Unattended Children

We had kids after 6pm both Friday and Saturday. I have put a document under "Hot Links." Lets be more proactive with kids at closing to make sure that they call for a ride. Perhaps take them to the courtesy phone and wait while they talk. Give the kids a copy of the "Unattended Children" Document and ask them to give it to their parents (or give it to the parent when they pick the child up).

Counting Reference Questions!

Our count for reference questions has been really low lately. I think that we are not being very good at marking all of our reference questions. Please try to be more accurate in how you count your reference questions.

One person asking for 10 books by titles would be 10 marks.
Assisting someone to format a word document (font, spacing, etc) would be reference if it requires you to pull from your professional knowledge.
Helping with the computer or printer would be computer marks
Questions such as where is the bathroom or where are the DVDs would be directional.

Netlibrary and Windows 7

Below is information Vi Johnson obtained. The issue is that the netLibrary Download Media Center is not yet compatible with Windows 7. The customers can still download but need to do it differently:
Steps:
1. He can still go through the catalog to get the record link or go directly to netLibrary's page, and when he finds an item to download, he clicks on the title link. This has not changed.
2. He will see a link that says "Let me choose a different download option. A screen will come up asking - do you want to download the Media Center? On that page there is a link that says "No thanks, continue with the Manual Download.
3. Clicking on this link will take the user back to the options to download the item. They must choose the "Checkout and download CD quality" option (not the radio quality option).
The vendor's tech also said they can go into their netLibrary account and edit the preferences to not use the Media Center for downloading. This is done by simply logging in and unchecking the option to use the Media Center. When they log in, netLibrary will remember their option for the next time they try to download.

New Magazine Subscriptions

We cancelled a bunch of magazine subscriptions this year. Starting in January, we will start getting a few new magazines and a bunch will stop coming. Morning Star is one that has been cancelled.

There is a list of all the subscriptions at the reference desk in a notebook called "Periodicals List."

Check with Laurie if you have any questions.

Friends Books

The Friends have created a donations room at their warehouse that is open to teachers, day cares, and other similar groups. If you know of any organization that could use some good, gently used books, please have them contact the Friends of the Library.

Friends can be reached by phone: 832-393-1387 or email: info@friendsofhpl.org

The Friends warehouse is located in the Chase Bank Building on the corner of Bingle and Little York. They will accept donations Saturday mornings (9am-1pm) but people should call before coming with their books: 713-849-9330.

Medical Center Training Available

If you are interested in any of these classes, please let me know. You can get training credit if you turn in a certificate after the training.

The Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center (HAM-TMC Library) will be holding six workshops from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, South Central Region from November 2009 to January 2010. These workshops are free and open to all. To register for any of the workshops, please go to http://nnlm.gov/scr/training/. Directions to the HAM-TMC Library are included on this page as well.

Monday, November 16, 2009, 8:30 to 12:30
Healthy Aging at Your Library: Connecting Older Adults to Health Information

Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 8:30 to 12:30
Public Health Information on the Web

Friday, January 15, 2009
8:00 am – 12:00 pm Easy to Read Health and Wellness Materials for Consumers
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Super Searcher

Saturday, January 16, 2009
8:00 am – 12:00 pm Grants and Proposal Writing
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Caring for the Mind

Overdrive

Marianne Lorio sent this out:

Channel 13 did a small story on Tuesday about e-books which included an interview with Sandra Fernandez about what the library offers. Hopefully this will encourage people to check out what we provide and, if so, will undoubtedly lead to patron questions. This makes it especially prudent to sign up for some of the online training Overdrive is offering through out September. You can find more information at http://www.overdrive.com/products/dlr/training/ . I attended one of the webinars and didn’t have any problems which is a good sign. I am attaching the slides from the webinar I attended. There are some good slides that provide clear directions on what format can be used on what type of player.

http://10.34.145.39/twiki/pub/HPL/OverdriveTraining/Training_Month_Browse_Check_Out_Download.pdf

Millionaire Club and SRP Reader

See this message from Sandy Farmer:

Some of you may have noticed that the reading log on Summer Reader is not showing a title at this time. This is a problem for the Millionaires Club. As HISD students begin to return to school they will be asked if they read their 5 books this summer. Those who logged them in on our system will probably call and ask for a copy of their list since they can no longer log in.

WE WILL PROVIDE ONE!

