KPL STAFF BLOG FINAL EDITION

Thanks to Jason Rimkus for taking four hours of Opening Day footage and crafting a lovely 10 minute video. Bravo!

This week's Bright Spot nominations are extra special to me, as they are symbolic of what a wonderful staff KPL has and how lucky I have been to work with you all these past ten years. Don't ever lose sight of your true purpose or the extraordinary joy you bring to your community. I am so proud to have been part of this team and I wish you all the very best in your personal and professional lives. 

This week's Bright Spots:

 From Patty with an enthusiastic second from Jennifer K:

"I would like to nominate Donna Hermann for a "Bright Spot Award". Her dedication and commitment to everything she does as an Inventory Control Specialist at KPL are readily apparent. Watching her in action in the workroom makes me think of the Energizer Bunny. Donna contributes to making the Northside neighborhood library attractive and collections well organized for patrons. Her attention to detail is demonstrated by noticing occasional irregularities with labels and making inquiries, in case corrections are necessary. Donna also readily shares knowledge and IC tips and tricks with her team members and staff from other departments. We appreciate what she does for everyone!"

From Jennifer :
"I received a voicemail last week from a patron about Daisy's exceptional assistance and I think it needs to be shared. I had intended to pull out a few quotes to share, as the voicemail was over 2 minutes long, but I just couldn't do it. We so rarely get to hear about how much our service means to individuals in our community. So here is the text from her message:

Hi, my name is ---------------- and I was at the library and you have a young lady there named Daisy and you have a couple of ladies that's at the desk. I work more, Daisy work more with me than with them but they are great ladies. The reason why I call to tell you that is because, ma 'am, I have disability and I don't always know the computers and stuff, and this young lady got more patience than my own children to help me. She's such a beautiful, beautiful young lady, I just want to cry, because I never had a people like her and some of the rest of them up in there. Nobody took the time to show me that much favor, but she did. And I'm going to thank God for her and I want to thank you all for her for this being such a great blessing to me. When you realize that you got somebody who will help you and don't take advantage of you, it means the world to me. It means been struggling for a while but every time she stopped what she doing and she come and help me and some of the rest of them as well but I've worked more with Daisy so I just wanted to know her and her was the greatest greatest thing you could have did for some of us who have challenges and she tried to teach me how to do stuff so that I can learn myself. Even though I get it wrong, she helped me correct it and challenged me to try to do stuff myself and don't just rely on her all the time to do it for me. But she does it and she has patience to do it for me. So it warms my heart and I want you to know she's a jewel. She's such a jewel and thank you for hiring her. God bless you."

So that's all from me.

I wish you all the very best in whatever you choose to do. 

And whenever you face adversity, Stand Tall and Do the Next Right Thing!

With great affection, 

Barb

GRAND OPENING SATURDAY!

We did it! We built a children's library! Now we get to show all the children what we've created for them. Opening Day this Saturday July 13th from 12-4pm. Address is 6204 22nd Ave. in case anyone asks. Parking is mostly in the back lot and it's ok to park in the KELA parking lot, as well. Entrance through the front (22nd Ave) south door. 

This new location is open 7 days a week starting Saturday. 

M-F 9am-6pm

Sat and Sun 12-4pm

The first kids to try it out gave us rave reviews. Staff kids are the best kids!

This week's Bright Spot nominations:

From Emily: 

"I got to Pride Fest on Saturday just as the bookmobile pulled up and saw the KPL crew save the day! The organizer ran up in a panic because the performers had forgotten their books for Drag Queen Storytime! Zander, Elliott, Aliyah and Kristen quickly pulled some fabulous titles for them and the show went on. Great job team!"

Colorado Bound this September

I have a little announcement- something you might have already heard. My post-retirement is going to be more like a semi-retirement. It's a good way for this high-wired gal to slow down but still stay involved in a profession I truly love. And it's a way for me to go home to the mountains.

I'm moving back to Colorado, back to the San Juan Mountains where I spent eight years before coming to KPL. I've taken a job as the director of a tiny library in a mountain town called Pagosa Springs where they are adding two wings to their small library- one for a program room and one for a children's room. There are only eight employees, only a couple full time. I'll be a jack of all trades- a tech person, the HR person, a CSS and an ICS. I'll help weed the children's garden and probably even help clear snow.

