April 2015 Managers Meeting Minutes

CE Managers Meeting Notes
April 24, 2015
Prepared by Yolanda Anguiano

We began with sharing a few stories about how the Library makes a difference. Janna Hoglund talked about her successful partnership with a local school. Sue Kaufman shared a story about a patron looking for his baptism certificate in Mexico. Sara Pope described the joy that a grandmother felt because her granddaughter was always excited about going to the library. John Merullo proudly told how one of his volunteers started a quilting program that makes quilts for a senior center and cancer organization. Beatriz DeAngulo described how one patron, Mr. Gomez, used what he learned in their programs to take steps to get his GED. Felicia Brisco said one of their customers named Ms. Cruz counts on them checking her books out quickly because she needs to return home to take care of her ill mother. Karen Luik spoke about how successful a baby yoga program was at her branch that they added a toddler one for those kids that outgrew it. Will Mayer shared how staff member Donna Roy helped a patron locate and complete a job application. Sandy Farmer talked about a homeless boy who would sleep in Central’s parking garage and how the library was his safe place. Brandon Pope described how his staff helped a developmentally disabled patron that they knew as Mr. David get a replacement library card; only to find out that he was using someone else’s and his real name was Ivory. Michele wants more stories like these included in the database.
CE Update (Michele Gorman): Marcos got engaged at TLA and Edgar Fuentes and MyTesha Tates were selected for Tall Texans 2015. Tomika Price was chosen to attend PLA Leadership Academy this past March. Tomika will talk about her experience and the project she is working on for the system at the next CE Managers meeting.
Michele is asking for everyone that went to TLA to type up their notes for each session attended and submit them electronically to CE Admin. At the next meeting, each TLA attendee will talk about their biggest takeaway and five things they learned that they’ll apply to their current work. Administration is investing in staff, so they want to make sure that what’s learned is applied.
The pilot project separating Johnson and Mancuso, with each having a manager but sharing staff resources is beginning Monday, April 27th. Michele hopes to replicate this set-up, if successful with other pairings, so everyone will become a stand-alone library. Tomika Price will be Mancuso’s manager and LeRoy remains Johnson’s.
Two new assistant managers are starting on Monday the 27th, Assistant Manager
Vanessa Gempis at FRX/MEY and Assistant Manager Dominic Spinelli at SMI/YOU.
In an effort to improve communication, notes on the CE Managers meetings will be
posted to the intranet on our department page within a week of the meeting. The notes
will be emailed to all front line staff, too. Managers are asked to cover the important
points at a staff meeting within the week of posting.
SPACES & SPROCKETs (Mary Hughes): Sprockets are the first stop to getting your facility
problems resolved in an efficient manner. GSD technicians and workmen are only able to
see work order tickets that were assigned to them, not all. It is very important that you use
the correct request description code on your work order. The system automatically
populates that field with the code used on the previous one, so it’s important to verify the
one you’re selecting. If a mistake is made, the work order gets sent back to the Call Center
to be reassigned, wasting precious time. Don’t pick an incorrect code on purpose because
you know that the priority is higher. It will actually slow the process down, not speed it up.
If you’re not sure which code to enter, you can use the “request description” search
box to find the types of codes applicable to your problem, or you can call SPACES’
Karrington Burnett (x31374). If you find that you entered the wrong code, you can contact
the Call Center and they will correct it. If you make a mistake in general, don’t create a
new work order. Simply contact the Call Center and explain, so they can make the
adjustments.
It is also important to fill in the “Contact” information boxes with the details of the
person who knows about the issue and can direct workers to the problem, and not
necessarily the person completing the work order. Be as descriptive as possible when
conveying your problem; include the location in the body of the description. There is an
icon next to the binoculars icon that you can use to add pictures to your work order.
When you create a new Sprocket, please let your co-workers know, so no duplicates are
generated.