Please log into summer reader.

Click on Reports
Click on Custom Web report
Click on the box next to First Name and enter the child’s first name
Click on the Box next to Last Name and enter the child’s last name
If it is a common name find some other piece of identifying information and click on the box then enter the info
Click on the box next to title
If they want the reviews as well you can click on the box next to review
Then Run the report.

You may print this report out and hand it to them. You may also save this as an HTML file and email it to the school librarian if the CUSTOMER request this. You cannot send the information to the school without a request from the customer.


HISD supports our SRP and we need to do all we can to support theirs! Thank you for your help with this.

Bilingual Assistance Schedule

The new World Languages Center Team is trying out a schedule for translation assistance. You can view the schedule at http://hplwlc.blogspot.com/. Then click on Bilinugual Staff Schedule on the right side of the screen.

There on certain hours of each day, there are a person's initials and an extension to call them on. If there is no language specified, then it is Spanish otherwise there should be a three letter abbreviation for a certain language (ie CHI for Chinese or VI for Vietnamese).

If there is no one listed for a particular hour, then we must make do here without assistance.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Laurie

Annual Reports

If you would like to read the FY2009 Annual Report for Collier please use this link:
http://10.34.145.39/twiki/bin/view/HPL/CollierRegionalLibrary

Laurie

HPL Mobile Express at Jungman in August

Below please find the list of dates that HPL Mobile Express will be at JUN Neighborhood Library should anyone call or any customers ask:

MONDAYS

10 August 2009 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM

17 August 2009 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM

24 August 2009 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM

31 August 2009 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM

THURSDAYS

13 August 2009 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM

20 August 2009 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM

27 August 2009 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM

School Shots

Karen Luik sent this about school shots:
I've created a new wiki page, 2009 Back to School Immunizations, which includes a calendar and map showing the schedule and locations of immunization clinics taking place in the Houston area in July and August, as well as information about the new vaccine requirements for students entering kindergarten and the 7th grade.
***New Information:

New School Vaccine Requirements

Beginning August 1, 2009, 5 new vaccines have been added to the required immunizations for school children

• Hepatitis A vaccine: all students entering kindergarten will required to have 2 doses.
• MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine: all students entering kindergarten will be required to have 2 does.
• Varicella (Chickenpox) vaccine: all students entering kindergarten and 7th grade will be required to have 2 does. A written statement from a parent, legal guardian, school nurse, or physician attesting to the child's having had chickenpox or immunity from the disease will be accepted in lieu of either doses of the vaccine.
• Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria and accellular pertussis-containing) vaccine: all students entering 7th grade will be required to have 1 dose. A booster dose will be required if the student last received a tetanus-containing vaccine five year ago. Students in grades 8-12 are required to have a booster dose of Tdap if it has been 10 years since their previous dose of a tetanus-containing vaccine.
• Meningococcal vaccine: all students entering 7th grade will be required to have 1 dose.

Please share this information with customers and other staff members.If you know of other locations offering free back to school shots in the coming weeks, email me (Karen) and I'll add them to the map and calendar.

OCE Printers

Please see this message from Gina:

All,

We want to ensure that IT knows about all our concerns with OCE. Please report to the IT desk any problems you have with the system. This includes the number of times you have to reset the equipment by unplugging the machines. If you reset so frequently that you don’t want to call them each time, you can keep an accurate log of the number of instances and report it at the end of the week directly to Ron Stauss via e-mail.

It is important that we do this starting now. I know that it may take as much time to document the problem as it does to fix it, but if we do not let IT know that we have issues, they will assume that everything is working as it should.

Gina

I will put a table on the reference desk so we can keep track of the number of times it is down or we have to reset (by unplugging it) so we can keep an accurate count.

Laurie

Free Prescription Discount Cards

Customers are hearing about this.

It is a joint effort of Harris County and the National Association of Counties (NACo) and saves an average of 20% on your prescription medication. Cards are available at all Harris County Public Library locations.

Visit caremark.com/naco or call 1-877-321-2652 for further information.

Circus Tickets

We are being asked to sign the back of each circus tickets when we give them out. Just sign near where the branch name is stamped.

Michelle

ILL Receipts

ILL Return Receipts

To serve our customers better, all Houston Public Library locations will issue return receipts to our customers returning items borrowed through Interlibrary Loan.

