42 books we'll see as movies in 2018

Some people refuse to watch the movie versions of books, others like to compare. If you're the latter, here's a list of 42 books made into film to be released in 2018.
http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2017/12/2018-books-to-movies.html

News Update

Here are a few things you should know:

• Welcome to our new cafe vendor @SW, Bacos Tacos and Waffles. Akela Brown is delighted to take your order in advance of lunchtime so you don't need to wait. (262) 595-8303 The banana chocolate waffles look especially appealing...
• The marble entryway at Simmons has been gradually failing, and we are taking the holiday closing opportunity to get a new floor installed. Since there is only one way for the public to enter the building, we need to close completely to get the work done. Simmons will be closed December 21st-25th. Brandi is sending this message out by various media and we'll have signs on the front door for our regular patrons who don't visit our website or social media.
• Our next Board meeting is tomorrow evening at 5:30pm at NS. The Board will approve the 2018 budget, organizational chart, wage scale, and Business Plan. The 2018 budget includes a 1.9% wage increase for all staff beginning July 1. 
• The Board has approved Sunday summer hours at Southwest starting 2018. We will mimic winter hours, 12-4pm. 
• The Mayor is hosting a holiday lunch at noon on Friday from 11-2 in room 302 at City Hall and you're invited! 
• The annual KPL Cookie Walk is next Monday. Drop by CCB if you can- we always have a room full of dazzling sweets to share.
• In just a few more weeks, we will be opening the doors of the new Digital Media Lab! Thanks to Wally and crew for making this a priority, and to Marcia for leading the planning team for the terrific programming we will do there.
• I'll be visiting family in Louisiana from December 20-25. I can always be reached by phone and will regularly check email. For immediate emergencies, Lin will be available.

Have a wonderful week!

Barb

We've Been Named a Power Library!

SirsiDynix has awarded five libraries with a Power of Libraries Award. We are one of those libraries!
We will be honored at the SirsiDynix COSUGI 2018 conference in Atlanta, and in January a video production crew will be here to create a 5 minute promotional video with the library and our community partners about the Kenosha Parks Alliance. That video will be ours to use as we fundraise and friendraise, present programs at library conferences, and give speeches at local organization meetings.
Congratulations to all of you who worked so hard to create magic in our parks this summer!
Barb

Public Theater NYC in Kenosha

Tomorrow we have a special guest in town. Chiara Klein from Public Theater in New York City will be here to meet a number of our partners including the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, KUSD and the Museum to talk about a  theater program they take on the road. We're hoping they choose Kenosha for this new project and that our libraries will be venues for their public performances.

This would be a wonderful opportunity for local youth who have always dreamed of a career in theater. I'll keep you informed as we know more about the program and selection process.

Barb

New LC Blog

Calling all amateur historians!
The Library of Congress is modernizing and innovating to bring the extraordinary collection held in its archives to the People. Here is a new site called Library of Congress Labs that offers up digital repositories in an interactive way. If you love history, you'll love this new blog.

WiFi Upgrade News

From Brent:

SI is now running on our upgraded and expanded public WiFi network.

Just like with SW and UP the new WiFi features include:

1) 24/7 availability.

2) No captive portal page click through - patrons can connect straight away.

3) Expanded coverage from additional and upgraded access points.  There are now 5 access points throughout the building, including a new one located in the children's area.

4)  Roughly a 1000% percent increase in available bandwidth for patrons.

We'll likely add additional access points for even greater coverage/capacity in the future.  

Next stop Northside...

Service Dogs

This is a great article about the proliferation of "fake" service dogs. Please remember we can only ask two things:
Is the dog required because of disability?
What services is the dog trained to perform?

We cannot ask about the nature of the disability.

Emotional support animals don't count as service dogs under ADA. So poodles in purses don't need to be admitted to the library. The rule for service dogs is "four (paws) on the floor."

Hard to remember, I know, so just remember you can access this refresher information from our staff blog.

News Updates

Hello, Everyone
Here's some library-wide news:

• National Friends of the Library Week begins Sunday. We will hold a thank you event in the lobby of Southwest for FOL members from noon till 1:30. Please join us if you can to say thank you.
• Speaking of FOL, their next book sale is at SW next weekend. The city will also have a shredding event in our parking lot that day, so expect a lot of traffic!
• The annual Wisconsin Library Association Conference happens next week. Many of us will be there for a day or two.
• Next Wednesday evening, Kevin Levin, a Civil War Educator, will be at Kenosha's Civil War Museum to discuss the legacy of civil war statues and historical markers. It should be a rich community conversation. KPL is co-sponsoring the event, which begins at 7pm.
• Brandi is off until next Thursday, so please hold any new marketing projects you have until her return, if possible.
• Tuesday evening @7pm we broadcast the second installment of Cultivating the Dream, a fascinating look at "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" in Wisconsin today. That live event, followed by community discussion, is at Uptown Neighborhood Library.
• The IDEA Team meets next Friday evening @6:30pm @SW for a social event/ film and discussion. All staff are welcome.
• We switch to Daylight Savings Time on November 5th this year.
• The KPLF Gala was a smashing success and many guests requested that we do it again. Here's a short film of the awards ceremony. Yes, I have a feather on my head. 

Enjoy the warm weekend, everyone!

