CMH Flip Kit Labels

Need more neon orange labels and/or zip ties for the flip kits?

More can be found in the supply closet on the second to top shelf immediately to your left as you enter the closet. Zip ties and labels will be housed in a red wire mesh container.

Extra CMH passes will also be in the red wire mesh container for your convenience when needed.

Currently there are no extra CMH passes. I have already requested more passes. They should arrive on Monday or Tuesday.

Factiva and ReferenceUSA

It appears that the issue with Factiva is that only 5 simultaneous users are allowed. When the 6^th person tries to access Factiva they receive the Factiva screen asking for user id and password. Please make a note of the date and time of when the customer could not access Factiva and send the information to Marianne Lorio marianne.lorio@houstontx.gov or 832-393-1514. Apologize to the customer and have them attempt again at a later time.

Additionally there was a report that ReferenceUSA was not available remotely for part of yesterday. Please always encourage the patron to try again in a few hours if they encoutner any glitch. However, if you hear of anyone having problems with ReferenceUSA in the next day or two please be sure to contact the IT Helpdesk and Marianne Lorio.

Coloring Sheets

Hi Team,

There is now a black binder at the front desk with the orange label, Coloring Sheets. When customers (adult or children) ask for coloring sheets, feel free to grab them from the binder. Please do not put out more than 10 sheets at a time. Children tend to waste the coloring sheets when there is an abundance of them.

Located under the printer by the front desk is the clear crayon box with neon labels. That crayon box continues to be for public use.

Thanks,

Nhu

Stella Link Team Meeting 3/29/17

Present: Ray Williams, Jesse Farias, Alex Gabitto, Jacob Hornbeak, Frances Saldana, Patricia Tucker, Jose Zamora, Carol Wu, Nhu Le

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Not Present: Tim Siegel, Ade Odusanwo, Amethyst Taylor, Linda Shen

Poetry Workshops
On Wednesdays from now until the end of April we will be hosting the poetry workshops from 5:30 – 7PM. On 4/19/2017, there not be a workshop at Stella Link. The registration will close today once the program begins. Anyone who shows up today without registration will be allowed to join. The Poetry Workshops will be held in the Large Meeting Room. The Gaming Room will close at 5pm to allow for set up time and start of workshop at 5:30pm. Pajama Storytime will take place at 7pm in the Children's Area instead of the Large Meeting Room. Please direct customers as needed.

Online Library Card Registration

As of 3/21/2017, the Online Library Card Registration form went live on the website for customers to sign up for a MY Link card. Only Jungman and Central are currently piloting the online only model. Other libraries such as ours will continue to accept paper applications for customers signing up in person. However, our customers will still have access to the online registration, so we need to be prepared when they come in.

Where to find information?
Customers who visit houstonlibrary.org can click on “Get a MY Link card” from the top left hand side of the screen. From there, they will have several options:

1. Online Registration
*NOTE: For children under 18, the parent/guardian can still apply online but the child must appear in person with the parent/guardian OR the parent/guardian can provide one of the following:
a current identification/document in the child's name issued by a government agency, school, or social services provider

OR the child's birth certificate

OR the child's immunization record in person for

2. Update MY Link Card
This link is for renewing an expired library card OR for updating an email address, phone number, address, and/or name for instance. There is a form that asks the customer for their information and that form most likely goes to Circulation, where an HPL staff member updates the customer record.

3. Computer Use Card registration
This allows customers to register online for temporary access (30 days) to place holds and access databases. This does not allow access to e-books, streaming media, and online courses. Activation may take up to 2 hours.

The option to apply for a library card by mail is still available for customers.

We want to treat the online registration in very much the same way we have been treating the temporary online account registration in the sense that the customer still has to come in and show identification for us to convert the online account into a full MY Link library card. NOTE: Please search for the customer by name, birth date, and ALT ID to ensure no duplicate account with fines exist. Address any issues accordingly. Customers will not be able to open up a new account if they have another account with existing fines.

