Evening with the Authors

Good Day HPL,

Below is a message from Jennifer Schwartz.

As you may know, TLA’s “Evening with the Authors” event is scheduled to take place at the Julia Ideson Building, on Thursday, April 19^th, at 6:30 PM. It should be a wonderful event. We have a great line-up of authors: Chitra Divakaruni, Cathy Maxwell, Lynda Rutledge, Steven Fenberg, and Deborah Crombie.

I am writing to you today because we are looking for some qualified and interested volunteers with excellent customer service skills to help out with this event. Duties may include greeting, directing, ensuring that books are secure, crowd management, and other duties to be determined. The event will begin at 6:30, with appetizers in the Tudor Gallery, followed by a seated dinner and author talks in the auditorium from 7-9 PM, and finally, book sales in the main lobby at 9:00 PM.

If you could recruit some potential volunteers from your staff, I would be so grateful. I would like to get a total of 10 volunteers for the evening, just to ensure that we are fully covered. They would probably begin helping at 6:00 PM, and may finish as late as 10:00 PM.

We are going to ask that the volunteers dress in black and we will most likely be providing corsages/boutonnieres for identification purposes.

Please let Jennifer know if you have any questions. Thanks so much for any and all assistance.

Theodora.

Service Prioity - Workforce Development

Just a short note to thank you for emailing the Open Job and Skills Labs statistics every month. With assistance from Thuy Vo, there is a new place on the Neighborhood Library Leaders Blog where we can place these statistics.

Please check the toolbar for the Service Priority link. Next, please select Workforce Development from the menu on the left. On the right is a menu called Forms and Documents. Beneath it is a link for Open Job and Skills Labs. Simply choose your location from the drop down menu and you may enter statistics daily, weekly or monthly.

Please share tips, suggestions, and process improvements and any comments that you have about Workforce Development. The Workforce Manager's Team will be reviewing all input from you and working together to create processes and procedures that benefit us all!

Thanks!
Mary Wagoner

Open Enrollment Coming April 1st!

Open Enrollment is from April 1 - April 17

The Open Enrollment 2012 period is shortened this year and you will have less time than in previous years to make your elections. Look for your Open Enrollment 2012 DVD to arrive in the mail soon.

Check the Open Enrollment page starting April 1st for more information.

Thanks,

Laurie

After Hours Call List

The question is: is it essential for the manager to be the first point of contact for Hi-Tech when an alarm goes off in one of their building? Managers are in-charge of the building and know a whole lot more about the building than anyone else on their team.

Having said that if Hi-Tech calls you as the first point of contact to say that the alarm is going off at your location and they need a key holder, please do not ask Hi Tech or GSD Security to call the next staff person on the After Hours Call List. You call the key holder on the call list that lives closest to the location to come out and meet the GSD Security or Black Hawk security. Have the staff person report to you the outcome and be available to answer any questions or come to the building to assist if necessary.

Please ensure that staff on the After Hours call list understands this arrangement and their key and code works for all the assigned locations.

Please do not hesitate to contact your Team Leader/Extended Hour Coordinator if you have any question or post a comment here.

Thanks,

Shammi

Handy After-Hours Phone Numbers

Have you ever been working an evening or weekend and had a pipe break or the AC go out?

There is now an after-hours GSD Call Center for Weekdays after 4:30pm and on Weekends. Simply call 713-213-8776 and they can help you with your emergency plumbing, carpentry, and mechanical issues.

Emergency AC and HVAC issues can be assisted with the Johnson Controls After Hours number: 1-866-635-1395.

For Security issues after hours (including after hours alarms) call the On-Call Investigator at 832-316-1944.

For Neighborhood Library issues you can call 832-393-2707 during the weekday and on weekends and someone should answer your calls.

Thanks,

Laurie

Library Card Renewal Requirements -

Greetings - Please share this important reminder from Fred Schumacher about library card renewals. It may be a good idea to bring it up in your next all staff meeting to ensure every one is aware of renewal requirements.

Thanks,

Shammi

Hello all.

This is just a reminder to everyone regarding what is required of customers renewing their library card registrations. Everyone renewing his/her library card registration must submit a new completed application form and present the required documentation. If fines are owed on the account being renewed, the fines owed must be paid in full at the time the registration is renewed.

If you have question or concerns regarding renewal of library cards, please feel free to contact Circulation Administration at 832-393-2222 (choose option 3).

Thanks.

Fred Schumacher

Friends of the Houston Public Library

Hi!

