this project.

The areas affected are as follow:

Juvenile Audio Books: Relocated to the beginning of the JUV Non-Fiction.
Beginning Readers: Relocated to the beginning of JUV Chapter Books (Previous location of JUV Audio Books).
Kits (Picture Books with CD): Relocated to the end of JUV uncatalogued paperbacks.

This project has not been completed. Please take time to assist in this task. The holiday books will be in alpha order (by call number) within the holiday. The holidays will be in order from left to right according to when the holidays occurs during the year. Example: New Year’s A-Z, Valentine’s Day A-Z, and all the way to Christmas A-Z.

Youth Accounts: If a parent does not have the physical card for their child’s account and the parent is listed on the account (as Parent 1 or Parent 2 or in the Extended Info), please look up the account using the parent’s ID and print out a barcode to facilitate check out.

Upcoming Programs:
Wednesday August 3 at 2 PM – Hands-on Music for Kids
Wednesday August 3 at 6  PM – LiftOff Houston
Wednesday August 10 at 1 PM - Lego WeBotics (ages 5-10)

Wednesday August 10 at 2 PM - NXTBotics (ages 9-12)

Note: Some customers have visited the library with the expectation of participating in an activity for “Houston Entrepreneurship Meetup.” This group is not affiliated with LiftOff Houston, the library, or the City of Houston. Please check to see if the group has a meeting room reservation. If they do not, then advise the customer to contact the group organizer.

HPL Public Wi-fi: Tri from Digital Strategies (IT) replaced the access point above the main desk. The name of this access point is HPL Public. The two other access points are still in the replacement process are located in the computer lab and adult section. The name of these connections are still Library Public.

HEAR: Edgar is in the process of completing HEAR Reviews and will be meeting with team member in the next day or two. Everyone is working hard and doing a great job.

Tagging: The only items to be tagged at STE are those that are going on our hold shelf or the public shelf to be checked out by STE customers. Items to be placed on the STE hold shelf should be tagged immediately. Items for the public shelf can be placed in the tagging cart and tagged as a group. Items in transit to CEN or other locations should be sent off with delivery without being tagged by STE. Those items will be tagged upon arrival at the requesting location.

Expired Holds: Holds that have expired or been cancelled should be pulled on a daily basis. Please use the computer closest to the break room when printing out the expired holds list. It will be easier to maintain this list if this computer is used every time. The link for the day’s list will turn purple when that list is printed out. The new list will always be blue as it has not been clicked on and printed out. Please pull Sunday’s list on Monday. Please print out and pull any list that is still blue as it indicates that this list was not completed.

Catalogued Paperbacks: Only those catalogued paperbacks that are part of a larger series (such as Harlequin Romance) are to be shelved with the uncatalogued paperbacks of the same series. All other catalogued paperbacks not in a series are to be shelved with the Adult Fiction. Please see the 06/14/2016 blog posting for pictures of the style of books.

New Job Postings: New Job Opportunities has been posted for numerous positions in the HPL System to include Librarian III and II, Library Service Specialist, and Customer Service Clerk. If you are planning to apply for this position, please inform Laurie to ensure your application is reviewed for consideration.

HotSpot Lending: HPL will be piloting a program at ACR and DIX to allow customers to borrow Wi-Fi HotSpots in August. These devices will allow customers to have access to internet from their own residence.

Summer Reading Program: The SRP is nearly over. The official end of this program is August 1^st, which is also the last day for a customer to enter books on the public website. Please continue to award prizes as available after this date. Reports for the Grand Prize will be completed on August 2^nd. Also, team members will need to enter books for customers from the staff SRP portal after August 1^st. However, those books/hours entered after August 1^st will not be eligible for the Grand Prize, but may receive prizes for the 5, 10, 20, and 30 level if we still have any in stock.

iSpeak Houston: The City of Houston is committed to serving the international community. If a foreign language speaker visits the library and does speak a language of one of our team members, please get Edgar, Nhu, or Tim and they will assist the customer using the COH Employee Language Line. The language line offers interpretation services. A video explaining the process will be available soon.

Flyers: The Communications Department requests that our programs are entered 3 months in advance. Many system-wide flyers advertising programs will be eliminated and will be replaced with an email newsletter. We can still promote our programs in house, provided we follow the template guidelines.

