Courtesy Phone & Central Outstanding Issues

Greetings,

It is extremely apparent that the current location of the courtesy phone is a big problem for a variety of reasons. I would like to ask staff to consider possible places we can relocate the phone that is in an area that can be observed by staff and is less intrusive than the current location.

Also, I have updated (and will continue to update as more happens) the document to the right named Central Outstanding Issues. Please let me know if there is anything I need to add to that document that I should be tracking.

Thanks,
mvc

Thanks and Staff Development Day Input

On behalf of the folks who served on the Staff Development Day (SDD) committee, I want to thank staff for attending Staff Development Day with an open mind and positive attitude. I hope folks found it beneficial. The committee worked extremely hard on making this a success with very little planning time and is committed to making future SD days as beneficial as possible. So, in this vein, I would ask folks to send me input on SDD and ideas/improvements for upcoming Staff Development Days.

Thanks,
Mike VC

One Card

Greetings,

As I look back on the postings on the One Card from 6/5/08 and 11/6/07, I see that they are a bit unclear and lack specifics about what we need to know. Sorry about that.

What we need to know about One Card is that customers with a Harris County Public Library Knowledge Card can use that card at HPL once they register the Harris County card. The way this works is just like receiving a PowerCard. The only difference is that when that person registers their patron barcode (or P BARCODE in MilCirc) will be the number on their Harris County card. Once registered, the customer can use that card just like they would use a PowerCard.

The other important piece of information is that customers can now return Harris County items at any HPL location and vise versa.

For more information, please see the helpful training on this available via the CLST blog at:
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgrznkbp_1374zbs6rc7

Please let me know if I need to clarify this.

Thanks,
mvc

CIPA

Greetings,

Since we have reopened the issue of pornography has come up repeatedly. As most folks know, we are obligated to follow guidelines as laid out in the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which states the library "must protect against access to visual depictions that 1) are obscene, 2) contain child pornography, or 3) are harmful to minors."

For a definition of obscene, CIPA ultimately points to state law. In Texas Statute 43.21, the term "obscene" is clearly defined. This is the definition we need to operate on when determining if something is obscene. Here is a link to Chapter 43 of the Texas Penal Code.
http://tinyurl.com/36upw2

Please scroll down to section 43.21 Definitions to read the definitions.

The second two issues--2) child pornography and 3) harmful to minors--are well defined at the following CIPA information page provided by WebJunction.
http://webjunction.org/91/articles/content/432235

I hope having these definitions helps with this issue.

Thanks,
Mike VC

Oce/Pharos Money

Greetings,

There should no longer be a need to collect Pharos money to give customers credit on their print cards. There are enough Virtual Cash Acceptors throughout the building that this should no longer be needed. The only instance where we would need to do this again is if all machines are not functioning.

Thanks,
Mike VC

Great Review in Houstonist

Greetings all,

Check out what Houstonist had to say about all our hard work at Central.
http://houstonist.com/2008/07/25/houston_public_library_central_bran.php

Mike VC

At Closing

Greetings,

I would like to ask all staff that if you are off the desk the final hour we are open, you come to the public floors at 30 minutes before closing. This way we can have all hands on deck to ensure customers are able to find someone to help them so that we can close the building as close to on time as possible.

Thanks,
Mike VC