Tax Forms

Hey, y'all!

If a customer calls for tax forms and doesn't want to print them or says "but they don't come with instuctions!," you can help them order them from this site.

Just have them give you their info and it's free for them. You can even order them a couple copies in case they mess up. The site says that it should take 10 business days to arrive.

Alternatively, if you have someone who would prefer to call and order forms themselves, they can call this number: 1-800-829-3676

-Angela

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. 

Meeting Notes 12/30/2015

Weekly Staff Meeting

Wednesday, 12.30.2015

─

Attendees

J. Bradley

M. Campbell

A.   Barratt

C. Machey

T. Eshelman

J. Diederich

I.Veloz

R. Siegel

Agenda

ADA Refresher

1.       If it's not clear what service a dog accompanying a library patron provides, there are only two questions staff may ask: 

• "Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?"
• "What task has the dog been trained to perform?" 

If you have already approached a patron and asked these questions, please inform your fellow staff so another one of us doesn't ask them again.
2. Staff may not ask about the patron's disability, ask for documentation, or ask the animal to perform the task it is trained to do.
3. Under the ADA, emotional support animals are not considered service animals. 

4. There's an ADA FAQ handout in the break room if you wish to consult it. The handout may also be found here. 

Pinpad

1.       Not a replacement for Telecheck machine

2.       The pin pad will provide instructions on how to execute the payment

3.       Telecheck will work as usual

a.       You will still enter the amount of the payment and your employee code

Ill Returns

1.       Return ILL items in ILL envelopes

Staff Profiles

1.       Our blog is under current renovation

2.       Staff profiles will be featured with little known facts

Open Discussion

●        Keep date labels on Bluebonnet books

●        There is some shifting needed in kids

Next Meeting Agenda Items

Next meeting will be held Wednesday January 6th 

Meeting Notes 12/23

• Alief Manager
• Official welcome to Marcia Cameron-Denton, new manager of Alief! She will be here training with us today and Monday (12/28). Say hi if you haven't met her yet. 
• De-Escalation Tips
• Djuina will send these out as an email; please read through them and think about situations you could apply them to
• Active listening is usually the most important thing
• Remember: They are affected by factors outside of the library
• Remember: QTIP (Quit Taking It Personally) 
• (if you have any tips for this, let me know -Angela)
• Phone-a-friend: "Let me find someone who can better assist you"
• Obamacare Referral Issues
• Apparently our address has been advertised as the "Northwest Houston Enrollment Center" and people are coming here for appointments they have paid for. We are not involved in any way.
• If anyone asks about an appointment with a healthcare adviser, you can give them the phone number of Stacy Wilson, with Gateway to Care. Her numbers are: 832-557-8253 or 832-273-5710. The numbers are also taped to the phones at the front. 
• Holds
• Some of the books on our hold shelf were from other branches, and some were wrapped wrong. Remember that since we are the training library, it is very important that we get things like this right. 
• For now, volunteers are no longer allowed to shelve holds. Holds should be shelved as soon as they are ready. 
• Per Djuina and Melinda, delivery people will be scheduled in 2-week blocks so that everyone has sufficient time to master the delivery process. 
• Melinda has been scheduling delivery later in the day so that we aren't sitting around waiting for it to get here. 
• Updates from Manager's Meeting (Melinda)
• The psychologist from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) came to visit the manager's meeting. The initial consultation is free, and the first one can be done on work time. As per the City of Houston website, "The EAP offers internal counseling for employees who experience problems with work relationships or work performance. Appointments with the internal counselors are available by calling 713-964-9906. The external EAP Guidance Resources counselors are available for employees who experience problems with personal issues, planning for life events or simply managing daily life. The Guidance Resources is the single source for confidential support, expert information and valuable resources, when you need it the most.  Call 855-378-7485 anytime, 24 hours a day – 7 days each week."
• Base Pay: base rates will increase about .50 per hour. You should see this change on January 22nd paycheck. Ask Melinda for more specifics if you want to see your personal numbers. 
• Reminders
• Do not use cell phones at the front desk. If you really need to take a call, talk to the person in charge and take it to the back. Please use professionalism when you are out in the public area. 
• Please check all A/V before you check it in or put it out on the holds shelf. Ensure that each CD/DVD/Audiobook has the correct discs inside. When processing delivery, you can remove the label to check, and then restick it. 
• Dates to Know
• Open Carry goes into effect January 1st
• New Mayor Sylvester Turner takes office January 4th