•         There is a built-in address verification however this may not always work so you may have to use the traditional method to verify address;

•         Form will recognize a duplicate;

•         Youth registrations will take place on-site (HPL location) only;

•         Check if customer is already using Overdrive; if yes, then proceed to submit the Overdrive merge account request;

Please continue to send your questions and suggestions to Virtual Library Services (hplvirtuallibrary@houstontx.gov).

FAQ’s and Procedures (found on the FAQ’s in www.training.houstonlibrary.org) 
From the Circulation tab, under the Users group, use the Modify User wizard to update the user record:

1.       User ID - replace it with the 77422… barcode number;

2.       Library - change it from HOU-ONLINE to your location or customer’s preferred location;

3.       Profile Name - change it from PUBLIC to one of the others listed in the drop down menu;

4.       Change History Rule: ask the customer if they want to keep a checkout history; then change it from circrule to allcharges; remind them to opt in when they log into the library account at home. Not changing it will NOT prevent the customer from checking out items or placing them on hold;

5.       If customer agrees with device checkout policy, then change user cat2 to laptop-yes under the Demographics tab.

Added Notes: Non-Resident fees for a Library Card is $20 for 6 months and $40 for a year. If customer states that they from out of state and are here for medical treatment, customer can be waived the Non-Resident fee if they supply a letter from the hospital stating how long they will be staying here for treatment. 

A child may receive a library card as long as an adult (18 years old +) signs the application. The adult does not need to be a parent or guardian of the child. The adult signing the paper does need to know that they are responsible for the child's library account including fees that the child may incur in the future. 

Frances: Raffling of 2 Easter Baskets. Thanks staff for donation of items. She is still accepting donations.

Edgar: Passport application has settled down a bit, but please continue to inform customers that the passport line may close two hours before the scheduled passport closing time Mondays through Thursdays. For Saturdays, please inform customers the line may be closed three hours before the schedule passport closing time. 

Stella Link Team Meeting March 22, 2017

Present: Ray Williams, Jesse Farias, Alex Gabitto, Jacob Hornbeak, Ade Odusanwo, Frances Saldana, Patricia Tucker, Jose Zamora, Linda Shen, Carol Wu, Amethyst Taylor, and Crystal Shiver (Visiting from Jungman)

Leading: Tim Siegel

Not Present: Edgar Fuentes and Nhu Le

Water Issues:  Thank you for your flexibility the past couple of days while the water pipe was being repaired. There is still a large leak coming from the area around the water meter on the Aberdeen Street side of the building. The problem was been reported and is being addressed. The library will open as scheduled. If the water needs to be shut off again by the plumbers and have to close, we will process as many of the applicants that are already in line, but will not allow anyone else in the line.

Passports: Thanks again for the great work you all have done with passports, particularly during Spring Break. From Saturday to Saturday during Spring Break we processed a total of 691 passport applications. That’s an average of 115 each day!

Expired Holds: For the next couple of days, we will not be pulling expired holds as a courtesy to the customers until Friday morning. This will allow customers who were unable to pick up their holds when the library was closed Monday evening and all day Tuesday.

Book Carts: When you build book carts for shelving please try not to overload them with too many items. If you see that the bin is filling up, shelve what you have on the cart and then come back with an empty cart to start building another cart.

Large Book Drop Cart: The large orange book drop cart should be parked to the right of the book drop chute when not in use. The side marked “PUSH FROM THE OTHER END” should be against the wall at all times, making it easier to rotate the cart when it needs to be used.

Events on Television: A wireless device was installed that allows Communications to transmit promotional program materials to our television, making the need for the DVD player obsolete. Tri has taken the DVD player with him.

Please keep an eye on the programs promoted on the screens and report any errors to the person in charge first, then to Marjorie Gonzalez at 832-393-1381. I have already reported the issue with “Computación Básica” not showing up correctly.

FLIP Kits: Please ensure that all FLIP Kits are secured with a black zip tie with and neon orange label attached when placed on the dog house. When on desk or roving, please approach customers “May I help you with that?” and assist customers in removing the black zip tie and neon orange label before they check out the FLIP kit. Please place the black zip tie and neon orange label in the blue wired container that is above the rover's computer station.

