Staff Meeting Notes 8/27/18

Monday, August 27, 2018, 9:15-9:45 AM, MEETING ROOM

  Staff Meeting Agenda

1. Celebrate SRP Success--Southwest #2 in registration, Walter #4! 

2.  Staff Changes:

·         Araceli transferred to Heights (extended hours location), 8/20.

·         Rene resigning to work in Spain, 8/31.

·         Jon’ Sha Robinson-Kennedy is transferring from Carnegie to replace Ivy, 9/4.

·         Ivy transferring to Stella Link when it reopen in late 2018-early 2019.

3. HEAR Attendance and Punctuality Metric for FY19

 .              Attendance and punctuality are equally important.  To get a certain you must meet both metrics.

• Staff are expected to start and end work according to their schedule.  Punctuality includes both clocking in late and clocking in early.
• Tardiness will be defined at clocking in more than 3 minutes after the scheduled time to start work.
• Supervisors will adjust an employee’s schedule at the beginning of the pay period if it deviates from their pattern in Kronos.
• Remember work week is Saturday - Friday.    
• The first week of the pay period is the one with payday on Friday; the second week ends with the approval of timecards on Friday (the pay period close).
• If you want to take off the Saturday you are schedule to work, please find someone to swap with (full-time staff).  Part-time staff can take off 4 Saturdays in a calendar year.  See Guidelines for Saturdays, June 2014 on blog.
• HPL FT & PT HEAR Attendance Metric Revised Policy (handout).  Please read the policy, then sign the acknowledgment sheet in Karen’s or Christy’s office. [Updated 8/27 @ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f-nx2vC6H8chlIph9gMCBYm0GsG6FFdJrcnAkSpykTM/edit?usp=sharing.]

Important Dates this Month

• Friday, August 31: Payday; Regional Youth Services Meeting @ ALI (Irene, Ivy)..
• Saturday, September 1: SW Multi-Service Center and Southwest Express closed for Labor Day holiday; all staff work at Walter.
• Sunday, September 2, and Monday, September 3: Houston Public Library closed for Labor Day holiday.

Walter Display Featured on Youth Services Blog and Twitter

Congratulations to Pam for her extensive research and excellent content and to Irene for creating a stunning visual display!  Thank you Christy for sending the photos to Communications and Youth Services. We will save this exhibit for future use. . . 

Karen

The exhibit was also featured on the Library's Twitter feed.  We don't mind sharing the credit with Park Place.

HPL Kit System: Updates & Housekeeping

From Rebecca Denham, 3/2:

We now have over 70 storytime themes and over 50 Craft & STEM themes with a whopping 253 individual kits! And more on the way!

Summer is right around the corner and with it an uptick in kit use, so I’d like to go over a few kit housekeeping items to keep in mind:

What Have I Requested? – We’ve recently updated the “What Have I Requested” link on the Kits tab of the YS Blog to not only show requests by location, but also by program date rather than request date – yay, Airtable! This should also assist if there are staffing changes at your location; you’ll easily be able to check what requests have already been made and either request a change or plan accordingly.

Requesting for Multiple Days: If you need a kit for multiple days please enter the first day as the “Program Date” then indicate the extended dates you want the kit for in the “Need Longer” field. (When a range of dates is entered into the “Program Date” field it causes errors in the program we use to track requests.) Keep in mind that some kits (LEGO Mindstorms, Bloxels, Chaos Towers) already have a 7 day checkout period.

Returning Kits in Good Condition: When you use a kit, you are responsible for cleaning the kit and returning it in the condition that you received it. This may mean that you need to wipe down, sort or wash and dry items. This is part of using kits and when kits are not returned in good condition is slows turnaround time for transport to the next location and can even cause kits to become unusable.

Missing/Damaged Items: If items are missing or damaged when returning the kit please make sure to contact Youth Services Administration and let us know what is missing from which kit so that we can begin sourcing replacement items. You should also include a note in the kit indicating which items are missing or damaged.

Kit Age Ratings: Kits are rated for certain ages. A kit rated for teens is not appropriate for kids. Please make sure to check the ages of kits when placing requests. Kit ages are listed on the kit indexes available on the YS Blog Kits tab. If you have questions about a kit please contact Youth Services Administration.

Surveys: Completing a survey is required when a kit is used. The data collected in these surveys aids in grant applications and reporting as well as annual reports to library administration and the Foundation. The more information you provide, the better we can identify trends, improve kits and expand our selection. If a kit is not used, please include a note indicating that the kit was not used. If there is no survey in the kit please let us know so we can send you a pdf.

I know this is a lot of information, so I’ve added it to the Kits tab of the YS Blog for reference. As always, if you have questions about kits or suggestions for new kits please send them to Youth Services Administration. 😊

STEM & Craft Kits Requests

From Rebecca Denham, 2/22:

Good news! I’ve figured out how to display STEM & Craft Kit requests by location AND program date! *cue fireworks*

This link - https://airtable.com/shrcc962R4CKFdmRQ/tblL6AkeeJCxBBB3x - is now on the “Kits” tab of the YS Blog under “STEM & Craft Kit Requests”. Please see attached PDF for how to use.

You can now easily check what you’ve requested for your location and which kit you are scheduled to receive. Any changes I’ve had to make to the submitted request will show here. If the Request Status is blank it means that your kit is reserved. The kit listed in the “Request ID” column is the kit I am intending to send. Note: I do my best to send the kit shown in the “Request ID”, however, factors such as when other locations return a kit and availability of restocking supplies may impact delivery.

Hopefully this new view will help you better plan your print and online calendars.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Awesome SRP Displays at SWX and WAL!

Team,

Check out the post on the Youth Services blog about our "awesome" SRP displays: http://hplyouthsvcs.blogspot.com/2017/06/srp-displays-swx-wal.html.

Congratulations to Ivy, Irene, and especially Sonia for their creativity and BIG ideas!

Karen

Posting to Youth Services Blog

From Rebecca Denham, 12:08PM:

I’ve had some questions about how to post to the YS Blog, so I thought I’d send a quick reminder since many of you do not post regularly.

How to submit a post?

1.      Send me (Rebecca.Denham@houstontx.gov) an email following these guidelines:

a.      Subject Line: Blog Post from “NL Abbreviation”

b.      Body of email: Write the post as you would like it to appear on the blog.  If you just have pictures from a display or event that you want to share make sure to let me know what display/event the images are from.

c.       Images

                                                              i.      Please use this file format to name the image – LOC.EVENT.YEAR.IMAGE NUMBER

1.      EXAMPLE: CEN.ReadAcrossAmerica.2017.5

                                                            ii.      Attach images to email

1.      If you have more than 4 images, please send them in a following email with subject line of Blog Post from “NL Abbreviation” Pt. 2

What can I post?

·         Program ideas (if sharing a craft idea please provide an image of the finished craft)

·         Book reviews (Juvenile or Teen only)

·         Displays

·         Pictures of an event

·         Interesting articles/research related to youth services

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.