Important TLA update from the office of Deputy Director, public services

An update to information shared last week on TLA. Since this is a local conference. only lunch will be reimbursable for attendees at a rate of $15 a day. And, remember that funding allocation is at the discretion of the supervisor. Please see note from Deputy Director's Office below:

"Since TLA is a local conference this year, lunch will be the only reimbursable meal @ $15 per day.

Please note: Ticketed conference meals are reimbursable.

Please see city policy below:

* 7.3.4 Reimbursable meal expenses when traveling to and returning from a travel

destination and for one day trips: Employees will be reimbursed for actual

meal expenses on days that they are traveling to or returning from their travel

destination or making a one day business trip. Actual meal expenses, which

are reasonable for the travel location, will be paid/reimbursed on these days.

Meal expenses will only be paid/reimbursed for meals purchased after the

Employee begins his/her business travel and before the employee ends

his/her business travel (cost of meals paid/reimbursed must be reasonable

based on the time of day traveled).

Please be advised that funding allocation is at your supervisor’s discretion.

HPL Facility Keys - Updated Policy & Procedure

From: Davidson, Veronica - HPL

Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 7:49 AM

To: HPL - All Employees

Subject: HPL Facility Keys - Updated Policy and Procedure

Hello Everyone -

The HPL Policy Committee was recently asked to review Policy and Procedure 2.2, relating to facility keys. The assignment and stewardship of facility keys is a significant responsibility. The policy needed to be revised to provide better guidelines for how to manage this responsibility and to reflect changes in technology and the organization. Members of the Cabinet reviewed the draft policy and offered revisions. The Executive Leadership Team did the same, and approved the policy on Monday, January 5^th. Below are the revision highlights of this policy and procedure.

· All employees are provided more detailed instructions on the process of submitting a key, cardkey, gate remote and security alarm pass code request:

· Old Policy – Requests for all Houston Public Library locations must come from the appropriate supervisor.

· New Policy – Neighborhood Library Administration will submit requests for Neighborhood Library Staff. Appropriate Chief or equivalent will submit requests for staff at Jesse H. Jones or Julia Ideson Building. HPL Express Administration Manager will submit requests for staff at HPL Express locations. All other staff will contact the Planning & Facilities Division to request these items.

· Specific instructions are provided for part-time employees:

· Old Policy – Part-time employees are not discussed.

· New Policy - Part-time employees at Neighborhood Libraries will not be issued keys, cardkey, gate remote or security codes. All exemptions must be determined by the Chief of Neighborhood Libraries and reviewed by the Assistant Director of Planning & Facilities.

· All employees are provided more detailed instructions on the process for reporting a lost key, cardkey, and gate remote:

· Old Procedure – Employees who lose these items must immediately report the loss to Facilities Management and complete an Incident Report.

· New Procedure – The employee is instructed to complete an Incident report within two business days via email which will automatically route the loss to Supervisor, Planning & Facilities Division, Security Management Division/General Services Department and Director’s Office. A loss of a key, should receive at a minimum a Level 2 reminder according to the Positive Performance Program guidelines.

· Upon separation of employment, employees are provided more detailed instructions on the process for returning key(s), cardkey, and gate remote:

· Old Procedure – Upon separation of employment, it will be necessary to turn in all items at the Facilities Management Office.

· New Procedure – Upon separation of employment, it will be necessary to turn in all items to one of the following responsible areas, as appropriate: Immediate Supervisor, Human Resources Division, or Planning & Facilities Division. Items will then be forwarded to the Security Management Division, General Services Department.

· New Employee Exit Form was created.

You can review the entire policy and procedure by visiting the library’s intranet site, at https://hplnet.hpl.lib.tx.us/. Once there, choose Forms and Documents/Policies and Procedures. The new policy and procedure is under the Planning & Facilities tab, Policy 2.2 and Procedure 2.2.

I hope you will take a few moments to review the documents on the intranet site. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Policy Committee Members:

· Veronica Davidson, Communications Division, Chair

· Regina Stemmer, Public Services

· Mike VanCampen, Central Services/Public Services

· Emmanuel Merenini, IT

· MyTesha Tates, Administration

· Ophelia Cespedes, Human Resources/Administration

· Sandra Fernandez, Communications Division

This email was approved for distribution to all HPL employees by Greg Simpson, Assistant Director, Communications Division.

Veronica T. Davidson

Houston Public Library

Communications Division

500 McKinney

Houston, TX 77002

832-393-1335

***This e-mail contains the thoughts and opinions of Veronica Davidson and does not necessarily represent official Houston Public Library policy.***

TLA & ALA

We are getting to the time of year where we start thinking about library conferences. Unfortunately, this year we will most likely not have the funds we had in the past to send staff to conferences. This will mean a couple of things: 1) We will be sending fewer people and 2) Those who we do send may receive either full or partial stipends.

Decisions on who will attend will be based on a number of considerations. First priority will be given to staff who serve on committees, give conference presentations and conduct library business. This applies to the next two fiscal years. For the most part, staff will be limited to one conference per fiscal year unless they fall into one of the above categories. This is particularly important as we approach FY10 since we have multiple conferences occurring in that year. So, as you consider which conference you wish to attend, keep in mind these major conferences:

• July 2009 - ALA - Chicago, IL
• March 2010 - PLA - Portland, OR
• April 2010 - TLA - San Antonio, TX
• June 2010 - ALA - Washington, DC

I would also add that anything you can do to save money on a travel request will help.

For the immediate future, we are looking at the 2009 TLA Annual Conference here in Houston from March 31 - April 3, 2009 and 2009 ALA Conference in Chicago from July 9 to July 15, 2009. If you would like to attend ALA conference, paperwork needs to be turned in to NL Administration office by Friday, January 23. In order to coordinate our assignment of travel funds, please ensure that all interested staff have their TLA applications in to the Neighborhood Libraries office by Monday, February 2.