Barb

News for the Week

Hello, Everyone
Here's news you can use

• Welcome to Walter Freitag, our new Maintenance Superintendent. Walter begins work on Monday, overlapping Chuck for one short week before Chuck officially retires.
• Best wishes to Audrey Paul. Audrey has been out on FMLA leave since July and has decided to retire. 
• Kudos to teamwork in YS! Yesterday I witnessed Jake entertaining a very large group of teens in the cafe area while Lisa Langsdorf "watched over" the teen area inside. What a wonderful collaborative spirit!
• KPL is hosting live streaming of a fascinating series of lectures and conversation from the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters. The next installment is called Cultivating the Dream and will be streamed live at Uptown Neighborhood Library beginning 7pm on October 17th. This may be of special interest to those of you participating on the IDEA Team, as it focuses on immigrants in the Wisconsin dairy industry. Hope you can join us!
• KPL has been selected to receive Ken Burns' new documentary series on the Vietnam War. This is hailed as his crowning achievement, and for fans of Burns, that's saying a lot. Watch for that series of programs to begin soon.
• Tomorrow begins Kenosha's Bloomberg Mayor's Challenge initiative. Kenosha will be competing with over 500 cities nationwide to receive grant dollars for innovative solutions to vexing problems. Fifteen community leaders concerned with youth violence will meet at the Civil War Museum (I can't help but notice this relationship) with a consultant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to strengthen and define our project concept. The library is once again coordinating this city wide effort.
• Tune into WGTD next Tuesday morning to hear Greg Berg's interview of Angie Aker, our KPL Foundation Vice President, and me as we talk about the library's essential role in the community, our trusted relationship with Kenosha, and how we are staying relevant in the world of Google. Of course, the upcoming Library Foundation Gala is also a major topic. Here's a link to the gala's information and the place to purchase tickets online from KPL's home page.
• Please join me on Monday or Tuesday next week to process the community feedback from our strategic planning process and identify three main areas of service focus for the next three years. What words or phrases stood out in the public responses? Where do YOU want to concentrate our efforts? What programs or services do you feel would have the most impact on our community? If you can't join me either day, but have advice to share, please feel free to send me an email. I really appreciate your participation!
• And last, but certainly by no means least, take a look at the new Tween Space evolving in the SW Children's Area. With funding from the KPL Foundation, our staff is once again blazing trails in library service!

Public embracing express checkout

We now have stats showing the gradual adoption of self check use at Northside Neighborhood Library. By the end of August, 49.45% of checkouts are running through Express Checkout machines. This is a terrific show of interest for this service and a high rate of adoption so early in its introduction. Thanks to all NS staff who have patiently taught the public about this option.
We remain committed to personal service for anyone who prefers it. Please continue to assure patrons that our wonderful staff will always be there to brighten their day and help with any library transactions.

Libraries Doing Well with Millennials

Looks like they trust us and looks like everyone wants more training to figure out fact from fiction.
Read latest PEW research here.
Don't worry! Marcia is on it.
And Donna is devising community conversations to practice civility.
Thanks, Ladies!

KPL nominated for WLA Library of the Year

Every year, the Wisconsin Library Association chooses one library in the state to honor with the "Library of the Year" title. The award is based on community partnerships, creative programming, and most of all, positive community impact. I can think of no library that deserves this honor more than KPL. Over the past 3 years I have witnessed extraordinary courage in leadership at all levels of this organization, from the public service staff who joined hands as SHARE trainers to the Maintenance staff who redesigned service desks, from our Youth staff who taught themselves computer coding to give kids a glimpse into the future, to Circulation staff who visited assisted living common areas with books and programs so our elderly patrons would stay warm and safe from icy parking lots. Bookmobile staff ventured into neighborhoods, worried about crime, and found joy in the faces of children as they discovered the library for the first time. They scrambled to load up their van with library materials when the bookmobile broke down, knowing the patrons waiting for them needed that much-awaited visit. ADS staff brought their passion for comics, for social justice, and for the joy of reading to a robust public programs schedule, and the gorgeous design and social media marketing behind those ventures drove attendance to double digit increases. Collection Services staff devised efficiencies to make sure patrons found great books and new items found their way to the shelves twice as fast as before. Staff bravely changed their work flow and procedures, knowing the end result improved service. Circulation staff did the same as they adapted to RFID, automated returns and self checks, knowing these services delighted the public and allowed us to shift our time away from the back room and out front with our patrons.
Four of our Public Service departments are now led by young people who worked their way up through the ranks, seeking the training and mentorship along the way to follow their passion for library service. Three of our staff members are now enrolled in MLIS programs. Many other staff members have changed departments and taken on new roles or specialties that have had a huge impact on service, especially in technology training, youth services, public programs, and outreach services. More and more of you are contributing to "Off the Shelves" in the Kenosha News and write terrific articles in our weekly electronic newsletter. For most of you, it's not just a job anymore, it's a passion that blooms with your special touch.
As we wade through 85 pages of comments from our recent public survey, it is obvious that your community loves the people and the service at the Kenosha Public Library! You all deserve the Library of the Year Award. Yesterday evening, you were nominated. I've got my fingers crossed that WLA understand the positive influence you are in your community. But even if they don't, you are the Library of the Year here at home.

Renewing Our Commitment

Dear KPL Staff,

In the wake of this weekend’s tragedy in Charlottesville, many of our community members are left dazed and confused. You may count yourself among the confused. You may also be wondering how we as library staff can respond.

KPL has an enormous role to play in these turbulent times. Now more than ever our role as a public library is to help people make sense of local, regional, national and world events by providing proven facts and expert analyses. I call this role “Content in Context.”  It’s the “why” of what happened, the events leading up to the event, the people, economic factors, science, or social movements as a gradual continuum, seen or unseen, that built the foundation for the events we witness at this moment in our history. It’s the big picture, not just the little details that compel us to jump to illogical conclusions. Our collections are full of context. Our public programs are a wonderful tool to connect the public with experts. Our job is to engage our community with our collections and programs. It is not our job to define what people’s opinions should be. But it is our job to provide them with solid information on which to base those opinions.

