Staff Meeting Notes 7-6-16

Summary: Camp Wonderopolis, Passport Office, iPads, Gaming Cart Key, Workroom Computers, Shelving, Statistics

Written by: 

In attendance: Angela Barratt (stenographer), Melinda Campbell (presiding), James Diederich, Teresa Eshelman, Cyrano Machey, Jonathan McFarland, Isabel Veloz.

1. Kids Corner (Angela):

• Camp Wonderopolis: wonderopolis.org
• Wonderopolis is a self-paced online educational activity camp aimed at 3rd-8th graders; mostly written at a 5th grade reading level
• It’s totally free, kids just have to create a profile
• If kids are having a hard time getting their 5 program stickers, they can use Camp Wonderopolis to get 1. They need to either print out or show you online a Wonder card they have earned. Then in the Notes field on their account, please put "Camp Wonderopolis"
• Lunch
• Lunch officials cannot accept scratch-outs on the paperwork, so if you have to make a change, please fill out the day's info again on a clean sheet without scratch-outs or whiteout. 
• Melinda: please make a photocopy of each day's tally sheet and put it on her desk. Also make sure that you are entering the reconciliation form for each day, and ordering food when we need it. 
• SRP Updates
• We have all prizes; please let Angela know if anything is running low and she will do her best to get more. 
• For family registration, putting the child's name in the adult's profile is not enough. Please make sure that both the child and the adult have an account and that they are registered under the same username (by using the "add member" feature). 
• Please remember that awarding Program Prizes is the radio button on the person's account, not the regular present function. 

2. Passport Office: 

• Melinda would like everyone to go check out the passport office, and the area outside it. 
• Yesterday we (Jonathan) processed 6 passports! With Saturday, that brings us to a total of 7! 
• Go America! 

• Jonathan has made a sign to remind our mail carrier to pick up the passport applications each day. He will put it out on the left side of the CSD where the mail guy usually puts our mail. Please discourage customers from putting items there.
• Jonathan has also set up a temporary locked area for secure storage. It is the locking cabinet above his desk. The key is on the green key string at the front desk and is labeled "Passport key"
• Jonathan: Please remember to inform customers that the fee that goes to the US Dept. of State needs to be personal check or money order only. 
• James: Can we have an info sheet at the front desk to make it easier for us to answer customer questions about passports? 
• Isabel: Can we put a "P" on passport receipts to make financial accounting easier until we have a working passport-only drawer? 

3. Crayola iPads: 

• We are down 2 iPads at our Crayola Kiosk. The one that has been broken for some time has been replaced and IT is waiting on the purchase of a new power cord for it. Melinda reported the one with the torn power cord to IT and they will work on finding a new cord for that one, too. 

4. The Mysterious Disappearance of the Gaming Cart Key:

• Check your pockets, check your desks. We can't show toons at lunch without it! 

5. Workroom Computers 

• Please use the one on the left when possible so that the one on the right is available for processing items. 
• Make sure to log out of your employee account and log back in to "staff." (this goes for CSD computers too) 

6. Shelving

• We are doing alright with shelving, but everyone can chip in a bit more. Try taking a few handfuls at a time on your roaming hours. We want to honor Ms. Rose's legacy! 

7. Statistics 

• Keep up the good work with desk stats! 
• Please remember to enter in program stats. 
• For this new fiscal year, stats are going to be divided into J, YA, and A, so please make sure you are counting each of those separately in your program tallies. 

8. Holds Shelf

• Everything on the Holds shelf must be tagged. It is not serving our customers to leave them untagged. 
• Please also make sure that the only holds on our holds shelf are for COL.

9. Clean up/Follow Through

• In general, please put away things you have used. 
• For example: 
• put away laptops after a computer class
• clean up after you use paper cutter or if a volunteer uses it at your behest and doesn't clean up
• after delivery, make sure all of the paper/rubber bands/ anything cleaned up and put away; ensure that all items get to the proper persons that day; hang flipkits without holds up on the doghouse 

Open Discussion

• Isabel: Please make sure you are plugging the laptops back in after the customers return them. 
• Jonathan: Don't forget the sweets/nacho birthday celebration that is going down next Wednesday! 

