TRAINING: In-House Technology Training

Hello,

Juan and Twanna will host the first in-house technology training session for our grouping. The training will be held at Kashmere NL on alternating Fridays (at least twice a month). This training was requested by the majority of staff and will cover a range of topics that you guys asked for and that supervisors and trainers believe will assist you in being able to independently assist customers with basic computer functions.

The training will be held on the following dates at the following times:

Friday, January 29, 2016, at 9:00AM

Friday, February 5, 2016, at 9:00AM

Because this is the end of the pay period, those staff that are scheduled to work this Friday will attend this session.

If you are not scheduled to attend the session on January 29th, you will be scheduled to attend the session on Friday, February 5th.

If you have any questions, comments, and/or concerns, please let me know.

I really do hope that these classes are beneficial to everyone. As always, feedback regarding the training - including any suggestions for future trainings - is highly welcomed and encouraged.

Thank you,

MR

Contact with City Hall

From Deputy Director of Customer Experience Michele Gorman:

Hi everyone. This is just a reminder that ALL communication with Mayor Turner, the Mayor's Office, any City Council member and/or any City Council member's office regarding HPL must go through HPL's Government Liaison, Mary Sloan Hammond, or Dr. Lawson, without exception.

If you have any questions please let me know.

MR

ALERT: Suspicious Emails

From David LaPlante in HITS:

We are receiving reports daily of suspicious emails and attachments with various subjects. Some of the current emails appear to come from email addresses in the UK and contain a Microsoft Word attachment with potentially malicious code (Macros) that have the ability to run commands and infect systems.

As always, do not open, forward or respond to emails that appear to be suspicious, especially when the sender is not recognized. If you would like to report a suspicious email. Please contact the Help Desk either by telephone or email and provide the information from the Subject line. 

Thank you to those who have already reported suspicious emails this morning. You are all helping to keep our City systems more secure.

MR

RFID Tagging Work Group for Park Place NL

Hello,

Fred Schumacher in LMS is looking for a few staffers to be a part of the Park Place NL RFID Tagging Work Group. This team will be retrofitting the Park Place collection with RFID technology in order to improve the speed and efficiency of circulation services. Below is a brief description of the work group:

Team Name: RFID Tagging Work Group (Park Place NL)
Team Type: Work Group
Division: Customer Experience/LMS
Number of Team Members: 8-15

Team Charge: 
1. Correctly affix and accurately program RFID tags to library materials in a specific library collection.
2. Scan, stamp and box severely damaged items for discard.
3. Complete inventory for a specific library collection.

Team Goals:
1. Successfully RFID tag the complete collection of a specific library collection.
2. Bolster customer service through the use of shelf check machines which require items to be RFID tagged to function properly.
3. Weed and properly discard any severely damaged items from a specific library collection.

Team Term: February 8, 2016 - February 15, 2016
Meeting Frequency: At least a 4 day commitment at Park Place NL
Meeting Length: Mon-Fri, 6:00am - 3:00pm
Team Meeting Format: In person
Member Roll-off Dates: February 15, 2016

If you are interested, please let me and/or Jose know so that we can look at coverage for the dates you will be needed for this project. Please be mindful of the time and physical commitments required of this work group prior to committing to this project.

The application is here, and submissions should be entered by end of business on Wednesday, January 27th.

Group members will be selected and notified by end of business on Friday, January 29th.

This is not a one-time opportunity. Though there are a limited number of positions available, there will be more work groups for RFID tagging made in the future, and they will be looking for new team members for those groups as well.

Thanks,

MR

Volunteers Needed to be Studio Audience for Great Day Houston on January 28th

Hello,

Jennifer Schwartz from Programming is asking for volunteers to appear in the studio audience for a taping Houston Public Library will be doing on Great Day Houston. The taping will take place on Thursday, January 28th, and is for a feature on hosted author Wil Haygood, who will be a part of the HPLQ series in February in celebration of African American History Month. They need 20 HPL staffers to be a part of this event.

The group will need to be at KHOU studio by 8AM at 1945 Allen Parkway, Houston, TX 77019. The requirement is for staff to wear their HPL Red shirts and be an engaged and interested audience member. Speaking is not required.