Pagosa is surrounded by national forest and sits on top of geothermal hot springs. In fact, the library is heated by geothermal. It's a place where elk and deer are everywhere and bears lumber through town at will. The Wolf Creek ski resort just north gets 400+ inches of snow and the New Mexico desert is just 35 miles to the south. In fact, the kids just over the border come to school in Pagosa.

I hope if you ever get to the Pagosa area you'll stop in and say hello. I'll be glad to see you! 

Barb

A Party to Remember

Our Donors and Dignitaries event at the new kids library was a great party with rousing applause at the idea of better funding for libraries and more than 100 people grinning from ear to ear as they toured what will surely be known across the county as the premier place for kids to be. So many of you worked so hard to make this a reality. Some of you were there at the very beginning when we sat down with a skeptical mayor and sketched out what the space would look like. Some of you came in later when you brainstormed the programs and services a new space could support. Some of you asked your friends and family to donate, some of you donated yourselves. Hours were spent reviewing key locks and electrical outlets, fabrics and countertops.  Hundreds of books were selected, processed, and delivered to the new library.  When the space came together and the shelves needed filled, a few of you came out on a holiday to do just that. And on the day of the party, everyone had a dust cloth or a mop in hand.
This is all to say that every one of you is part of this amazing success. Each one of you contributed something to this new library and we ALL can be proud of the results. If you haven't been out lately, make sure you schedule some time to see the finished product before opening day- check with Heather about when staff will be on site.
July 13th will be here before you know it! Here's to the newest addition to KPL!

This week's Bright Spot nomination comes from Brandi:

"Elliott is consistently offering support wherever it is needed and often without anyone prompting them. I love watching them solve problems, meet our teens with compassion and guidance, and delve deeper into their love of libraries. Today especially, Elliott was amazingly helpful. I had given a group a task that would have been done in the garage. They realized that with the high temps we were experiencing the garage would be a poor workplace and decided to move the project into the teen space so that the team could work comfortably and efficiently. I was relieved when their email came through with instructions for the team - especially for a problem I hadn't anticipated. Thanks for being a rockstar, Elliott!"

I'm heading out west for a couple of days. I'll be back in the office next Thursday. Happy week ahead!

Barb

Almost ready for opening day!

 It's been a long road from this

To this

but Opening Day is coming up quick! Ribbon cutting with dignitaries and donors on June 20th at 1pm. 

Bright Spot Nominations this week:

From Lisa Langsdorf:

I would like to nominate Aaron Gundersen.
No matter what I request, no matter how short the turn around time, or how many tiny (important only to me) changes I request, Aaron is always cheerfully willing to try his best to help us out. Being in OPE I never need the same thing twice, but everything needs to be tweaked for the specific school/grade/audience. Aaron has always been there to support us. I often tell him he is a "rock star", because he makes my job easier, knowing he won't say "NO", but cheerfully says, "no problem".

AND

I would like to nominate Dan Sommerfeld for a bright spot. Dan is always willing to lend a hand and help out wherever needed. During the OPE shutdown, Dan has been busy supporting the Youth OPE programming. From making sure the new technology for storytimes is going to work, cutting endless amounts of circles, rolling hundreds of newspaper tubes, bringing along the best "play" choices for the events, and fearlessly driving the bkm and bk truck down the narrow car lined streets to events. (sometimes I just close my eyes...) He is always a joy to work with.


From Kristen S:
"Patty, Cathy, and Daisy went above and beyond last night (6/12) for one of my Home Delivery patrons. The patron selects her own holds and is new to the program, so she did not have any items on hold to deliver today. When she called in with requests last night, she was worried about not receiving anything, so the NS closing crew scrambled in the last half hour to pull items for her and get them over to me in OPE. It is much appreciated that they did this because I didn't need to search first thing in the morning while preparing to leave for my deliveries. And I know my patron appreciated the effort too. THANK YOU! - Kristen"

Reminder that we are closed June 19th in honor of Juneteenth. It is sobering to think that not long ago so many of us would have been in bondage.  Read the fascinating history behind this important holiday and take a moment or two to give thanks for the freedom we should never take for granted.

Baby Bunny Rescue, AI, and the reopening of SImmons on Saturday

SIMMONS REOPENS SATURDAY NORMAL HOURS

The bed bug scare at Simmons turned out to be very minor. The exterminator found 2 dead bugs in the kids area, nowhere else. We had the entire building treated and will follow up with a second treatment in a couple of weeks. Thanks to everyone for their flexibility and for welcoming SI staff at other branches during the closure. Special thanks to Jason who coordinated everything in Dan's absence.