The black zip ties and neon orange labels belong to Stella Link and therefore should be removed before going out or going back to CMH. Flip Kits that go to the Hold shelf do not need a black zip tie and neon orange label. No need to chase down customers if they accidentally walk out with them.

Fun Fact: FLIP stands for Family Literacy Involvement Program.

Open Enrollment: Make sure you log in to Employee Self Service to either choose to KEEP your current insurance plan or to CHANGE anything on your benefits. Click on CHANGE if you need to change any personal information or if you participate in the Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (HFSA), you must enroll each year.

Labels and Stickers: If you or any volunteers come across items that are missing any labels, including TEEN, LARGE PRINT, Bluebonnet Award, SCI FI, or WESTERN, please set them aside in our labeling shelf. Patricia has kindly agreed to help out with the labeling.

PSRW 2017 Poster Contest: Every year, the City of Houston has a Public Service Recognition Week poster contest. Children ages 5-18 whose parent or relative work for the City can participate. They have to draw themselves as a City employee on the job. Contest rules can be found here: http://cohemployeenews.com/poster-contest

After School Zone Photos: Laurie has asked us to take pictures during the After School Zone. The Library is working on a presentation for the Mayor to show some of the services we offer, so please try to take pictures in Quiet Lab, Gaming, Studio, and Teen Lounge. Please take pictures of the back of the student’s heads only (no faces). I have added a reminder to take photos on the schedule.

Team Discussion:

Patricia’s email account was recently upgraded to Office 365 and was having some issues with the visual appearance of the software. Jacob volunteered to assist in reconfiguring the appearance.

Frances is still collecting items/donations for the Easter Basket giveaway. She is very appreciative to those that have already donated.

Alex mentioned that a number of discs from the DVD section of book sale were recently stolen. Jose suggested lockable cases. Jacob suggested sending DVDs to Friends. This is the best solution. Please box up and send all AV items to Friends to be sold. 

July Meeting Room Calendar

The meeting room calendar has been created for July 2017. Please do not reserve room for customers until April 1, 2017. If you have a program that requires a meeting room, please review the calendar and add or delete a program if necessary.

Our regularly scheduled programs (such as storytime, babytime, and tune time) are still listed as normal. All After School Zone programs have been deleted. Be advised that the large meeting room is booked every Monday through Thursday from opening to 6PM. These spaces and times are allocated to allow access for Summer Food Programs and Summer Reading Program.

Payments on Express Checkouts

Credit Card payments should be fully functional on all 3 Express Checkouts. Tri repaired the left hand side machine earlier today.

-Edgar

Events on Television

Team,

Tri came out to install a wireless device that allows Communications to transmit promotional program materials to our television, making the need for the DVD player obsolete. Tri has taken the DVD player with him.

Please keep an eye on the programs promoted on the screens and report any errors to the person in charge first, then to Marjorie Gonzalez at 832-393-1381.


-Edgar

Stella Link Team Meeting March 15, 2017 Notes

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

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Congratulations: Great work on passports this weekend, team. You guys did 133, one short of the record from two Saturdays prior to that. Keep up the great work as we get through this busy week.

Passports: Just another reminder – those of you who are not passport agents, please refer any passport questions to a passport agent. We have been getting many customers who are told the incorrect amount for money orders and also are not being told to come at least 2 hours early during the week (and possibly 3 hours early on Saturday).

Holding Items at Desk:  Anytime we set items aside for a customer who is coming to pick the items up, please make sure we ask the customer for their name and when they’re coming to get the item. We must put a “pick up by” date on the item so that we know when to put the item back on the shelf. 
Express Checkouts: Items that are missing or are not in the catalog should be discharged or added to the catalog on a staff computer to allow customers to check out. When you have fixed the issue with the item, please walk over to the Express Checkout and help the customer check out. Remember that only ILL items should be checked out at the desk.

