Thank You, Northside Staff!

Shawn Wolf has created a lovely Ready to Read Center for children at our Northside location, and we were all a little disappointed that the room could only be open while Shawn was in attendance because of parents who just don't supervise their children. But then Shawn spoke with Cathy who spoke with the Northside staff, and soon everyone was agreeing to pitch in and help out to keep the room open and in order. What fabulous teamwork! Thanks, everyone!

SW Lobby Opening Early October 13

Starting October 13, the lobby at SW will open at 8am. Victoria's will be open to serve coffee and light breakfast. WiFi will be available. The activities room may be reserved beginning at 8:15am.
This should make some people very happy. We're also working to accommodate a vending machine in the lobby for when Victoria's is not staffed. We'll keep you updated as that project progresses.

Southwest Powerwall Project Plan

Some of you may be wondering what's going on with the power wall project at SW. Don't worry, we have a plan. Here's a task list and timeline for those of you who may be interested.

SOUTHWEST POWERWALL PROJECT

What                                                                 Responsibility                                   By When

Children’s banner color selected	Shimon	9/18
Banner above new books designed and ordered	Shimon	9/25
New Books Signage designed and ordered	Shimon	9/25
Children’s banner painted	Maintenance	10/4
Top shelf for power wall ordered	Chuck	9/25
Plants moved from children’s doorway to SW lobby	Maintenance	10/2
Benches ordered for in front of power wall	Barb	9/30
Display units ordered	Barb	9/30
Banner above new books installed	Shimon	10/15
New books signage installed	Shimon	10/15
All shelving installed for powerwall	Maintenance	10/15
Ebook monitor attached to wall	CNS	10/16
Motif designed and ordered for children’s glass doors	Shimon	10/16
Display units installed	Maintenance	11/5
Top shelf added to power wall shelving	Chuck	11/5
Books transferred to wall	Circ	11/6

 

It Takes a Village (of library staff)

Hello, Everyone
Welcome to Friday.
I've been weeding fiction at the Northside Library and I'm finding books that are in terrible condition. We have a very large collection, and I can't promise that we'll be able to get into the stacks and weed every section every year, so I'm going to ask for all of you to help. If you see a book returned in poor condition, please set it aside and ask one of the librarians on staff to make the call about replacing it or removing it from the collection. Dirty, smelly, stained books make their shelf neighbors dirty and smelly, and makes some people hesitant to use a library. With the buzz in the newspaper about bed bugs, we need to put our best foot forward to quell any public fears. Our professional staff has done a very impressive job collecting the best literature the world has to offer. Together we can make sure it appeals to our patrons.
Thanks!
Barb

News Update

Hello, Everyone
Here's some news for the week

• Thanks to Shawn Wolf who is already making her mark in the children's room at Northside Neighborhood Library. Shawn is beloved among the preschoolers in Kenosha and I am delighted that she has agreed to an assignment both at NS and on the bookmobile 29 hours per week. Shawn will be reinvigorating children's services at our second largest location and bringing her children's expertise to bookmobile services. 
• We are sending out an electronic survey about Children's Services at Northside Neighborhood Library to everyone who is subscribed to our electronic newsletter. The survey prompts people to tell us what they'd like to see more of and what they'd like us to add. Shimon plans to provide paper copies of the survey so we can capture feedback from drop in parents and those attending story time programs.
• Ellen is adding a large type book rental plan to our collection development plan to make sure we have lots more new large type books for our voracious readers.
• The Big Weed is going well, although not fast enough for our paging staff, I'm sure. Thanks to everyone who is participating in refreshing the collection and making browsing easier for our patrons. Big thanks to everyone who cheerfully accepts carts of books to withdraw and hauls boxes to the garage for book sales.
• Speaking of book sales, the Friends broke a record at their recent event, bringing in around $4,000 in one weekend. The next sale is scheduled for October and will again be at SW. Thanks to everyone who helped make that happen.
• The Outreach Team meets on Monday and we will first be defining what we mean by Outreach, then launch into how we can expand and improve upon a very robust and appreciated service. If you have any ideas to lend, please feel free to let me know.
• We have new meeting room software that will allow our patrons to make their own reservations and dramatically streamline our processes. The Library Board approved a new policy recently that allows people to book a room who are not Kenosha County residents.
• We're considering opening the lobby at SW Neighborhood Library one hour early M-F. Lin will be talking with Victoria's to see if we can get some type of coffee service to go along with our free wi-fi. We'll keep you posted.
• Sheri and I presented the 2015 budget proposal to our city administrator on Wednesday. This is the first in a series of meetings before committees and Common Council before the budget is finally approved. The city will determine any staff wage increases in 2015 and is unlikely to make any decisions before November. We will let you know their decision just as soon as we are notified.
• Highlights of the 2015 proposed budget include support for replacement computers, replacement chairs at NS, a dedicated budget for both youth and adult programs, more collection money, more money for ebooks, more money for staff training, and painting at both NS and SW. We will also be adding some part time support staff to help with computer training classes and drop in help for electronic gadgets.
• Most of the wood chairs in the public areas at NS will receive a facelift next month. The fabric backs will get fresh padding and beautiful new fabric.
• If you haven't seen the wood flooring at the entrance to SW, swing by and take a look. It really looks great, is much quieter than you would expect, and is a whole lot easier to clean! Next we'll finally be building a "power wall" for all our new materials for easy access and to show them off. Our maintenance crew will be designing and building.
• Brent and Max installed an Overdrive Download Station (ebook power wall) at SW. The station really simplifies the ebook download process! Please take time to get familiar with it so we can all help patrons to use it. I just downloaded about 5 titles for my Labor Day trip and I found it very friendly. We have one more license to create a replica at NS sometime soon.
• I hope you've found the transition to Google mail painless, maybe even a good experience. I am enjoying the sharing capabilities. Nearly everyone on staff has been transitioned off Outlook. I suggest you solely use your new Google accounts. All  email sent to your Outlook account is being forwarded to your Google, but no mail sent solely to your Google address will show up in Outlook. To avoid confusion, start and stick with Google. Joe will be offering classes in  Google Apps beyond mail, so stay tuned.

And finally, as I've been weeding the collection, I am struck by the high quality, the cleanliness of the shelves, and the perfect order of the books. While I'm on the floor, I overhear the respectful, thoughtful interactions with our visitors. Your love for your work and your profession, your respect for our libraries, and your kind attention toward the public warms my heart. I am so happy to be on your team. Thank you for living the KPL Core Values every day!
Barb