Circulation Forum Minutes - February 04, 2015

Meeting was called to order at 1:30pm.

Welcome

Julie welcomed those that came to the forum and reminded everyone to share what they learned with the staff at their libraries.

Special Guest – Tim Rogers

Tim greeted all the Forum attendees and reminded everyone about the upcoming Friends of the Library book sale.  He provided a box of bookmarks and asked everyone to take some back to their libraries.

Daily Deposits – Denise Ryan and Jeffery Mullins

Jeffrey and Denise Ryan discussed ways that circulation staff can help to make the Business Office new large workload much easier. 

• Circulation staff are asked to tape all credit card receipts to an 8.5" X 11" white piece of paper.  Jeffrey and Denise passed around some of the results from incorrect deposit paperwork and taping. Currently the Business Office has to sort through and scan paperwork from all MLS libraries which requires taping all credit card and copy/printer receipts to 8"x11" paper.
• When running reports in Smart Money make sure to enter the starting time from the previous day as 08:00 and that the end time also has the previous day's date and time of 23:59. If this is entered incorrectly the wrong amount could be shown on the deposit.
• Check every bag that arrives from the business office. (In addition to payroll checks, the business office may send patron reimbursement confirmation, and check reimbursements through interlibrary mail. If it is a credit card or check reimbursement for a patron please note this on their account in Carl.x as a standard note with "see notes". This way patron's refunds can be tracked so we do not end up refunding a patron twice.
• Roll all coins when possible. It is preferable not to tape the end of the coin rolls, but if you must, they ask that you do so loosely. Taping makes it very difficult to break the coin wrappers, often resulting in coins flying around the Business Office.
• Leave the lower left hand corner of your Cash Drawer Count blank for the Business Office as they use the space to adjust deposits. Any other space is available for taping your calculator tapes, etc..., but do not cover up your counts.
• Watch payment entries, in particular check payments. Entering accidentally as cash not only throws off your cash balance, but it also throws off your check balance, resulting in two errors instead of one. The Business Office no longer has the ability to make adjustments in the system; so once an error is made, it stands.
• When submitting more than one deposit bag, label the outside of the bag with the day or date. They are working on some kind of label that can attach to the zipper of the deposit bags; but for now, just tape a note on each bag. Also we will get new folders to put all deposit paperwork in. This way all of those receipts taped to the 8.5"x11" paper will be flat and much easier for the Business Office to scan. The new labels for the deposit bags will help the Business Office determine which deposit bag goes with which corresponding folder.
• MLS libraries must send their deposits in orange locked bags Downtown through interlibrary mail.
• Use only 8.5"x11" white paper for receipt taping. Multiple sizes cannot be handled by the scanner when tape is involved. With tape on the front and back of the paper the copier cannot turn the paper and this creates a paper jam.
• All necessary calculator tapes, notes, receipts must be taped to the paper. Do NOT tape checks to paper.
• Use only white paper. Colored paper utilizes too much file space. A one day scan is already too big to go through email so they are scanning it directly to the drive.
• Do not fold any money paperwork. This should be an easy task now that we have our brand new folders. Folding the paperwork, especially taped paperwork to fit in deposit bags, has been causing serious jams in the scanner.
• Leave a 1/4" on all sides of the 8.5"x11" paper when taping all various receipts and/or calculator tape. This allows a place for the rollers to grab and pull the paper through the scanner.
• Tape all sides of the receipts to the 8.5"x11" papers you send to the Business Office. The receipts should be taped in a portrait fashion. Conserving on tape causes the scanner to jam severely and is extremely hard on the rollers. They've already had to replace all of the rollers from numerous severe paper jams. When receipts are taped in a landscape fashion, they are reaching too close to the edge and the scanner cannot pick it up.
• Do not staple anything. Even when staples are removed, the paper is still crimped enough to cause paper jams.
• Do not tape over the edge of an 8.5"x11" OR carry over a receipt and tape the remainder to the back. This will cause scanner jamming.

Hold Items Missing From Shelf – Kay Bauman

Kay reviewed the step-by-step procedures for handling items missing from the Hold Shelf. These steps work successfully regardless of the owning library or holds on the title.  (See attachment)

Activity:  Carl-X Notes – Jennifer Adkisson and Brittany Barber

Jennifer and Brittany led the group in an activity to review the uses of different Carl-X note types:  Standard, Standard with “see note” and Urgent.  (See attached handout for details.)

Jennifer and Brittany led the group in an activity to review the uses of different Carl-X note types:  Standard, Standard with “see note” and Urgent. These notes will affect the customer's record in different ways. A Standard note will make the "lightbulb" on the notes section of a customer’s record show as lit. A Standard note with "see note" selected as the customer's status will cause a "Patron Soft Block" BRB to pop up when a customer is trying to check out. At the circulation desk, this can then be cleared (if it is taken care of) or overridden to continue checking out. The “see note” will stop the customer from being able to check out at the self-checkout machines. An Urgent Note will cause a BRB to appear upon checkout that will not allow check out until the problem is resolved and a staff member clears the block. This type of note will NOT stop a customer from checking out at the self-checkout.    (See attached handout for details on the use of these different types of notes.)

Circulation Topics – Cheryl Mann 

Cheryl reviewed the details for entering various card types in Carl-X. She emphasized the importance of remembering to choose Spanish in the customer's record for our Spanish-speaking customers. She also reviewed procedures for entering an emancipated minor in Carl-X. No paperwork or proof of emancipation is needed and "Emancipated" should be typed into the Secondary Address line. Cheryl also reviewed the steps for issuing cards to students without a parent present. The important thing to remember is that the student must have proof of address and that the card must be set to expire in two weeks, and only allow two items to be checked out to the card. When the parent comes in to add their signature, only the student's name needs to be added to the top section of the library card application. Cheryl also reviewed the policy regarding reciprocal card eligibility. (See attachment) 

Meeting adjourned at: 4:30 p.m.