Smart Money and TeleCheck:  Please complete any credit card or check transaction in TeleCheck before clearing the fines on Smart Money.

Follow these steps:
1. Scan card in Sirsi Dynix Work Flows and check the amount owed and if any fines are pending, such as for overdue items.
2. Scan card in Smart Money and double check amount owed.
3. Run Credit Card or Check through the TeleCheck device.
4. Print receipts and have customer sign Merchant Copy Receipt.
5. Conclude fine payment in Smart Money and enter appropriate transaction number or check number as requested.
6. Place signed receipt in cash drawer.
7. Staple Smart Money and TeleCheck receipt together and give to customer.

If a fine is mistakenly cleared and the credit card or check is declined, the fine must be manually re-entered and paid with cash. Please ask Edgar, Nhu, or Tim if assistance is needed. 

Posted: Tim Siegel

Summer Food Program

Team,

The last day for Summer Food Program at our location is Thursday, July 28.

I called the office about extending the program through August 11 (as our original date showed), but they were unable to. Please inform customers, and apologize for the confusion.

-Edgar

Tokyo Ghoul

From Sally Bates:

We are moving the Tokyo Ghoul manga series from the teen section to the adult section. Please send in any volumes on your shelf to LMS: ATTN Gary.

There are several checked out, since it is a popular series.

Accepting Credit Card and Check Payments in TeleCheck

Financial Services has asked the system to be sure that payment has been accepted in TeleCheck by credit card or check before clearing the fines on Smart Money. Please do not clear the fine in Smart Money before completing the transaction in TeleCheck.

Follow these steps:

1. Scan card in Sirsi Dynix Work Flows and check the amount owed and if any fines are pending, such as for overdue items.

2. Scan card in Smart Money and double check amount owed.

3. Run Credit Card or Check through the TeleCheck device.

4. Print receipts and have customer sign Merchant Copy Receipt.

5. Conclude fine payment in Smart Money and enter appropriate transaction number or check number as requested.

6. Place signed receipt in cash drawer.

7. Staple Smart Money and TeleCheck receipt together and give to customer.

Posted: Tim S.

26 Jul 016 Collection Mgmt Mtg

In an effort to assist with the Fall Friends Book Sale STE shall focus upon weeding Picture Books, Teen Fiction and Juvenile Fiction. Our summer Interns shall be tasked with some of this weeding, when not engaged in assigned projects.

Grubby Items: Volunteers will be used to pull Picture Books to be examined for possible floating. The Volunteers will pull two to three pages of  books, until the 34 pages are exhausted. The same process will be employed for Juvenile Fiction's 13 pages.

A/V Awaiting Approval: The Manager will communicate again with LMS.

Shifted Items: In order to bring the holiday books onto the floor Juvenile A/V, Beginning Readers, Juvenile NonFiction,, and Kits were moved to make room for them. While shelving holiday books, if there are more than 2 of any one title/item, please float the excess. Carol will create the new signage.

Tagging: please Do Not tag outgoing items. Please tag only items destined for our shelves/holds.

Jose will be attending this meeting.

Shifting

Team,

Jacob, Nhu, and some of our volunteers have been instrumental in getting some major shifting of library materials.

1. Juvenile Audiobooks are now at the beginning of the nonfiction section.
2. Beginning Readers are now by the beginning of the Juvenile Chapterbooks (where Juv audiobooks used to be)
3. Kits are now at the end of the uncataloged paperbacks.

This has allowed us room to take out the holiday books and put them out in that entire range! Over the next couple of days, we will be getting the holiday books out on the floor where they belong!

Please direct customers to the new locations for these items. Many customers are accustomed to finding the items in their previous locations, so kindly direct them to where these materials are now located.

-Edgar

Taboo Tattoo manga

From Sally:

If you come across the manga Taboo Tattoo in the new books bin, please catch it and return it to LMS- ATTN Gary, because we are moving it to adult.

(We will also be moving volume 1, so if you find that on the shelves, please send that as well.)

-Edgar

Java Updates

from Digital Strategies:

We will be sending Java and other software updates to staff computers tonight.  A complete list of updates is below.  If tomorrow you are still being prompted for updates on any of the software below please contact the Help Desk. 

In order to receive all the updates, computers must be left powered on and logged out of Windows.

Adobe Air

Adobe Flash for I.E.

