June 2014 Staff Meeting Notes

Meetings Notes

Kashmere/Lakewood NL Grouping

June 30, 2014

In attendance:

Pedro Fonseca (Manager)

Melissa Ryans (Assistant Manager)

Juan Lopez (Senior Customer Service Clerk)

Twanna Wade (Senior Customer Service Clerk)

Marissa Baltrip (Customer Service Clerk)

Karl Beck (Library Assistant)

Dee Hunter (Library Assistant)

Tandi Pierson (Library Assistant)

Latoya Chase (Customer Service Clerk, Part-time)

Cristal Nino (Customer Service Clerk, Part-time)

Jennita Thomas (Customer Service Clerk, Part-time)

Not in attendance:

Dionne McLaughlin (Senior Library Service Specialist)

Topics of Interest:

• Daily Schedule Editors
• Customer Service Desk Refreshers
• Summer Food Program
• Daily Statistics
• Greeting/Roving
• Open Discussion

First Topic: Daily Schedule Editors

•  J. Lopez and T. Wade are able to update the daily schedule if an emergency occurs and staff is not able to be where they are scheduled to be at. D. McLaughlin will get access when she gets a Gmail account.

Second Topic: Customer Service Desk Refreshers

•  Staff should backdate items deposited in the bookdrop until the branch opens. If staff does bookdrop at 8:30am, staff should check bookdrop again at 10:00am. Backdate both times.
• Everyone on staff is allowed to waive fines provided the reason is valid.
• When waiving fines, staff should add notes to the account.
• Staff does not have to ask supervisors for permission, but if a staff member is unsure that the reason is valid, please refer to a supervisor.
• If staff forgets to backdate when doing bookdrop, staff must waive fines that accumulates on customers’ accounts.
• Pick up/closing procedures include straightening shelves. Staff should be picking up books around the library and shelves. If time permits, staff should re-shelve those books.
• When the branch closes, staff should first lock the doors, then proceed to other closing procedures such as rolling the laptop cart to the workroom, powering off the monitors, etc.
• If you are helping a customer and it is time for you to clock out, please continuing assisting customer; do not ignore the customer.
• Staff is supposed to say the HPL greeting at all times, regardless if we know the person calling.
• Laptops are not being checked in properly, as fines are accumulating on customers’ accounts. Make sure that you are discharging the laptops from customers’ accounts. Manager will start referring to the daily schedule to see who is working the CSD at the time the laptop is discharged if problem persists.
• Items not found on paging list should be marked as missing in Sirsi.
• Customers can use offender IDs to get library card but must verify address with another document. Photocopies of IDs are not acceptable. Customers can use the temporary paper IDs issued by the DMV, but the document cannot be expired.
• Staff need to check out items onto their account so that items are not marked as missing when paging is done.
•  Staff can continue overriding holds found on shelf by patrons, but do not override holds to check out an item to yourself. Circulation Administration is monitoring these activities and can find out if staff is doing this.
• D. Hunter reported that laptops at Kashmere NL are not printing. IT came out at one point to fix them, but the problem persists. P. Fonseca stated to call IT again and/or contact the IT staff member who previously assisted with the problem.

Third Topic: Summer Food Program

• The snacks from the Summer Food Program have gone missing on two occasions. It is unacceptable and the blame is falling back on M. Baltrip and P. Fonseca. The snacks are not for staff members.

Fourth Topic: Daily Statistics

• Staff will begin tracking every time they help a customer that involves a foreign language interaction. Daily statistics sheet will be revisited to accommodate this new statistic, which we will begin documenting on July 1, 2014.
• This is part of a city-wide initiative, iSpeak. Citizens will be given cards that identify the language they speak. Interpretation assistance can be provided through 311.
• Staff will tally each transaction (person) under the language they speak and the source of the assistance (staff or 311). Staff will continue to record reference/directional/computer questions in the appropriate locations on the statistics sheet.

Fifth Topic: Greeting and Roving

·         Greeting customers is not just a customer service but also for safety. Pay attention to your surroundings, even in the staff workroom.

·         Staff scheduled to greet and rove at both locations should monitor flip kits while roving. Make sure that customers are not opening kits and removing items.

·         Staff have to get better at the five expected behaviors of good customer service: 1) Greet Customers, 2) Smile, 3) Make Eye Contact, 4) Use Their Name When Applicable, and 5) Acknowledge Them As They Leave

Sixth Topic: Open Discussion

• Recommendation that staff replace the white bins housing the board books at Lakewood NL. M. Ryans will get with T. Wade to look at alternatives.
• Recommendation for bilingual displays at the branches.
• Managers’ meeting notes have been posted on the blog. Staff should read over those notes to remain informed of what is happening at HPL.
•  M. Ryans will order more earplug coverings for the headset at Kashmere NL.
• If the phone rings more than two times, staff not on the floor should answer the phone. C. Nino and M. Ryans asked whether or not to let the phone ring if staff were busy at the front desk. P. Fonseca stated that staff should answer the phone and explain to patron that he or she is with a customer. Please ask if the customer wants to hold or call back later. Staff should answer the phone during business hours.
• Staff in the back should pick up the phone if staff on the public floor is busy.
• J. Lopez shared a paging tip: at the top of the paging list there is a drop down box with the option to sort titles by location, pick up library, and type. He has found sorting titles to be very helpful when doing paging lists.
• Staff should make sure that they are using the new comment forms. The new version of the form can be found on the Intranet.
• M. Ryans will purchase more earphone covers for the headset at the CSD at Kashmere NL.
• The new Deputy Director of Customer Experience, Michele Gorman, starts on July 7^th.
• Staffs should try to handle customer complaints before directing them to the manager or kicking it up the administrative chain. If the customer insists on speaking to someone else, refer to the Manager. If the customer persists, provide him or her with NL Administration’s number (832-393-2707). If the customer continues to insist on speaking with the Director, provide them with 832-393-1300.