Staff Meeting Notes 4/13/2016

Summary: Summer Food Training, Enterprise/e-book catalog update, Children's Book Celebration contest, Camp STREAM, Ordering supplies, Job Search Skills Seminar, Paperclips for IDs, Pinemont Pep Talk, New SLSS at Collier, New passport agent at Collier, Volunteer Award Ceremony 

Written by: James Diederich

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

1. Summer Food Training

•  Please sign up for Summer Food Training. Everyone needs to be trained to we can sign for deliveries and have coverage flexibility. Choose a remaining date/location highlighted in the packets given out this morning and email Julia. 

2. Enterprise/e-book catalog update

• E-books can now be checked out directly from the Enterprise system. See handout for training and tips on this new feature.

3. Children's Book Celebration contest

• K-6 aged children to "create an imaginary friend to take a picture with the imagine poster". Julia showed how to use the Insta-Booth app, in which we will take the picture with. Please let Julia know after you have taken a picture. Rebecca Denham is the main contact person for this contest outside of Collier. 

4. Camp STREAM

• Starts the beginning of August. Included in our packet was a list of materials we can start collecting to help out the Camp Stream/community engagement team. Those materials were:

-Newspaper

-Empty water bottles

-Cardboard

-Empty baby food jars

-Corks

-Boxes

-Empty 2-liter bottles

-Cereal boxes

-Hangers

-Plastic bags 

5. Supplies

• Laurie is doing a large office supply order. Let Julia know by the end of next week if you need anything in particular. 

6.  Job Search Skills Seminar

• For teens. The seminar will be sponsored by Work Force Solutions at Collier on April 23rd. 

7. Paperclips for IDs

• We can start using coated paperclips to clip the patron's ID to the paperwork while they check out a laptop. This will prevent the IDs from getting scratched. The coated paperclips are in a clear container on top of the laptop case. 

8. Pinemont Pep Talk

• Collier will be short on staff next week. The schedule will be streamlined during this time for coverage. ASZ and meetings will not take place during this time. 

9. New SLSS at Collier

• James Diederich was selected as Collier's Senior Library Service Specialist. [We're very proud of James and looking forward to all the exciting things he will do! - JB]

10.  New passport agent at Collier

• Collier is pleased to welcome Jonathan McFarland as our full-time passport agent. 

11.  Volunteer Award 

• Remind our volunteers of the great work that they do. Collier's volunteer Miguel Leon won the volunteer award. [Thanks to Cyrano in advance for helping out at the Volunteer Appreciation Awards Ceremony! - JB]

Open Discussion

Juila: Microsoft Lync equipment will be installed to one of our workroom workstations so we may have the capability to have video conference meetings. Speak to Julia concerning your ideas of which computer would be the best choice for this. 

Melinda: Please remember to record the attendance statistics for meeting room events. If a patron is booking our meeting space for auditions, let that person speak to Julia or Melinda to book the room. 

Staff Meeting Notes 3/30/2016

Summary: Icebreaker, ASZ Assistance, Open Enrollment Reminder, HOPE at Collier, Open Discussion

Written by: Julia Bradley

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

1. Icebreaker: Compliment Circle

• Julia has gotten the impression that everybody secretly loves icebreakers, so we did something a bit bolder this time. We played Compliment Circle, which is a game that involves complimenting the colleague seated to one's left. Everybody had lovely things to say about one another,

2. After School Zone Assistance

• Angela will be gone for three weeks in April. 

• James helps out a ton with After School Zone, but it would be lovely to have some back-up for After School Zone. 
• Melinda offered to provide back-up. Thanks, Melinda!

3. Open Enrollment Reminder

• Open Enrollment ends on April 13th, 2016. Don't forget to check in on your health care plan before then.

4. HOPE at Collier on Monday, April 4th from 10AM - 12 PM

• If you need any additional time to talk to them, please let Julia or Melinda know.

Open Discussion

Djuina: Texas ranks #47 out of 50 states for library funding. Given this fact, it's amazing that we do all that we do!
Melinda: We will be having catch-up time on the Fridays that everyone is here. Melinda has left the morning schedule open, and it's up to you to decide how you want to spend that time. Please see Melinda ahead of time to let her know what you'll be doing. 