The public library is also a trusted community gathering place where people might safely explore diverse opinions. Many libraries have embraced this role to great end, engaging their communities in facilitated discussion of contentious issues. Instead of dividing the community further, libraries find these discussions build stronger relationships between disparate groups, promote unity, dismantle preconceived notions, lead to shared vision, and improve civility in public discourse. Many of our staff have received training on how to facilitate this “deliberate dialogue.” Today I commit to moving forward with this important work.

As staff of the Kenosha Public Library, we may feel like our contribution is unnoticed, or too small to make a difference. I assure you that is not the case. Libraries have long been the “Great Equalizer.” The work you do every day makes an enormous difference in your community and in the world. To imagine a world without libraries is to imagine a world devoid of civilization.

Now is the time to support intellectual freedom, and to defend truth telling. Now is the time to renew our commitment to our community’s right to know, to discuss, and to explore the information critical to our collective role as citizens in this complicated, confusing world.

As KPL staff,

• We will welcome and defend every person’s right to use the public library.
• We will provide outstanding service to every person who uses our libraries.
• We will continue to purchase materials from all viewpoints that are written or produced by experts in the field.
• We will promote the materials in our collection that we recognize as useful in clarifying the events of the day through displays, social media, and our website.
• We will continue to engage our community in small group discussion around topics of social justice and equality, the foundations of our Constitution and American identity.
• We will continue to work beyond our walls, striving to connect all members of our community with library services.
• We will recommit to building a better future for the children of Kenosha through early childhood education and social inclusion.
• We will begin a series of Community Conversations that explore our common concerns and allow our community to explore all viewpoints through civil discourse.

Our work can be difficult, but it has never been more important. Thank you for coming to work every day with renewed energy to provide your community with the very best lifelong learning opportunities. Together we can and will make a difference!

Barb

News for the Week

• Reminder that we will again host shredding events in our NS and SW parking lots tomorrow.
• Outreach staff will be at Petrifying Springs Park tomorrow for the county's anniversary celebration. Stop by the booth to say hello if you're out there.
• Chalk it Up, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is scheduled for Saturday August 12th at NS. It's always a treat to see our local artists in action. Stop by if you can.
• Mark your calendars for September 12th, 5:30pm at SW when Dr. Wayne Thompson from Carthage College will present the results of the community interviews and surveys we have conducted in preparation for our next strategic plan. Immediately following his presentation, Dr. Thompson will facilitate a discussion with Board, staff, and invited guests to determine the top service priorities for the library over the next three years. YOU are invited to attend and contribute your experience and ideas to this important decision.
•  Youth staff are heading to Philadelphia in March to present "Engineering Partnerships: How to Take STEAM Programs to New Heights in Your Community" to an international crowd at the Public Library Association biennial conference. Congratulations to  Jen and Heather for writing a successful application, and the whole YS team for their outstanding work!
• If you've been wondering why the sidewalks leading to NS and SW are dug up, it's because we are improving our data lines with super high speed fiber that will make our Internet much faster and our patrons much happier! The project is funded with 80% federal money and 20% city money.
• The back stairs leading the the Literacy Council offices at Uptown are caving in. So the whole area will be re-engineered this fall, complete with new steps and beautiful landscaping. There will be a few weeks when Literacy students and staff will need to enter through our front doors. I'll keep you posted on the exact timeline when it's finalized.
• The KPL Foundation has committed to funding a new Tween Space in the SW Children's area. New furniture and new computers and some brightly painted walls are underway! Thanks, KPLF!
• A new survey to evaluate our summer reading program is set to launch on paper and on our website on Monday. The survey is targeted toward adults with children in the program and is based on surveys developed through the Public Library Association's Project Outcome, which was developed to help libraries focus on the community impact of their services, not just statistics. So, our staff will be looking for stories from summer reading participants that indicate improved test scores in school, a new appreciation for storytelling, children who are discovering new interests outside of school, or who improved their understanding of different world cultures. What difference did it make to the children who participated?
• Our SW cafe vendor is having a little trouble getting approval from the Health Department to provide the menu she'd like to at SW. While we are working through these issues, she will be installing a cold beverage vending machine in the lobby. That should arrive soon.
• Hats of to Adult and Digital Services for their commitment to staff training in support of their "point of contact is point of service" philosophy. Our tech guides are integrating into desk service and melding skills with adult library assistants to become one team of Research and Technology Guides. The number of individual appointments with tech guides is dwindling as patrons are offered immediate service at our reference desks by staff committed to upping their tech games. Congratulations to the whole team for their commitment to outstanding service!

From Brandi:

As part of the strategic planning process, KPL has been holding focus groups with different community groups throughout Kenosha. We are holding two open call groups - meaning any member of the public is free to join us, no registration required next week. Below are the dates and times:

Join us:

Wednesday, August 9th from 5 PM - 7 PM at the Southwest Library.

or

Thursday, August 10th from 1 PM - 3 PM at the Northside Library. 

We are sending out an email to patrons who subscribe to our newsletter and will also push this on our Facebook. 

In case you get any questions:

• We are looking to talk to citizens about their views on Kenosha as a community and not just KPL itself. 

• No identifying information is being collected. 

• The information collected will be used to help inform us on identifying priorities for our strategic plan. 

Feel free to send any questions my way! 

Happy weekend, Everyone!

Barb

KPL Youth Staff @ALA

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Organizational Challenge moving forward

Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Organizational Challenge is underway! At last month's meeting, the Board agreed to support the library's challenge to reach to a new level of service where everyone is provided the very best service regardless of differences. At this week's meeting, the Board agreed to a new Hiring Policy, stating our commitment to a diverse workforce that reflects our community. Here's the text of that policy:

The Kenosha Public Library is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive culture that welcomes
all people to the library. KPL staff believes our differences in age, race, color, disability, ethnicity,
marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability,
religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, and other characteristics enhance our understanding of,
and service to, our diverse community. We strive to honor this commitment through staff development and in our recruitment, hiring, and promotion practices.

