Collier Staff Meeting
Wednesday 2/18/15
Present: Djuina Hammett, Sara Pope, Julia Bradley, Cyrano
Machey, Rose Siegal, Lolita Butler, Teresa Eshelman, James Diederich
Not Present: Amethyst Taylor
1. Library Cards Training-Cyrano
·
Please consult Cyrano’s handouts for details
·
For computer cards: First check to see if a
customer is in the system already.
o
If yes, you can either give a customer their
card number
o
Or, they can pay $1 for a new card if the card
is unexpired
o
Make sure to choose either AdultComp or
YouthComp so it has the correct permissions and expiration date
o
Name and birthdate are necessary for everyone
§
For a child, put the school name in the notes
field
§
For adults, an alt ID is required, but DO NOT
put it in the Alt ID field, as this will create an issue later if they try to
get a library card. Put the ID number in the notes field following the T, I or
X format
·
For Library Cards: First check to see if a
customer is in the system already
o
When renewing a card, make sure to extend the
expiration date on the card
o
For pin numbers, don’t initially offer to change
the pin number. The procedure is to write down the Sirsi generated pin number
on the yellow About Your Library Card sheet. Tell the customer they can change
the pin number online, and if they wish, you can walk them to the catalog
computer to change it. If the customer asks you, then you can change it.
o
Make sure the form is filled out completely in
BLUE or BLACK ink. No colored ink, no pencil.
o
For youth library cards, make sure the gray box
is filled out completely, including the laptop permission box and the child
verification box. If both parents want to be able to know what a child has
checked out on a card, or want to be able to bring the child in and check out
without a library card, they both need to be on the form.
o
Make sure Collier is the home library!
o
There are only 3 types we use: Resident, NR
Waiver or Non-Resident
o
User Cat2 is only for youth cards (adults don’t
need laptop permission)
o
The format for city and state is the city, a
space, and then the state abbreviation (no commas!):
Houston TX = correct
Houston, TX = incorrect
o
The parent’s date of birth goes in the notes
field, not on the same line as the name
·
On applications, make sure you put your initials
(legibly!) and date
·
Make sure to ask the customer if he/she would
like a voter’s registration card, and check the appropriate box
·
Don’t forget to put the sticky bar code on the
application
·
Mark the correct box for how identity/address
was verified, and write down the ID number and type on the appropriate line
·
If a customer does not know his/her PIN number,
you must ask for ID to change the PIN number
·
If a customer is picking up holds for a card holder (example, husband picking up
holds for his wife) and he doesn’t know the PIN, you may check him out at the
desk. You should still ask for ID and verify that the addresses match. This is
the ONLY TIME you may check out a customer at the desk.
2. Telephone Etiquette:
·
Make sure to answer the phone properly every
time whether internal or external. This is the greeting:
o
“Thank you for calling the Houston Public
Library system. This is the Collier Regional Library. How may I help you?”
·
Smile
·
Speak clearly and at an appropriate speed
·
Be aware of your tone and inflection
·
Give the customer on the phone your undivided
attention
·
If you must place a customer on hold (either an
internal or external customer) you must ask their permission to place them on
hold, receive permission from the customer, and then you may place them on
hold.
3. Phones on the floor & Browsing at the desk
·
Cell phones are only permissible on the floor
during closed hours
·
You should NEVER have your phone out at the
desk, either talking on it, texting, browsing the internet, looking at
pictures, etc.
·
Your cell phone should not even be with you at
the desk. Leave it in the workroom.