Meeting Room Calendar: The meeting room calendar for June 2017 has been created. It currently contains the regularly scheduled programs such as Baby Time and Chinese Class. Please review and add or remove any new or discontinued programs as needed. The large meeting room is blocked off to facilitate access for the Summer Food Program all day until 6 PM on Monday through Friday except for library programs.

Please also remember that we can take meeting room reservations for up to 90 days in advance, meaning that today, for example, we cannot reserve rooms for dates after June 15.

Open Enrollment: The City of Houston’s Benefits open enrollment period for the 2017-2018 year will be from March 13th through April 7th, and any changes made during open enrollment will be effective May 1, 2017.

If you have any questions regarding Open Enrollment please contact HR-Benefits at 832-393-6000 or benefits@houstontx.gov. Additional information can be found at www.cityofhoustonbenefits.org.

Staff Party: Remember that tomorrow is our staff celebration and that those of you who are participating will work 10am-7pm. We have asked those visiting staff members from other locations (Rodney Hall, and Nichole Lewis) who are scheduled to work that day to join us. Since Ms. Joyce Adams works here every Monday I have also extended the invitation to her.

Staff Discussion:

CMH passes and Staff Appreciation Dinner-Nhu has received new CMH passes. She also found a deal that will increase the amount of food for the staff appreciation dinner. Edgar thanked her for finding the coupon to accomplish this.

Museum Field Trip and Expired Holds-Amethyst will be leading another library field trip this afternoon. Please direct the participants (juveniles and chaperones) to the small meeting room when they arrive. She also asked about how far back to pull expired items from the hold shelf when no list is generated. Edgar stated that when no list is generated to pull items with a print date of 14 days or over. This will allow for items to be on our hold shelf for the allotted 7 days and 7 days of in-transit time if the item was shipped from another location.

Booksale Dictionaries and Magazines-Jose asks to set aside dictionaries and magazines brought in for booksale to be used in his ESL class.

Pronunciator Training-Patricia asked about if a sign-in completion sheet will be posted for the Pronunciator training. Edgar said he would create and post a sign-in on the bulletin board outside his office. 

2017 Open Enrollment

The City of Houston’s Benefits open enrollment period for the 2017-2018 year will be from March 13th through April 7th, and any changes made during open enrollment will be effective May 1, 2017. Please review the information carefully and share with your respective departmental staff members.

What’s New in the Medical Plan:
 Rates are increasing in the Open Access and Consumer-Driven Health Plans. The Limited Network plan rates will remain the same.
 Out-of-pocket maximums are increasing in all plans.
 Pharmacy benefits are being expanded to include a network of 90-day retail pharmacies, which also includes more pharmacies available for 30-day fills.

Actions You May Take:
During open enrollment, you will have the ability to take the following actions:
 Review, enroll or make changes to medical, dental, vision, life insurance or supplemental plans
 Enroll or re-enroll in the Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (HFSA)
 Review and update your life insurance beneficiaries
 Complete a death termination pay beneficiary designation form (if you haven’t completed one)
 If you add any new dependents during this period, you must submit supporting documentation to Human Resources Benefits Services no later than April 7, 2017, or the dependent will not receive the elected coverage. Mail, fax or email supporting documents to:
Mail: 611 Walker 4th floor, Houston, TX 77002
Fax: 832-395-9409
Email: benefitseligibility@houstontx.gov

Enrollment Eligibility of PT-30 Employees:
In compliance with provisions of the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the City of Houston must offer medical benefits to employees who have worked an average of thirty or more hours per week for a specific period of time, known as a “look back” period. The ARA Department has evaluated the part-time work hours during the look back period, May 2016 through February 2017 and identified the employees who have met the criteria for participation in the City’s medical benefits plan effective May 1, 2017. Because these part-time employees are eligible to participate in a City medical plan, their status in the payroll system, SAP, will be changed to PT-30 which will allow them the opportunity to elect coverage.