Adobe Flash for Opera

Adobe Flash for other browsers

Adobe Reader

Google Chrome

Java 8 101-b13  32bit

Java 8 101-b13  64bit

Microsoft Silver Light

Mozilla Firefox 47.0.1

Opera 38

Central and CMH items in RFID Tagging Bin

The only items that are to be RFID tagged by STE are items that will be placed on our hold shelf to be picked up by customers and items that will be placed on the shelves to be checked out by customers of STE. Central items, CMH items, and items shipped to another library do not need require an RFID tag. These items can be wrapped with the appropriate label if necessary and placed in the bins to be picked up by delivery.

Posted: Tim Siegel

Houston Entrepreneurship Meetup

On several of the past Saturdays, customers have visited the library with the expectation of participating in a program for a group called Houston Entrepreneurship Meetup. This group is not affiliated with the library or Lift Off Houston (which is an entrepreneurship program endorsed by the City and Library). Currently this group does not have any meeting room space reserved. 

Contact has been attempted with this group to inform them that they need to reserve a meeting space or to indicate that the group will meet at a table inside the library. Unfortunately, the lack of planning by this group have caused problems for their members and the library team. 

Again, this group is different from Lift Off Houston (which does meet at the library). 

If any customers have questions, please direct them to Edgar or Tim. 

Posted: Tim Siegel

Welcome Back Wednesday

STE Team Meeting Notes July 20, 2016

Present: Mark Hall, Carol Wu, Jesse Farias, Alex Gabitto, Ade Odusanwo, Ray Williams, Marjorie Hackley, Amethyst Taylor, Nhu, Le, Jacob Hornbeak, and Tim Siegel

Not Present: Jose Zamora and Frances Saldana

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Reopening Procedures and Updates

Bookdrop and Returned Items: Due to our closure on Monday 07/18 and Tuesday 07/19, please backdate all items to Saturday 07/16/2016. Also, please adjust or forgive fines for items that are brought up to the desk that were due during our closing times. This will remain in effect until Friday 07/22/2016.

Items on Hold Shelf: Items on the hold shelf have been extended until this Friday 07/22/20016.On that day, all items will expire that should have during this week. If for any reason a hold expired on a customer's account, please replace the hold and put them first in line.

Paging List: The paging list should be updated to include items for today and the past two days. Most likely many of the items from the other days were fulfilled by other branches or while book drop and the others bin were done.

Questions about closing: If a customer asks about the closing of the building, please inform them that some required maintenance was performed.

Posted: Tim Siegel

Stella Link Team Meeting Notes July 13, 2016

Present: Ade Odusanwo, Ray Williams, Carol Wu, Jesse Farias, Kayren Alexander, Alex Gabitto, Amy Stanley, Marjorie Hackley, Nhu Le, Frances Saldana, Amethyst Taylor, Jose Zamora, Mark Hall, Tim Siegel

Not Present: Jacob Hornbeak, Patricia Tucker

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Thank You: Jose provided coverage at Walter Library Branch on Tuesday by teaching a computer class. Jesse also assisted at another library on Tuesday by working at Meyer when they were short staffed.

Customer Compliments: A customer compliment was submitted thanking passport staff on Saturday. The indicated that she watched the two library team members perform “superbly” and “with incredible patience, kindness and competence they dealt with multiple patrons including families of as many as 7 members, speaking with some in other languages. During that same time they helped other walk-up patrons who interrupted with questions and they answered and dealt with phone inquiries, some of which were quite complex. Never did either of them lose his patience or raise his voice.  .  . I think HPL definitely needs more staff to support this excellent group of employees.”

Inter-Library Loan (ILL) and TexShare Cards: If a customer is looking for an item not owned by HPL, the option to order the item as an ILL from another library system is available. However, if HPL owns a copy of that particular item, even a reference copy, the ILL request will be declined. This restriction also applies to items that are checked out or have multiple holds. If an HPL item is LOST/MISSING and no other copies are available, an ILL may be ordered.

A TexShare Card is a program that allows customers to have access to library services, such as checking out items, when the customer does not meet the normal requirements for a library card in that system. For example, A City of Houston resident may not be able to apply for a library card in San Antonio, but with a TexShare Card the resident is. HPL vouches for and is responsible for all items checked out by the customer under a TexShare card issued by HPL. Please remember not all libraries will honor or are a member of the TexShare program. To check the participation of a library in the TexShare program, please visithttps://www.tsl.texas.gov/texshare/libsearch/ . Please note if the library entry says "TexShare: No" they may not allow the use of TexShare.