If you are interested, please let me or Jose know so that we can look at coverage on that day for the grouping.

Thank you,

MR

UPDATE: Open Carry Law

Hello,

CitizensNet, the City of Houston Newsletter, just sent an email containing a FAQ handout regarding both new and old information about the open carry law that went into effect this year. Please see below for a link to the attachment:

COH: Open Carry - Frequently Asked Questions

This information has been added as a link under the "Staff Resources" section of the group blog.

Previous information about Open Carry can be found at this link: The New Open Carry Law.

If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask. Remember that you are responsible for knowing this information, especially since it was sent out to all COH employees.

Sincerely,

MR

Hoopla Accounts & Library Cards

From Marianne Lorio:

Hello:

This e-mail is just to clarify an issue that was brought up by a patron recently.

If you have both a Harris County Public Library card and a Houston Public Library card it is possible to checkout items from using both libraries' Hoopla accounts. This will allow you to have both the checkouts available as a Harris County patron and as a Houston Library patron. To do this you need to create two Hoopla accounts, one under each library card number. The trick is that you have to use two different e-mails to create the accounts. Otherwise Hoopla will automatically assume you are merely updating your library card information, not create two separate accounts. The process is not difficult you just need two separate e-mails. Let me know if you have any questions.

MR

Court Ordered Volunteers

Hello,

This is just a reminder that HPL does not accept, recognize, or honor court-ordered volunteer service.

List of organizations that we can refer customers to can be found at this link: Court Ordered Volunteer Service Locations

I've also added a link to the list on the main page of the blog under Volunteer Resources.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

MR

Ulrich's Database

From Marianne Lorio:

Hello:

We have dropped our subscription to Ulrich's database due to a high cost per use. Please let me know if you or anyone misses it.

MR

How to "Opt-In" to Reading History

From an original posting by Daniel Pillow. Link: "Opting in" to Reading History

Hello,

Several customers recently visited the library wanting to know if HPL kept a log of all their past checkouts. While we do not do that, customers do have the option of "opting in" to a service called My Checkout History (formerly known as Reading History). We cannot pull this information up in Sirsi; rather, customers can retrieve it by logging in to their account on HPL's website. Activating this function records all checkouts made under that card number. This is not a retroactive function, though: it will only log those checkouts that occurred when the function was activated, not before.

There are two ways to do this. 

1. The first way is through the My Account function on HPL's website. Have the customer log into their account and click on the My Info tab, as seen below:

Check the box that says "Record my checkout history." The checkout history list can be found on the Checkouts tab, and is the second option (Checkout History) under Library Checkouts. 

See below for screenshots on how it looks:

2. The second way is the what we do when they have activated this option online but the checkouts are not logging. This means that staff have to go into Sirsi and modify the user's record. First, open the user's account through the Modify User wizard. On the first page, there will be three drop-down boxes. Select the box for the Charge History Rule and change the selection from NOCHARGES to ALLCHARGES. See below for screenshots:

Default Charge History Rule.

Charge History Rule for documenting checkouts.

Again, this is not retroactive, so the customer's reading history is nonexistent, but when we make the alteration to the account, it should record from then forward. 

As always, please let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, and/or concerns.

Thanks,

MR

HOPE Pay Increases

Hello,

Just a brief overview regarding the HOPE pay increases:

• Base pay for employees will increase up to $0.55 based on their pay grade and if they are either below midpoint or at the midpoint of their classification.
• Increases will be annualized to and above midpoint.
• The amounts in the chart below are added to the annual salary, not biweekly salary.

So the way this would work is: 

• Locate your pay grade by looking at your classification (job title) at this link: http://www.houstontx.gov/hr/salary/job-classifications.html
• For easier accessibility, the pay grades for positions in our grouping are below:
• Customer Service Clerk - 10
• Librarian II - 21
• Librarian III - 23
• Library Assistant - 5
• Senior Customer Service Clerk - 12
• Senior Library Service Specialist - 16
• View the midpoint for your pay grade at this link: http://houstontx.gov/hr/compensation/pay_structure.html
• For easier accessibility, the midpoints for the above positions are below:
• Customer Service Clerk - 1461
• Librarian II - 2597
• Librarian III - 2884
• Library Assistant - 1181
• Senior Customer Service Clerk - 1622
• Senior Library Service Specialist - 2000

From there, you would look at the chart below to see if you fall into the top chart (if you biweekly pay falls below the midpoint) or into the bottom chart (if your biweekly pay falls at or above midpoint).

