Pest Control

Hello,

Karrington Burnett in SPACES has asked us to be aware that due to the impending cold weather, Pest Management (COH's pest control contractor) will be laying out "mouse motels" around the exterior of the building. (Please note that Kashmere NL already have their installed).

To limit potential activity inside our buildings, please take care to follow these instructions:

• Clean break areas especially around microwaves and refrigerators.
• Keep counter tops and table tops clear of food.
• Do not leave cups of water out overnight.
• Store dry food, condiments, and snacks at your desk in sealed containers.
• Keep storage areas free of clutter.
• Generate a Sprocket for any leaking pipes or clogged drains to GSD immediately (those areas can provide the perfect breeding site for pests).

Thank you,

MR

Homeless Training

Hello,

As discussed at the staff meeting yesterday - and as stated in a previous email sent out by Suzy Benton - all employees are required to take The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness: Practical Online Training so YOU can Solve Problems with Compassion training. It is a 2.5 hour online course that aims to provide methods to employees to handle situations involving homeless customers in a compassionate and respectful manner.

The link to the training is here: http://www.homelesslibrary.com/houston. Please follow the prompts and use your work email to create an account. You are able to access the training multiple times if you need to stop the training and take it back up at a later date and time. Once you have completed the course, you do need to take a quiz. To get the certificate (which is required to receive 2.5 hours of training credit), you will need to score 80% or greater on the certificate. Please provide your certificate to me once you have received it.

Please be aware that I have scheduled all staff to take this training. Those times have been added to the daily schedule, and I will post the list of dates below. Each staff person is receiving 2.75-3.0 hours of continuous time to take this training. You should be able to finish the training and quiz in that allotted time (this includes taking a 15-minute break if needed). Please use the time scheduled for the training to complete the training and quiz. Should something extraordinary happen and you are unable to complete it, please let me know so that you can be rescheduled to continue your training at another date and time.

Below are the dates for each staff person:

12/1 - DM
12/2 - LA
12/3 - AS
12/5 - TW
12/12 - KB
12/16 - AP
12/17 - JA
12/20 - JL
12/21 - DH
12/21 - AL

(This information was also emailed to staff so that there are two points of reference.)

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or if you need any assistance.

Thank you so much!

MR

Seeking HPL's Best Spellers

From Jennifer Schwartz:

Hi Everyone,

I need to do some research to find two HPL employees that are phenomenal spellers. I'm talking really good—like Scripps National Spelling Bee level J (or just really good).

HPL will be participating in the Houston Center for Literacy's annual Spelling Bee Fundraiser on February 9, 2017 at the new and beautiful venue, the White Oak Music Hall. This is a really fun event with great food and drink, that raises significant funds for a great cause that is close to our hearts here at HPL—Adult and Family Literacy. I'd really like to see HPL win this year, but to do so, I really need to find our organization's best spellers to represent us. An element of this event is that teams can put up money to keep their organization's contestants in the game, and some of them are private corporations, so...... it's hard for us to stand a chance unless we put the best of the best up there.

Having said ALL of that, it's for fun and a good cause, so there isn't going to be any real pressure on whomever we get to participate.

Also, we need participants who won't mind being on stage and spelling in front of a very engaged audience. This will be a team of two staff members spelling together, which makes it more fun and less pressure.

MR

KAS: iPad Kiosk Adapter

Hello,

Please be advised that the PowerPhase GFCI Outlet Adapter (the yellow adapter used for the iPad kiosk) is not working. The issue has been reported. Until we receive another adapter, please use the surge protector that is on the public floor (or retrieve one from the workroom). Please DO NOT plug the power cord directly into the outlet next to the kiosk.

As always, please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you,

MR

UPDATE: Renewing Checked Out Items

Hello,

Please be aware that SirsiDynix Symphony (WorkFlows) now calculates the new due date for renewed materials from the date the items are due and NOT from the date of the request. Customers can now request that items be renewed upon checking out materials if they want the full six weeks rather than having to wait until closer to the due date of the materials.

(Basically, renewal dates now operate as they did in the old system. Customers can request a renewal immediately after checking out items and get a full six weeks.)

MR

POSTED: October 2016 Staff Meeting Notes

Hello,

The staff meeting notes have been posted on the Staff Meetings portion of the group blog:

October 2016 Staff Meeting Notes

Please read the meeting notes, and remember that all staff members, whether absent or present at the meeting, are responsible for knowing the information presented in the notes.

Thanks to all staff for your continued input and feedback! As always, they are much appreciated.

The next staff meeting will be held on Monday, November 21, 2016, at 9:15AM at Lakewood NL.

Thanks,

MR

Harris County Housing Authority Waiting List

Hello,

As Dee mentioned in our meeting, Harris County Housing Authority has opened its waiting list for applicants wanting to apply for housing. The waiting list opened on Monday, October 31st, and closes on Wednesday, November 2nd at 5:00PM.

Below is a link to the application.

HCHA's Waiting List

HCHA has also provided a link to so that citizens can check the status of their application to see if they were selected: www.waitlistcheck.com. This link does not go live until Monday, November 14.

MR