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!

Camp STREAM @ COL Regional! #success

Huge THANKS to the Community Engagement (CE) Team for planning and pulling off yet another successful program at Collier the week of August 4th, 2014. We had nearly 30 kids registered and participating in various activities all week long in this day camp. Below are some snapshots CE Team took and shared with us.

-M

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

"Read Box" Book Display: Play on RedBox

Our volunteers, Val and Titus, did a fantastic job creating this fun book display. Trish now leads the adult themed book display and did a great job seeing this through. Great job, Team!

-M

Song & Dance: Happy Birthday!

Thank you to all who wished me well for and on my birthday! The song and dance at closing time on Friday, 8/1/14, was quite entertaining and fun.

-M

Last SRP Event! COL Presents: TX/RX Labs & Paper Circuits!

The Library hosted TX/RX Labs, a Houston Makerspace Organization, and participants learned about circuits and created a paper circuit using copper tape, a battery and small lights all adhered to a sheet of paper. Very cool program!

Houston Pop Shop: Build Your Own Terrarium

Houston Pop Shop came by to show the children how to build a terrarium. What's a Terrarium? A terrarium is an area within a glass container usually enclosed to keep an ecosystem in a small scale. There are no live animals such a fish; just plants. 

Take a look at some of the pictures.