In order to ensure that KPL is both reflective of and relevant to the community it serves, the
Kenosha Public Library Board encourages and supports recruitment and continuing
education initiatives that facilitate the hiring and promotion of a diverse workforce at all
organizational levels.

The Kenosha Public Library seeks out qualified applicants through a variety of recruiting sources
including professional, community, and educational institutions. Open positions are posted to the KPLwebsite and on the City of Kenosha’s NeoGov portal. Select positions may also be posted to regional and national job banks. Applicants may submit their application through the City of Kenosha’s NeoGov site. Applicants whose qualifications best match the requirements of a position are interviewed by a team of supervisors which may include the Head of Administrative Services and Staff Training and the Library Director. It is the Library's policy not to consider applications and resumes received after a posted closing deadline. Due to the high volume of applications and resumes received for positions at the Library, it is not possible to interview everyone.

Although an initial offer of employment with the Kenosha Public Library may be for a particular
position at a certain location, the Library reserves the right to reassign an employee to an alternate
location based upon the Library’s needs.

As we convene late next month to discuss the focus of our service for the next three years,  we will consider diversity, equity and inclusion in all our service plans. I encourage you to join the DEI Team to get involved and offer your support for this ambitious and meaningful work. Their next meeting Tuesday July 18th at 8:30am @SW.
See you there!

Jill at Juneteenth Celebration

The KPL Equity and Inclusion team met this morning to discuss getting started with improvements to service for people typically marginalized from library service. That includes people experiencing homelessness, the recently incarcerated, people of color, LGBTQ, and people with disabilities.
Along the same lines, the KPL Board will be asked at their next meeting on Tuesday evening to commit to a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Organizational Challenge which includes intentional policies and services meant to reach out to the underserved.

I have been working with the Kenosha Creative Economy strategic planning group for a year now to help facilitate a plan constructed by University of Wisconsin to support the local creative economy. We'll be tagging on to our commitment to parks programming with creative events such as murals, plein air events, dramatic readings, and other creative endeavors in the parks.
Kelly Witte has volunteered to lead a project to paint a mural on the east wall of the Civic Center Building. She'll be devising a plan based on some ideas from fellow co-worker Lisa Langerman. If you're an artist and want to participate, let Kelly know.

Summer parks programs begin at Lincoln Park on Monday. KPL staff are heavily involved in organization, coordination, and program delivery, including chess nights, tech nights, family fun events, and bookmobile visits. Hobbs Park (Wilson School neighborhood) and Roosevelt Park are our additional sites this year. We will also be in Columbus Park with preschool storytimes this summer.
The Kenosha Parks Alliance, the official name for our community group that plans and oversees parks events, will release a mobile app early next week. Look for that to be available from our website just as soon as it's ready.

Our strategic planning process continues with a gathering of staff, board, foundation, and friends to hear the results of our information gathering and decide our focus for the next three years. We'll get that date out as soon as it's set. We'd love for you to participate!

Happy warm weather weekend, everyone!
Barb

Safety and Security in Libraries

I came across this interesting article recently.
New Trends in Library Security

Lots to think about here.

News for the Week

• The Friends of the Library Book Sale is going strong at SW this weekend. Drop by and lend a hand if you can.
• The Annual Conference of the American Library Association will be held in Chicago later this month. If you'd like to ride the bus to view the exhibits, let your supervisor know. It's a wonderful way to see what's new in libraries and to meet staff from libraries of all types from all over the world.
• The Kenosha Parks Alliance, which KPL co-chairs, has organized summer parks programs for kids 5-15 in Lincoln Park, Hobbs Park (Wilson School neighborhood) and Roosevelt Park. The Lincoln program begins June 12th and will be run by the Boys and Girls Club. Hobbs and Roosevelt programs will be run by the Kenosha YMCA. All programs are FREE! We'll be launching a mobile app soon- watch for the link on our website. Our bookmobile will be heading to each park this summer, and KPL will be hosting Shakespeare, chess, and tech programs, as well. Youth Services has a few events planned, and there will be music and movies for all ages in Lincoln Park on various evenings. These programs are funded by the City of Kenosha.
• Our strategic planning efforts continue with focus groups hosted by Carthage professor Wayne Thompson. You will also see an online public survey on our website soon. Late next month we will convene staff and board members to hear the results of all our community investigations. What are the community's needs right now? How does the library fit in? All staff are welcome and encouraged to participate in crafting our service plan for the next three years.
• Food Folks and Spokes returns to Kenosha on Thursday, June 15th. The streets around Simmons Library will be closed all day but the public will have access to the library. We will remain open. 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Barb

This week's news

What's the future of the cafe space at SW? We're working with WWBIC (Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative) to create a Business Incubator Space. Local entrepreneurs will rent the space for 6 month periods to test their mettle before opening their own restaurant or catering businesses. Our first client hopes to move in by July 1.

Our new delivery service officially begins Monday, with a free trial run tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the last Saturday service under the new arrangement. As anyone starting a new job knows, there will be small things to learn every day until service is perfectly aligned with our needs. You can help by cheerfully welcoming our new drivers and sending feedback to Scott Smith if you think anything needs adjusted.

The next Friends Book Sale is scheduled for June 2-4  @SW.

