2015 Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement; Form 1095-C Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage

From COH Payroll Services:

Please be aware that the 2015 Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statements) will be provided to all employees in paper hard-copy. An electronic (online) W-2  will also be provided to all current employees via the Employee Self-Service (ESS) website at https://portal.houstontx.gov/irg/portal.

It is anticipated that for the calendar year 2016 (which means in January 2017), employees that select to "opt-in" to receiving electronic-only copies of Form W-2 will not receive a hard-copy.

Finally, please be aware that all employees will also be receiving a Form 1095-C (Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage). This report reflects your City of Houston-provided health benefits coverage for calendar year 2015 for you, the employee, and any dependents on your plan. It is required in order for you to complete your 2015 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. A paper hard-copy of this report will be provided to each employee via US MAIL. No electronic access to this report will be available for calendar year 2015. The Human Resources Department will provide details regarding interpreting the Health Benefits participation information included in the report. It is imperative that all City employees verify their current mailing address in ESS and update it, if needed, before January 1, 2016, in order to avoid any delays in receiving your Form 1095-C.

The statutory deadline for distributing or postmarking Form W-2 and Form 1095-C to employees is February 1, 2016. Payroll Services will strive to beat this deadline by at least a week. Additional communications will be sent as more definitive distribution and online access dates are determined.

MP

Children's Author Visit: Reem Farqui

The author of Lailah's Lunchbox, a story that explains the Muslim holiday of Rahmandan to children, visited the Oak Forest Library today! 1st grade students from Oak Forest Elementary walked over to the library after lunch to meet the author and ask her questions. Below are a few pictures: 

League of Women's Voter Guide - Houston

Election season is here! If customers ask about the voter's guide or informtion about ballot info, please direct them to the following website. 

http://lwvhouston.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/VG-2015-English-Web-1.pdf


Jayla 

Henna Workshop at Oak Forest

We are hosting a Henna Workshop for all ages on November 4th 2015 at 4:00 PM. This is part of the Poetic Voices of the Muslim World, you all can find more information about it here: http://houstonlibrary.org/poetic-voices


There is a sign up sheet and flyer at the front desk. Because of the possibility of allergic reactions, Programming has asked that we supply release forms for children under the age of 18. Parents MUST sign the form when they sign up their children. Adults do not need to sign the form.

I will put all this information in a folder at the front desk (Desk 1). If anyone has any questions, please let me know! 

Jayla

New Meeting Room Policy and Procedures/ Forms

The new Meeting Room Policy and Procedures are posted below. I've also posted a link to the new form (it's a lot more user friendly for patrons to fill out and, like I stated at the meeting, There are a couple of the new forms printed and in the binder at Oak Forest. 

Meeting Room Policy 

Meeting Room Procedure

Meeting Room Form

- Jayla

September Staff Meeting Notes

Staff Meeting Notes: September 2015

Staff Present:  Amanda, Ana, Carol, Diane, Debbie, Gloria, Gwen, Jayla, Jesus, Runda, Pedro and Maurina.

Absent: Rosie

The Manager asked if there were any questions regarding the last staff meeting and/or e-mails.

Staff members were given their gifts from NL Administration.

Staff was given a copy of the Attendance and Punctuality Metric for Customer Experience staff and asked to sign the policy and return it to the Manager.

Staff was reminded to send the Settlement Assessment daily with Deposit to the Finance Department.

CMC Booth was discussed and staff was asked to participate in some manner since the library would be closed an additional hour on October 30 to allow staff to create, sell and donate to their chosen CMC charity.

Staff was given information regarding Media at the Library and asked to read it to comply with all HPL policies regarding the Media.

The Manger asked all staff to complete Lean Six Sigma training and the Voter’s 

Registration training sent by Mr. Weeks and available on the HPL Training Portal.

Staff was reminded that when Training is approved for attendance every effort should be made to attend and if staff cannot attend the training should be cancelled within 48 hours of the scheduled time for that training.

National Citizenship Day is September 17^th so possible displays were discussed by staff.

Emergency Preparedness Brochures are available for all staff and customers and the Inclement Weather Phone Number was given to staff again (832) 393-1550.

The staff was informed that the “Open Carry Law” that made it legal for customers to bring guns in the library as long as it is in a holster.

Fire Drills will be taking place within the coming months. Staff was asked to evaluate the building and report to the front of the library in the parking lot for safety.

