News for the Week

Congratulations to Lori Bonanno, who is being promoted to full time Grandma today. Lori, we wish you every happiness and hope you come back to visit often!

Reminder that the KPL Foundation has cancelled the Library Gala originally planned for September 8th. I'm happy to answer any questions from the public.

Here are some current projects we're working on:

• Four KPL Innovation Grant applications have been submitted so far, and they are all fabulous! We have 3 staff judges so far. If you're interested in serving as a judge, please let me know.
• No numbers from the wage study yet, but the consultants should be wrapping up with preliminary numbers sometime in September. 
• We're talking with Gateway Technical College to reimagine the floor plan for the SW Library. With our growing youth programs and changing tech needs, it's time to see how we can rearrange our floor plan to accommodate new spaces. GTC has an architectural engineering and an interior design program which may be able to help us. In return, their students get an interesting, real world project to work on.
• Lin is working on a disaster plan in the event of a major event in Kenosha that prevents people from accessing the Internet. Libraries in New Orleans, Colorado Springs, and Kansas have all notably stepped up to offer their community contact with the outside world when a city's infrastructure takes a major hit from flood, tornado, or fire. We're gearing up to make sure we can support our community the same way here.
• We're also gearing up to distribute the Library Impact Survey to the public. We sent it out in 2014 the first time. Now we're following up to see how we've improved and how we can further meet the community's expectations for public computing.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday! I'll be out till Wednesday. Feel free to call my cell phone if needed.

Barb

Instagram animated stories from NYPL

Libraries are getting so creative in applying technology to library services, especially when reaching out to engage with reluctant readers. How to fit literature into an active modern day with so many distractions?

New York Public Library has teamed up with an ad agency to created animated classic novels on Instagram. Try it- it's really fun!

Other libraries are installing short story vending machines

And many libraries have enabled connections with Alexa devices so people can simply say, "Alexa, what's happening at the library today? (I've asked Brandi to make this happen here!)

Have you noticed an example of creative library technology reaching the masses? Email me and I'll add it to our blog.

News from Admin

• Thanks to Lisa and Heather for their presentation to Building Our Future's Early Grade Reading group on Wednesday. So proud of everything we're doing for kids in our community!
• Chalk it Up happens tomorrow morning (weather permitting) at SW. Prizes awarded at noon.
• Come celebrate our time with Lori Bonanno as we say goodbye on Friday, August 31 starting at noon. Hope to see lots of you and little Louis at story times!
• Kala is moving to Chicago for a job with Harper College. Her last day is Sept. 9. Best of luck, Kala! We will miss you!
• The staff offices at Simmons have been painted a lovely blue and the ceiling a striking white. Thanks, Scott, Jim and Jason!
• New chairs and tables trickled into activities rooms this week. Heather liked what she saw. 
  

Have a terrific weekend, everyone!

Bright Spot Award

This week's  Bright Spot Award goes to the planners, producers, sponsors, and volunteers that made our 2018 ComicCon shine! What a truly fun event for the entire community! You guys rocked it!

News for the Week

Congratulations to YOU for winning the Outstanding Community Impact Award from Harborfest Leeward Business Advisers. You deserve it!

And congratulations to Dana Purucker for winning the Bright Spot Award for the week! Here's her nomination:

I would like to nominate Dana Purucker for Gold star spotlight award. Dana asked Martha if she could get tech training so she could provide one on one tech assistance at Simmons & Uptown.  Martha contacted me to set it up.  Dana and I met for a 2hr one on one training session yesterday afternoon in the Simmons Childrens room. 

I used the RTG onboard training as a loose guide.  We covered Overdrive, Libby, Hoopla, Freegal, Lynda.com, Pronunciator and wifi printing.  We also talked about the most common devices people have and the most common tech issues we assist with.  Dana did a great job and is ready to start taking tech problems.  If anything comes her way that she can't figure out, I let her know that she can call over to the SW Ref Desk and get phone assistance from whoever is on duty.  A lot of the the tech support is just figuring it out as it comes and then learning from the experience.  So the best way to learn is to just start doing it!

Thanks to Marcia for calling out Dana's extraordinary commitment to great library service! Martha tells me she couldn't agree more!

Here's what else you need to know:

• The KPL Foundation's annual gala is fast approaching! We'll be in library park the night of Saturday, September 8th with an empty new bookmobile trying to raise funds for the books, magazines, and other library materials to fill the inside.
• Board meeting Tuesday evening at the Civic Center. We;ll review the budget proposal we sent to the city.
• Chalk it Up is at SW this year, Saturday August 25
• ComicCon @SW on Saturday August 17th. Helpers needed!
• Simmons and Civic Center parking lot paving and re-striping Saturday August 18.
• SW parking lot paving and re-striping August 21 and August 28. Signage for all paving projects will come from Brandi and Aaron. Dan will orchestrate alternative paths for staff and public.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Barb

News for the week and our newest Bright Spot Winner

Hello, KPLers

Here's library-wide news

• Carpets at SW will be steam cleaned tomorrow before opening. Carpets will be dry enough to walk on by our 9am opening.
• Parking lot resurfacing at Simmons, SW and CCB will be scheduled over the next few months. We'll give you plenty of notice so we don't catch you by surprise.
• We're recruiting for part time cleaning staff to join our KPL team. It's our aim to not only get a better quality of cleaning in our libraries, but free up our maintenance staff to do maintenance tasks instead of spending time trying to make up for poor cleaning by the current service.
• New tables and chairs for activities rooms have arrived and need to be assembled.
• The 2019 KPL Budget has been submitted to the city for approval. Here are some fun things we are hoping to fund:
• electronic signage at NS and SW in place of the big block signs in our yards
• better storytime props, children's workshops, and book giveaways
• K-5 reading program called "Open Books, Open Minds" to encourage kids to read more diverse & inclusive titles
• "Family Adventures After Hours!" in fall 2018 with family engagement activities: indoor "campfire" and singalong in September, spooky STEAM in October, messy art in November, and a fort reading night in December; would like to host once a month at SW on Friday night after closing
• Digital Media Lab (The HUB) programming
• Music performances @ the library
• More collections money to meet state Tier 3 standards
• A tuition reimbursement program for staff
• and, of course, funds to implement the wage study recommendations
• I have new twin granddaughters and I am traveling to Louisiana on Saturday to give them Grandma kisses. I'll be back in the library next Thursday, August 9th. I'll be available by phone in case of a crisis. Lin and I are both out on Monday, so please ask Anne for help in our absence.

Donna Holmen writes:

I know of a Bright Spot!  

Kala Istvanek has wanted to help with children's programming, and this week she got the chance!  I led a two-hour Sew Awesome basic hand sewing class for 3rd - 5th graders.  My teen helper did not show up, and I was so happy to have Kala!  It is not easy to show children how to thread needles, make knots, sew on a button and learn 2 stitches. It tookmany tries to learn how to thread the needles. The children made pencil holders for school, and they were "sew" proud of their work.
The children and I appreciated Kala's warmth and patience. Everyone had fun!

Thanks for making KPL shine, Kala!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Barb