Young NL Tagging Project: Young NL is looking for volunteets to help tag their collection on the following dates:

July 25, 2016 (4:00 am - 12:30 pm)

July 25, 2016 (8:30 am - 5:00 pm)

July 26, 2016 (4:00 am - 12:30 pm)

July 26, 2016 (8:30 am - 5:00 pm)

July 27, 2016 (4:00 am - 12:30 pm)

July 28, 2016 (4:00 am - 12:30 pm)

Please let Edgar know ASAP if you are interested. Participation in this project is a good demonstration of team work. 

Weeding: Detailed instructions were received on processing weeded items.

Please remember that items with a yellow call number tag (“Automatically Yours” subscription) are not to be discarded. These items are to be sent to the LMS Float Team. Please do not stamp or check out these items to the STE-Discard account.

Items that are sent to Friends will only be stamped once-on the top edge of the book (or the back label if the top edge of the book does not allow sufficient room for the stamp, such as flimsy or picture books)

Telephones: The STE phones have been experiencing some issues. IT has been informed and are working to resolve the issue. 

Express Check Out Machines: All of the Express Check Out Machines will no longer accept credit card payments. Credit/Debit Card payments may be made at the service desk using the TeleCheck device. Customers may also pay fines online at the HPL website, but please advise them of the 50 cent processing fee for using that service. 

Summer Food Program: When storing food in the refrigerator, please be careful to not crush the juice boxes. An incident occurred in which the juice boxes were stacked and turned on their side. Eventually it weighed down and compromised the seals of some of the juice boxes. By order of our SFP representative, leftover snacks may be kept for one additional day. 

Farewell to Team Members: Amy and Kayren have been promoted to full-time Customer Service Clerks at other libraries in HPL. They have been valuable members of the STE Team and will be missed. 

Posted: Tim Siegel

Outlook - Possible Outage Thursday 7/14

From Digital Strategies:

Tomorrow, Thursday, July 14, 2016, some users may experience problems connecting to e-mail using Outlook Web Access and/or on mobile devices.  If you use Outlook 2010 on your computer to access e-mail, there should be no disruption in service. Please read the bulletin from HITS below for more details.

The maintenance window is between 9 AM and 6 PM.  If you continue to experience problems outside this window, contact the HelpDesk.

E-Book Checkout from Catalog is Disabled

The feature that allows customers to checkout an e-book directly from the public catalog has been temporarily disabled. The button for this feature has been removed, but may still exist on a few items. A customer can still checkout the item, but must visit the OverDrive or Hoopla website from the HPL website to complete the action. The customer may have to create a new account or retrieve information from a previous account when these websites are visited. If you have any questions, please ask.

Tim

Summer Snacks

We are already doing a great job of ordering the right amount of snacks. Currently, any snacks we receive on the first day can be stored and served as leftovers on the second day. Our community liaison for Summer Meals Program indicated that any leftovers that are not served on the second day can also be stored so that they can be served the third day! This is a good backup in case we have lots of leftovers one day.

One thing we should keep in mind is that when juice goes warm it invites bacteria to grow so we shouldn't go past day three.

Anything not served at the end of Thursday should be thrown out.

Staff Meeting Notes July 6, 2016

Present: Jose Zamora, Jacob Hornbeak, Alex Gabitto, Amy Stanley, Kayren Alexander, Amethyst Taylor, Carol Wu, Ray Williams, Mark Hall, Frances Saldana, Nhu Le, Ade Odusanwo

Absent: Tim Siegel, Patricia Tucker, Marjorie Hackley

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Customer Compliments
A customer thanked staff for allowing her to process her passport this Saturday even when the office had already closed. She stated that “staff went above and beyond to help us to complete our passport applications. […] They were very helpful, and we greatly appreciated the excellent and courteous services.”

Summer Food
Good work on the Summer Food Program, team. Please keep in mind that we should order a bit more lunches for Wednesdays since we expect to have a larger group of about 30 come in every Wednesday.