Staff Meeting Notes 3/23/16

Summary: Database Presentation, New books/material refresh, Training request reminders, Open Discussion: Party $, Planning Time

Written by: Angela Barratt

In attendance: Angela Barratt, Julia Bradley (presiding), Melinda Campbell, James Diederich, Teresa Eshelman, Cyrano Machey, Rose Siegel, Isabel Veloz.

1. Database Training: Brainfuse

• Angela and Cyrano walked us through a lively and fancy presentation of Brainfuse. 
• Here is a link to their classy color handout, and here is a link to the in-depth guide to Brainfuse that they created. You can also access these documents on our shared google drive (collierregional) by clicking on the left-hand link in drive called "Shared with me."

2. New books/material refresh

• Great job keeping everything looking fresh, especially with the NYT bestseller list
• For new books (depending on demand and popularity), try to keep only the current month and one month previous, but if you have to go further back to fill the display it's better than nothing (we talked about the fluctuation in new books and how it's impossible to predict the genres/amount that we will get)
• Please keep an eye out while roaming, particularly at the display under the TV in front
• We talked about perhaps using that space to display a specific genre, like nonfiction or romance. We decided to try romance and see how it goes. 



true romance! 

• Side note, Angela here: I just want to put in a bit on this subject from Julia's glowing email earlier this week: 
• "you should feel really proud of the respect you show our customers through presentation, neatness, organization, and awesome displays—regardless of whether you think anyone from the ELT is watching. Keep up the awesome work."

3. Training request reminders

• For training opportunities at the LDC, you need to submit a request through the training portal for funding reasons. You can read all about how to do that right here on the training portal under "Training Credits". 
• Julia will support anything you want to study to the best of her ability 
• If for any reason you need to submit training certificates, send them to Leilany before April 21; she will be taking an extended leave starting around then 

Open Discussion

4. Party $

• Questions put forth by our fearless leader: do we have 2 small parties? Or one MEGA Party? What will we eat at said party? What entertainment shall we hire? (okay, I'm editorializing a bit) 
• Apparently none of us wants to have a party because we were pretty reticent to share ideas.
• Pizza seems to be generally pleasing (personally I find even gluten-free vegetarian pizza quite pleasing) 

pizzapizzapizzapizzapizzapizzapizzapizzapizza

• Julia will start an email thread regarding pizza parlors we might use. Please chime in with any druthers. Also, if any other inspiration hits regarding types of food or other party business, please don't hold back.

5. Planning Time

• This was the opening to an ongoing discussion about planning time. 
• Melinda is doing an awesome job with the schedule, but she can only do so much without feedback from you. Feel free to let her and/or Julia know if you are finding that you don't have enough time, or if you have too much time. We talked about how some things are unpredictable, like number of library card apps or serials that come in each day. So if you need to talk about planning time in terms of weeks instead of a standard amount, that is fine. 
• Melinda said that on Friday she has scheduled people for what they asked to work on. Use the catch-up hour for whatever you need. If you finish everything you need to work on, please shelf read. 
• Melinda congratulated staff on doing such a great job with roaming in the past few weeks. 

Staff Meeting Notes 1/13/2016

Summary: Meeting Notes Standards, Monthly Reports, Shifting in the Adult Area, Closing Announcements, "Pop-Up" Open Job Lab Pilot, Stuff and Where it Lives, COL Media Team, Laptop Updates, MBK Lunch, Treasure Chest, Backup Storytime, Open Discussion

Written by: Angela

In Attendance: Angela Barratt (note-taking), Julia Bradley (presiding), James Diederich, Teresa Eshelman, Djuina Hammett, Cyrano Machey, Rose Siegel, Isabel Veloz

