Sunday, April 2, 2017

Staff Birthday Celebration




The Staff had a great time celebrating one another on Friday.

The luncheon for the staff was from Olive Garden 
Everyone had more than enough to eat with mini desserts and 
Special Cakes for all of the birthday people. 

We also said farewell to Gloria. 

We will truly miss her smile and presence around 
ACR and OAK.



Special Thanks to everyone for sharing in this event!! 

Monday, March 27, 2017

Online Card Registration Information for Customers

Hello again,

Firstly, thank you for the feedback we received from your staff! We have already made some changes based on their questions.

Secondly, while we prepare staff training, an FAQ document has been added to the Training Portal (hover over Learning Resources tab then select Library Functions):

We are using two locations to pilot the project: Central and Jungman. Because our locations vary so much, we need to figure out a designated workstation (desktop or tablet) that will function as a library card registration spot. In most cases, it will be the catalog/database computer. Once we have gathered enough data and tweaked the form, we will have a better idea about a roll out plan. In the meantime, please continue to use the paper application form (except Central and Jungman). Of course, you are welcome to direct your customers to the online form. Already about 44 customers in Texas have registered online and the form’s been live less than 2 days!

A few reminders that are necessary for staff to know:

·         There is a built-in address verification however this may not always work so you may have to use the traditional method to verify address;
·         Form will recognize a duplicate;
·         Youth registrations will take place on-site (HPL location) only;
·         Check if customer is already using Overdrive; if yes, then proceed to submit the Overdrive merge account request;
·         This is what staff will need to do to update the user record in Workflows:
o   From the Circulation tab, under the Users group, use the Modify User wizard to update the user record:
§  User ID - replace it with the 77422… barcode number;
§  Library - change it from HOU-ONLINE to your location or customer’s preferred location;
§  Profile Name - change it from PUBLIC to one that applies to the customer;
§  Change History Rule: ask the customer if they want to keep a checkout history; then change it from circrule to allcharges; remind them to opt in when they log into the library account at home. Not changing it will NOT prevent the customer from checking out items or placing them on hold;
§  If customer agrees with device checkout policy, then change user cat2 to laptop-yes under the Demographics tab.
Please continue to send your questions and suggestions to Virtual Library Services (hplvirtuallibrary@houstontx.gov).

Please share this information with your staff.

Sincerely,

Saima

Friday, March 3, 2017

Slice of Life: Shepard Acres Homes


Gwen set up a creative display at Shepard- Acres Homes.  Customers are encouraged to write what they like about using our library and take a picture, so that they can be displayed on our board for the remainder of the month!  There are some more "Slice of Life" posts coming but if you have an idea, you're more than welcome to pass it by!

-Jesus Villegas






Thursday, February 9, 2017

SPACES NOTICE
JHJ: Office Moves
9 February 2017
  
The Spaces and Communications Division will be moving to their new offices beginning Thursday, February 9 and anticipate being back up and operational by the end of the day on Monday, February 13. During this time our connectivity to phones and emails will be greatly limited.

During this time, if there are any emergencies, please contact the following:
  • Spaces Division: Karrington Burnett - 713-837-6473
  • Communications Division: Marjorie Gonzalez – 281-936-9760
  • Administrative Offices for Community Engagement, Outreach and Cultural Initiatives: Sharon Fletcher - 832-654-6415
Please communicate this information as usual and as necessary. 


John Middleton

Houston Public Library | SPACES

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

ACR/OAK Team members, please be advised of the information below regarding your Homelessness training for proper credit, please follow the instructions below.

Greetings,

The vendor of this training has moved the course to a new platform. Moving forward, please click on this  link to access the training. 

Once on the site, follow the steps below for access to the course.

·         Click on Practical Tips for Difficult Homeless Patrons
·         You can view the intro without creating an account, if desired.
·         Once you click on the first lesson in Module 1 – Rules with Compassion, you will be taken to a Locked Content page.
·         From this page, click on Enroll Private and follow the prompts to create an account.


To date 157 employees have completed this training. If you have already completed the training, you don’t have to do anything else... you are good if you have already sent your certificate of completion to hpltraining@houstontx.gov so that we can update your training record. If not, please send your certificate in!   

For those that have not completed the training, please use these new procedures to access the course. Those team members accessing the course via the new link do not have to send in your certificate of completion as we can pull Completion Reports via this new platform.

Additionally, it has come to our attention that some of you completed the mini-course and not the 2 ½ hour full course that we subscribed to. We will reach out to those on our list so that you can get the full course and quiz completed.


Please complete this training by COB on Monday, February 6th, 2017. 

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

New Library Checkout Renewal Information

Important Message for Staff:

Items eligible for renewal now renew from the due date, giving you full 6 weeks checkout period. Please make a note of it.
Saima