Saturdays
I sent some of you an email asking for anyone to volunteer to switch from my Saturday to Tim’s Saturday, as Amy and Kayren will be promoted to their new library locations soon. Please take a look at the email if you have not already.

Sensitivity
There was an incident at another library where a customer came in to the library and was called “ma'am” but he explained he preferred to be referred to as “sir.” We all know this is a timely issue, so we need to remember to respect the wishes of the customer if they prefer to be addressed a certain way.

Donations
If a customer wants to make a monetary donation to the library, please contact Dimitri Revada for further instructions.

Phones  
I know we have been having issues with our phone lately, so please be patient until it gets fixed. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that when phones ring more than twice, we should all make it a point to answer them.

Customer PINs
PIN numbers for library cards are automatically generated for new registrations. Please have customers create their own. Customers who had a previous card were defaulted to the last 4 numbers of their telephone number. Please have customers create a new PIN when they sign up for a new card.

If customers have an existing MYLink card that is expiring, we can update the account (extend their privilege) if all their information, including name and address, is correct without them having to fill out a new application. The customer must present a valid photo ID and proof of address in order for us to extend their privilege for another 3 years.

If the card is lost, whether expired or not, they must complete a new library card application. If they have no fines, we can set the privilege expire in 3 years, unless they are over 15 years old – in which case we would set the card to expire on their 18^th birthday.

3M Express Checkouts
The card swipe on the right-hand side 3M checkout appears to be accepting payment. The other two, as we were told, stopped working on July 1.

LiftOff Houston
Remember the dates for LiftOff Houston. The next session will be next Wednesday evening. If customers show up on a different date, please direct them to the LiftOff Houston page. http://www.houstontx.gov/obo/liftoffhouston.html
Wed July 13 at 6pm
Sat July 23 at 10am
Wed Aug 3 at 6pm
Wed Aug 17 at 6pm

Manager’s Meeting:
- A new reservation system was implemented at Central and it is working much better than the previous version. No word on when they will roll out to neighborhood libraries.
- Jesus Villegas is the new assistant manager of ACR/OAK
- Helena Stokes is the new assistant chief of Central; Danielle Wilson is the new manager of the African American Library at the Gregory School.
- Librarian III vacancies are coming as new libraries open.
- We will have staff incentive funds coming this month!
- HPL participated in the Pride Celebration at the end of June. Mayor Turner is proud to make Houston more inclusive. If anyone in our team would like to produce a 20 second video for “Houston Stands with Orlando” we can. Guidelines have been provided if anyone wants to take on the project.
- The Learning Link initiative is expected to roll out in August, putting library cards in the hands of 215,000 HISD students and 20,000 HISD employees. We have already been doing outreaches to help promote the Summer Reading Program, but we will be doing more to promote our databases.
- If you shop on Amazon, there is something called Amazon Smile that will allow a portion of the money you spend to go to the Houston Public Library Foundation. I have added them to my account so that anytime I order it benefits our own people.
- Staff will be getting another smaller – emphasize smaller – pay increase on their first FY17 paycheck. Like the last pay increase, it depends on how much you currently make within your pay grade.

SRP Reminders:
Dynamo/Dash tickets are level 10 prizes. Please give (one) Dynamo/Dash tickets. Dynamo/Dash tickets or BOGO tickets (buy one adult ticket, get the child ticket free).

Astros tickets are level 20 prizes. Please give (two) Astros tickets. One ticket is for the adult and the second ticket is for the child.

Notary Training:
Please sign up for a notary training session if you have been selected to be a notary.

Passport:
There are mini manilla envelopes available at the passport desk. These envelopes are for the passport pictures that customers take here.

ILLs and TexShare

Customers who are looking for an item not owned by HPL can use ILL to do so.

- If HPL owns a copy of that particular item, even if it's a Reference copy, or if all copies are checked out, the customer's request will be declined.
- If there is only one copy in the system and it is in MISSING status (or if all copies are LOST/MISSING), the customer is able to make the ILL request.

TexShare is another option customer have to be able to access an item. With a TexShare card, a customer can go to one of the various participating libraries (Bellaire City Library, University of St. Thomas, and U of H are just a few) and possibly check out the item with their TexShare card. Not all libraries have the same lending privileges, so it's good to have the customer contact the library that owns the copy before they make their way over to that institution.

