Deputy Director of Customer Experience Staff Chats starting in January 2015!

From Deputy Director of Customer Experience Michele Gorman: 

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break.

I am excited to announce a new initiative I’ll be starting in 2015 to continue breaking down communication barriers between frontline staff and administration, give me an opportunity to continue building relationships with you and continue to get out and see our libraries in action.

Starting in January I will be hosting an event each month at one of our libraries – a casual get together with 15 staff from Customer Experience chosen using a random generator. We’ll hang out, we’ll have soda and pizza, and we’ll talk.  It’s not mandatory, but if you’re chosen I’d love to have you join me for lunch to share what’s on your mind, your thoughts about we’ve been and we’re headed, and the role you see yourself playing in HPL as rebuild and move toward the future.

THE DETAILS:

• I will host two chats in each region throughout 2015 starting with the CEN/HMRC/LMS region on January 7, 2015;
• All Customer Experience staff in each region are eligible to attend;
• It’s not mandatory, but if you are not able to attend, or choose not to attend, I ask that you please let me know at least 5 days in advance so I can extend the invitation to another staff member in your region;There will be vegetarian options;
• You can only attend one chat per year.

Thanks, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions.

The dates, times, regions, and locations for the meetings were distributed to all staff via email. Please check your email for that information. - MR

IT Services During Central Shutdown

From Judith Hiott:

Houston Public Library’s Central Library will be closed on December 26^th, 27^th, and 28^th for HVAC maintenance.  

On December 26^th,  selected HPL IT staff will be working from neighborhood library  locations.  The HALAN Helpdesk will be relocated to the Carnegie Neighborhood Library on December 26^th and  27^th and will be available via the normal Helpdesk numbers: 832-393-1570. The Helpdesk will notify staff in the branches to assist you.

On Sunday December 28^th helpdesk assistance will be available for emergencies only (system or software outages) and can be reached by calling the IT emergency phone at 713-302-7196.

While we hope to offer normal services on Friday and Saturday, we expect some non-critical services will need to be postponed until Monday December 29^th.  We appreciate your patience as we work to serve you on these days.

Please contact me if you have questions or concerns before or during this time.

MR

Talent Management System is Live

Hello,

Please be advised that the Talent Management System is live and has officially replaced the old LMS site. This is where staff should go to enroll in trainings.

I have added this link to the blog under "Staff Links." Clicking the image below will also take you to the new site. Use your Windows (Outlook email) log-ins to access the site.

If you need any assistance using or navigating the site, please let me know. 

Thanks,

MR

Reporting Missing Houston Chronicle Issues

From Gail Ibarra:

Please call the Chronicle at 713-220-7211 to report the missing Houston Chronicle. Please remain on the line without pressing any prompts to wait for the next available representative. Give the account number for your location (KAS: 50308109 / LAK: 70123171) and the address. If you call before 9:00 am you may be able to request redelivery of the missing paper. If redelivery is not possible they will credit the account for the missing paper. All other papers must be claimed by Central Serials. Please let us know when you have not received papers so we may process the claim.  We may also occasionally have additional copies we can send to your location.

Gail Ibarra

832-393-1610

Gail.ibarra@houstontx.gov

Ethel Holcombe

832-393-1604

Ethel.holcombe@houstontx.gov

Rachel Zamora

832-393-1593

Rachel.zamora@houstontx.gov

Pat Ogea

832-393-1608

Pat.ogea@houstontx.gov

MR

Last Paycheck of This Calendar Year

From Payroll Notifications:

Payroll Services has received several inquiries regarding the availability of the last paycheck of calendar year 2014. Be advised that Friday, December 26, is the scheduled pay day. You may contact your bank to inquire if your funds will be available prior to Friday, December 26. The City of Houston has no control over whether a bank chooses to make funds available early.

Because some of you wanted to know! -- MR

How-To: Switching Between Receipt Printing and Hold Wrapper Printing in Sirsi

Hello,

Onda from IT recently visited Kashmere and Lakewood NL to update to staff workstations as to allow us to print hold wrappers from Sirsi.

Below are the instructions she provided for switching between the printing functions:

FIRST: Go to Preference>Peripherals, open Receipt Printer.

1. If you want to print receipts (e.g., for circulating items), select your local receipt printer from the dropdown menu and CHECK the box labeled "No builtin raster driver."

2. If you want to print hold wrappers (e.g., for holds that arrive through delivery), select the printer labeled HP Universal Printing PCL 5 from the dropdown menu and UNCHECK the box labeled "No builtin raster driver."

Here is a document detailing the instructions: how to switch between receipt and hold printing 

Thanks,

MR