1. Meeting Notes Standards

• Meeting notes will now be a shared responsibility, and we will rotate in alphabetical order (so Angela is taking first shift) 
• Standards for thoroughness: since not everyone will be at any given staff meeting, we want them to know exactly what happened
• From Julia's Email: The person who takes meeting notes will be scheduled a planning hour directly afterwards in order to have ample time to write up notes. The template is now on the blog. If you click on the “Posts” tab, you will see it in draft form at the very top. Copy the text and paste it into a new post, making sure that you also add the date after the title of the post in the same format as the draft. (i.e. “Staff Meeting Notes x/x/2016”)
• Ideally the meeting notes will get put up same-day but if you are pressed for time or in the middle of another project, talk to Julia.
• Julia will also make sure that whatever handouts were provided will also be available to you on the blog. By the time you go to enter your notes, they’ll be there in a link at the bottom of the post under “Handouts.” (FYI, they link to a new folder in our Google Drive named “Collier staff meeting handouts.”)

2. Monthly Reports 

• Do them (thanks to the person who sent theirs in for January!) 
• Please send them in by the 5th of each month 

3. Shifting in the Adult Area: Map and Scheduling

• See map linked at the bottom of this post; we are shifting to match the map
• Reference has already moved to the back wall, thanks to our lovely volunteers
• We will be putting in more shelves for audiobooks, and swapping out the nasty display shelves for the clean ones that are in the closet in the children's area
• You may be scheduled to shift, particularly during hours before we open

4. Closing Announcements

• We will start bilingual closing announcements on Tuesday, January 19th (after the MLK holiday). If you would like to practice your Spanish pronunciation, Isabel has agreed to help train
• "CP" (Closing Procedures) people will coordinate to ensure that the announcements are done

5. "Pop-Up" Open Job Lab Pilot

• Open Job Lab numbers are low, but we all know it's not for lack of people who need help
• At Julia's Workforce Development meeting, they came up with the idea for a more flexible Open Job Lab concept: 
• A OJL-trained staff member will be scheduled to be available at the public computers for help with resumes, applications, etc
• Starts February 1st, pilot project initially scheduled to last 2 weeks
• For the time being, will not replace our regularly scheduled OJL
• It will be important to collect feedback from everyone on this project, regarding what works and what doesn't

6. Stuff and Where it Lives! 

• Let's encourage a general spirit of putting things away where they go
• The fridge is full; please make sure we are throwing things away on a regular basis
• This is a team effort! 
• We did get compliments from Jason from SPACES on how organized our staff workroom is

7. COL Media Team

• If you haven't submitted your staff bio to Julia, please do so ASAP 
• New COL blog/site coming soon
• If you are interested in blogging at all (even only once in a blue moon), let Julia know
• Remember, this blog is to keep us all in the loop but also to show off the awesome stuff we are doing here 

8. Laptop Updates on the Schedule

• Laptop updates are pushed out every week by IT on Thursday nights
• We will now have someone on the schedule as "Laptop Updates"
• When you are scheduled to do laptop updates ,you will restart all of the laptops (both carts) 

9. My Brother's Keeper Lunch at Collier on 1/29

• We will be hosting Brandon Cofield and other representatives from My Brother's Keeper on January 29th from 11-12. 
• There will be pizza! 
• This will not take the place of your scheduled lunch hour, it will be in addition. 

10. Kids' Corner (AB) 

• Treasure Chest 

• Incentive for kids to clean up the toys in the children's area
• Talk it up! 
• Is anyone interested in being a backup storytime person? (Angela will plan to make programs-in-a-box so they are ready to go) 