City sponsored shredding events at NS and SW parking lots are scheduled on Saturday June 22nd,  9am-1pm

We have a regular board meeting at Southwest on Tuesday evening at 5:30pm. Rob and Zander will be presenting on Artificial Intelligence to prep the board for a future AI policy they are writing. If you can come, please do. If not, I'll ask them to present the same program for the staff sometime in the near future.

We'll start stocking the shelves at the new kids library this coming Tuesday. We'll also host UW Madison's Literacy Lab staff to talk to us about how they detect learning disabilities in young children and how those early disabilities can be offset through parent education.

This weeks Bright Spot nominations come from Patty:

Brent and Max, our amazing Network Administrators
Members of our Sister Cities Association and I would like to express appreciation to Brent and Max for working their "IT magic" by bringing in equipment and creating a 24/7 slideshow presentation (of at least 100 still images) inside the Northside lobby display case. The colorful and informative June exhibit celebrates the City of Kenosha's over 50 year relationship with Wolfenbüttel, Germany. Their project certainly enhances the impact of the installation.

Cathy, Customer Service Specialist
Throughout a recent evening at Northside, Cathy periodically worked with an older gentleman who was learning about, and navigating through, an onboarding platform. He had a smartphone, but was unfamiliar with using a mouse and had not previously received basic computer skills training. With patience, empathy, and humor she checked on his progress, helped guide him through the arduous process, and he accomplished the task as a new employee.


Jeff, Building Maintenance
While leaving Northside one evening, I saw an isolated and disoriented baby cottontail sitting in the parking lot near the driveway entrance. It had fur but its eyes were closed (7-10 days old?) and had difficulty moving toward the lawn. Several patrons saw me guarding it; one scooped it up (cradled in grass) and set it down, out of sight, under a nearby shrub (no nest was located). The next morning before opening, Jeff found it on the lawn, brought it inside, dried it with a towel and placed it in a box, called a local organization for guidance, and gave it some milk & cream, and a bit of honey, which appeared to revive it. Sadly, this little kit did not survive but it spent its last hours in a warm, safe, and quiet place, away from vehicles or predators. Jeff went above and beyond to help local wildlife. His actions exemplify the compassion and care with which he takes care of us and performs his maintenance responsibilities.

Thank you, Mrs. Long

 As I near my retirement, I'm cleaning out old files. Several years ago I came upon this poem, a thank you note to Mrs. Long, the librarian who nurtured a child's imagination. 

This poem reminds us that despite being a symbol of intellectual freedom, the public library has its own checkered past and it hasn't been that long since a black child could not attend a white library.  I hope it also inspires you to be brave when people are counting on you to stand up for the right to read.

Enjoy.

A POEM FOR MY LIBRARIAN, MRS. LONG
(You never know what troubled little girl needs a book)

At a time when there was not tv before 3:00 P.M.
And on Sunday none until 5:00
We sat on the front porches watching
The jfg sign go on and off greeting

The neighbors, discussion the political
Situation congratulating the preacher
On his sermon
There was always the radio which brought us

Songs from wlac in nashville and what we would now call
Easy listening or smooth jazz but when I listened
Late at night with my portable (that I was so proud of)
Tucked under my pillow

I heard nat king cole and matt dennis, june christy and ella fitzgerald
And sometimes sarah vaughan sing black coffee
Which I now drink
It was just called music There was a bookstore uptown on gay street Which I visited and inhaled that wonderful odor Of new books Even today I read hardcover as a preference paperback only

As a last resort
And up the hill on vine street
(The main black corridor) sat our carnegie library
Mrs. Long always glad to see you

The stereoscope always ready to show you faraway
Places to dream about
Mrs. Long asking what are you looking for today
When I wanted Leaves of Grass or alfred north whitehead

She would go to the big library uptown and I now know
Hat in hand to ask to borrow so that I might borrow
Probably they said something humiliating since southern
Whites like to humiliate southern blacks

But she nonetheless brought the books
Back and I held them to my chest
Close to my heart
And happily skipped back to grandmother’s house

Where I would sit on the front porch
In a gray glider and dream of a world
Far away
I love the world where I was

I was safe and warm and grandmother gave me neck kissed
When I was on my way to bed
But there was a world
Somewhere
Out there
And Mrs. Long opened that wardrobe
But no lions or witches scared me
I went through

Knowing there would be
Spring