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 3/16/2016

Summary: Database Presentation, COH Health Care Enrollment, Volunteer Project Thank-You, Open Discussion

Written by: Julia Bradley

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

1.NoveList Plus exploration (Isabel and Melinda)
 Database presentations continued this week, with Isabel and Melinda presenting on NoveList Plus. We covered tons of features of NoveList, including Readalikes, browsing categories, searching/advanced searching, linkage between HPL Enterprise catalog and NoveList, and way more. A huge thanks to Isabel & Melinda for leading us through it!

2. COH Health Care Enrollment
Open enrollment begins today and ends on April 13th. You can select or revise your plan by logging into ESS. 

Angela: There are new dental and vision plans!

Staff received an email yesterday morning from COH Benefits, where you can find information about changes in plans, copays, and networks. 

3. Volunteer Project
A huge thanks to everyone for being so welcoming towards our large group (10!) of volunteers from EDP Renewables last Friday! They had a great time volunteering with us. Our end caps are now free of tape and our shelves are less dusty.

Open Discussion
Cyrano: Yesterday there was an issue with a youth patron who had two cards: one with only her grandmother's signature and another with only her mother's. Her mother wanted information from the card that the grandmother had opened. I contacted Circ Admin for advice on what to do in this case. Julia: Will follow up with Circ Admin about policy on this. 

Isabel: Don't forget to straighten while roaming!
Thanks, Isabel, for straightening so thoroughly yesterday.

Angela: A daycare is taking a field trip to Collier this morning. We'll do a Story Time in the Kids area and then move into the Meeting Room for crafts and computer fun. Melinda will be helping out.

Melinda: 

Staff Meeting Notes 03/09/2016

Summary: Database Presentation, Volunteers, New Trainees, ACE Scholarship, COH Wellness, Straightening, New "Friends" Stamp, Claims Return, Passport Services

Written by: Isabel Veloz

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

1.MedlinePlus exploration (Julia and James)

·         Database presentations started this week. Big thank you to Julia and James for their great presentation on MedlinePlus. 

2. Volunteer group at Collier this Friday

·         Volunteers are coming to clean our shelves this Friday. If you want to have time on the schedule to greet them, please get with Julia. 

3. More trainees at COL this week

·         We have more trainees this week, please welcome them to COL and help them out with whatever they may need.

4. HPL ACE Scholarship Program

·         There is a scholarship available to full-time and part-time employees. If you are interested and/or need more information, please let Julia know. 

5. Last chance to get COH Wellness discount

·         There is an early morning meeting for this last chance to get the COH Wellness discount that Julia is attending. Please let her know if you need more information regarding this as well. 

6. Straightening
Straightening will be a rotating duty from now on. Straightening is everybody's job; it will be put on the schedule for somebody different every two weeks. Please take it seriously and straighten the entire library when you are scheduled to do so. Also, straightening is something that should be getting done during your Roaming hours, especially something to be done for whoever has roaming during the last hour of the day as part of Closing Procedures. Feel free to split the work load by asking someone to work on the children's area while someone else works on the adult area. 

7. New "Friends of the Houston Public Library" stamp
There is a new stamp for discarded items. Please get with Teresa, Melinda, or Julia if you have any questions. DO NOT stamp books with yellow call number labels. Send them back to LMS if they are damaged. 

8. Searching for items (Melinda)
If you have a patron call or come in with a claim's return, please write down their library card number, the name on the account, and the name of the book with its bar code and leave it on Melinda's desk. Do not put it in missing right away. This way, we have time to properly look for it a few times before marking it missing. 

• Please make sure to make a note in patron's account after every shelf check.

Open Discussion

Passports:

• We need at least four people trained in order to start passport services here at COL. There is a training coming up week after next this month and another on April 19th. Please let Julia know if you are interested or if you are not interested in passport training. 
• If you are interested in being trained as a back-up, please let Julia know as well. In order to be a back-up passport agent, you only need to complete online training. 
• We are trying to figure out a way that passport services will work at COL on account of scheduling and staff needs. If you have any questions, concerns, and/or suggestions, please let Julia and Djuina know. 