KPL has been spearheading the City of Kenosha Parks Alliance for the past year. The program brings day camps for kids 5 to 15 to 3 city parks this year. The Boys and Girls Club will run the program in Lincoln Park. The YMCA will run programs in Hobbs Park (Wilson School Neighborhood) and Roosevelt Park. Music concerts and films are planned at Lincoln Park. A team of our Outreach and YS staff are planning extra events like Chess Nights, Tech Nights, Shakespeare performances, and Family Fun events, and the Bookmobile will make regular stops at all 3 parks. The program is paid by the city through funds generated by cell tower leases. The summer programs will kick off with a Peace in the Streets event in Lincoln Park on Saturday, June 10, 11-4.
Look for an app developed by Parkside's App Factory to be released soon. We'll be promoting the programs all summer long via our KPL web site and Facebook pages. We'll also be hiring a summer intern to keep order to it all.

We have some excellent candidates for Teen Librarian and we'll be finishing our interviews this coming week. We should have the position filled just in time for Summer Reading kickoff.
Speaking of Summer Reading, I encourage you all to attend the orientation sessions offered by YS this coming week. If you can't attend, please follow up and get the information you need to easily answer patron questions. The community looks forward to this powerful program every year, and we all need to be ready to answer their questions and get them signed up for summer learning! This year we will have programs for children, teens, and adults.

This week we celebrated two library staff members honored as Kenosha leaders. On Wednesday night, Anne Rasmussen graduated from Leadership Kenosha, an 8 month program sponsored by UW Extension and the Chamber of Commerce to recognize local talent and immerse them into the workings of our community. Last night, Brandi Cummings was celebrated as a KABA Future 5 leader, one of just 5 young leaders identified as destined for greatness. I was proud to attend both ceremonies and hear about their accomplishments and dreams for the future. Please join me in congratulating both Anne and Brandi!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Barb

Changes in Delivery

Hello, Everyone
Bookmobile and Delivery have been challenged over the past few years with staff injuries. The success of our SHARE migration added to the stress by increasing the number of items needing to move from one location to another. Recently, Tim Berquist announced his retirement as a Bookmobile Driver. This morning, Dan Cesario gave his one month notice of retirement.
Jill, Scott, Anne, Sean and I have studied our options for maintaining consistent delivery service and having enough trained Bookmobile drivers to keep that beloved service strong. We have all agreed that shifting our drivers' hours to Bookmobile service is the right way to go. Driving the Bookmobile is definitely an advanced skill, but it's not ergonomically taxing and ripe for injury the way our delivery service can be. So, in order to keep our staff safe and be sure our delivery schedule never suffers from a shortage of drivers, we are hiring Action Logistics to move our items among our branches, to Community Library, and to Racine. Dale and Paul will bring their CDL skills to the Bookmobile. These changes will be in effect May 15th.
I would like to thank all our drivers for pitching in wherever they were needed to manage the increased workload this past year. Special thanks are due to Dale, who has taken shifts we desperately needed to fill. Thanks also to Sandy, Anne, Brandi, and anyone else who stepped into a delivery role to fill the gaps. Your leadership is very much valued and appreciated.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Thank YOU!

Thanks for coming out today. I found the presentation to be not only eye-opening, but emotionally meaningful, and I hope you did, too.

Here's one more story I'd like to share with you. It's a story of your bravery and the impact you have had on the least fortunate in your community because you were willing to take a chance.
About a year ago, this library changed its behavior policy. We eliminated sleeping as a punishable offense. That decision was met with skepticism and resistance from many people on our staff. But it also sent a powerful, positive message to our community and in particular, our homeless community.

When First Step first learned its license would probably not be renewed, a First Step volunteer named Bob came to visit me to tell me he understood that their closure might have an effect on the library. During the discussion, Bob told me he knew we had changed our policy against sleeping in the library. He knew because the clients at First Step talked about it a lot. Those clients described the gesture as one of the few gestures of respect and nod to their humanity that they had ever experienced.
Sometimes doing the "right thing" isn't the easy thing to do. But easy things rarely change the world.

As always, but particularly today, I am proud to work alongside each one of you to provide everyone from every background, every creed, and orientation with the information they need to improve their lives, make them stronger, and live their dreams.
Thanks for taking a chance today and opening your minds and hearts to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive KPL.
Barb

SHARE Catalog New Features for Patrons

At the last SHARE Director's Council, the group decided to implement the following features:

1) Patron Self Edits for Addresses, Phone Numbers and Email - Patrons can now edit their account information in Enterprise.  We have a custom report set up which will run nightly and add a patron note informing staff that "This patron has updated their address online.  Please verify their address change and update the user category 1 value with their new municipality." if a patron updates the street address, city/state or zip fields.  The system will not add notes if a patron only edits phone or email fields.

2) Patron Self Registration - This feature will allow patrons to self register for a temporary card which will allow up to 4 holds and digital access for SIP2-authenticated digital services. Temporary cards are automatically generated by the system and are typically 7 numbers long starting with a 1.  Holds will be active in the system immediately and libraries that have a patron facing hold shelf may need to find holds using the temporary card number on their hold wrappers before issuing a new card.  This feature is accessed through the "Don't have a library card? Click here to register!" link that now appears on the login prompt.

When self registered patrons come in for the first time, staff will need to perform the following steps to make their accounts permanent and give them checkout privileges:
    - Verify the address
    - Fill in the User Category 1
    - Fill in the SMS field if the patron wants to get text messages
    - Capture a digital signature or use any other registration forms that your library requires
    - Update the profile according to library policy
    - Update the user ID in the system and issue a physical card

Temporary cards that are not claimed will be deleted after 30 days. If your library uses Envisionware or CASSIE, you may want to consider blocking ONLINE profiled cards from your public computers. If your library wants an email alert for new self registration cards, please send in a ticket to our helpdesk.

