Sharing the Good Stuff

Since I've come around to talk to you all about our Core Values, I have heard beautiful, heartwarming stories that illustrate our shared values in action. Here's a story I received from Donna Holmen yesterday in my email. Linda, it is our delight to work with you!

 

Linda Potter (in Youth Services)teaches a class called Mother/Father Read at a local high school.  The class is for high school teenagers who have become young parents.  Linda goes out once a week for six weeks or so.  She teaches the young parents how to interact with their infants, and she teaches them skills on how to read to their child.  In this particular session, the parents were all young women.

 

As the class for this year was ending, Linda made all of the young women graduation diplomas for attending her classes.  Then Linda had Jen Fait arrange for the KPL Bookmobile to come to the high school.  The wonderful Bookmobile team stocked the shelves with extra baby books, and developmental toys that Linda had sent from SW library.

 

Linda had checked ahead of time and found out that some of the women had fines of more than $5.00 on their cards from overdue items.  They would not be able to check any items out.  Linda then spoke with Alice, Lynnell and Gina who were able to have the fines removed from the cards, and the cards brought up to date.

 

We took up a little collection of board books from our homes in Youth Services so that Linda could give them to the parents to keep for their babies. We had a Daisy Scout group come last Monday night for a visit at SW library.  They brought in books to donate, and they said that we could pick from what they had brought in for the parents also.

 

While I covered Linda's story time on Tuesday, she met the young women at the Bookmobile at the high school early in the morning. Every single young parent did excitedly check out books and toys for their children, and they were proud of themselves!  When Linda got back to the office and told us about it, we were teary eyed.  Those young babies are off to the best start that we at KPL could give them.

 

I just wanted to share this great example of community, compassion and teamwork by your KPL staff with you.  I am very proud to work at Kenosha Public Library and to be a part of this team!

Donna Holmen