If you want to know how much of an increase that is hourly, take the amount that fits your pay grade and divide by 26 (because there are that may pay periods in the year), then divide by 80 (number of hours in one paycheck). 

• Example for pay grade 11-12: 
• 1040/26 = 40
• 40/80 = .50
• So someone in pay grade 11-12 that is getting the $1,040 because they are below midpoint would see a $0.50 increase in their hourly pay. 

Here is a link to HOPE's flyer about the raise, which contains more information: http://www.hopetx.org/2015/07/about-your-raise/

Here is a link to HOPE's 2015 Meet and Confer Agreement (the section on the increases and compensation can be found on page 37): http://www.hopetx.org/download/5047/

Thanks,

MR

The New Open Carry Law

From the Office of Director Rhea Lawson:

Regarding the new Open Carry Law....

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

The Open Carry Law is an extension to the current concealed handgun law. The concealed handgun law currently allows a license holder to carry a concealed handgun in most City-owned or leased properties. The Open Carry Law has extended for license holders to carry their handgun in the open (holstered) and not limited to being concealed only.

OPEN CARRY LAW

• The new Open Carry Law becomes effective Friday, January 1, 2016.
• The law allows for a citizen with a current concealed handgun license or new license to carry a handgun in most City-owned or leased property.
• The gun must be concealed or holstered in a belt or shoulder holster.
• The guns can be a handgun or a long handgun.  

ARE LICENSED GUN HOLDERS ALLOWED TO HAVE THEIR HOLSTERED WEAPONS ON LIBRARY GROUNDS?

• The Houston Public Library is a public government entity and is not exempted under the law. · HPL may not prohibit licensed individuals from bringing (holstered) handguns into the library beginning on January 1, 2016.
• Individuals cannot bring in a handgun during: ­ 
• School-sponsored events (more details on handling this situation will come at a later time) ­ 
• An election when HPL is serving as a polling site ­ 
• An on-going closed-door meeting inside the meeting room. 

ARE HPL PERSONNEL ALLOWED TO REQUEST TO SEE A PERSON’S HANDGUN LICENSE?

• NO!
• Only a law enforcement official is able to request for a person to show their handgun license.
• Contact HPD if you feel concerned and would like to have the request made to an individual. 

ARE HPL PERSONNEL ALLOWED TO BRING A HANDGUN ON LIBRARY GROUNDS?

• The Open Carry Law does not allow ANY City employee to bring a handgun on government property during working hours. 
• HPL Personnel are allowed to have their concealed handgun locked in their vehicle during these hours.
• It is recommended that the handgun is locked and hidden away from public viewing in the vehicle. *If any HPL personnel makes a verbal statement threatening violence of any type (with or without a weapon), you are to report this incident immediately to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), per Executive Order 1-50.* 

HOW TO RESPOND TO A CONCERNED CUSTOMER OVER THE NEW LAW

• Please use the below statement when addressing a concerned customer regarding the new law: 
• The Houston Public Library is a public entity and is not exempt from the Open Carry Law. Therefore, individuals are allowed to enter the building with their handgun, but it must be holstered in their belt or shoulder holster as per the law. We do take all of our customers’ concerns seriously. If you are ever concerned, please feel free to contact us and we will contact a law enforcement official. 

HOW TO RESPOND TO THE MEDIA OVER THE NEW LAW 

• Please use the below statement if the media calls a location regarding the new law: 
• Please contact our Communications Office for an official statement from the Houston Public Library. 
• If they persist: The Houston Public Library is a public entity and is not exempt from the Open Carry Law. Please contact our Communications Office for an official statement. 

Please click on the following links for more information:

• Information on Inside HPL: https://hplnet.houstonlibrary.org/open-carry-law.html
• Information on COH Website (from HPD): http://www.houstontx.gov/police/open_carry/