3) New "Recommendations" tab - In addition to the Novelist Content tab we have for some titles in Enterprise, we now have a "Recommendations" tab in the item detailed display which contains the following:
     - Additional recommendations that are computer generated using bibliographic information such as subject headings and authors as well as circulation history
     - Other items in series that are computer generated using the series statement in the bib record, these are ordered by the 490 subfield v if present or the 260/264 publication date if there is no volume information in the series statement.  We also use uniform title fields that contain the phrase 'Television Series' to find additional items for television series, TV series are ordered by publication date.
     - Other Editions / Formats that are computer generated using the title and author information in a record.  It will group by Print, Large Print, Audiobook, DVD and BluRay and then display the publication date and edition statement for any matching items found.

If you have any questions about these new features please ask Anne or Sean.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy National Library Week!

Your peers have nominated you for 15 different awards, and the votes are tallied. Anne and I

will be coming around this week with goodies and framed awards to recognize your teamwork, skills, and general good nature.

Here's the national schedule of celebrations:

April 9-15 National Library Week
April 11 National Library Workers Day
April 12 National Bookmobile Day

Here's our list of local celebrations and activities:
https://www.mykpl.info/national-library-week-0

Congratulations to our Spelling Bee Champions!

Superheroes, indeed! Lynn, Jill, Donna and Sean, you were amazing!
Thanks for bring the trophy home to KPL!

News Update from April SHARE Council

Hello, Everyone
Here are upgrades coming soon to our SHARE catalog system:

• A self registration module so people can apply for library cards before coming in or at a library card signup station in the library. People can type in their own information and create a temporary user record that is held for address verification before they can check out materials. They may place up to 4 holds on items ahead of time with their temporary account.
• Signature pads will arrive at all locations shortly. Patrons can no electronically sign for their accounts, eliminating the need for paper applications.
• New display information in the library catalog will help guide people toward series information, much like recommended reading icons in Amazon. These icons will show book jackets of other titles in the series, labeled with #2,#3, etc. if the series is ordered.
• We will be eliminating our Chase Paymentech credit card machines and switch to Propay, the credit card service integrated into Sirsi. This will reduce the number of steps you will take to perform a payment transaction and the fees we pay will be less. Look for this switch sometime this spring.

Library Patron Leaves Foundation $25,000

Marion Podolay Tuohey passed away February 25th of this year and left behind a beautiful legacy. She willed our Library Foundation a generous gift of $25,000 as an endowment fund for projects. You might recognize Marion as a regular Bookmobile patron. We are honored to remember her in years to come through her gracious endowment.

New Staff Values Statement

Many thanks to Heather, Shawn, Brandi, Barbara F, and Adela for rewriting our Staff Values Statement. This statement will serve as the litmus test for all our future decisions as we serve our community. It will aslo serve as the bedrock of our next strategic plan. It articulates why we do the work we do and how we do it. If you are ever in doubt as to how to proceed when you are working with the public or each other, use these values as your test. And if you are ever discouraged by the day to day tasks that seem to cloud the purpose of your work, refer back to these values for inspiration. I know I will.

INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM

We uphold the public’s right to intellectual freedom by ensuring that each person has equitable access to the broad spectrum of resources held by the Kenosha Public Library. We meet each person’s information needs fairly, without judgment or censorship.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION

Through our commitment to ongoing staff education, we strive to implement creative, forward-thinking policies and services that promote inclusivity and maximize the library’s usefulness within the community. The Kenosha Public Library is committed to providing lifelong learning and outstanding service to all members of our diverse community. 

COMPASSIONATE PROFESSIONALISM

Our workplace culture is to support our patrons and each other by being helpful, respectful, compassionate, ethical, and kind in our daily interactions. The way we treat each member of our community is evidence of our service-minded professionalism.

COLLABORATION

As open-minded, flexible, and honest individuals, we are able to work as a team to reach our goals. Through collaboration with each other and our community partners, we provide our patrons with efficient, dependable services that build and maintain trust in the library as a valuable community institution.

New Vision and Mission Statements

The Library Board met Saturday afternoon to articulate KPL's mission and craft a vision. I wanted to share both with you right away, even though there may be a little wordsmithing before they are completely finalized. The vision is for the community, the mission is our role in creating that vision. I find them both very inspiring. You are looking at a very exciting future!

Food for Fines Returns for National Library Week

National Library Week returns April 9-15 and we are celebrating big this year!
We'll also offer Food for Fines. Sean will be sending out all the rules soon, and Aaron will send out announcements about the celebration.

Northside Activities Room Upgrade Coming Soon!

Thanks to the generous support of the KPL Foundation, the Northside Activities Room will soon be upgrades with a ceiling projector and front control panel for projection with sound!
Also funded from the wish list is a tent for Outreach activities and a video camera and tripod for capturing our wonderful programs on film.
Thanks to KPLF  for their continued generous support!

Delivery Moving to Circulation

Beginning April 3 (no fooling!) we're moving responsibility for Delivery back to Circulation. Delivery, including the van,  will now be housed @SW. Here's why the change is necessary and a win-win proposition for everyone involved:

• Outreach currently manages Bookmobile, Deposit Collections, Home Delivery, Lobby Stops, Outreach Programs, and has a whole lot more on their list of library-related service they want to do! That's a lot for a little department. 
• Scott used to manage Delivery as Team Leader in Outreach. His background is in logistics, so it was the perfect fit. Scott cannot return to Outreach due to health challenges. Outreach activities are strenuous, no matter what position you hold, and the requirements are just too much for Scott right now.
• We cannot afford to hire an additional Team Leader for Outreach. Outreach can do without a Team Leader if we remove Delivery from their responsibilities.
• Scott is skilled in Delivery logistics.
• Scott is very willing to handle Delivery for us.
• So Delivery is following Scott to SW, where he's been in a temporary position since he returned from medical leave. 
• Sean benefits from Team Leader support @SW. SW Circulation is a large staff handling 60% of our total circ activity. It makes sense to have a Team Leader there. With automation coming to SW shortly, extra leadership will be very helpful in that transition period.
• KPL's strategic plan calls for pushing resources toward direct patron service. Outreach will now have more time to focus on growing their services.
• By moving delivery to SW, we can reduce the time it takes to accomplish delivery by 30 minutes per day.