Qualifying Life Events:
Once the enrollment deadline is past, your choices are binding until the next open enrollment period. You can only make mid-year changes if you experience a qualifying life event. Completed enrollment forms and documentation is required within 31 days of the event. Qualifying life events include: marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child or loss of coverage for a spouse.

What to Expect:
 Promotional emails, automated phone calls and mailings to employees’ contact information on record began February 20 - April 7.
 Notification to eligible PT 30 employees to elect coverage according the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requirements.
 Reminders regarding re-enrollment in Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (HFSA).
 Issuance of medical or dental cards only to employees changing medical or dental plans or new hires.
 Enrollment engagement meetings (see attached for schedule) will provide employees the opportunity to get their questions answered by our health benefits vendors, listen to the enrollment presentation, or gain assistance in enrolling in benefits are scheduled at various city facilities.

If you have any questions regarding Open Enrollment please contact HR-Benefits at 832-393-6000 or benefits@houstontx.gov. Additional information can be found at www.cityofhoustonbenefits.org.

Thank you for all your help in making this a successful open enrollment period.

Gale Legal Forms

From Marianne Lorio:

Gale Legal Forms is not working. The issue is known and being worked on.

June 2017 Meeting Room Calendar

The meeting room calendar for June 2017 has been created. It currently contains the regularly scheduled programs such as Baby Time and Chinese Class. Please review and add or remove any new or discontinued programs as needed. The large meeting room is blocked off to facilitate access for the Summer Food Program all day until 6 PM on Monday through Friday except for library programs. Please do not reserve a room for a customer until Monday March 13 to allow staff to add programs. Thank you. 

Library Administration

Team,

As promised, this is the information about HPL Administration. We actually have a page on the library's website with names and photos of each of the executive team members:

http://houstonlibrary.org/library-administration

-Edgar

Stella Link Team Meeting March 08, 2017

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

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Not Present: Jose Zamora, Linda Shen, and Carol Wu.

ACE Scholarship: 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.

Coin Copiers: Coin copiers card reader working again.

Lynda.com Reset Password: Customers who have forgotten their password to Lynda.com must use the online Email Reference form (http://houstonlibrary.org/email-reference) to have someone from IT reset password. There are several ways of getting to this form – 1. Go to FIND IT tab and see the link for “password reset help” under the Lynda.com link
2. Go to Contact Us link at the bottom of the website, click on the “Ask page” and you’ll find the Email Reference form there.

IT Helpdesk hours:
Monday - Thursday – 8:00AM to 7:00PM. 
(Friday - Sunday Help Desk hours will remain unaffected: )
Friday, 8:00 AM – 6: 00 PM
Saturday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
After-hours coverage and support will be provided via the on-call/emergency line (713-742-3978).

Cataloged Classics: Reminder: cataloged classics with a call number are interfiled with Fiction or nonfiction, depending on the call number they have on the spine.

Chain of Command: In cases where the person in charge needs to be located, please note that chain of command at Stella Link is Edgar, Tim, Nhu, and Patricia.

Passports: Please remember to lock all passport applications when leaving the passport office to ensure customer’s personal identifying information is kept secure.

Qless: Passport agents, if you have not already done so, please log in to Qless and reset your password if you not already done so.

Visiting Staff: Please remind all visiting staff use the HOU-STESUB login when using Workflows. That ensures that everything they check in is listed as checked in at STE and not at their home library.

Workflows: Please remember to log out Workflows after each session that way if any issues come up they’re not associated to your log in.

After School Zones: Since we are starting to request that adults not be in children's areas, we want to be equally fair and ask children/teens in the adult areas to relocate to a youth area. Fortunately, for youth there are many areas for them to choose from (gaming, studio, quiet lab, children’s area, teen area). When teens are in school, adults may sit in teen area. Adults with their children may sit in children's area. Adults with teens may be asked to sit in an adult area. This is for the safety of children and teens, to help better monitor the youth, and to help maintain enough adult tables open during the busy ASZ time.

Spring Break: Next week is Spring Break for HISD. Since we will not have After School Zone that week, we want to really focus on getting the library in good shape, and to help with passport services.

