News for the Week

• Kenosha Common Council passed our 2019 tax levy this week. Our Board will review and vote on our budget on December 11th. The city determines how much money it will contribute to library services. Our board determines how we spend the money. Although the city gave us no increase this year, we did generate extra income through the library system by serving more people outside our library district. The county reimburses us for that service. 
• Tomorrow evening beginning at 5pm at SW, our library board, Friends board and Foundation board will come together to celebrate a very successful 2018. Please join us if you can.
• If you haven't read Palaces for the People, I highly recommend you do. The premise of the book is that parks and libraries are the social infrastructure essential to a healthy society. Bloomberg took up the idea this week with this opinion piece.  One more reason to be proud of what you do!
• Thanks to everyone who has signed up for the wage study results sessions. I'm really looking forward to speaking with all of you! 
• I'll be visiting my grandson on December 6th and 7th. Lin or Anne can help with any emergencies and I am always available by phone.

Happy weekend, Everyone!

News this holiday week

• The results of the wage study have been studied, digested, and modeled by Administration staff and we've landed on a generous plan we can afford! Thanks to Sheri for her tireless work to get all the numbers perfect. The board's Personnel and Finance Committee will take a look at our proposed plan before the December board meeting  so we are ready for full board approval and can implement the changes beginning January 1st.I'll be meeting with you all in small groups to deliver the good news (it's good news for everyone!) and explain how we came up with the new wage scale, how we will implement it, and what that means to you. Look for that invitation shortly.
• The Common Council will vote on accepting our 2019 budget on both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings this coming week. Last week I presented our budget to the Council's Finance Committee and they readily accepted it. Everything should go well next week.
• A writer for The Nation magazine joined us at the UAW Hall for the Sweat play performance back in October, and wrote a very interesting article about Public Theater's Mobile Unit. The Kenosha performance and the city itself is profiled here. 

• This week's Bright Spot Award goes to our amazing maintenance staff Dan, Scott, Jason, and Jim for cheerfully filling in for vacationing custodians and for random acts of kindness toward staff and patrons. We appreciate you guys so much!
• Lin and I are both off on Monday. I'll be home so feel free to text or call in an emergency. Otherwise, Anne is your emergency contact.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Barb

Status of Wage Study and Bright Spot for the Week

Hello, Everyone
I know you are all anxious to see the results of the wage study. Our consultant has provided a new list of job classifications and associated hourly wages. He's given us advice on a couple of ways to implement the plan. Now we need to figure out what we can do with the money we have. Sheri is working very hard to calculate the impact of a couple of scenarios on the budget. As soon as we have a viable option, I'll schedule time with you, department by department, to explain what we will be asking the board to approve. We are still aiming for a January 1 implementation.
Bottom line, nobody loses. Everyone's wages will improve. Everyone has a job. You have nothing to fear!

Calculating compensation for employees goes so far beyond plugging an hourly rate into a spreadsheet and hitting the SUM button. There are taxes, insurance and retirement benefits calculations, steps within ranges, scenarios of 11 steps vs. 16 steps! It's enough to make your eyes cross!
Sheri has cheerfully taken on this project, tediously working through multiple scenarios to sort out the best compensation package our budget can deliver. She is your best friend in this process, and our Bright Spot for this week! Please send her your appreciation!

Have a warm and cozy weekend, everyone!
Barb

Please Give to the United Way Campaign

United Way of Kenosha County's annual campaign is once again underway. This year I've been asked to serve on United Way's Community Impact Committee. (Anne's on that committee, too.)  It's a group of people who come together and decide which agencies receive United Way funding, and monitor the reports of those who have received grants to make sure dollars are spent wisely and are having a great impact on the community. Agencies must apply for UW support, and report back on the impact of the programs UW funds. The committee also conducts site visits. This week I visited the AIDS Resource Center and ELCA, both of which were quite impressive. Shalom Center and Women's and Children's Horizons were also on the list of tours. Sometimes people think United Way provides direct support to individuals in need, much like welfare benefits. United Way actually supports programs though nonprofits who must prove their impact. For ELCA, that's the summer camps for kids at Brass Community School that reaches 135 kids per day. The kids learn math from KUSD teachers, visit the bookmobile, go on field trips, learn to swim at the YMCA, and get a lunch and snack, sometimes the only food for the day. For the AIDS Resource Center, it's health care and psychological counseling services, even a food pantry.
I know sometimes people tire of giving, wondering how much money really reaches the people in need. United Way donations go to organizations that prove their impact. Giving to United Way keeps your money here in Kenosha County.
I hope you'll join me by signing up for this year's United Way campaign. Just a few dollars deducted from your paycheck every month add up to a big difference for those who need it most.
Thanks for your generosity!
Barb

News for the Week

• KPL is in the national spotlight for the outstanding "We Are Kenosha" project led by Heather. See the promotion here. Thanks for making us proud, Heather!
• 8 of us spent 2 days at Crisis Intervention Training at Gateway and it was really worth the time. If you work directly with the public and are unsure what to do or say when you encounter someone who seems to be experiencing mental illness, I highly recommend you take the training. Sessions are offered twice a year and are free. Look for Michelle's next announcement in the new year.
• The next library board meeting is on November 13th at SW. We'll be taking an amended vacation policy that is less punitive for staff who move from part time to full time work. We'll also be expanding the list of qualified organizations that can vouch for the identity and address of a person in transitional housing looking to get a library card.
• The Board's Personnel and Finance Committee attended a presentation by our wage study consultant this week that outlined the process for determining market values of the work we do. The next step is to consider the impact of the consultant's recommendations on the budget. We are still on track to implement the new pay structure on January 1, 2019.

• The Center for the Future of Libraries offers new ideas every week about trends that connect with current and future library services. The ideas are synthesized into main trend areas that we should keep in mind as we build new services. Here's the current trend list. For each trend there is a description, a section on how the trend is developing and a section on why it matters to libraries. I encourage you to spend some time with these trends. I'm hoping to pull together a group of staff who are interested in discussing them and brainstorming some interesting ways we can get ahead of the curve and anticipate how people will continue to use the library.

• Will Tiny Books change the way we read? Penguin Random House is counting on it. My first thought is how to shelve a tiny book? 

• On December 1st at 5pm, KPL SW will close to the public and open to Friends, Foundation, Board and staff for a year end celebration. It's been a particularly successful year with four awards and plenty of great stories to share. Let's celebrate by hosting the volunteers who help make us great. We'll have food, drink, and great conversation. We'll show off the highlights of our service throughout the library and have a chance to say thank you to the people who raise money on our behalf for the extras we enjoy.

I hope you'll join us.
When: December 1, 5pm-7pm
Where: KPL SW
Who: All of you are invited!
If you love to plan parties, please let me know ASAP! We need your creativity to make this a great event.

Have a great weekend, everyone!