Additionally, I have asked Scott to take on a role of Ergonomics Officer for the library. He will be working with Michelle to organize and provide ergonomic training to all our staff in order to prevent work-related injuries.

Jill will be working with Scott to finalize a new delivery schedule where SW is home. This may affect the time the van reaches your location. They will be sure to communicate out to you with new expected times.

Brandi will be returning to Admin full time beginning April 3, when she will take on her new position as Communications Specialist. All questions about Outreach will need to go to Jill. All questions about Delivery will need to go to Scott.

Please join me in thanking Brandi for her tremendous support to Outreach during this transitional period!

Barb

News Update from SHARE Council

As new members of the SHARE consortium, Lin and I have been participating on the SHARE Director's Council. This past week, the council met at NS to view our AMH installation. We are hoping to persuade other SHARE libraries to tag their collections so we can automate sorting of Lakeshores materials that are returned to KPL or borrowed by KPL patrons. Racine is already tagging and Elkhorn is tagged. Every month should see more transit items recognized by our AMH equipment. Our guests walked away understanding more about our workflow and why we can no longer place a printed transit slip in every item. 

There are also committees in SHARE and our staff are taking leadership roles. Sean Murphy has been persuading the Circulation Committee to adopt Family Cards (linked accounts) so we can restore that option to our patrons. The decision should come to council soon and we'll be voting YES!

Also on the next council agenda is discussion of a pre-registration system where patrons can fill out their forms online before visiting or before they approach a service desk. The information they type will simply need to be verified with their ID. This, of course, will be completely optional for patrons, but for those people new to the community who find us online and want to avoid a longer wait at a service desk on their first visit, this will be a welcome option. Seattle Public Library has been offering this for many years.

Anne is participating in the SHARE Customer Experience committee and we are getting ready to switch our phone notifications to an automated voice system to let people know their holds are ready for pickup or items may soon be due. The other SHARE libraries have been using this for a while and have no complaints. 

There's some frustration with our drivers license scanners when using them for new patron registration. Not all fields transfer in correctly. We'll continue to work out the bugs with those. 

For those of you who work with the online catalog, you will soon see the "Database" tab removed from the search field. Apparently, the search results were pretty wonky. 

That's a quick summary- we'll continue to keep you informed as our new consortium moves forward!

News for the Week

Thanks to managers and their families who came out for the SW tagging party Friday night. We made a real dent in the collection in preparation for AMH installation. There's a lot more to do! Please sign up and tag whenever you can. The more we have done before AMH, the less repeat circ work we need to do at SW.

Thanks to all staff who worked the Kenosha Expo booth this past weekend. We met a lot of happy customers and educated a few people who had been out of touch for a while. I heard much praise for staff, our new spaces, and the Kenosha Connects program!

We host Lakeshores Library System directors tomorrow morning at NS for their monthly meeting. We'll be touring the AMH installation between 10:30 and 11.

The Kenosha Creative Economy community meeting happens at Uptown tomorrow, beginning 6:15pm. If you are an artist and want to contribute to the conversation, please attend!

We have three internal candidates for the new Communications Specialist position. We will begin interviews next week.

Supervisors meet on Tuesday the 14th. The city attorney's office will be present to answer questions related to library service.

The Wisconsin Marathon takes place in downtown Kenosha on Saturday, May 6th, beginning 7am. The track includes streets around Simmons, but leaves 7th Ave free for parking that day.

I'll be at a library conference Thursday and Friday this week. Lin and Anne are in charge during my absence.

Did you miss the Business Plan presentations? Watch it here.

Watch it in increments, watch it all at once, but don't miss the information here.
Where we've been, where we're heading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pot0tSaJ0HA

Book sale this weekend

Setup begins tonight for the NS book sale. Staff are always welcome to help. If you can't, please be sure to tell an FOL member how much we value all their hard work. FOL donates over $20,000 to the library every year from these fundraisers for programs and services we might not be able to afford any other way. It's a lot of work! But it reaps great benefits.

Here's more news:

• To see how libraries are standing for social justice, take a look at this post, including many wonderful displays. http://bookriot.com/2017/02/10/libraries-resist-round-tolerance-social-justice-resistance-us-libraries/
• On Thursday, the final installment of the 2017 Business Plan presentation comes to SW @1pm. Joe Davies will deliver his last performance as Head of ADS before he heads off to Burlington to lead that library. Please join us on Friday afternoon for a fond farewell to both Pam and Joe. We wish them great success and happiness!
• Congratulations and thank you to Shannon and JeTaun for co-leading the ADS department as we consider our next move. They both stepped up months ago to train for Joe's position in our Choose Your Own Adventure succession planning. Now they are ready to test what they know in support of their department. We have every faith that they will both shine!
• The City has moved the Snow Days event to February 18th at Library Park in the hopes that the weather will be cold enough to sustain the ice and snow sculptures.
• We will host the SHARE Directors' Council on March 7th @NS to demo the new AMH system to the consortium.
• Also on March 7th, the Kenosha Creative Economy group meets at Uptown Neighborhood Library to engage with local artists, performers, writers, and other creative types, asking the question, What can be done to support a creative economy in Kenosha? All are welcome.
• New from PEW Research : How Americans Encounter, Recall and Act Upon Digital News

Happy weekend, Everybody!