Learning Link: Before school lets out for the summer, we really need to focus on reaching out to many of the area schools to talk to them about Learning Link. Many schools are still unaware of Learning Link or about the resources the library offers. If you have an interest in doing an outreach, please let me know and I can help set one up.

Petitioning in Parking Lot: There may be times when customers will be petitioning in the library’s parking lot. They are allowed to do so. Generally, Tim or I (or the person in charge) will go out to introduce ourselves and to let them know that they can’t harass customers, and they can’t block entrances. Petitioning inside the building is not allowed.

Fire Alarm: If there’s ever a fire alarm, please note that the key is kept with the other staff keys (with the rainbow colored ribbon).

Deposits: When delivery comes to pick up the deposit envelopes, please make sure someone is here to sign off so that they don’t have to come looking for us to sign off.

HPL Administration Visits: Anytime we have anyone from Administration visit the library, please let the person in charge know so that they be made aware. People like Dr. Lawson, Roosevelt Weeks, Liz Sargent, Mary Wagoner, or Laurie Covington may on occasion stop by for visits at Neighborhood Libraries.

National Library Workers Day: April 11 is National Library Workers Day. We will have $75 for use in April!

Staff Party: We will be having our staff celebration next Thursday after hours in the library – all staff will work 10am-7pm. This will be on the clock. We encourage everyone to participate; however, anyone who would prefer not to participate can let me, Tim, or Nhu know so that your schedules can be modified.

Printing Computer Card Reader

The card reader at the public printing computer is not accepting cards. The problem was reported. A note was attached to the card reader. Printing is still available. Customers can pay for copies at the desk by selecting "Misc Items" on Smart Money.

Flip Kits Update

Team,

Please be aware that Flip Kits will now be zip tied shut to encourage customers to bring the item to the front for check-out before use of the materials inside. 

When checking in Flip Kits from delivery, please zip tie the Flip kits before putting them out in the public area. Flip Kits that are to be put on the Holds shelf do not need to be zip tied. 

If a customer brings several Flip Kits to you for you to unzip so that they can see what is inside, please do so for the customer and re-zip tie the Flip Kits that the customer does not want.

I know this is a lot of work, but this will hopefully resolve the issue of Flip Kit items being used and misplaced.

Labels will be made to go with the zip ties on the Flip Kits to encourage customer to bring the Flip Kits to the front for check-out. 

Please do not cut the zip ties off the bag. There is a switch on the zip tie to unlock it. If you would like to see a demonstration of how to zip tie the bag and to unzip it, please see Nhu, Edgar, or Frances. There will be a container on the shelf above the Rover's computer station by the check-out machines. Zip ties taken off of checked-out Flip Kits will be collected in that container.

Thank You,

Nhu

Stella Link Team Meeting March 1, 2017 Notes

Present: Patricia Tucker, Linda Shen, Ade Odusanwo, Carol Wu, Frances Saldana, Ray Williams, Amethyst Taylor, and Tim Siegel

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Not Present: Nhu Le, Jose Zamora, Jacob Hornbeak, Alex Gabitto, and Jesse Farias

Thank you: Great work on Passports. We have already done 4 days this month with over 100 processed applications, and we have broken our record with the 134 applications processed Saturday 2/25. Please continue the great teamwork supporting each other as best we can.

For passports, we may not always have more than 2 people on board, especially during the week. We have to work as best we can with the amount of staff we have. Some of you have programs and obligations you need to fulfill, so please make sure those do not get neglected. If we need to, we must close the passport line early. Our duty should be to review the passport application carefully and to ensure the documents presented match the applicant. In order to speed up the process, we should refrain from giving extra information to customers unless they request it (things such as amending birth certificates, country information).