Procedure for issuing ILL return receipts to HPL customers:

Staff will inspect the item at the time of its return to ensure that it is in good condition.

1. For items returned in acceptable condition, staff will write a return receipt for the customer, using the ILL Return Receipt book issued to the branch.
2. the receipt must include:
1. customer name
2. ILL transaction number (found at the top of the ILL slip, above the customer name)
3. item title
4. date of return
5. staff member’s signature
   

The customer is given the original of the completed return receipt. Copies remain in the ILL Return Receipt book.

For ILL items returned via book drops or when the customer does not want to wait for the receipt, staff are to complete the return receipt and leave all copies in the ILL Return Receipt book.

I have made some temporary ones and they are in the pocket of the ILL notebook. Please start using them today (6/15/09)

Money!!

Okay, now that I have your attention...

I am putting a $ next to people's names on the ref schedule if you are needed to act as the second signer for the deposit. (Lena already does this for the circulation schedule). This means that you should sit with the person from circulation who has been assigned while they do the money. I have found that it works pretty well for one person to count and the 2nd person to enter the data into the computer. You need to pay attention to the money being counted and make sure that the form is completed correctly.

Also, starting today (6/10/09) we are going to count the money each night before putting it in the safe.

Thanks,
Laurie

Hand Sanitizer

We have received a large container of Hand Sanitizer that is meant for the public. It is currently at the end of the check out desk.

Wendy Heger in Planning asks that it be monitored but somewhere that the public realizes they can use it too. HPL's goal is to reduce the spread of germs and prevent disease within our available resources. Let me know if you have any questions or other feedback.

Laurie

Jungman Staff joining us!

Please join me in welcoming Jungman staff members who will be helping out here for the summer.

Yasmin Washington will start Saturday 6/6/09
Victoria Austin will start Saturday 6/6/09
Kandis Franklin will start next week probably Tuesday 6/9/09

We are very grateful for their assistance while Jungman is receiving ADA renovations!

Laurie

Tracking the Waiting List

For the month of June, we are going to track the waiting list for the computers. I have noticed that our waiting list is longer each day. To help justify adding computers to IT, Becky suggested tracking how long the waiting list is throughout a month. I have created a form and it is at the Reference Desk. Please try to make a note each hour how many people are waiting for the computer.

Thanks!

Weeding with CREW Manual

Here is the link for the new CREW Manual on the Texas State Library's page http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew/. The CREW Manual is used to help weed books based on Dewey Decimal category. Take a look at it when you have time.

TexasLawHelp.org

You can print Do-It-Yourself law forms at http://www.texaslawhelp.org/TX/index.cfm including divorce forms. The courts are referring people there already. Try to take a look at it so that you can assist people.

Summer Reading

The SRP signups started May 1st, but the actual program/logging of books or hours read begins JUNE 1st. Patrons need to sign their kids up online. If they had signed up last year and forgotten their password, we can reset it. There are links to training for and information on using the SRP software on the Juvenille Services Wiki http://10.34.145.39/twiki/bin/view/HPL/SummerReadingProgram. Try to look at the software before June 1st. You may also be asked by patrons with help in signing up for the SRP.

You can find the links on Inside HPL Reference and Circulation Links there are links, both Staff and Public in the lower left hand gray box labeled SRP Reader Online Access. It is also on the regular website under SRP and register. Both Sydney and Michelle received training on the program so check with them if you have problems.

Monthly Reports

I created a template for monthly reports so that I can get all the info I need for the monthly report. http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcztj3jt_48hpnrxsd2&hl=en

We'll see if that will make it easier for all of us. You can create a copy of it and then save with month and name.

May Calendar

The May Calendar is posted under schedules. Let me know if you have any corrections or questions.

Laurie

Tax season is over!

We are all celebrating that tax season is over! Leonore plans to keep the tax forms out until the end of April and then will recycle them.

I just added up the count for tax aide by our wonderful volunteers from AARP. They helped 956 people this year!

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone has elected to stop doing business with public libraries. After our subscription ends on July 31^st we will not be able to provide access to Rosetta Stone. There is nothing that we can do about it.

As we get nearer to the last day of the trial we will be asked about this more often so if you have any questions about this please feel free to ask.

This transition time is a good chance to familiarize ourselves with and to promote Mango Languages and the downloadable language learning e-audiobooks available through NetLibrary.

