Citizenship Corners @ HPL

Citizenship Corner

USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Houston are committed to strengthening immigrant integration efforts in the City through proactive citizenship awareness, education, and outreach activities.

The Letter of Agreement (LOA) between USCIS and the City of Houston was recently signed.

Under the agreement, USCIS and the City will collaborate to:

• Distribute educational materials highlighting U.S. citizenship and the naturalization process at city facilities;
• Hold information sessions for permanent residents interested in learning about U.S. citizenship;
•  Increase awareness of citizenship rights, responsibilities, and the naturalization process among eligible permanent residents.

As of the information that I have received from the Office of International Communities, September 17th is the National Citizenship Day and there will be either a press release or a press conference formally announcing this partnership. To meet one of the objectives of this partnership, a Citizenship Corner has been set up at the Central Library on the 1st floor near the Local Authors display. You will find books related to the Citizenship test preparation and informational brochures from the USCIS. Donna Jackson is working on the signage for this Corner.

I highly recommend setting up a display to highlight the Citizenship Test preparation resources you have in your collection. Please assist customers looking for the test preparation material by showing them the Virtual Citizenship Corner on our Databases page. In addition there is an audio of Citizenship Test preparation on Hoopla! So far, Bracewell; Southwest Express and Walter Neighborhood Libraries have set up a Citizenship Corners in their neighborhood libraries. Once you have your Citizenship Corner set up, please send me a picture to add to my collage of pictures.

Last, but not least, www.uscis.gov/citizenship has resources for teachers, students and agencies. Please let me know if you have any question or suggestions.

Thanks,

Shammi

Avalable Technology

For questions about types of software, hardware, technology, printing, scanning etc. available on our public computers, please refer to the Available Technology page on the website. If you have any suggestions, please send Virtual Library Services an email.

Similar information about staff computers will be available soon on the intranet.

Sincerely,

Saima Kadir

HEAR Labs now available!

Hello,

With the transition of the HEAR software, please take advantage of the HEAR Open Labs at the LDC if you have questions about the new process. These labs have been designed to provide one-on-one assistance to staff, managers and administrators who need help navigating the new HEAR Application. Please follow the instructions below to register for a session of your choice, if needed. Please ensure that this information is shared with your team members as well.

Here are the links to the job aids that have been developed to assist with various HEAR functions.   I was able to use the job aids to create a plan yesterday so give it a try.

• Add SMART Goals to Plan
• Add Behavioral Factors to Plan
• Submit Plan for Approval

For any other questions/concerns about HEAR, please feel free to contact a member of HR that is listed below.

·         Chanta George (3-1337)

·         Sharon Alvarez (3-1351)

·         Valda DeWitt (3-4885)

Thanks,

 Laurie

HEAR Labs:

Thursday, July 16 10am-3:30pm

Tuesday, July 21 10am-3:30pm

Wednesday, July 22 10am-3:30pm

Thursday, July 23 10am-3:30pm

Tuesday, July 28 10am-3:30pm

Wednesday, July 29 10am-3:30pm

Friday, July 31 10am-3:30pm

New Facility Checklist

Hello,

As discussed in the Managers Meeting, we have a newly revised Facility Checklist for all Neighborhood Libraries, Special Collections and Central locations.  Please use this form beginning July 1, 2015 and submit it electronically to Celeste Diaz by the 10th of each month.  Please walk through your location(s), as if you were the customer, looking for issues or problems that you may not have noticed previously.   Report the issues and record them on the form. Link to the form (Download to Excel to edit and send to Celeste.)

Changes to the form:

• There are now 5 sections to the form:  Exterior, Interior, Lighting, Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment, and Other.

• In the first 4 sections, there is a place for you to list issues by category (next to the Yes/No columns) that have been around for more than a month that fall in priority 1 or 2.  List Sprocket Work Order numbers where appropriate.

• Below that, please list issues that are new this month.  Include Sprocket Work Order numbers where appropriate.

• For the Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment section: most of these are not reported via Sprocket but should be reported to Jason Stephens.  Please list when you reported the issues and provide as much detailed information as you can.  These are often not resolved within a month.  When possible, take pictures and put the pictures on the G drive under Neighborhood Libraries—NL Photos.

• There are specific priorities for you to use when using the form.  

Priorities Key

Priority 1:  Health and Safety (Fire Code violation, mold, glass, sharp metal, high volume leaks, offensive graffiti)

Priority 2:  Access and Safety (Blocked access to building or materials, broken windows; parking lot lights)

Priority 3:  Routine repairs (burned out interior lights, dripping faucet)

Priority 4:  Routine maintenance (cleaning; furniture/upholstery cleaning; broken blinds; paint; pest control)   

• The last section of the form allows you to list open Sprocket Work Orders that have been unresolved for more than 6 months and/or Work Orders that can be closed.

• You may add extra lines when needed.

 We will share your checklists with SPACES each month in a summary form and as individual site lists.  We want to thank SPACES for their input in making this a working document that will benefit everyone.  Our thanks to Celeste Diaz, and special thanks to Laurie Covington and Jason Stephens for their work on this project.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Celeste or me.

Best regards,

Mary Wagoner, M.L.I.S.

832-393-2707

Changing Phone Greetings

To change greetings or to turn on the alternate greeting, please call 832-395-1299. You must dial the full number from an outside phone or 5-1299 from the Library phones

1. When prompted for ID enter "2580".
2. When prompted for password enter "0852".
3. When prompted for the extension of the call handler, enter 1 and the full 10 digit number of the branches main phone number. (i.e. 1-832-393-1740)
4. Listen to the prompts, they will let you re-record a greeting or activate/deactivate/record an alternate greeting among other things.  The alternate greeting should be used on holidays (July 4 for example).  To use it, record a greeting for it, then activate it.  While the alternate greeting is active, all other greetings and busy/closed behavior are ignored.  Deactivate the alternate greeting when the holiday is over.

You can find the standardized greetings here if you need them.

Thanks!

Laurie

HEAR Annual Reviews

Assessment Schedule in the Interim HEAR System

Annual Assessment Period:

§  Non-supervisory is July 1, 2014 thru June 30, 2015

(Due Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2015)

§  Supervisory is August 1, 2014 thru July 31, 2015

(Due Date: Friday, July 31, 2015)

A new Talent Management System is coming for our HEAR evaluation process. The new HEAR plans for FY15-FY16 will be created in the new Talent Management System and should not be  placed  in the current Interim HEAR Application as those plans will not transfer into the new system.

The training for the new Talent Management System is slated to begin in July and more information will be forthcoming. Below you will find additional information to update you on the transition timeline and general information about due dates for evaluations.

Transition Timeline

§  2014-15 HEAR assessments should be completed in the Interim HEAR application. 

§  2015-16 HEAR plans will be created in the Talent Management System. 

§  Supervisor/Manager training starts July 1, 2015