News for the week

If you attended the first Business Plan meeting yesterday, you may feel completely informed- I hope you do! If you're planning on attending session #2 or #3, prepare to spend 2 hours learning about a very successful 2016 and the amazing projects planned for 2017.

Here's what else is in store:

• Chuck and I are determined to find a solution to the NS drive up book drop that really isn't a drive up book drop. You might have seen the "Fix it!" section of the Kenosha News recently that highlighted the difficulty in using that book drop in its current location. Luckily, we have Chuck, the wizard of all things logistical. He is devising several suggested placements. We will share those with staff for your feedback and votes. Look for that soon.
• Jill and her delivery team will be trying out different delivery vehicles to see which makes the most sense to purchase. 
• AMH at SW is still due to be installed at the end of March.
• RFID tagging continues. NS reports that their collection is nearly finished. SW will get a boost from additional volunteers shortly.
• The next FOL book sale is scheduled for February 10-12 @NS
• The next library board meeting is scheduled for February 14th @5:30pm @SW 
• Congratulations to Pam Penza on her new job in North Carolina. We wish you all the best in this exciting new adventure!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Barb

Investment in early childhood programs yields robust returns

Excellent article describing the outcome of the outstanding work our Youth Services staff engages in every day. You will see a link to this article in the next newsletter. In the years ahead, we will need to intensify our efforts to educate the public about our value. We begin now.

Compliment

Hello, Everyone

I received a call this morning from the Wisconsin Library Association letting me know that a Kenosha News reporter had contacted them to dig into the answer to this question posed to the paper by a local:

"Why is the Kenosha Public Library system so much better than all the other libraries in Wisconsin?"

I wanted to share that complimentary question with you, the staff that make this person so happy every time he visits. Thank you for working so hard to delight your community. It's paying off! 

I can't wait to see what the reporter decides to write in response.

Barb

Should we keep it?

We have this space divider on trial loan from a vendor. Should we keep it? Comment on this post.

Friday Update

Last December I promised I would resume my weekly blog posts in an effort to keep everyone more informed. I hope you engage with this blog weekly to make sure you know what's happening and what's next. Senior managers met yesterday to talk about the plan to improve communication, so also expect more regular information updates from your supervisors and managers going forward. If you have any particular questions that go unanswered please communicate that upward and I'll be sure to answer to all.

• Business Plan meetings are scheduled for:
• Thursday January 26, 1pm @CCB Collection services staff, Uptown, Simmons)
• Tuesday, January 31, 1pm @NS
• Thursday, Feb 16, 1pm @SW

Meetings should last about 90 minutes. We'll talk about the impact of SHARE, the AMH project, our program and service ideas for 2017, and the biggest project for 2017: Strategic Planning.
The 2017 Business Plan is available on our library website under the "About" tab.

• Hats off to the NS circulation staff who are so cleverly redesigning their workflow around the new AMH system. It's wonderful to see your innovative ideas for making the system work the best it can. Until all of our collection is tagged with RFID tags, the value of AMH will not be fully realized. So help your coworkers at the Northside branch by volunteering for an hour or two a week to tag. We'll be hosting some after hour tagging parties soon, as well. The more the AMH system recognizes, the less the NS staff need to scan by hand. Let's all pitch in and help!
• Thanks to the Bookmobile and Outreach Staff for welcoming Brandi into their fold during Scott's absence. Brandi is working hard to cover her regular job and also help with scheduling and logistics for the bookmobile to keep everything running smoothly. We are so grateful to her for stepping into this role. Scott will recuperate from knee surgery at SW when he returns in February until he can maneuver the 
• The library will be hosting a public forum to gather information leading to a plan to develop a Creative Economy in Kenosha. We'll hold that discussion after hours at the Uptown Library on Tuesday, March 7th starting at 6pm. If you are an artist, performer, musician, actor, writer, or any other creative person, please come on out and express your views on how the city can support your dream of supporting yourself yourself through the arts.
• We'll be hosting the SHARE Directors Council, a group of about 30 directors, tech people, and trustees from Lakeshores Library System and Kenosha County Library System, on March 7th at Northside Library. The group wants to see AMH in action. Racine Public Library is at the beginning of their RFID project, so this will be helpful for their staff to see. Other LLS libraries are also interested in tagging their collection. Wouldn't that make our workload so much easier?
• The annual  Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference begins this week. We have reserved NS and SW meeting rooms for group viewing. See Joe's email for details about the schedule. Please do your best to attend at least one session, especially if you have very few chances for continuing ed. There's always a lot of good stuff to inspire you, generate new ideas, and make you proud to work in a library. We pay one fee as a sponsor of the conference so your attendance won't cost us a dime more than already spent.
• The KPL Foundation is planning a gala event at the Simmons Library on Saturday, September 30 from 6:30-9:30pm. They will be launching an annual Library Legacy award. If you have a suggestion for someone in the community who has been a tireless supporter either with money or time, let me know so I can pass your nomination on to the Foundation board.
• The Kenosha Expo is at Parkside on March 4 and 5. We will host a table there to spread the good word about our programs and services. If you are willing to meet the public at our table either day (paid time) contact Aaron. 

That's the news for this week. Have a warm and happy weekend!

Barb

News for the Week

Hello, Everyone
Here's news you can use:

• Congratulations to Kathy Duba on her 25th anniversary with KPL!
• Congratulations to Lori Mohr  on her 20th anniversary with KPL!
• Self check machines have arrived at CCB. Self checks will go out for the public at the end of the project, most likely in May, when all our collection is tagged and security gates are installed. 
• If you haven't stopped by Northside to see AMH in action, please do. All returns are running through the machinery now. 
• AMH will install late March/ early April @SW
• We are scheduling Business Plan meetings in January and February- stay tuned for that announcement.

Have a warm and wonderful weekend, Everyone!