11. Open Discussion 

• Ms. Rose has shifted the DVDs so that English language DVDs have 3 shelves now
• James says don't be afraid to tidy up the magazines. It will serve our customers better to have them put away in the right place even if he is not here
• Holds wrappers: we are currently on threat level orange (that's very high) 
• Make sure that you check items to make sure that the label corresponds with the title/item number
• There is a milk crate behind the front desk where you can put items with holds if we are very busy and you don't have time to print a holds wrapper (until we get our cute wire basket) 
• Lines at the Customer Service Desk: one line.
• Should we have a sign? Line guides? 
• We can help people pay fines online at the self check/roaming station if they are using a credit card
• Updates from Djuina
• Check-in on Open Carry (no one has appeared to be packing heat) 
• Sally Swanson is the new Executive Director of the HPL Foundation
• PIN numbers: keep doin' what you're doin'
• New stamps coming soon for discards to improve resale value (they will say something like "Friends!" instead of "DISCARD")
• Passport Services for Collier- conversation is ongoing

Handouts:

Shifting map

Condensed version of Spanish closing announcement coming soon!

UPDATE 1/15/2016: Shorter version of English and Spanish closing announcements are here! Isabel will meet with you briefly this coming Tuesday to prepare for our Spanish announcement-making beginning Tuesday evening. 

Team Meeting: November 2014

Collier Team Meeting
 11/5/14 11:15AM
Notes Prepared by: Marcos Martinez

 SELF-CHECK (CHECKOUT MACHINES): September Circ reports are out and show another great success of this team's efforts to informing/educating/assisting customers with use of the checkout machines. September stats show 79% of checkouts were done using checkout machines. That's another 20% increase from August, which was at 58%! July report indicated an estimate of 37% use. The goal is to reach 85% by the end of 2014.

FOOD DRIVE @ COL: A collection bin for the food drive will be placed out in the lobby area. COL's food drive will begin Friday, 11/7/14, and run all month of November. All items will go to help support the local food pantry at Pathway Church of Houston. Only non-perishables will be accepted (ex. box foods, packages, cans, etc.). The idea behind this is to help support members of the Collier community who lack food. A community member lacking food cannot fully utilize the resources at the Library or focus on becoming an engaged citizen (ex. employed, volunteering, civic engagement, etc.). The Library is conducting this drive to help provide food to those who need a helping hand. FAQs sheet and flyer to follow soon.

STAFFING AT CSD:  Many customers have shared comments stating staff don't look busy or are holding conversations while redirecting customers to checkout at machines adjacent to desk. For the summer season, 3 staff were needed at the CSD, but with a reduction in traffic there may be times when only 2 staff are needed at the CSD. A short discussion took place with good ideas of possibly having 1 staff member at the checkout machines, 2 at the CSD, and 1 roving/roaming the floor. A sheet was provided to each staff member asking to indicate whether 2 or 3 staff are needed at the CSD for every hour we are open. Responses received from staff, observations made by manager, and statistical reporting will all be used to formulate a plan to use staff resources efficiently and effectively for this slow season (Nov-Jan).

Monthly Meeting: October 2014

Collier Team Meeting
October 15, 2014
Note Prepared by: Marcos Martinez

JULIA BRADLEY: All of us in this team must work together to help our newest team member, Julia, become well equipped on the service floor. You may see on the schedule “CSD – TR” which means Julia will either be shadowing you at the desk or you will assist with her hands-on training. Julia will be taking on the computer classes and open job lab, serve as volunteer coordinator, provide staff training of online resources, and maintain laptops/desktops to check for issues.

SIRSI & PLACING HOLDS: A few customers have reported their request for items, made with COL staff, have been sent to CEN for pick-up. Ensure the appropriate pick-up location is selected when using SIRSI “Place Holds” wizard. To assist customers, please utilize the online catalog to place holds for customers. Before confirming the hold request, ask the customer their preferred pick-up location.

“OP/$”: If you running to the bank to break big bills, you must transport the money in an envelope from the Library and back to the Library. This is for your safety and to not draw attention when you are transporting. Also, it is best to run to the bank prior to opening time to ensure we have change ready then. Have another team member witness how much you are transporting by counting the bills to them and again when you return.

CUSTOMER COMMENTS: Customer comments are greatly appreciated. They tell us when we are doing a great job and when we are not doing a great job. If we are falling short on something, we want to know that we are. Receiving customer complaints is a good thing in that we become aware of something is amiss and we can work to improve or correct it. Listen attentively, apologize if necessary, assure them comments will be passed and thank them. Use customer comment forms (found in CSD drawers and at front lobby area) to gather feedback. Let customer know they may fill out later and drop/mail to us.

