NOTICE: Mayor's Welcome Posters

Hello,

Please be aware that the Mayor's Welcome Posters have been placed in the gray-frame flyer holders at both Kashmere and Lakewood NL. The Mayor's Office made this request, and they should remain displayed until further notice. Please do not remove these flyers from the holders or cover them with another flyer. 

If you have any questions, please let me or Jose know.

Thank you,

MR

TRAINING: A to Z: Diverse and In-Depth Training for Library Support Staff

Hello,

Since attaining training hours was a huge concern for most staff during our discussions over the summer, I took the liberty of enrolling all of us in a series of webinars called A to Z: Diverse and In-Depth Training for Library Support Staff. Staff that complete the three core sessions and two electives will earn five hours of training credit from HPL.

Not everyone will be able to watch the courses live, but all webinars will be recorded so staff can watch them at a later date and time. In order to receive training credit, you must provide me or Jose with the certificate of completion (earned after completing a short quiz after the webinar) and write the following on your certificate:

1. Your name
2. Employee number
3. Title of webinar
4. Date webinar was taken
5. Number of training hours

Please let me or Jose know ASAP if you did not receive an email from Kelly Dibbons from TLA on Tuesday, September 20th. That is the confirmation email for your enrollment in this training series, and she provided instructions for accessing the first webinar. As webinars are recorded, the link to the archived webinar is emailed to all registrants enrolled in the course, so it is important that you have the first email from Ms. Dibbons, as it confirms you are registered for this course.

Thank you,

MR

KAS: New Statistics Sheet

Hello,

Please be aware that I've updated Kashmere's statistics sheet to include a section for notary transactions. Going forward, please record all notary transactions in the assigned column. This count is daily, not monthly like language statistics, so it is imperative you record this number on a daily basis for an accurate statistical count.

Thank you,

MR

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