• Michele Gorman will host a director's chat here at Collier on February 3rd 
• (so you know that means everything's gotta be ship-shape)

We HOLD it down!

Collier continues to show why we are the best. This is the perfect demonstration for all locations showing how our hold shelves should look. 

October 28 Meeting Notes

Weekly Staff Meeting

Collier Regional Library and Learning Lab | October 28, 2015

Attendees

D. Hammett                             A. Barratt

M. Siboldi                                C. Machey

T. Eshleman                             J. Diederic

 I. Veloz                                   R. Siegel

New Staff

●       We would like to welcome Angela Barratt to the Collier staff

Clayton Library

●       Genealogical Road is a show by PBS. The filming will take place at JIB in November 22

November 6

●       Three Doctors, part of the My Brother’s Keeper initiative will take place at the George R. Brown Center. Volunteers are still needed

●       There will be a training titled “Interacting with people who don’t speak English.” This will take place at 611 Walker

●       There is a hiring event for Veterans. There will be interviewing on the spot. This will also take place at 611 Walker

CMC

●       Let Julia know if you’ve contributed

●       Friday morning will determine how everyone will carpool to Central

●       The attire is either the HPL shirt or a costume

Open Discussion

●       College Cafe has been pushed back to December  5

●       Crayola kiosk  will be here on November 10

●       Quality Management System

○        Purpose of it is to streamline processes

○        There are different functions to the process from authoring to correcting

●       Mini Maker Faire will take place on November 14 from 10-5 at the George R. Brown Convention Center

●       Work Progress Reports are coming soon

Weekly Staff Meeting

Weekly Staff Meeting

10 OCTOBER 2015 / 11:15 AM / CONFERENCE ROOM

Attendees

D. Hammett, M. Siboldi, J. Bradley, C. Machey, J. Diederich, T. Eshleman, I. Veloz, R. Siegel

Monica’s Minute

●        The new shelf reading schedule is available

●        There is a new lock on the book drop

●        Remember to complete the Lean 6 Sigma Training

●        Biometric numbers are due by October 31st

Agenda

Open Job Lab

1.      The numbers have been down system wide for Open Job lab

2.      There will be job related trainings done twice a month. Details are forthcoming

Mobile Circ

1.      We have an iPad with Workflows on it

2.      You can retrieve the 8 ups and have the option to place things in missing

3.      Email Djuina with feedback about iPad use

Tagging

1.      Be sure that you tag everything that comes through our doors

Discard Totals

1.      All of the discards and friends boxes are gone

2.      You can find the spread sheet to log boxes for pickup on the g drive

a.       FIDS > fids - CE Box Count > CE TALLY DISCARDS-FRIENDS FY2016

b.      Only fill in first two columns under the respective month. Leave the third column blank

Team Proposals

1.      Send you proposal email(s) to Deputy Director Gorman, and be sure to copy Djuina

2.      Run your proposals by Djuina before you send it

Open Discussion

●        Quality Management System

○        Need people to streamline work practices

○        Djuina will email the link

○        Give your name to Djuina if you are interested

●        Angela Will start here Monday

○        Her late night will be Wednesday, and she will be on Julia’s rotation

●        The posting for the Administrative Supervisor position has closed, and applications have not been pulled yet

●        CMC Fall festival is October 30th. We will all meet here before heading to Central

●        Blueridge is being converted to a center for early literacy. It will close in either November\December, and will open up in time for Summer Reading

Next Meeting

The next Meeting is scheduled for October 28 at 11:15am