Weekend problems may be addressed slower, but you should still follow Sprocket
protocol. Priority 1 means the problem will be addressed within 4 hours. Priority 2 means
it will be addressed the same day. P3 response time is 2 to 14 days. P4 is 15-30 days and
P5 is addressed when possible. Mary said she recommends placing your work order
request up to one year in advance (especially for planned events), if known, so she can
prepare accordingly.
You can call Karrington for landscaping issues, but use a Sprocket for facility repair
& moving issues. Mary said if you can see it on the Sprocket menu, they handle it.
Managers asked if work orders could default to the library location’s private phone number
instead of the public one. Karrington will follow up with Mary on this. She asks that you
report any attitude received from any GSD Call Center employee to Karrington or her.
Civic Engagement: (Larry Payne) May 12th is coming up. The event will be split up in two
parts. Mr. Adeeb Barqawi will be in the Norma Meldrum room and the Resource Fair will
be in the JIB Auditorium. Mr. Barqawi successfully identified and lobbied surrounding
businesses and organizations into helping improve his Kashmere community school. Larry
wants us to be inspired to follow through with our initiative. He will be sending Laurie
copies of a flyer to be distributed amongst you, so you can forward them with an invitation
to the May event to your community leaders. If you have any suggestions on which
organizations you want at the Resource Fair, please contact Larry. The September program
will cover civic vitality. Dr. Kleinberg will be at Staff Development Day along with Miguel
Figueroa.
Training Portal: (Thuy Vo & Suzy Benton) The new training portal has new features,
formal training and onboarding (new hire) instruction. The look of the portal has changed.
It’s reduced in scale and the Quick Access page provides easier access to Learning
Resources on a single page. The “Questions & Feedback” icon added to each subject
section on the Library Functions page can be used to send questions and feedback to
internal content owners.
There is an In-house tutorial videos page that promotes new learning resources.
Quick tabs and accordion-style features were added to the instructional page to promote
user-friendliness and enhance accessibility to resources. Thuy added a calendar that allows
internal trainers to add their own training classes; classes will automatically populate on the
training calendar. It will also allow staff to self-register for classes and internal trainers to
view registrations. Staff will receive confirmation emails after registering for classes.
Training Guidelines linked all the forms directly for easier access. There is a
comments feature included directly within each archived webinar on the Archived Webinar
page, allowing easier access and a seamless method for staff to add feedback for training
credits. Onboarding allows managers and staff to view training checklists, available links
and resources, and training presentations. Online forms include a “Submit” button that
sends a confirmation email to staff and an email to hpltraining@houstontx.gov for
response.
The Formal Training Calendar can be viewed 3 different ways. You can view
upcoming training events and can sort by date or subject. For new hires, you can leave the
email box blank or use your Gmail or Yahoo address, so a confirmation email can be sent
to you. You will also get a registration ID number in the confirmation email. Please
include that number when sending your instructor an email to cancel your registration.
Training is asking that you notify them within 48 hours of the class, so they can look to fill
the vacancy.
The Policy and Procedures training section of the portal is easier to access. There
are links to the forms that are mentioned in their prospective section. Fillable forms were
created, and if you need signature approvals for it, you can email it directly to the
appropriate staff.
For Onboarding or “new hire” training, the portal gives you access to the mandatory
checklists that you need to cover with your new staff, especially if the formal onboarding
training isn’t scheduled soon. There are three sections of resources to cover corresponding
to the first and second week of employment, as well as digital literacy.
Thuy included a “contact us” box for questions and feedback. She added a broken
link report to that section. Suzy said that she would support any training for your staff, as
long as you approve it.
Announcements: The main thief responsible for the multiple library break-ins has been
arrested. He was sentenced to two years in jail. As a result, Michele will check with John
Middleton to see if you still have to keep your lights on at night at your location.
There is a new ULC webinar on public libraries and Hispanics on Thursday, May 21st.