Updates: ALI is closed until January 2016. New Manager for CAR - Cylenthia Hoyrd.

Staff was reminded to take their time when dealing with SmartMoney to prevent errors. 

August Staff Meeting Notes

Staff Meeting Notes: August 2015

Present: All staff

The meeting was opened with the Manager asking if anyone had any questions.

Staff was asked to label all things life in the Staff Workroom so that everyone is aware of what works what needs to be done and what is completed.

Staff was asked to flow-through with processes when helping customers and completing tasks like discarding and floating items to LMS.

Staff was informed of ShaRhonda Clark (sr. CSC and Christina Yanascavage LSS positions being vacant.

Staff was told to apply for new positions as desired.

The Manager requested that whenever a staff member has questions about a process, procedure or policy to contact the Management Team first before contacting outside sources so that everyone is on the same page regarding all processes.

Staff was reminded about the Chain-of-Command as it relates to OAK/ACR Grouping. Sr. Manager – Pedro, Manager – Maurina, Assistant Manager – Jayla, Carol – Part-time LII.

Persons left in-charge of the building are in-charge of the staff, building and grounds. Please, remember not to argue with the staff or customers but to seek others in charge like Pedro or the Manager when problems arise with staff and/or library customers.

Pets in the Library – staff was given the Texas Law on Pets in the Library as service animals.

Law states that staff can ask these two questions: 1) Is the service animal is required because he/she has a disability and/or 2) what type of work the service animal is trained to perform? : http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

Staff was reminded to use the Reconsideration Form for books purchased by the library that customers may want removed or would like to have reconsidered by the library staff. The staff was also reminded to use the Suggestion Form for book purchasing suggestions.

Staff Training Certificates should be e-mailed to the manager with the staff member’s e# and name on each certificate for proper documentation.

Staff was asked about the Summer Food Program successes and failures.

Lastly, staff was asked to collect library stories and ask customers to submit them on the HPL website and staff was encouraged to help customers that maybe tech

July Staff Meeting Notes

Staff Meeting Notes: July 2015

Present: Amanda, Ana, Debbie, Diane, Runda, Jesus, Gloria, Gwen, Rosie, Jayla, Carol and Maurina.

Absent: ShaRhonda

The Manager asked staff if clarity was needed regarding the instructions e-mailed to everyone about Flip Kits. The Manager explained that when staff members are checking in Flip kits to insure all items are in the kit but if items are missing staff should still check in the kit and ask the customer to 

return any missing pieces.

The Manager asked staff to remember to ask for ID or keys when giving the newspaper to customers. The staff was also reminded to check and say the name of the customer out loud before returning Customer’s license and/or ID to insure the right person gets the right ID back.

If we require that the person’s ID is left at the Public Service Desk, we are responsible for giving the right ID to the right customer.

The staff was asked to please, ask customers for their Meeting and Conference Room usage statistics when the rooms are in use for proper monthly reporting.

Staff was reminded that we are “No Tape” facilities and tape should not be used to post information throughout the library.

The Manager informed the staff of the Julia Ideson Fund for staff members in need of financial assistance. Staff can submit the request and receive fund throughout the year as needed.

Runda asked staff to remember to make notes in customer’s application records as needed for updated information and replacement cards. Runda also requested that library are completed and turned in to her in a timely manner weekly.

The Manager informed staff that when timecards are altered an e-mail is required for proper documentation.

Staff is asked to take their time when dealing with Smart Money at all times to limit mistakes. (All staff is expected to know how to complete deposits and Smart Money transactions, if not staff should let management know immediately).

Every staff member was given their Tier staffing level information which is Level 3 for everyone on staff. Staff also signed the necessary paperwork for their Tier designation and returned them to the Management Team.

Staff was given the Inclement Weather Information number for HPL employees is 832-393-1550. 

Please, use this number whenever there is a question about inclement weather and the opening and closing of library locations.

Flip Kits: No one should argue with our customers concerning FLIP kits and please, make sure all returned FLIP Kits are placed in Delivery to go back to CMH.

The team was reminded about Open Job Labs and that everyone should know how to present an Open Job Lab and if someone is not familiar with Open Job Labs please, let Management know.

ALTERNATIVES TO ESL CLASSES

Here are the links to alternative ESL resources. You can direct patrons to these resources or print out the calendars for them. 

HPL Language Resources

Harris County Department of Education

Houston Community College 

Memorial Assistance Ministries

Jayla P. 