Tax Help

According to our AARP person, they are not available to answer any questions as of 4/15/09. If customers call you can give them the contact info from the AARP Tax Aid website: by phone at 1-888-AARP-NOW or write to: AARP Tax-Aide, 601 E. Street NW, Washington DC 20049-1214.

Friends Information

Collier received a nice acrylic stand to house Friends information for the public. Currently, there is 1 copy of the newsletter (more should be coming from HPL PrintShop), the cards for the Book Sale, and membership forms. There is an address on the forms for people to send in their money to join. If someone insists they want us to send it in, you can, but only if it is a check. DO NOT ACCEPT CASH!! It can go in interoffice mail to the Friends.

Sundays and temperature

Sunny was here today to restart the AC and I asked him about Sundays. He doesn't know why it has been so hot. He thinks that the blips in electricity that we have had may be turning off the chillers.

He suggested that if it is hot when we first get to Collier on Sunday we call 1-866-635-1395 to report that it is too hot.

All of the guys who are on call live far away so it takes them a while to get here. They have to be on site to make any adjustments.

New Pharos Link

https://192.168.132.21/Pharos/Logon.aspx

Same password as before. A security certificate warning comes up; you should accept even though it recommends that you not accept to continue.

IT sent some instructions. They are on the Reference Desk. Take a look when you get a chance.

New tax issues for 2009

• Your stimulus payment from last year should not be included as income when you file your 2008 tax return. Most people received the maximum Economic Stimulus Payment in 2008. However, some people may be eligible for a first time credit or for a larger payment than they were eligible for last year. This amount is called a Recovery Rebate Credit . You'll need to have the amount of your Stimulus Payment from last year so you can figure out whether or not you're eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit. Use this link to determine your amount from last year. https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/IRServlet?app=IRACTC&selectLanguage=en
• People have asked about claiming hurricane damage (apparently talking about it some in the media). They can use Form 4684 to claim. We have the form but not the instructions. Additional instructions are in Publication 547.

Checking Voting Records

I found an interesting website last night when looking for an individual member of Congress's voting record. The site is http://www.votesmart.org/. You can search by last name or zip code and then click on the right hand side for Voting Record. You can look at all or select a topic such as Abortion or Immigration. It lists the date, bill name, how the particular voted, and if the bill passed.

Tax Help 2009

There is a map for the various tax sites (both HPL and other locations around Houston) on the HPL Wiki at http://10.34.145.39/twiki/bin/view/HPL/TaxHelp. There is also a list and a link that allows you to search by zip code.

PBS Young Writers Contest

According to Sarah Worthen at Ring:

A commercial on PBS about the Reading Rainbow Young Writers Contest says to see your public librarian. You can print the application and rules off the website.

http://www.houstonpbs.org/houstonpbskids/contests.html

Christmas Tree Recycling

According to City Council Member Toni Lawrence:

Start the New Year by being green and by recycling your families Christmas tree Take your tree to one of the city of Houston’s 14 tree-recycling locations. From now until January 12^th, 2009, you can drop off your Christmas tree at one of 14 sites across the city. If you receive the City’s Automated Garbage Collection, you can also place tree at the curb on your scheduled tree waste/heavy trash collection day and it will be picked up for recycling. Decorations and stands must be removed. No flocked trees will be recycled.

This year’s drop off collection sites are:

Sunday-Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm

• Sunbeam Neighborhood Depository-5100Sunbeam
• Central Neighborhood Depository-2240 Central St.
• Kirkpatrick Neighborhood Depository-5565 Kirkpatrick
• Windfern Neighborhood Depository-6023 Windfern

Monday-Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm, Sunday 1:00pm-5:00pm

• Westpark Consumer Recycling Center-5900 Westpark
• Memorial Park, Ball Fields 4 and 5-7300 Memorial Drive
• T.C. Jester Park-4200 T.C. Jester West

Weekdays 9:00am-5:00pm, Saturday 9:00am-12:00pm, Closed Sunday

• Living Earth Technology-5625 Crawford
• Living Earth Technology-1503 Industrial Drive (Gessner and Hwy 90)
• CJM Soils Supermarket-1700 Highway 90A East
• CJM Soils Supermarket-12202 Cutten Road

Daily 9:00am-5:00pm

• Doss Park-2500 Frick Road