INFORMATION DESK & CHECKOUT: Customers have filed complaints stating we, staff, are not wanting to assist customers when stationed at the desk. They’ve stated they have been given a paper with call number and pointed the direction to go. Another was when we informed customer(s) we no longer check out and we are only reference.

The CSD is the information desk. Please be mindful of the word choice used when informing and assisting customers on transactions at CSD and self checkout. Also, the word “self-checkout” should not be used on the public floor with customers. This may give the wrong message of us stating “do it yourself”. The word to use is “checkout area/desk”. When directing them to use the checkout machines to checkout materials, please offer assistance. My expectation is that we go out to the floor to assist customers where and when needed. The chairs at the CSD are not designed for using the full hour(s) you are assigned at the CSD. You will be moving often as customer need assistance.

TEAM WORK: Work together to assist customers and address concerns. All of us have a basic understanding and skills to deliver customer service, but we each have special expertise and skills to contribute to the team in order to deliver exceptionally to customers.

Monthly Meeting: September

Collier Team Meeting
September 3, 2014
Note Prepared by: Amethyst Taylor

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT MEETING: Community leaders are here for our first meeting. Across HPL, meetings with staff and community leaders are commencing in an effort to establish relationships and ingrain ourselves in the community. Right now we are starting at a local level; a group of leaders will be chosen and 4 to 5 of those leaders will be quarantined. HPL staff will then help these individuals however we can so that they can begin projects in the community. Such as fundraisers, neighborhood improvements and enhancements to the community.  Next September, all quarantined groups will come together and network.

HEB PARTNERSHIP: As you all may know, HPL has teamed up with HEB. We are launching a 2nd generation MyLink library card. An email was sent out with details on the partnership and what's to come. You all may want to refresh yourselves with the email.

• We're encouraging patrons to register for the 2nd generation MyLink card. Our goal is to reach 1 million registrations. Currently we have around 700,000 active users in our system. So we need to work hard to get those users and more to register for our 2nd generation card. 
• Some incentives for registration are as follows: 

• Each registrant is entered for a CHANCE to win 1 of 5 iPad Mini's. 

•  Amnesty period from 9/10 to 9/26 (see email for details) Also, a cheat sheet will be available for staff to refresh themselves with details.
• HEB trucks will be wrapped in the HPL logo.
• Dr. Lawson's announcement of the campaign will be heard in HEB stores.  
• HEB reusable bags will be distributed to customers during the kick off.
• During the week of 9/10 to 9/17, all staff is asked and encouraged to wear your red/white HPL t-shirt. All staff may not have enough shirts to cover the week so you are allowed to wear a red or white shirt/blouse (non-HPL). Campaign buttons will be distributed for staff to wear also. 

If you have any questions, please see the email sent out from Dr. Lawson or ask Marcos.

WELLNESS: New incentive for participation levels. Gift cards!
Deadline to fill out health assessment is October 31st, but you must do your biometric screening first. Please schedule your appointment. You are allowed to go during work hours, if so let Marcos or Jayla know so that they can schedule accordingly.

Please note that if you don't do the biometric screening first, they're are questions you won't be able to answer on the health assessment. Answers marked "unknown" or "not sure" will result in your assessment not counting.

COMMENTS:

• The front door is fixed. Hooray! 
• More than two people are needed at the CSD. Marcos and Jayla will work together to put this into effect.
• Volunteers could serve as Greeters in their downtime instead of staff, since they can't work the CSD. 
• Continue to push for self checkout! The front desk is reference/information desk only unless circumstances arise such as ID checkouts or Self Check issues.

Remember that our goal is 1 million 2nd generation MyLink registrations! Read the email from Dr. Lawson!