You will need to submit the "Travel and Attendance" request form along with a 206 Leave Authorization form. Both of which are available on the HPL Intranet. Once we receive these, the district managers and Regina Stemmer, Chief of NL will review requests and make decisions on travel approvals and what percentage will be funded.

As you fill out our paperwork, you can use the following figures as guidelines for each conference (Keep in mind anything you can do to cut down on these figures will help.)

TLA - Houston, TX - March 31 to April 3, 2009

This estimate below is based on a 3 day attendance. Please adjust the dollar amount to your individual attendance.

Airfare and Hotel accommodations are not allowed since TLA 2009 Conference is held locally.

*Registration:	$	185.00	Mail in registration deadline March 13, 2009 (for HPL to prepay)
Airfare:	$	0.00	Not Allowed
Hotel:	$	0.00	Not Allowed
Meals:	$	120.00	$40 per day for 3 days (includes tips for meals)
Ground Trans.:	$	36.00	Taxi, shuttle, subway or parking
Other:	$	15..00	Tips (, bell service, etc. – max of 15% each)
Total:	$	356.00	Average attendance expense

*You can register online at a discount rate of $170.00 and get reimbursed.

2009 ALA Annual Conference - Chicago, IL - July 9 to July 15, 2009

This estimate below is based on a 3 night stay. Please adjust dollar amount to your individual stay.

Registration:	$	190.00	Early Bird Interactive Registration ends March 3, 2009 (prepay or reimbursement)
Airfare:	$	500.00	Per Advantage Travel Inc, http://viaadvantage.com(prepay or reimbursement)
Hotel:	$	631.00	Based on average single occupancy rate for 3 nights at $183 per night
Meals:	$	150.00	$50 per day for 3 days (includes tips for meals).
Ground Trans.:	$	50.00	Taxi, shuttle or subway
Other:	$	50.00	Tips (cab fare, bell service, etc. – max of 15% each)
Total:	$	1571.00	Average Stay Expense

I greatly encourage NL manager and staff to look at TLA this year as an option. Since it is in Houston, it is much cheaper for us to send staff and we will be able to send more people. Further, if you do not want to attend the full conference and are interested in attending the exhibits only, there will be information forthcoming on how you can volunteer and receive entry to the exhibit. If you are interested in this option, please inform your district manager and we will make sure to keep you posted.

If you have any questions, please let your district manager know.

Thanks,

Shammi

Season's Greetings

Here is wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

Neighborhood Library Administration

Tip Sheet from the Department of Homeland Security

I would like to thank Michael Van Campen for sharing this information that gives some general guidelines on what to do in the event of someone calling in a bomb threat. Please contact the Librarian-in-charge (if unavailable, contact next highest ranking staff member)as soon as the call ends, who will call and gather security and HPD to make decisions about next steps.


Click here for a brochure from Homeland Security regarding bomb threats.

Mini-Grants for Neighborhood Library Programs deadline 12/19/08

Here is your opportunity to apply for the second annual mini-grant to fund programming ideas at HPL Neighborhood Libraries.

This is the second year we have used this process to award Friends programming money. The total funds available this year from the Friends remains $18,000.

• Grant amount will be between $500 -$1000
• Programming can be targeted for families, children, teens, adults or multicultural events.
• Final reports on how the program helps meet HPL goals and objectives will be required.

This funding is to provide programming for any age group at any time of the year. Funds could be used for a series of programs such as videogame tournaments, science programming for youth during the school year, a program each week of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, funds for refreshments and craft supplies for an after school Teen craft, or hiring a Tai Chi instructor for an adult series. Branches can group together to present a series of programs at multiple locations, or apply on your own. Programs should support HPL goals and objectives. The mini-grants are available to Neighborhood Libraries, HPL Express Locations and the Kids and Teens rooms at Central.

Application forms and other supporting information are attached.

Applications must be received in the Office of Neighborhood Libraries by December 19, 2008.
Awards will be announced by January 9, 2009. Program funds must be encumbered by June 30, 2009.
Questions? Contact Ana Shearon at 832-393-2705 or Ana.Shearon@CityofHouston.net

Checklist for coverage

• Neighborhood Libraries submit their Monthly staff calendar to the Regional Branch Manager and LA-Supervisor of their district.
• NL Managers always attempt to cover any gaps in their schedule with their own staff by making schedule adjustments such as changing days off, working split shifts, flex hours or switching nights & weekends.
• Coverage requests should only be made after all attempts at adjusting schedules have been exhausted.

Checklist to Request Coverage:

• The coverage is requested by the Manager of NL or person in-charge via email to the Regional Manager (RM) for Reference and LA-Supervisor for Circulation with a cc to the District Manager.
• RM or LA Supervisor gets the coverage request and schedules Regional Branch staff to provide the coverage.
• RM and/or LA Supervisor copies the District Manager on all Coverage Requests received and completed. RM includes the total hours of coverage (Reference+ Circulation) provided to the district by the Regional staff in the Monthly Narrative.
• If the RM or LA Supervisor can’t provide the coverage, he/she checks within the District to see if coverage can be provided.
• If all efforts at providing coverage fail, the RM contacts the District Manager to seek approval to go outside of the District.
• Any coverage request from Central should always go through the Chief of NL.

Checklist when Receiving Coverage:

• When the staff member reports to a work location needing coverage, NL Manager or person in-charge gives a brief orientation to the guest staff, including a tour of the facility; introduction to staff; Security Guard; a place to keep their belongings; schedule for the day and other expectations.
• NL Manager adds up all the hours of coverage received or provided for the Monthly Narrative in the format of date, hours, reference or circulation.