Notary FAQs

Hello,

Starting on September 20, 2016, Kashmere NL will begin providing notary services. Below is some basic information for staff that might have to answer questions brought to them by customers:

• Customers needing notary services must provide an ID to get a document notarized. The ID has to be current (unexpired) and issued by the United States federal government or any state government and must contain a photograph and signature of the person. So a U.S. passport, Driver's License, or state identification card is acceptable. 
• We will not accept as a form of identification a Consulate ID or passport issued by another country. This rule applies to all notaries in Texas.
• Someone under the age of 18 can get a document notarized provided they have proper ID issued by the United States federal government or state government. 
• We do not need to verify addresses, only identification per the instructions above.
• The following documents WILL NOT be notarized by HPL: wills, deeds, mortgages, living wills, living trusts, codicils, protests, and depositions.
• Staff cannot take depositions.
• Staff are not allowed to notarize Medical Power of Attorney or Financial Power of Attorney forms.
• We cannot make notarized copies of a birth certificate. Customers must go to the Houston Health Department Bureau of Vital Statistics. An application form is linked to on that page.
• We will only notarize documents in English, and all transactions must be administered in English (we will not conduct notary transactions in another language).
• Notary service pricing is as follows (these fees have been in Smart Money):
• First Signature: $6.00
• Additional Signature (same document): $1.00
• Copies: $0.50
• Hours for notary service: Notary service starts 30 minutes after opening and ends 30 minutes before closing. Central will not provide notary service on Sundays.
• In case customers ask, below are the pilot locations for notary services:
• Acres Homes
• Alief
• Central
• Collier
• Frank Express
• Hillendahl
• Johnson
• Park Place
• Robinson 
• Smith
• Stella Link
• Vinson

The full FAQ is here. It has also been added to the group blog under "Staff Resources."

MR

Unsolicited Donation: "Inflation Dynamics...." (Book)

Hello,

If you receive a book, Inflation Dynamics and Monetary Policy, through mail, please place the item on the booksale shelf.

Thank you.

MR

UPDATE: Learning Link Accounts

From Fred Schumacher:

Hello everyone.

The Learning Link accounts for HISD students were recently created in HPL's Symphony system, and the accounts will now appear in Workflows. Please keep the following in mind:

1. Learning Link has not yet launched and accounts are not ready to begin circulating materials. Please do not check out materials on these accounts yet. You will be notified when the program launches and the accounts are ready to use.
2. Students may also have a regular My Link library card account or want to sign up for a regular My Link library card account in addition to the Learning Link account. If a student and his/her parent choose to register for a regular card, you may issue a full service My Link card, even if the student already has a Learning Link account.
3. My Link library cards do accrue fines/fees for overdue and unreturned material, and customers may not have more than one My Link library card account.

Again, you will be informed when the Learning Link program launches and the cards are ready to use, but you may continue to issue My Link cards to students, even though they have Learning Link accounts in the system. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at fred.schumacher@houstontx.gov or at 832-393-1567. I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.

Thanks.

MR

City of Houston Employee Discounts

Hello,

As discussed in the last staff meeting, here are the various discounts available for City of Houston employees. This information was original posted by Senior Manager Laurie Covington on the Customer Experience blog:

• Working Advantage employee discount and reward program: Go to https://www.guidanceresources.com to register. If you are a first time user, use code HOUSTONEAP. Click on Discounts and you will be directed to Working Advantage where you will create an account.
• Visit http://cohemployeenews.com/events-activities/city-nights for other discounts including
• Houston Museum of Natural Science discounted tickets
• Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions on September 30th

Link to original post on CE Blog: Employee Discounts

MR

UPDATE: New Reservation System

Hello,

As of today, everyone on staff has interacted with the new reservation system. Below are a few reminders, followed by a list of issues we have been encountering and tracking:

Reminders:

1. The express computer is no longer displayed on the reservation screen. Customers sign in at the express computer.
2. Customers should be directed to the reservation kiosk FIRST to sign up for a computer. DO NOT use the reservation software at the staff desk to sign customers into the system. Reserve such action for extraordinary circumstances.
• If you have to use the reservation software at the desk, remember that you have to extend the time for the reservation. It automatically makes the reservation for 15 minutes, and we have to extend the session an additional 45 minutes in order to ensure the customer receives a full hour.
• Remember that reservations have to be made below the yellow line. They cannot be made on the yellow line or above it.
3. Remember to refresh the reservation calendar. It is not always displaying the most recent, accurate reservation/use information.
4. Library cards and the new computer cards seem to work. That said:
• DO NOT create new computer cards for customers.
• DO NOT renew and/or extend computer cards for customers. 
• If a customer needs to get on a computer but does not have a computer card or library card (and cannot or does not want to sign up for the latter), print out a guest pass.
• Expired and/or blocked library cards no longer work. Customers will have to either get a guest pass or unblock their card by paying down their fines or renewing their card.
5. Customers do not need to use a password or PIN to 1) make a reservation and 2) sign onto their reserved computer. The reservation screen displays only the last four digits/letters of the card/guest pass, not the full number.
6. Reservations that have been assigned a computer cannot be deleted in the new system. (The ones made by staff at the CSD can be.) 

Issues:

1. The system is double-booking (sometimes triple-booking) reservations.
2. The reservation software at the desk freezes intermittently, forcing staff to close it out and restart the program.
3. We cannot print guest passes in batches, and we can only print guest passes at one terminal.
4. We do not yet have a scanner for the kiosk.
5. Sometimes, the reservation kiosk will say that some library cards are not valid even when they are. 
• Logging off/restarting the kiosk seems to resolve that issue temporarily.
6. In the morning, the kiosk says "Library closed for holiday and you cannot sign on." 
• Restarting the kiosk resolves this issue temporarily.

Here is the handout provided by IT: Reservation System Handout. It can also be found on the group blog under "Staff Resources."

Thank you.

MR

UPDATE: Lynda.com and ReferenceUSA

Hello,

Please be advised that if staff or customers have an issue with Lynda.com and/or ReferenceUSA (such as they are not working), please advise them that these resources do have glitches but they do not last long.  Encourage them to try them to try the resource again in a few hours.

Please be sure to report those issues to Marianne Lorio and the IT Help Desk.

MR

Smart Money Reminders

From Laurie Covington:

Hello,

Financial Services has asked me to remind staff to please make sure that all transactions clear through Telecheck (check and credit card) before clearing things in Smart Money. There have been several recent occurrences in which the customer signed the Smart Money receipt and the fines were cleared, but no funds were actually taken from their card or check. In those cases, fines have to be put back on the accounts and the customer contacted. Sometimes, the customer has not been known so HPL is out those funds. Please remind all staff about this issue. Transactions should not be completed in Smart Money until everything clears in Smart Money. If staff training (or re-training), please reach out to Dimitri Revada and she can arrange for a one-on-one session.

MR