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