News for the Week

Hello, KPLers
Here's what's happening across the organization:

• Linda Noyce, our new Division Head for Public Services, begins her career with KPL on Monday. She'll start at the Civic Center, then head over to SW to move into her office. Linda is a Wisconsin native who is delighted to escape the heat of Florida and return to her home state. She's a Harwood Innovator, and has 15 years of experience in public libraries, most recently with  Manatee Libraries in Bradenton, FL as a branch manager. One of Linda's most interesting past responsibilities was as a disaster response team member. Ask her about running a shelter during a hurricane. Interesting stuff. Please welcome Linda to our staff!
• The library board met this past Tuesday and agreed to close the library at 5pm on July 3rd so we can all enjoy a Kingfish game together. It's not too late to grab a ticket for $5. Contact Brandi if you still want to go. This is a fundraiser for the library foundation. If you'd like to volunteer to see raffle tickets at the game, let us know. We can always use more help!
• After months of hand wringing about where to relocate when the Civic Center is razed to make way for the new city hall, library administration has agreed to a plan. The city is purchasing the Shalom Center Food Pantry on south Sheridan and has agreed to lease the space to the administration office, collection services, and outreach services. We will create a new Administrative Center at that location with lots of garage space for  outreach vehicles, easy access to Sheridan or 80th St for the bookmobile, easy delivery to collection services, and storage space for maintenance equipment and book sale boxes. Once the city hall is complete, the current plan is to move the administrative staff and the collection staff into city hall. We'll see how the temporary building works out for us. It will certainly be a relief to Outreach staff who have bravely parked two large vehicles side by side with little room to spare. The timeline for move-in is end of year.
• The Friends of the Library will hold their biggest and best book sale on the weekend of June 28-29-30 at Southwest. This is planned as an outside pallet sale, but concerns over rain may make it both outside and inside. The plan is also to open AfterWords, their new bookstore space, during this sale. 
• Our hearts go out to Lorri Lerdahl and Michelle Eisenhauer, who both lost family members this month. Your KPL family grieves with you.
• Did you get a strange message in your email this week asking you to supply your password and provide a new one? I'm pleased to announce that the vast majority of you recognized this as a threat to our computer system and deleted the message. A few of you clicked on the link, then stopped and deleted the message, realizing too late that the message was a threat. A couple of you complied with the request. Not good. This email was the initial test in a new training course all our staff will engage with, even the ones who recognized the threat early on. It will begin with a 45 minute webinar that everyone will be required to watch individually. (You'll be given the time to do that, don't worry.) Then we will be tested periodically for a number of weeks and receive short webinars to reinforce what we need to know not only on the job, but in our personal lives, to keep our private information safe. If you've ever been a victim of identity theft, cloned credit cards, or hacking, or know someone who has, you know how devastating this can be on your life. Fraud is becoming more and more sophisticated, and libraries are being asked to help educate the public to keep them safe. The first step is to educate ourselves. So with financial support from an LSTA grant, our library system is partnering with Milwaukee and Bridges Library System to conduct the KnowBe4 curriculum. This is a proven fun way to increase the security of our library computer systems, increase your private online security, and prepare us to help the public. Thanks to Brent, Max, and Rob for setting up this program.

This week's Bright Spot Award goes to all of Youth and Family Services staff for their incredible success signing up over 1500 kids for Summer Reading! This is a record breaker, and we are so excited about the power of summer reading to help kids succeed in school and life! A bow to the YFS staff who have inspired all these children toward an exciting and imaginative summer. Keeping You Curious! That's what our dynamic YFS staff does! Bravo!

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Barb