Meeting Minutes

February 24, 2016

Present: J. Bradley, M. Campbell, A. Barratt, C. Machey, T. Eshleman, J. Diederich, I. Veloz, R. Siegel, D. Hammett

Agenda

●     Spanish Bingo

○     We played Spanish Bingo today to learn common words and phrases related to library work. Congrats to Teresa for winning the game.

●     Roaming

○     Roaming is still a vital function of our work

○     The roamer should be there to assist with basic computer questions from the floor. If that is not the case, please shelf reading, shifting if applicable, straightening, or any other work that will keep you visible on the floor. Also keep an eye on the desk to ensure help is not needed

○     If at all possible, keep the third computer vacant unless needed to help customers during a busy part of the day

●     Shelf Reading

○     All still be assigned to one hour of shelf reading every two weeks

○     If more time is needed, feel free to use your planning hour to complete your shelf reading assignment

●     Phone Lines

○     Remember to unforward phones at the start of the business day

●     Complete Interactions

○     For customers getting new cards, offer them an introduction to their library and what it has to offer. Offer tours, share library card benefits, library resources, etc.

●     Kid’s Corner

○     Seuss-a-palooza will be held next Wednesday, March 2nd, at 6:00pm

■     Please promote the event to our customers, particularly those with kids

■     Angela will be working on art for the even Friday

■     Some of the events included area: bilingual story time, pin the hat on the cat, and other fun things

Open Discussion

●     Missing Items

○     We plan to slow down and take our time checking in items to ensure our errors are decreased

○     If items are piling up, we will place them in the book drop to make sure they are not accidentally shelved

○     iPad Policy committee is being drafted. Djuina recommended Melinda and Angela to serve

○     We will be getting our roof lined and coated.

■     We may be closed for a day or two during the process

○     Mayor Turner announced there will be layoffs for the city. Dr. Lawson is currently refiguring our budget so that jobs will not be taken

Staff Meeting Notes 2/17/201

Summary: Welcome Training Trainees, True Confessions, Summer Food Program Hope, Democratic primary polling site
Written by: Teresa Eshelman

In attendance: Angela Barratt, Julia Bradley, Melinda Campell, James Diederich, Teresa Eshelman,,Cyrano Machey, Rose Siegel, Isabel Veloz, Tangela Gray, Jennifer Brazon


1.Welcome

•        Our two new trainees, Tangela Gray and Jennifer Bazon are here at Collier. They have been with usthis week and will be returning next. Great job for all the hard work put forth in lending a helping hand and welcoming the two

2. True Confessions

•       Julia introduced True Confessions, a get to know you game. We learned:
  • Cyrano- can turn an ordinary tie into a bow tie.
  • Isabel- favorite number is 4
  • Angela- has never broken a bone
  • Jennifer- has a 6yr old daughter
  • Tangla- has psychic tendencies
  • Julia- played the butler in a rendition of ---------, in college.
  • Ms. Rose- has 3 boys
  • James- likes turtles
  • Teresa- lives with Royalty
  • Melinda- is a morning person and wakes up early

3. Summer Food Program

•         We will be participating in the Summer Food Program once again this Summer. Teresa James,
  Angela and Julia have decided to attend training. For those also wanting to, Please make Julia aware.

4.HOPE

•         A HOPE Union representative will be here 3/8/2016. Be aware that you are not obligated to speak
  to them. For those who would like to, here is the perfect opportunity. Again speak to Julia and she will an allotted time to do so.

5. Democratic primary polling site

•        It has been official Collier will be used as a democratic primary polling site on Tuesday, March
  1st. They will be arriving at Collier 6am to set up and will need to stay after we close to pack up. Melinda has volunteered for the morning slot and Cyrano for the later until 8.

6.  Kids’ Corner

• We have a label maker!!!   Angela handed out a Label-Maker Quick Start Guide that gives step by step instructions on how to use it.

7.Open discussion

• CMC party.Email or share your preference with Julia as to what you would like for our get together
• Djuina’s Party: Please Contact Cyrano with all ideas on a celebration for Djuina.
  
  

Handouts: