Chief of Central Services & Happy New Year

Greetings,

Just a quick note to share some information. As I have shared in meetings and e-mails, my role at HPL is changing. Instead of solely being responsible for Central Services, I have taken on additional responsibilities that currently include two areas.

The first is working closely with the Deputy Director of Public Services and serving as a member of the Executive Leadership Team. The second area is to function as the leader of the HPL Transformation Team. As part of the latter, I am also responsible for all locations involved in implementing the new service model that has been shared with staff. Currently, this includes Vinson, Blue Ridge, and Bracewell. However, in the coming months, it is possible that more locations may be added to this list.

I regret that these duties have prevented me from being as present at CEN as I have been in the past. However, I am confident that Paty, Sandy, and Bea are doing an exceptional job running things in my absence. I would like to stress that even though I am taking on more responsibilities, I still value input from staff at all levels and, while it might be hard to catch me in my Central office, I make it a priority to respond to calls or e-mails from staff at all levels with concerns, questions, etc.

Finally, Happy New Year!! I regret that I got so busy that I did not post a message wishing everyone a Happy Holiday but was quite happy to have made it to the holiday party and white elephant gift exchange.

You are all doing an outstanding and invaluable job. I just want to thank you all for that. And again, Happy New Year!

Thanks,

Mike VC

Visit for Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

Greetings,

On December 8th, we will have visitors from the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. They will be visiting many location with ELT and other staff. In the afternoon between 2 and 3:30 PM, they will be touring the Central Library and Technical Services. Paty and I will be leading the tour. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Mike VC

Incelement Weather - December 4th

Greetings,

As many of you know, it is looking more and more like there may be winter precipitation tomorrow. A Winter Storm Watch and Freeze Warnings have been issued for area counties, including Harris, until noon on Friday. Please tune into local news stations for information concerning weather conditions and any potential closings. Also, you can call the HPL Emergency Line (832.393.1550) for status updates. If weather conditions prevent you from reporting to work, please contact your immediate supervisor as soon as possible. Also, your managers may be contacting today to ensure they have correct contact information.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Mike Van Campen

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Greetings all,

I regret that I was unable to make it to yesterday's Thanksgiving meal/party. I did want to post a quick message expressing my ongoing appreciation of all the hard work that staff at Central do everyday in an often challenging environment. You are all quite amazing and your dedication is to be commended. I sincerely hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and a restful few days off of work.

Thanks,
Mike VC

Food Issue at CEN

Greetings,

I want to share with staff that your concerns about food at CEN have been heard. I have been working with administration on the need to change current practices at CEN. They have agreed to support that decision. This is not a change to policy but to practices here at CEN. According to policy, food "may" be permitted in a library if there is a "designated area". Because Inversion and Teens sell food, we have to continue to allow food in some "designated areas". I am working with Paty and Beatrice to come up with new practices in this area. It may very well be that food is limited to Teens and Inversion, which would realistically mean no outside food. We are hoping to implement the changes fairly soon and will share exact details with all staff and security prior to any changes.

The one bit I would add to this is that we will continue to follow the policy on beverages, which does not permit the flexibility that the food portion of the policy does. As a reminder, it states "the consumption of non-alcoholic beverages in covered containers is permitted at all library locations except HMRC."

Look for more information and implementation details on this change in the coming weeks.

Thanks,
Mike VC

Sorting Room Access

Greetings,

We are trying to work on ensuring that all staff who need it have access to the sorting room. If you need access to the sorting room and currently do not have it with your card, please send your name and id number to Yolanda. She is working on a list to submit again to try to get access.

Thanks,

Mike VC

All Staff Meetings

Greetings,

We will be holding meetings for all Central Service next week. These will be informational meetings where we will discuss changes to the reporting structure at Central. An e-mail should be coming out before the meeting sharing the basic details. The meetings will primarily be open meetings to discuss the new arrangements and other questions. There will be two meetings held; all staff should work with their manager to attend one of the meetings if they wish. Here is the information for the meetings:

• Tuesday, October 27 - 2:30 pm to 4 pm - Concourse Meeting Room
• Thursday, October 29 - 2:30 to 4 pm - Concourse Meeting Room

I look forward to seeing folks at these meetings, sharing information, and answering questions.

Thanks,

Mike Van Campen