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