You can view it at Central Library’s training room on the 6th floor, or as an archived
webinar. Michele is requiring all managers and assistant managers make time to attend or
view the archived event. If you view the archived version, you will need to post meaningful
feedback to earn training credit. Administration is working on having an expert on Latino
related library issues at our July CE Managers meeting.
Monday, we are interviewing the three finalists for the Youth Services advocate
position. Michele hopes to have the vacancy filled soon.
A paper copy of the “daily processes” that will be created for the quality
management system was distributed. Managers were asked to identify the list of steps
taken in each process to create standardized procedures across the system. Michele also
wants front-line staff to work on this. She wants leaders and hard workers to participate in
its creation. Most of the work will be done virtually, so there will be little need for face to
face meetings. Laurie has created a wiki to use for this work. Please notify her if you are
interested in helping and what area you want to focus on.
June’s meeting has been moved to the 19th due to ALA conflicts. Any questions
about Staff Development Day parking, please refer to the FAQs on the intranet or email
that was sent.
Michele asks that you understand that we are working with limited resources, and
our needs for housekeeping, landscaping and security have been outsourced. We have no
control over that. However, we do want those contract staffers to do their job. If you see a
problem with their work performance, please document it. We don’t want to pay for a
service that isn’t provided. Ultimately, managers are responsible for their locations, so it’s
up to you to see that your staff and facility operate efficiently.
Discussion: We broke up into 9 groups and addressed questions posed by Michele: 1)
what is your biggest daily challenge, 2) what do you need to do your job to the best of
your ability from co-workers, direct supervisor, Senior Manager, Administration, and other
departments, 3) what does success look like to you.
Answers for question 1: communication and trust, staff not pulling weight, attitude
from staff and customers, not enough equipment and supplies, collection maintenance,
low staffing or not enough for outreach, space limitations, burn out, competing priorities,
lack of bilingual staff, low morale
Answers for question 2: good attitude, work ethic, open communication,
opportunity for growth, have Sr Managers work the front line occasionally, follow the chain
of command, being consistent, more advocating for staffing, avoid gossip, enforce policies,
Answers for question 3: Equal weight in all divisions, more ELT transparency,
locations more autonomous, managers trained on interpersonal skills, well organized, goal
oriented, happy to go to work, clear plan and more mobile, uniformity and higher visibility,
communities trusting us as a resource, updated technology and better opportunity for
growth, proud to serve as HPL staff, seen as a whole.
This survey will be sent out to all public services staff. Please encourage them to answer.
Michele asks that you leave thinking about how you see your role in making things
happen.

In attendance: Melissa Ryans, Richard Hurst, Melissa Gwinn, Shirley Singletary, LeRoy Robinson; Hellena Stokes, Beatriz DeAngulo, Erika Cardoso, Brandon Pope, Edgar Fuentes, Virginia Williams, Karen Luik, Janna Hoglund, Will Mayer, Jayla Parks, Angela Barratt, Tula Gorden, Donnie Byrd, Nathan Stokes, Alma Avina, Jennifer Myers, Kallie Benes, Christopher Patrick, Nhu Le, Patricia Ogea, Fred Schumacher, Marcos Martinez, Melissa Hayes, Tomika Price, Craig Bertuglia, Michelle Perry, Djuina Hammett, Leonore Hu, Laney McAdow, Diane Doyen, Derrick Spearman, John Merullo, Jose Santoyo, Felicia Brisco, Kelly Patton, Mercedes Mayne, Billy Glasco, Sara Pope, Maurina Powers, & Michelle King; Guest: Karrington Burnett, Mary Hughes, Larry Payne, Suzy Benton & Thuy Vo; CE Admin: Shammi Gill, Laurie Covington, Mary Wagoner, Theodora Muokebe, Patrick Atkins, Pedro Fonseca, Celeste Diaz, and Yolanda Anguiano
Next CE Managers meeting is on May 29th, 8:30AM-12PM in Central’s Program Place.