Monthly Meeting: August 2014

Collier Team Meeting
August 20, 2014

NEW VOLUNTEER: Mr. Le has started his work as our new volunteer. Like Thanh, Mr. Le is from the Chinese Community Center. If he needs any assistance, please don't hesitate to guide him.

COMPUTER CLASSES: As a result of staffing and attendance issues, the Spanish and Vietnamese computer classes are no more. Those classes will be replaced by the ESL (English as a Second Language) Computer Class which will take place on Thursdays from 3-4:30pm . Classes will be taught by Marcos and Thanh.

TAGGING: As you all know, we will no longer be taking the time to tag the whole library collection. However, as we continue to discharge items, be sure to check to make sure they are tagged. When you suspect an item may not be tagged, or has a problem with the tag, please put it in the basket located under the desk on the left side. All items need a tag except for ILL items.

SELF-CHECKOUT: Please continue to push self-checkout to patrons. We'd like to convey to customers that the physical desk is the information desk and the self-checkout machines are considered our "check out desk". The information desk should be used if patrons 1) have issues with the self-checkout, 2) need to apply for a library card, 3) simply don't want to use the machine, and 4) need help finding information and resources.

HEAR: Marcos has skills assessments for those who need them. He will conduct meetings for those who need it.

NARRATIVE REPORTS: Please continue to send Marcos your narrative reports. Be sure to turn them in on time. They are due on the 5th of each month.

SHELF READING: Starting next week staff will be assigned to conduct a half hour of shelf-reading a week. The collection has been divided into groups so that each person checks a specific area. Staff will also be required to complete a log of the areas they check. This can be found under the folder titled Collier Reports and Logs. If you weren't at the meeting, you can see Marcos for you shelf reading assignment.

MEETING ROOM REQUESTS: The person who signs themselves as the contact person is the only person who can check-in, cancel, or change a reservation. Starting today, please enter the contact person's information into the Google Calendar. You can list more than one person as the contact person.

BILLING LOST OR DAMAGED ITEMS: When billing lost or damaged items, please use the Sirsi Billing Wizard to do so. Don't forget to add on the processing fee as well. The breakdown to bill items is as shown:

Uncatalogued items = $6

Cataloged = Search Sirsi Using Item Search for Price

Hardback (processing) = $10

Paperback (processing) = $5

GREETING: Instead of having three people at the desk, a Greeter will be scheduled during every shift. If there are long lines at the information desk, the greeter is responsible for providing adequate backup.