Shelf Reading Log

I have updated the link for the Shelf Reading Log under "Staff Links" to the right of the blog, but for easy reference here is a quick link: 

Shelf Reading Log

Remember for those of you who have Shelf Reading as part of your HEAR plan this helps you keep track of when you shelf read! Complete the log AFTER you have shelf read the assigned section. If you have any questions, please ask Maurina or myself. 

Thanks, 

Jayla

SRP Program - Science Lab: Sink or Float Science Lab

Our youth librarian and assistant manager, Jayla Parks, found an idea for this awesome program on Pinterest and decided to lead this awesome program. Kids got to learn all about the science behind why things sink and why they float. Kids did a little activity testing out different materials and they had to guess whether it would sink or float. Finally, the little ones built their own "boats" out of aluminum foil, paper, craft sticks, and pipe cleaners! They then tested out their "boats" to make sure they could stay afloat with a "passenger" (a plastic dinosaur) in tow! All in all about 30 kids come for this program. 

The room was pretty packed for this program

Lovin' that canopy. 

We had some really creative boat making going on

The "passenger" for the boats! 

SRP Program - ABC Bodyart: Henna Workshop

Teens and tweens (and some kids too) got to learn all about the art and history behind Henna. The instructor let the kids mix their own henna and they even got to make their own bag and keep them for future use! We had about 13 kids come 

Instructor leading the young ones. 

Showing sisters how to create their henna bags.

Showing siblings how to create Henna bags. 

Kids checking out the design booklet that the instructor brought with her. 

Working hard

Simple but gorgeous! 

Check out this fanciful design! 

Such creativity! 

SRP Program - Abuakr Kouyate, African Drummer

91 people showed up at the Acres-Homes Library to listen to African storytelling and to play drum rhythms!  

We even got some adults in on the drumming action too!

We also gave away the prizes from our Shepard Acres Homes Community Essay Contest! There aren't any pictures of the prize winners, but we gave away a pair of mini Beats headphones, an Xbox One, a Kindle, and a few giftcards to Chick-fil-a! 

Volunteer Application Information

Hello Everyone, 

In the last week or so, we've gotten a lot of questions about being a volunteer here at Oak Forest. If someone asks about being a volunteer, you can always print out the volunteer application for them. The application is located on the Volunteer Services Blog, which you can access from the Intranet. Just go "Departments" ---> "Community Engagement" -----> click "Forms and Documents" (located on the left side of the screen) and the first link is the volunteer applications. 

Volunteers can also access this information on the website (click the "Get Involved" tab and then click "Volunteer" on the lower left half of the screen). You can direct them there, but I was told today that Oak Forest isn't on the list. However, we are accepting volunteers. Acres Homes is also accepting volunteers too, so if someone asks you about it just print out the form for them, please. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. :-) 

Thanks, 

Jayla 

Painting With a Twist Results

Here's some of our great artwork from the Painting With a Twist program from this afternoon! We were going to paint fish, but no one really chose to stick to the script.

--Amanda

SRP Performer Evaluation Link

Hello everyone, 


Below is the link for the performer evaluation for Summer Reading performers. If you are scheduled to be in a program, please fill this out as soon as you leave the program. Stats need to be filled out for every child, teen, and adult who attends the program. This means you should mark a hash mark separately for every child, teen, and adult.

The link is: SRP Performer Eval

If you have questions, please let me know! 

Thanks, 
Jayla Parks

May Staff Meeting

May Staff Meeting and Birthday Celebration ...

On Thursday, May 7, 2015, the Oak/Acres staff of the Houston Public Library had their monthly staff meeting and birthday celebration. We would like to take the opportunity to wish the SWEETEST ASSISTANT MANAGER EVER, Ms. Jayla Parks a Happy Birthday. Here are some pictures of the event.

Branch Closure: Changing Hold Pickup Library

Hello everyone,

Since Acres Homes is closed until the first week of June, we will be getting the holds for Acres sent here to Oak Forest. However, the holds for Acres-Homes should be sent to Collier Regional Library. In the event that we do receive holds for Acres, Maurina has sent out an email to everyone with the instructions on how to switch the holds to go to go Collier. I have also included a link for that document below and there is hard copy near the computer used to print holds.

Changing Hold Pickup Library

If you have any questions, let Maurina or I know!

Thanks,

Jayla Parks