A database of participating TexShare libraries can be found here:
https://www.tsl.texas.gov/texshare/libsearch/
(Please note if it says "TexShare: No" they may not allow the use of TexShare)

RFID Tagging Young NL

Chris Patrick is looking for members to join the Young NL RFID Tagging Work Group. If you are interested, please let me know. See his email below:

If you have an interest in helping HPL retrofit its collections with RFID technology in order to improve the speed and efficiency of check out and return service, then this is the team for you!  Please review the attached RFID Work Group description, and if it seems like a good fit for your skill set, and you have your supervisor’s approval to apply to be a part of this work group, please complete the application (which is actually google form - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/110YekBh1a7q5u3iNLOKxVUZjyrXxqcZpySsa1-aY41I/viewform no later than noon (12:00 pm) on Monday, July 18th. Group members will be selected and notified (with a cc to their managers) by end of business on Monday, July 18th.

Please note there are a limited number of positions available on this work group, but there will be additional RFID tagging work groups available in the future, and we will select new team members for those work groups.

G-Drive

The HPL G drive was infected by a ransomware virus that has encrypted all the files on the G drive making them inaccessible. The information will be restored to how it was yesterday; Any changes to files on the G drive that were made today will be lost. Please do not attempt to open any files on the G drive until further notice to prevent any possible further infections.  

Processing and Sorting Weeded Items

WEEDING APPROVAL

All Houston Public Library materials must either 1) meet the LMS Collection Development Office’s criteria for pre-approved withdrawal or 2) be approved for withdrawal by an LMS Collection Development Librarian or their designee in order to be weeded from the collection.

HPL materials that have been approved for withdrawal must be sorted into two categories: FRIENDS and DISCARDS. There are specific handling instructions for each category, as outlined below. Subscription Plan items are handled differently.

SUBSCRIPTION PLAN Items – Return to LMS

Subscription Plan (S-Plan) books are easily identified by their bright yellow spine labels.

NOTE: **NEVER stamp Subscription Plan books and DO NOT check them out to CEN or an NL unit’s “xxx-Discard” account in Symphony Workflows (wet/moldy/bugs exception: see pg. 3).

• Send all surplus and damaged S-Plan books directly to the LMS Float Team.
• Attach a brief note to individual copies regarding any damage (wet/moldy/bugs exception: see below).

• When pulling surplus copies of titles that HPL has both as regular HPL copies (white spine labels) and S-Plan copies for possible withdrawal, it is preferable to send in S-Plan copies first rather than regular HPL copies if condition is comparable. The Float Team may redistribute surplus S-Plan items rather than withdrawing and returning them to the supplier, depending on system-wide needs.

LMS Division staff will handle ALL S-Plan withdrawal tasks for damaged items and surplus copies being returned to the supplier (wet/moldy/bugs exception: see pg. 3).

FRIENDS Items – Processing Withdrawals

Includes all materials in good condition or with minor routine wear, including surplus donations. Items that are approved for withdrawal from HPL collections should be stamped “Friends of Houston Public Library.” Donations do not get stamped.   

• HPL books should be stamped in 1 place:  top edge of the book if possible, next to the HPL property stamp.
• HPL items lacking a stampable top edge should be stamped in 1 place where you find an HPL property stamp or label, typically on the back interior label/book pocket.
• Check out each weeded item to the unit’s “xxx-Discard” staff user account in Symphony Workflows so that the items’ barcode numbers can be deleted from the database by HALAN. 

• See PACKING instructions below.

DAMAGED Items (“True Discards”) – Processing Withdrawals

Damaged materials approved for withdrawal from HPL collections are unsalable and are considered “true discards.” These should be stamped “DISCARD” and boxed separately from “FRIENDS” items. Donations meeting the same criteria do not get stamped.

• “True discards” are intended for recycling or trash.  Staff is expected to use good judgement in identifying them according to the following criteria:

• Items that are heavily worn or damaged, inside or out.
• Items that are stained, disfigured, burned, or torn.
• Items damaged by food, water, or other liquids (even if dried).
• Items with musty or other strong odors, such as smoke.
• Items with broken or cracked bindings or loose or missing pages.
• Paperbacks with yellowed or loose pages or peeling covers.
• Items with notable amounts of writing or highlighting on pages.
• Tax guides (regardless of age or condition).
• Encyclopedias more than 3 years old.
• Travel guides more than 5 years old.
• AV that is non-functioning or is missing parts.
• Magazines (Note: Old magazines may also be discarded in the City recycle bins.  Please tear off covers beforehand.)
• MOLDY, WET, BUGS – See note on pg. 3 re special handling and disposition.