JKP

Monthly Team Meeting 03.26.2014

Collier Monthly Team Meeting
Notes by Marcos Martinez
03.26.2014

• PERSONAL BUSINESS: Personal business should be conducted during 15-minute or lunch breaks and is suggested to use personal devices for personal matters. Please do not surf the web for leisure purposes or carry personal phone calls while at the CSD or on the public floor when open to the public. Copies of page 22 of the City of Houston Employee Guidebook was distributed to all team members focusing on the section of "Use of City Communication Systems".
• GREETINGS: Please greet/acknowledge fellow team members and superiors when they enter a room (COL members, other branch members visiting, team leaders, etc.). We want to welcome all guests to our work home; both customers and staff.
• DESK SHIFT SWITCHING: When being relieved from the desk, please remember to properly follow through or refer customer(s) before leaving the desk. For example, if beginning the transaction of a new library card and your relief arrives, inform the customer that "Staff Member A" will take care of processing their application and thank them. We do not want to start a transaction and leave without informing them with the next steps or who will be attending to them. This may leave the customer wondering where you are and possibly wait for you when you may be out for lunch. Not a great experience for the customer. Follow through and/or refer!!
• UNATTENDED CHILDREN & LIB TOYS: Children under the age of 7 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times and child must be with parent. Children conducting themselves disorderly in the toy area (i.e. throwing toys, running, standing on furniture, etc.) should be addressed and brought to the attention of the parent/guardian. Remember to communicate to next desk shift crew (your relief) what is going on and/or what has been addressed. This will help with following through with asking customers to leave if they cannot comply with library rules.
• CUSTOMER LOSES PROPERTY: If a customer claims to have lost their property on Library premises (photo id, wallet, etc.), we should do the following: 1) check if someone has turned in item(s) in question; 2) inform all efforts are made to contact owner if item(s) are turned in to staff; and 3) ask customer if they would like to leave their name and contact info in case property is turned in within the next 1-2 days. We do not offer to call police to complete a police report. We can encourage/suggest the customer to file a report with HPD. If HPD arrives on site to conduct investigation or file report, please proceed with submitting an incident report.
• CHECKOUT AT CSD: Customer must have a library card or valid photo-ID to check out items. No card or ID, then no check out.
• NEW LSS (Tech Instructor): Lloyd will be deployed in April 2014 to FRA/MEY grouping to assist with delivering computer classes. Our new LSS will start with us on 3/31/14 Monday and Lloyd will be here for 1-2 weeks to train her and pass on his duties. Please welcome Wendy on Monday when she arrives.
• COL ROOF & EXTERIOR: Collier is scheduled to have roof and exterior worked on later this 2014, according to CIP. Staff kitchen renovation is scheduled to be completed but no exact date(s) determined for when work will begin.
• CONTRACTOR SIGN-IN: All contractors (Johnson Control, GSD-contractors, Coin Copier Techs, etc.) visiting must sign in before they begin work. There is one copy on a clipboard in the work room. An additional copy was created and is located in the drawer at the CSD for our convenience (thank you, Amethyst!).
• STAFF 15-MIN BREAKS: Ideally, breaks should be taken when off the CSD. If there are 3 staff at the CSD and no long line of customers, you may proceed to take a break. Just remember to communicate this to your fellow team members at the CSD before leaving for a break.
• SHELVES: When scheduled to RM/SH, please remember to straighten shelves and push book ends in. We would not want for our shelves to look messy or possibly injure someone by not tidying up our shelves. Also, there is no assigned areas to shelve. Please take the collection of books from the sorting area at the CSD that is overflowing; Unified Service Delivery!
• TEAM PROJECTS: A spreadsheet detailing our team's various projects and statuses will be available soon on the COL Team Blog.

-MM

NL Manager's Meeting Notes 1/23/2014

The managers were presented with three speakers from different agencies. Listed below are brief tips on how to help a customer who may be homeless, approach a mental health crisis, and de-escalate a situation. Note: A safety/security training may be provided to all staff in the near future.

I. Homeless Customers (SEARCH): A representative from SEARCH Homeless Agency came out to talk about what they do and offer to their clients--homeless. SEARCH has a mobile unit that covers the City of Houston and they go out to meet with clients. They help educate families who are in shelters, navigate clients with obtaining IDs (vitals), provide housing, assist with finding employment, and most importantly listen to their clients. The Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT) can be reached at 713-970-7520. For publicly intoxicated citizens, call 3-1-1 to request for HPD to escort them to get sober at a facility--Sobering Center Program.

II. Crisis Intervention (HPD): People in mental health crisis can be very unpredictable. Watch for body language; expect the unexpected; call police if not sure or in doubt. Model and exhibit what behavior you want a customer to do when approaching them. Approach calm and controlled while listening to what they have to say. Introduce yourself (ex. "Hi, I'm the Librarian...") and find out their name to use in the conversation. This helps show that you respect them and attempt to connect with them.

• Avoid orders and commands
• Speak clearly, calmly, and concisely
• Be honest and don't play along with delusions
• Don't get physical (no hands on customer)

III. Verbal Judo (HPL Josh Norris): Represent HPL in a positive manner.

• 3 kinds of people: Nice, deflective and difficult
• Mention and emphasize the good/positive
• Hierarchy of De-escalation:
• positive approach
• reiterate positive language
• give customer good choices
• take appropriate action

-MM

Collier Team Meeting 01/3/2014

Collier Team Meeting Notes
1/3/2014
10:00am-11:45am
Meeting called by: Marcos M.

