Bright Spot Award Goes to...

Here's a little note I received from Lin this morning nominating this week's Bright Spot Award winner.

I'd like to nominate Sheri for one of the next Bright Spot awards. She went out of her way to make sure the check to this vendor got to the Fed Ex Store and on it's way so that it could be received today. I appreciate how hard she works to make things happen and this was above and beyond!

Sheri's our Admin Superstar, for sure. Not only did she work wonders with the check Lin mentions, she completed and submitted a stellar city budget this week one day ahead of schedule! That's no small task.
Thanks for the nomination, Lin! And thanks for all you do to make KPL run so smoothly, Sheri!

Relevance of Bookmobiles and Mobile Libraries in 2018

Nice article from a very rural (Montana) perspective.

I-94 Transportation Guide

Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation has issued this informative guide to construction plans and alternative routes. 
Here's wishing you a pleasant journey.

Insurance Benefits City Information

Thanks to Janet Frieman for attending city meetings regarding insurance benefits and for providing these notes to share:

City of Kenosha Health Ins Mtg 7/12/18

Subject:  Pharmacy and

   Potential changes in 2019

The City is recognizing the rising costs of using UHC which is currently the highest in the area.  It is also notoriously difficult to get any transparent data reports from UHC in order to manage costs.  One of the changes that UHC wants to mandate is an annual physical through a physician instead of using the HRA in order to not be charged the 5%.

Johnson Insurance is the city broker and is working on an August timeline and will be

negotiating with Humana, UHC, Aurora Anthem, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Froedtert and get proposals. Aurora is actively looking for a relationship with the City.

Hopefully a report will be available by mid-September.

Pharmacy facts:

$2.3 million dollars spent on drugs annually

Currently there is about an 80% use of generics

OptimRX negotiates drug costs

Active negotiations are ongoing to separate from OptimRX through our PBM (pharmacy benefit manager).  The City also has difficulty getting transparent reports from OptimRX to manage costs.

The City and Johnson Ins are exploring Navitus out of Appleton which is a growing company that strives for transparency.

This would reflect a 20 to 30 percent possible savings which would reduce costs to city’s overall plan (a couple of hundred thousand dollar savings).

One way to save money is the use of rebates.

City will negotiate with them directly in August

One “drawback” is they don’t have an app like UHC, but customer service is a high priority.

There would be a separate card from Navitus for use at pharmacy.

The subject of dental was brought up:  In 2019 it will still probably continue to be Dental Associates but maybe get a quote from Delta Dental will be explored.  There have been many complaints from staff who do not like to go the Dental Associates.

One suggestion from a participant:  100 % coverage if using Dental Associates,

or if an employee wants to use their own private dentist, they would pay a premium.

Steve will ask Johnson to explore this to keep the budget at $600,000.

FYI: The City has explored the option of part-time employees being able to purchase insurance through the city at a reduced cost.  But hiring more full-time may be a better benefit for the City in the long run.

Again, all these conversations at these meetings are purely speculative.  Steve wants to exercise due diligence in making sure all suggestions and negotiations are transparent.

Next meeting:  to be scheduled

Re: List of preventatives and statistics for the clinic

News for the week

• Community shredding events are scheduled in our NS and SW parking lots next Saturday, July 28, from 9am-1pm.
• Plans underway to purchase new drive-up outside book return unit for Simmons to be placed on the curb on 8th Ave.
• Uptown interior painting scheduled for Fridays, August 3 and August 10.  Aaron mocked up different colors. Everything but the current color really darkened the interior, so we're sticking with the off white for the walls and will be creatively thinking about adding some pretty artwork to enhance this lovely building.
• New chairs and tables for the NS activities room will be arriving soon. New tables for SW activities room will be arriving soon. Old tables from SW headed to CCB. New furniture will be brighter, more comfortable, and easy to move and stack.
• Maintenance Team will be scrubbing the rust stains from Simmons steps before replacing the newly painted railings. Now that we're fully staffed in Maintenance, each building will be getting even more attention. Thanks to Jim, Scott, and Dan for their huge efforts troubleshooting air conditioning, garden, and lawn challenges under a staffing shortage!
• Congrats to Alexsandria and Tara on their new jobs at KPL. Welcome, Jason!
• The new bookmobile is ordered!! Delivery expected by the end of the year.

Did you know that KPL circulated 200,000 items in 2017 to Kenosha County residents who don't have a home library? They include residents of Bristol, Somers, Paris, and Pleasant Prairie. That's more than 20% of our total circulation. Luckily, we receive compensation from the county for service to these "nonresidents." And this year we earned an extra $25,000 for doing that.

This week's Bright Spot Award goes to Jennifer M. for 

New Bookmobile Driver! Our Bright Spot!

 Congratulations, Sue Vaal!

New Bookmobile News

After months of grant writing, we have the funds we need to purchase an additional, smaller bookmobile! Delivery is expected by the end of the year.
Thanks to
Kenosha Public Library Foundation
Marian Touhey (Marian left us $25,000 in her will)
Irene Genz Family ("in memory of" contributions)
The City of Kenosha
KPL Friends of the Library
Kenosha Community Foundation
Snap-On
WE Energies
(and maybe SC Johnson- that application is pending.)

Our Library Foundation will hold their second annual Gala at Simmons the evening of Saturday, September 8th. The fundraiser will focus on "Fill the Bookmobile." We'll have the empty vehicle parked in Library Park to entice sponsorship of book shelves, the on board homework help computer station, or the wheelchair lift.