• HPL books should be stamped in 1 place:  top edge of the book if possible, next to the HPL property stamp.
• Items lacking a stampable top edge should be stamped in 1 place where you find an HPL property stamp or label, typically on the back interior label/book pocket.
• Check out each item to the unit’s “xxx-Discard” staff user account in Symphony Workflows so that the items’ barcode numbers can be deleted from the database by HALAN. 
• See PACKING instructions below.

PROCESSING NOTES:

• Do not stamp “DISCARD” or “Friends of Houston Public Library” anywhere other than where instructed as it detracts from the item’s appearance and reduces resale value.
• Do not remove pages or barcodes (33477…, R01…) labels from items.  Materials that go to the Friends should not have any pages, or parts of pages removed, as this devalues the item.
• If an item has a bookplate, please put a sticky note indicating this on the outside of the item.  The Friends will remove the bookplate to insure minimal damage.
• Donations that have never been part of the HPL collection should not be stamped. 
• Box donations separately from withdrawn HPL items.
• Empty AV cases should simply be thrown in the trash.

• Materials withdrawn from the HPL collection are the property of Friends of Houston Public Library; any arrangements for purchasing withdrawn materials must be made with the Friends of Houston Public Library.

SORTING, PACKING, & BOX LABELS

• Box similar items together whenever possible.

• Pack and store boxes securely. Boxes should not weigh more than 20 pounds (approximately 2/3 full).  Attempt to fill boxes so that they will not collapse when stacked.  For safety, boxes should be stacked no more than 5 high. Do not obstruct walkways or exits.
• Attach a white DISCARDS/FRIENDS label to the top of each box.

FRIENDS boxes should contain only regular FRIENDS items stamped “Friends of Houston Public Library” or donations in salable condition.

• Fill out the white DISCARDS/FRIENDS label as completely as possible: Circle the word “FRIENDS” and add unit name.  Note box contents: if a box of books contains all juvenile biographies, picture books, indicate that.  Note particular Dewey ranges, foreign languages, AV formats, Texana, etc., in the space provided.  If you cannot be that specific, even noting adult, children’s, or teen is helpful.

o   PACKING & LABELING NOTES:

·         Boxes containing items withdrawn from Central Stacks, Clayton, HMRC or Gregory School should be clearly labeled as such.

·         Boxes containing partial sets, such as encyclopedias, should be labeled and numbered (e.g. “Encyclopedia XXX +year” + “Box 1 of 2”).  

DISCARDS boxes should contain only “true discards” that have been stamped “DISCARD” or donations that meet the same criteria (see above). Boxes get a white DISCARDS/FRIENDS label. Circle the word “DISCARDS” and add unit name. 

WET, MOLDY, BUGS, etc.

Items that are wet, moldy, mildewed, or contain insects or other biological matter (blood, etc.) should be handled with latex gloves.

• HPL items: Stamp and check out to an “xxx-DISCARD” account if they are HPL items, then bag them and place directly in the trash. **Do not box them with other items.

• Donations: Do not stamp. Bag and dispose of as above.
• Subscription Plan items: Do not stamp items. Email each title, barcode number, and a note to Sara Karow/LMS Float Team (Sara.Karow@houstontx.gov), check items out to “xxx-DISCARD,” bag and dispose of as above.

QUESTIONABLE ITEMS

If you have any doubt about how to sort a particular item, send it to the Friends!  Attach a brief note describing the concern and put it in a “FRIENDS” box.

BOX LABELS, BOXES, & STAMPS

• White DISCARDS/FRIENDS ox labels and boxes are available from the HPL Supply Room. Box labels can also be printed from the Intranet.
• “Friends of Houston Public Library” and “DISCARD” stamps are available from the LMS Collection Development Office (x31469).

Phones

The VOIP Telephone associated with the Public Line 2630 (located on the right side of the desk opposite the register) was replaced and will take at least 24 Hours before we will be able to use the phone. The public is still able to call the number and receive assistance by staff, but staff is unable to forward the line after closing. The phone could be up and running by Saturday. If you have any questions please ask Tim.