Customer's Reading History

Hello,

Would like to remind everyone about “My Lists” and “My Reading History” features. Reading History feature is available. My Lists is a completely different feature that allows a user to make lists on various topics etc. Customers are able to log in to their accounts and under "My Account" select "My Info" and under "Preferences" they may check mark the "Show my Check Out History" box. This will then trigger the system to start keeping a history of the items that have been checked out. 

Thank you,

PF

10/24/13 Managers Meeting

Topics discussed include:

• Organizational Development Team will be coming around to get to know managers and staff.

• We can post photos on the G drive to go along with Sprockets. Folder under Elva Alvarez then NL Photos.

• Use your Outlook Calendars to keep track of meetings, etc. There is a link on the training portal that has link to show how to use calendar.

• Keep whatever concerned you have about WorkFlows or other operating procedures concerning HPL to yourself when interacting with customers. Do not express negativity to customers or in front of customers.

• Sarah Ortiz will be working with Fred in Circulation.  She will be coming out to Libraries in the future to observe our work flow. She is able to take any issues with circulation policies and procedures.

• Holiday Staff Picture Contest - We can take a group photo and submit to win prizes. Multiple pictures are acceptable.

• Check Applications to ensure they are in the system, turned in by 10th of following month.

• FIDS bought wipes and Goo Gone for our ordering from supply room

• CMC deadline is  October 31st.  If you want to donate please do so soon.

• Those with Smart Phones, please try out using them with the HPL app on them as you do roving reference.  We can try out the Kindle Fire for roving, however we do not have a case to carry it.

• New WorkFlows logins are ready to go.  We will discuss this next staff meeting.

• E-mail IT helpdesk whenever the system is slow.  Run speedtest.net when reporting to IT.

• If customer is not getting e-mail notices, get their card number and e-mail to IT helpdesk.

If there are any questions feel free to ask. Thanks for all that you do.

Pedro

Holiday Time Off

Hello,

I have begun receiving vacation time request for the holidays. Please let me know if you will be taking time off as soon as you can. I want to refrain from making schedule changes on November and December after the first week of November. There are a limited amount of substitutes  and if you decide to take off on a day that may require us to get a substitute remember that other locations are doing the same thing and I may not be able to approve it.
Remember that there is a monthly schedule on the blog to keep you updated.

Thank you,
Pedro Fonseca

Internet Slowness

Good morning,

I spoke with George Metcalf this morning regarding Internet slowness and the information needed by IT when staff call the Helpdesk to report the problem. These are the steps you should take prior to calling IT:

1) Go to www.speedtest.net (preferably in Chrome since the browser comes with Flash installed) and click on "Begin Test" once the module completely loads.

2) The test will give you three numbers (ping, download speed, and upload speed). Attached is an example of a test I conducted at Lakewood this morning:

3) Before you call IT, run this test at the branch and have this information ready for IT. It will assist them in identifying the issue. Another piece of handy information is the time at which you noticed the slowness.

Melissa

Door Count Week

Good morning HPL,

This is just a reminder that this is door count week, which runs through Saturday, October 26^th.

Door count is a process where we count two things: 1. Visitors on an hourly basis and 2, In-house materials use on a daily basis.

Remember, door count results show us when our libraries are used the most and, this information is used to help in decision making about services, staffing, and capital improvements. Thus, accurate door count information is vital!

Your awareness of the process will help ensure that an accurate count is taken at your library. If you have questions about the process, please speak with your manager, or send me an email.

Thank you,

Steve Hill

PF

Early Voting Starts Monday

Early voting for the Nov. 5 election will be:

Monday, October 21, through Friday, October 25, 8AM-4:30PM
Saturday, October 26, 1AM-7PM
Sunday, October 27, 1-6PM
Monday, October 28, through Friday, November 1, 7AM-7PM

Houston, TX - Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart is alerting voters of a significant voting related change for the November 5th Election. "Due to a change in Texas Election law, all voters are now required to provide one of the seven types of photo IDs when voting in-person," informed Stanart. "I urge voters to come prepared with one of the required photo ID to the polls."

The state approved photo IDs for voting include:

·       Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
·       Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
·       Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
·       Texas concealed handgun license issued by DPS
·       United States military identification card containing the person's photograph
·       United States citizenship certificate containing the person's photograph
·       United States passport

With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate and some military identifications, the ID must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented at the polling place. Voters may apply for an Election Identification Certificate (EIC) at no charge at the Department of Public Safety (DPS) if they do not have any other acceptable form of ID.  Requirements to apply for an EIC can be found at
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/DriverLicense/electionID.htm.

If a voter is 65 or older, or are disabled, they are entitled to apply for a ballot by mail.  In most cases, they will not need to provide photo identification when voting by mail.  October 25, 2013 is the last day for Harris County to receive an application for a ballot by mail (received, not postmarked).  To obtain an application to vote by mail, voters may contact our offices at 713-755-6965 or visitwww.HarrisVotes.com.

Stanart also informed voters that the number of early voting location in Harris County has increased from 37 to 40. "As the result of a steady increase in the number of voters who choose to vote early, we are adding three new locations to better serve the voters of Harris County." concluded Stanart, the chief election official of the county.  The period for Early Voting by Personal Appearance starts Monday, October 21 and ends, Friday, November 1.

For more information about photo ID requirements including exemptions, visit www.votetexas.gov. To obtain a list of Early Voting locations, Election Day Polling Location or view a voter specific sample ballot, voters can also visit www.HarrisVotes.com or call 713-755-6965.

www.haul.org

Pedro

Telecheck At Lakewood

The Telecheck machine at Lakewood is now working thanks to Melissa. Please use the machine for all credit card and check transaction.

