SRP - Group Registration

Email from Heidi regarding SRP group registration.



It has come to our attention that this year we already have identified at least a handful or more of potentially fraudulent groups who are registering under various names and collecting large amounts of prizes, but whose information can not be verified.



To keep this from occurring, we are now asking that groups (specifically those over 10 kids) that register must show/ provide one of the following to collect their prizes:

State Daycare Registration/ License Number (if they don’t have an official paper with the license number you can look them up here: http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/Search_Texas_Child_Care/CCLNET/Source/CPA/ppSearchTXChildCare2.aspx)
501 c.3 status (You can search here if they don’t have proof http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/forwardToSearch.do)
If it is a school then they can show a current School ID and list their Principal and a contact number for the school. We will send you a form to assist with this later today
If they do not have any of these items, but you feel or know that they are valid, just try to get them to show you something that is valid, even if it is just google searching their name and address to verify. For example, one of the possible fraudulent groups used a real group’s name, but we can call the real group and find out if they actually signed up for the program.
If they are a group that says they are a large family or something similar then they should have all the kids register individually with their parent or caregiver, and they should not register as a group


If you need assistance with this, please let us know. We are not trying to make the summer more difficult, but we are trying to make the program one that rewards kids for reading and not rewarding people who just want to get the prizes. As you all know, our prize numbers are low this year, and we need to make things stretch as much as possible. We have also had issues with this in the past, where “groups” actually got the prizes and scalped them for profit.



I am out of the office this afternoon, but if you have questions that must be answered today, please call Michaela at x32028 or Jane at x32027.



Heidi



Heidi M Daniel, LIV

Programming

Houston Public Library

500 McKinney

Houston, TX 77002

Floating Collection Presentation Schedule

As you probably already know that starting July 1st, the circulating items at all Neighborhood and Express Libraries will float between branches. This means that items which are borrowed from one location and returned at a different location automatically become part of the collection at the returning location. Such items will not generate an in-transit slip. Interim Team Leaders and Chief of the neighborhood libraries strongly recommend that every staff member attend one of the sessions pertaining to floating collection for more details.

Here is the schedule:

Thursday June 10th @ SCE & JUN 10:30 am
Wednesday June 16th @ CEN 9: 00 am @ Kids Place on the 4th floor.
Thursday June 17th @ Stella; ROB; & STA @ 10:30 am
Friday June 18th @ Park Place @ 10:30 am
Friday June 25th @ STE @ 10:30 am

Thank you,

Shammi

Praise for Neighborhood Libraries

Greetings,

I had the honor of attending the Library's presentation of the FY2011 budget to City Council this afternoon. I wanted to take the time to share with everyone the high regard with which City Council holds the library and the tremendous respect they showed for our hard-working staff. Each time a Council Member spoke, they lead with extremely high praise for the library, our staff, and the crucial roles we play in our community. I wanted to make sure that I shared this overwhelming appreciation and sincere gratitude for the great work you and your teams do every day.

Thank You,
Mike VC

Action Required: Executive Order 1-50 "Prohibited Workplace Conduct Including Sexual Harassment"

Team Leaders,

Please ensure that you and your staff members have submitted your forms to your appropriate supervisor.

If you have not submitted please take the time today to do so.

Here are the instructions:

Please make sure these items are handled by their due dates:

• All HPL employees must read Executive Order 1-50, sign the attached acknowledgment form and submit it to their supervisor by Friday, May 21, 2010. The acknowledgment form is also available under HR Forms on Inside HPL https://hplnet.hpl.lib.tx.us/forms/EO_1-50-Acknowledgment.pdf

• Managers are asked to confirm each employee under your supervision has read and signed the acknowledgment and must forward all forms to the HPL-HR office by Friday, May 28, 2010.

If you have any questions about the Executive Order, please contact one of HPL’s DDRs listed above.

NOTE: If you have already sent the form on to HR, please let your respective Team Leader in Neighborhood Libraries Administration know. Also, you need to make sure that all of your staff have either submitted this document to HR or to you for submission to HR.

Thanks,
Mike Van Campen

Definition of Obscene; Child Pornography & Harmful to Minors

As you know we are obligated to follow guidelines as laid out in the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which states the library "must protect against access to visual depictions that 1) are obscene, 2) contain child pornography, or 3) are harmful to minors." I am including links to these definitions to share with staff.

For a definition of obscene, CIPA ultimately points to state law. In Texas Statute 43.21, the term "obscene" is clearly defined. This is the definition we need to operate on when determining if something is obscene. Here is a link to Chapter 43 of the Texas Penal Code:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.43.htm#43.21


The second two issues--2) child pornography and 3) harmful to minors--are well defined at the following CIPA information page provided by WebJunction.
http://webjunction.org/91/articles/content/432235


Please review & share with staff the HPL Policies & Procedures: https://hplnet.hpl.lib.tx.us/polandpro/pol-2_3.pdf specifically relating to Short term Suspension; Long Term Suspension and Indefinite Suspension. Anytime a customer is suspended from the library, an Incident Report must be filled out.

Thanks,
Shammi

COMS Floating Survey

Greetings all,

This is just an additional reminder to complete the Floating Survey for COMS that was sent out via e-mail by Mary Stanton on Monday and again today. As we move to floating collections, it is extremely important that every location provide input to help make this as smooth a process as possible. The deadline for submitting the survey to Mary Stanton is tomorrow (Friday, May 21).

Thanks,
Mike VC

Mayor Parker comes to Carnegie

On May 14th, 15 students from HISD schools visited the Carnegie Neighborhood library to sign up for the Summer Reading Program and search the catalog using Lexile rankings. Dr Lawson, Jim Hundemeer and other high ranking officials from HISD and the Mayors office were also in attendance.