The 34th Annual Bargain Book Sale is coming! Mark your calendar! The book sale will be held on April 13th, 14th and 15th at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The Friends of the Houston Public Library are dedicated to helping the Houston Public Library, but sometimes they need our help too. Please consider becoming a volunteer. In order to volunteer for the book sale, you may either complete the online volunteer form: http://www.friendsofhpl.org/cgi-bin/friends/volunteer.pl?utm_source=Three+Ways+to+Help+the+Friends!&utm_campaign=Feb+Volunteer+Day+&utm_medium=email; or call (832) 393-1387.

Thank you for being a Friend!
Mary Wagoner

Patron Comment Forms

Hello,

I have received clarification on the handling of complaints that I was not aware of so I thought I would share it with you here. When a customer complains (or compliments) our locations, we should offer them a Patron Comment Form. According to the Patron Comment Policy (1.1 B.1), “whether or not the patron decides to pursue a matter by filling out Patron Comment Form, a staff member and the unit manager always send in the form upon each incident of a complaint.”

Therefore, if a customer complains verbally, but does not want to fill out the Patron Comment Form, the staff member accepting the complaint should fill out the Patron Comment Form themselves with as much information as is available. This applies to complaints both in person and on the telephone. If the customer does not give you their name, leave that section blank. It is preferred that staff direct customer concerns to the manager first so he or she is aware of the issue and can address it immediately.

Route Patron Comment Forms to Yolanda Anguiano in NL Administration and indicate if follow up is needed. Communications tracks complaints and reports them monthly to ELT so it is as important to report these verbal complaints as the ones we receive in paper form. It can also be helpful to have a record of customer concerns as early as possible so they can be resolved quickly.

If you have any input of the Patron Comment process, please comment here or email me at Laurie.Covington@houstontx.gov.

Thanks,

Laurie

Mike Van Campen is at PLA

While Mike is at PLA this week, I am in charge of Neighborhood Libraries. You can reach me on my office phone at 832-393-1448 or cell phone 281-606-9343. Mike will be back on Monday, March 19th.

Heidi Daniel

Hi-Tech & GSD: Security Procedure Update

Greetings - Please review this important email below from Wendy and share with staff on the After-Hours call list. Please comment on this post or call your Team Leader/Extended Hours Coordinator if you have any question.

Thanks,

Shammi

Mike,

I talked with GSD Security, and I think we have found a procedure that will benefit Managers as well as GSD Security.

· When Hi-Tech calls and says there’s an alarm, they typically ask if they (Hi-Tech) should call HPD. The Manager should answer, “No. I will arrange for private security to investigate.” (HPD will always need the Manager to come out, and they charge the City for their visit.)

· Then hang up and call the GSD Security 24/7 line, 832-316-1944, to reach the Investigator-On-Call.

· The Investigator-On-Call will either investigate or contact the City’s security company on contract, Blackhawk, to drive out to the site and investigate.

· The Blackhawk person will then follow up with GSD Security regarding their findings. If something needs to be locked, GSD Security can lock it.

· If there appears to have been an actual break-in (a small percentage of the time), the Manager will get a call from GSD Security (NOT Hi-Tech) to come out and look to see if anything inside is disturbed/stolen. Either the Blackhawk contractor or the GSD Investigator-On-Call will remain on the site during all of this. The Manager will never be asked to be out there alone.

· If Hi-Tech calls again, tell them again that you’ve contacted the City’s security personnel and please do not send out HPD.

Wendy

Wendy Heger, AIA

Assistant Director for Planning & Facilities

Houston Public Library

(832) 393-1681

(281) 217-7960 mobile

Literacy - ESL

Hi,

In a meeting with Literacy Advance of Houston today, they suggested routing literacy related referrals, such as ESL and ABE classes, through United Way's 2-1-1 helpline. If you are assisting a customer in placing a call from a Cisco IP phone, please dial 713.957.4357. Their 24/7 helpline is free and assistance is offered in many languages.

Thanks!
Mary Wagoner

CIGNA Wellness

Hi!

If you have not completed your CIGNA health coaching by telephone or online, here is an easy way to keep $25 per month in your pocket! For step-by-step instructions on how to complete the online health coaching, please go to http://www.houstontx.gov/hr/wellness/files/Online%20step-by-step.pdf. After reading the three health coaching articles, you should receive a notification that you have met the health coaching requirement to save $25 per month .

Please share this information with your co-workers. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your supervisor, Team Leader or Extended Hours Coordinator. Thanks!

Mary Wagoner

Free Tax Services offered at the Central Library

Are your patrons in need of a place to get their taxes done for free? Is your location/locations being bombarded with questions and people with desperate need of help? If so, please send them to the Central Library to get help with tax preparation. If your location is one of the sites where AARP offer their service, and you are overwhelmed with people who need tax help, please send them to Central as an alternative. AARP provides preparation of Individual and Joint tax returns for moderate to low income taxpayers and are happy to assist your customers. Their hours of operation at Central is Mondays 2-6, Tuesdays 2-6, Thursdays 2-6, and Saturdays 10-2.