·
If you have a family emergency, you should give
them the private line number: 832-393-1752. You should also let people know if
something is going on so that we can find you if you get a call
·
Browsing the internet at the desk is prohibited
o
Exceptions are if you are doing something work
related
·
Work related things include familiarizing
yourself with HPL’s web page and Intranet, reading HPL blogs (there is lots of
useful information on other locations’ blogs in addition to our own!), or
preparing for a program (should only be done if you have no other time off the
desk to do so)
·
If a customer asks you to look up something on a
website, that is fine as well, because it is work related
·
Having a cell phone out at the desk, or browsing
the internet at the desk (except for work related things) will be subject to
disciplinary action
4. New Book Check-In
·
When checking in new books, be on the lookout
for a sheet of labels that has a couple of labels missing in each book that you
check in. A quick flip through the pages should reveal if there is a sheet in
there.
o
These sheets seem to be often found in board
books and “flimsies” (the 8x8” books, most often about things like movies, tv
shows or Barbie)
·
If you find one of these label sheets, please
throw it away
·
Also, after the meeting, Teresa reminded me
about flimsies with stickers in them:
o
If you are checking in new books, and you come
across a book that has stickers in it, please don’t check it in, and give it to
Sara
5. CEN items on the shelf
·
When checking in items, make sure you are putting
Central’s items in the correct bin
·
If you are shelving, be aware of the items you
are shelving. If there is an I on the sticker on the top left back corner of
the book, it is most likely a Central item
·
If it says CEN on the label, that would also be
a Central item
·
If you are shelf reading, and you notice a book
that looks strange, check to see if it is Central’s by scanning it
·
If you see a small dot on the label, it is most
likely Central’s item (although not always, as some used to belong to Central,
but have since been floated to NLs)
6. DIY DVD covers
·
We are working to see if there is a professional
looking template that can be printed in color and look nice
·
In the meantime, if you come across a DVD that
has a Do-It-Yourself cover, please set it aside
7. Giving Change
·
We only open the register to give change when
there is a transaction
·
If a customer has a $5 and wants to buy a print
card, if they want to buy a magazine, they can get change back
·
If a customer has change and wants a solid
dollar, if you have one, you can trade them, or you can check with other staff
o
We cannot open the register to give them a
dollar
o
DO NOT tell a customer to ask other customers to
trade them a dollar for coins
o
If a customer has 5 quarters and wants to buy a
magazine, they cannot get a paper dollar back. That is not change.
8. Open Discussion
o
Adults in the teen room after 3 pm on weekdays, all
day Saturdays, in the summer and school vacation days, on the computers are not
allowed
§
The teen room is for teens. We are working on
getting a sign made explaining this to our customers
§
The teen computers have been removed from the
queue that the customers can see. To use a teen computer, a customer must go to
the selected computer and put in the user id and password there (same as kids
computers)
o
By the same token, adults with children can use
the kids computers, but there should not be adults without children in the kids
room
o
Self-check now has a renew feature, which we
aren’t really advertising, as it currently allows items on hold for other
customers to be renewed. The option is there, and if a customer chooses to use
it, so be it. It doesn’t work for DVDs, since they are not renewable.
o
Tagging: Tags should be placed behind the
barcode in the back cover of the book, since many customers seem like they’re trying to scan
barcodes on books
o
Barcode Generator: Make sure you’re using the
barcode generator if a customer forgets their library card. This is going to
help our self-check statistics!
o
Roaming means you should be out on the library
floor-it is not acceptable to go sit in the workroom during your roaming hour
if it seems like no one needs help. If no one needs help, you can work on
shifting/shelf reading, shelve a few things, merchandise our collection by
making sure there are items face out on each shelf etc. If you need a
suggestion on a task to do while roaming, ask Djuina or Sara
o
ILLs-when you are doing the Clear Hold Shelf,
make sure you are checking to see if there are any ILLs that need to be sent
back! If you print the Clear Hold Shelf list from the intranet, this makes it
easier
o
Statistics:
§
Pulled items is the total number of
items on the paging list, whether found or not. If you are assigned paging in
the morning, before you start looking for your items, go ahead and count the
number of items on your list, and write it down on the stats sheet. This will
make it less likely that you will forget.
§
Processed
items is the total number of items from delivery, plus the total number of
items from the clear hold shelf report, plus items in the bins
·
If you
are assigned Opening Procedures in the morning, you are responsible for
counting the number of items in the gray bins and recording that number on the
previous day’s stats sheet
Please note you are responsible for the information that we went over at the meeting, whether you were there or not. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to contact either Sara or Djuina.