Some pointers for all staff:
- Please continue to make use of the DS-11 application Spanish translation for customers who need it.
- If a customer is at the front of the line and they are called over, if they are have not completed their application, please allow that customer to remain in line to complete their application but to let the next person go ahead of them if that second person has their application ready.
- make sure that customers are made aware that passport lines may close early and that customers need to come in at least 1-2 hours prior to closing the passport office so that if there is a long line they don’t get turned away.
- we have had a number of customers with the incorrect amount for their passport fees. Please review all applications carefully
- we have had customers who were given incorrect information for passports. If you are not a passport agent, please do not answer any passport questions unless you are translating with a passport agent.

DS-82 Applications: Customers who print out the DS-82 online will have the Irving address (If you live in CA, FL, IL, MN, NY, or TX). The DS-82 are that are currently available for customers to pick up in the library still have the Philadelphia address. Both are acceptable, per HoustonCS.

Passport Envelopes: Use the envelopes with the oldest dates first. The postal service may not accept envelopes if the date on the envelope is more than 10 days old.

Ash Wednesday: Today is a holiday in the Catholic Church. Many our customers (library and passport) may visit the library with a cross drawn in ash on their forehead.

Community Book Drive: Please remind customers that the box full of books near the Express Check-in (Bertha) is for the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation and not book sale.

Notary: Be sure to enter your February notary stats by the end of the day today if you have not already done so. We are counting the number of documents, so for example if you have 1 parent with 2 consent forms, you would count that as 2 in stats. Two signatures on 1 document would be counted as 1 in stats.

Online Registration: The online library registration will be piloted at JUN and CEN, but by June 2018 all locations will have moved to online only library card registration. During this pilot, the questions to many of our questions will be answered before it is implemented systemwide.

Wi-Fi Hotspots: HPL will be checking out Wi-Fi hotspots at ACR, DIX, MAN, JOH, YOU, JUN. They hope to roll out by March 27. Eventually, all HPL locations will be able to check them out.

Pronunciator: There’s a new database called Pronunciator. The database is for language learning , and it also provides citizenship information. Pronunciator is a fun and easy way to learn to speak, read and write any of the featured 80 languages. Includes live tutors, feature films, music with lyrics, pronunciation analysis, quizzes and more! Also features ESL for 50 non-English languages, plus free apps for Android, Apple, and Kindle Fire devices.* It’s been added to the Language Learning Resources category on the library’s website http://houstonlibrary.org/research/resources-by-category/361

NBC Learn: Another new database is NBC Learn. HPL is the first library to have this database. It features over 300,000 primary news videos, which is great for students working on History Fair topics or those who want to learn about current events. The link has not yet been added to the database list, but it will be coming soon.

Learning Link: HPL expects to get promotional materials for Learning Link in a week or so. Please remember that for students, the Learning Link card is the first letter of their last name followed by their student ID number. For HISD teachers and staff, the Learning Link card is “F” + their HISD employee ID. The PIN is (the 2 digits for the month + the 2 digits for the day) of their birthday.

Headphones: Remember that we can wear 1 headphone while the library is closed but once the library is open, please make sure you put your headphones away, even if you are working in the back away from the public.

Promotional Opportunities: Susan Lopez and Jessica Thompson, two of the Human Resources staff have left HPL, and therefore some of the job postings have been delayed in being posted. Stella Link’s Sr. LSS position posted last week, and our other two vacancies will be posted next.

When you interview, please make sure you talk about yourself as if the interview panel does not know what you do. Be specific in what you do on a daily basis, and try to keep your ideas organized. If you are asked do you have anything else you would like to ask, please ask something meaningful. And if they say do you have something else you would like to add, let them know anything you may have left out that you want the panel to know.

Assistance: Given how busy we have been lately, Patrick has asked other Southwest managers to send us staff. This Thursday Felicia is sending us one staff member, and we should be getting others throughout the week. When you get a chance, please thank Patrick and the Southwest managers for their hard work in helping us out.

Laptops: Please inform the customer of the details regarding laptop checkout. Specifically tell them of the $25 fine if returned late and translate the military time printed on the receipt to standard time.

Library Field Trips: The next field trip is scheduled for March 15^th from 3-6PM. This will take place on a Wednesday during Spring Break.