Please call 832-393-1313 for more information and details.

Have a wonderful day.

Theodora.

Cigna Wellness Engagement Reminder

By now you will have seen the email reminder from Dr. Lawson stressing to us that the deadline is almost here for the Cigna Wellness Engagement. As a follow up to that email, we are asking you to do the following two things:

1) Please follow up with your employees and strongly encourage them to take the time to read the three health related articles - it is a little bit of time for such a big savings (less time than Super Coupon Clipping, I guarantee it). Remember to print the email and have them sign it.

2) Be prepared to sign the email yourself at this month's manager's meeting for your Team Leader or Coordinator. If you are not going to be able to make it to that meeting, please print, sign and send it right away to your Team Leader or Coordinator.

Thanks everyone!

Heidi

Power and Utility Outages

We frequently experience short and long term power or utility outages at Neighborhood Libraries. The length of the outage is determined by what happened to interrupt the service to the building and what needs to be done to need to restore utility service.

Temporary power outages: These are usually short and weather related.

• If the lights go out temporarily during a thunderstorm, make announcements to customers and try to gather people near any available lights. Use flashlights if available.It is not a good idea to force customers to leave the building during a heavy downpour. Wait a few minutes before moving towards the Long Term Power Outages instructions.
• Once lights come back on, phones, computers, and servers may need to be reset. Burglar and fire alarms may also need to be reset.
• Call the GSD Security On-Call number (832-316-1942) or Mark Enax (832-335-0837) to check out the alarm system, card access, and security cameras.
• Continue with normal operations.

Long-term Power outages may require closing the building. These can be weather related or due to utility work in the area.

• Contact the GSD Call Center to report the outage--Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:30pm call 832.393.8400.
• For after-hours (4:30pm-7:30am) or weekends call 713-213-8776. It can be helpful to program these numbers into your cell phone so that you have them readily available when the power is out.
• Inform your immediate supervisor and the Neighborhood Library office (832-393-2707) about the outage.
• The Neighborhood Library Office will notify 311 and other libraries that the building is closed due to power outage.
• Start making announcements to customers that the library is closing due to the outage. If the length of the outage is known, give approximate length of time. Once the building is cleared, lock the doors and post signs.

For AC/Heating outages, if the temperature according to the digital thermometer is above 76 degrees or below 72 degrees contact Johnson Controls. During regular office hours use Sprocket. For after hours or weekends call 866.635.1395.

• If the temperature is below 60 or above 80 degrees and Johnson Controls is not already in the building working on the system or will not be able to come into the building in a timely manner, the building should be closed.
• If Johnson Controls is currently working on the air conditioner and thinks that it can be resolved soon, the building can remain open.
  Contact immediate supervisor or Neighborhood Libraries Office for assistance.

For water outages: A building must have working restrooms to remain open.
If outage is due to a water main break in the surrounding area,
Call 311 to report it and for information.

• Contact your immediate supervisor and the Neighborhood Libraries Office
  If outage is due to an emergency (plumbing problem or broken pipes)
• Contact GSD through Sprocket or contact the GSD Call center to report the outage--Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:30pm call 832.393.8400.
• For after-hours (4:30pm-7:30am) or weekends call 713-213-8776.
• Contact your immediate supervisor and the Neighborhood Libraries Office.

If the water outage occurs due to planned utility work

• Contact your immediate supervisor and Neighborhood Libraries Office.
• If there is enough advance notice, NL Office will contact Communications so a sign can be prepared and website updated.
  

Staff deployment during utility outages:

• If a building will be without power, AC, or water for extended periods of time, then staff will usually be deployed to nearby locations. NL Office and Team Leaders will provide information about deployment.
• If the outage will be short-term, staff may remain in the building.

It may be good to print this out and have it on hand for the next time the power is out. Here is a handy PDF version of the above informaiton:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6pUcgF0fjLbenoyNnJaSGxRRWFwU19FVlBvUGgtQQ

Thanks,

Laurie

Texas Voter Registration Applications

Greetings - A complaint dealing with the Voter Registration Applications prompted me to write this blog post. Some of you may have been asked this question as well so I thought I will share this information with all.

The office of Voter Registration has new applications and the only difference is that updated application has the City and Zip Code filled out. I called their office yesterday and was told that it is okay to use the Voter Registration applications that we have in stock as they are still valid.

I have informed Belinda Cox about the new applications and she has a good stock right now and will request the new ones once she runs out of the current stock. You can also request Voter Registration Applications in Spanish from the Supply Room. Belinda told me that they do stock applications in Spanish and they can also be requested.

Please do not hesitate to call me or your Team Leader or Extended Hour Coordinator if you have any further question or need clarification.

Thank you,

Shammi