Thank you,
Pedro

Sending In Applications

Hello

I recently joined the circulation administration team and have learned a couple of things about sending in applications that I thought were interesting

·         No order is necessary (just have the month together)

·         Avoid sending applications with Post-Its, Paper Clips, Misc Notes

·         Insure customer’s Name and library card number are legible

o   write it off to the side if necessary

·         Send applications ASAP

o   there are thousands of applications that are scanned by hand, and indexed individually. So when a location sends their applications in late there are 15 days left to get the applications done before the next wave hits.)

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to follow-up.

Sarah Ortiz

Sarah asked that we send all applications in by the 15th of every month, even if they have not been checked. 

PF

Raffle Tickets 10/16/13

I currently plan on visiting your location Wednesday afternoon before you close on October  16^th.. The raffle tickets are being sold one (1) ticket for $1 or five (5) tickets for $3 (a better bargain). The tickets are for a specific basket type however you can mix up the tickets. For example with a $3 purchase you could request 2 Breast Cancer Awareness Tickets and 3 Fall Bountiful tickets.  I understand some of you may have already seen the Breast Cancer Awareness basket on the Scenic Woods blog. I will bring a smaller but still good size Fall Bountiful basket with me for your staff to look at during my visit.
Thanks,
Yvonne Hitchens, Customer Service Clerk

PF

CMC COURT RAFFLE

The LMS Collection Development Staff is selling raffle tickets for this incredibly cute and cuddly quilt!

Proceeds benefit The Houston Food Bank.

So, who doesn’t like food? And who doesn’t like tiny robots?

~~ Tickets: $2 each / 3 for $5 ~~

Buy from any LMS Collection Development Staff Member

Drawing: Wednesday, 10/30/13 at 4:00 p.m.

The perfect gift for that special child or grandchild

or as a lap quilt for your frosty workspace!

~~ Benefitting: THE HOUSTON FOOD BANK ~~

 

THANKS MARISSA.B

Telecheck Machine at Kashmere

Hello,
We are now able to use the Telecheck machine at Kashmere. The issue has be resolved. If you are not sure how Telecheck works click here to view the instructions on taking a check and a credit card or ask a staff member who may know. Please do not refer customers to a computer to do their payment online. We cannot turn away a payment no matter what they are using.

The machine at Lakewood needs to be reconfigured and is not working at the moment. We will let you know once it is up and running.

Thank you,
Pedro

Discarding Magazines

Good afternoon,

I spoke with Gail Ibarra in Serials today regarding the proper disposal of magazines. Ms. Ibarra stated that the cover of the damaged/weeded magazines should be ripped apart from the magazine, and both pieces can be discarded in the recycle bin. We do not have to send them through discards, but we do need to continue removing old/damaged serials from the system using the proper discarding procedures.

She also stated that after six months, serial barcodes are removed from the system by Central. So for those doing serials, this is a good timeline by which to weed old issues.

Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

Thanks,

Melissa Ryans

Update to Enterprise My List

From Syma:

My Lists have now been restored to customers’ accounts.  However, if someone created a new My List in the last day or two, that list has likely been lost in this restoration.  Hopefully, few, if any, customers will be affected.  If you notice any further problems, please contact the IT Helpdesk and feel free to cc me.

Pedro

Programs in a Box

From Ruby Robinson:

We have program in a box kits available to check out.  We have a wide variety.   I have attached some images of crafts I have made with the materials, just to give you some ideas.  If you would like to check out a box, just shoot me an email.  I need to know which kit you would like and for how long.  I normally try to send the kits out a week prior to the scheduled program.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me.   If you currently have something checked out and you’re done with it, please return it to the Central teens.

Program in a Box Kits

Vampire Teeth

Fimo Clay

Ugly Dolls/ Monster Purses

Photo magnets

Duct Tape

Button Maker

Shrinky Dinks

Bedazzler

Friendship bracelets

Pedro

My Lists on Enterprise

From Syma:

Sirsi is currently investigating the restoration of customers’ My Lists that have disappeared as a result of the deduplication process this past weekend.  I will keep you posted on the progress of this effort.

Pedro

Using Tablet for Reference

From Shammi:

Greetings - NL Admin gave each Neighborhood Library a Kindle Fire for staff to get familiar and comfortable using it. I am positive that by now everyone had a chance to use it and get comfortable with it. We would like to take it to the next level and start using Kindle Fire for roving reference. Please encourage staff to start using it when they are roving so customers browsing the shelves can be assisted on the spot without having to return to the Customer Service Desk.

My suggestion is to assign the Kindle Fire to the rover for the hour and after their shift is over, the next rover takes it over. 

NL Admin would love to get your feedback on this. What are your challenges, what support can we provide to start using the devices? As technology is changing so rapidly, we will be looking at other devices available in the market, however, we would love to hear your feedback as well.

I am also attaching a link to an article from Dallas Public Library that used IPODS for roving reference in 2012. I look forward to hearing back from you about all the wonderful and creative ways you are using your Kindle Fire.  

Pedro

November Computer Class

Hello,

On Wednesday, October 9, 2013, the Communications Division will pull computer class information for all locations from “Evanced” in order to create the November 2013 Computer Class brochure. Please, do not submit an excel spreadsheet to HPL Print & Graphics.

In order to verify that your classes are pulled, select “computer class” as a Program Type in Evanced. Please contact all trainers (BTOP & HPL) in order to verify that all computer class information is entered correctly by the deadline date.

Managers will receive a proof to review the week of 10/14.

Thank you.

HPL Communications

Vick Martinez (832-393-1631) on behalf Veronica T. Davidson (832-393-1335)

We link people to the world+

Pedro