1. Phones: The Library does not have a courtesy phone for the public to use. However, we are able to permit the use of the staff phone at the CSD when emergencies arise or a child is calling for a ride. Please limit these calls to two minutes and reiterate to the customer the length of use. If adults ask to use the phone, simply state we do not have a courtesy phone, but in some instances we allow the use for emergencies or when a child needs to call for a ride.

2. Phone Messages: Lourdes will be looking for or ordering "Important Message" pads for us to use at the CSD. Please attempt to take a message (caller's name, time/date called, msg) when the staff member is off-site, in a program or training, or off for the day.

3. Public's Personal Items / Headphones: If a customer asks us to watch or hold on to their personal items, please inform the customer that we cannot because we may be called away from the desk and would not want to see their personal items stolen. If a customer purchases a set of headphones from us and claims they do not function, please confirm this by testing on our computers. If the set does not function, we can issue them a new set at no charge. Please make a note on the damaged item and place both in my mailbox. No refunds can be issued for headphones once purchased.

4. SMART Goal Definitions: A sheet has been created defining some of the agreed SMART goal verbiage. A printed copy has been distributed to each staff member.

5. SMART Goal Logs: To help with measuring SMART goal progress, a few logs have been created. This includes a delivery log (Teresa and Lourdes will primarily use), library card application log (Lourdes and Marcos will only access electronically), and a shelving log (TBD). Beginning February 1st, all processed library card applications will be recorded on the log. Please be sure to review your apps one more time before submitting to the tray. If any errors are identified, Lourdes will inform you and have you correct the error.

6. Staff Updates & Discussion: Flyers will be made promoting a particular program/series offered at COL. We display only the last 4 months of new books received. All others prior can have their date label removed from the spine and shelved in their respective location. Tax forms will be placed out at the latest February 1st at the entrance on the counter top by the book sale carts. This will make access easier for customers. Once again, our new assistant manager/children's librarian will start Monday, January 6th. Please welcome and help her with any questions she may have. I will designate a few of you to help with hands-on training. Stay tuned...

7. Comments: A staff comment box/jar will be created and placed by the mailboxes. The idea is to submit comments/suggestions/questions anonymously for the next month's team meeting. Public comment forms have been printed and placed out on the public floor.


-MM

Collier Team Meeting 12/18/2013

COL Team Meeting
12/18/13
11:15am-11:40am
Meeting called by: Marcos Martinez

1. Holiday Celebration, Friday, 12/20/13: For those scheduled to work, report first to COL and finish assigned opening duties. Permitted to leave from COL to CEN at or around 9:30am for Celebration at JIB. Be sure to print out parking permit and map in case CEN parking garage is full. Lunch hour is included for those attending the celebration. I, Marcos, will enter the lunch hours for those attending; staff attending will only need to punch in at the start of your shift and at the end of your shift.
2. Monthly Program Calendar: ShaRhonda is drafting our program calendar for January and we plan to have it ready for print and distrubtion by first week of January. This will be available to hand out to customers at the CSD and at the entrance with the other promo materials. A plan will be devised to begin marketing our programs in the new year. I suggest you refer customers who need help with computers to one of our classes offered (that will be the opportunity to hand them the program calendar).
3. Statistics: Will be making slight modifications on the statistics sheet so columns are more clear. Please remember to record your stats while at the desk or before leaving the desk. Items that are received across the desk and are requested to be sent out for fulfilling holds will be counted and recorded when items in bin are taken to the work room. More details later.
4. Self Check-Out Machines: Promote the use of our self check out machines. If they are not used, they could be removed and installed at another location. Remember these machines will not replace staff, but will free up time for us to work on other projects/programs/reference questions. A sign will be created and placed at the CSD to help promote the machines.
5. Substitute Binder: A binder has been created containing blank subsitute timesheets, instructions, and copies of completed timesheets. This will be kept alongside the Smart Money (SMM) binder in the work room.

Questions?
Feel free to email me or stop by my office.

Thank you,
-Marcos M.