News for the Week

Here's what happened last week:

• The Friends of the Library agreed to fund $25,000 worth of library programs and projects. Here's what they funded:
• Diaper Disposal System for YFS @ SW (Yay! No more smelly diapers!)
• Dishwasher for Southwest break room, perfect for Charlie Cart cleanup
• Bookpage and Book Club in a Bag bags
• Promotional items like pencils and cups for giveaways
• Sponsorship of KPL's spelling team at the annual literacy fundraising event (go team!)
• $10,000 toward the cost of constructing a new activities room at SW

Thank you, generous FOL, for your amazing support!

• At Tuesday's Board meeting, our library board was equally generous. Here's what they agreed to:
• 1.5% increase in our wage scale. When you receive your step increase in 2020 it will be 1.5% more than expected. If you're at the top of your range, you'll get a 1.5% increase. Most of you will see that increase on January 1. If you were hired in 2019, you'll see it on your anniversary date.
• We'll lease a car in 2020 for long range travel to conferences and meetings. So instead of going through the rental car hassle, you'll drive the "company car." 
• All public programs are generously funded next year with extra money for nutrition class supplies and special events.
• Our full time employees will continue to pay no premiums for our health insurance. Deductibles will remain the same. This continues to be an amazing benefit in comparison to industry standards. Everywhere I look I see libraries charging monthly premiums and high deductibles. Let's cross our fingers that our generous benefits remain the same for years to come.
• Once again the budget for training and travel is strong. I encourage everyone to be thinking of attending the exhibits and programs at ALA in Chicago this summer. We'll lease a bus and ask our vendors for passes to get as many staff there as possible.
• We'll finally have the funds to fix the back stairs and replace the old doors on the Uptown Library this coming year.

And finally, you might get questions from the public about why our budget was cut. It does look that way, but we didn't really get cut. We've been paying rent for CCB to the city, $165,710 in 2019. The money showed up in our income and expenses, since the city provides most of our income and is also the landlord that received the rent.  Since we'll be moving out of CCB, we won't be charged rent by the city any longer, so it doesn't show up in income or expenses, which makes it look like we took a budget cut.  The city actually gave us an extra $80,000 to pay for your wage increases.

I'll be taking the board-approved budget to the Common Council Finance Committee on Tuesday, November 26th for final approval.

Other news:

• Grace Welcome Center will be collecting food for their pantry at Northside and Southwest. Linda will follow up with details on dates and logistics.
• Richard Stanford has been banned from all library locations until further notice.
• There have been reports of patrons viewing pornographic images on our computers. Our tech crew tells me the perpetrator is accessing these through allowed sites like Facebook. Not much we can do but intervene when we see it. 
• If you are on the city's health, dental, or vision insurance, or if you  wish to enroll and are eligible to do so, open enrollment notices went out Sunday. You have until December 6th to respond. You need to respond every year, even if you aren't requesting any changes. Don't miss the deadline!

This week's Bright Spot Award nominations comes from two librarians who noticed their colleagues really rising to the occasion.
Marcia writes "I would like to nominate Patty Bajabir and Lori Mohr for Bright Spot Award.  Patty & Lori have several home delivery patrons that love them so much.  But a few weeks ago, Lori couldn't reach one for delivery and it turned out she had surgery and was in rehab.  Patty is the patron's selector, and she was able to connect Lori to a family member.  Patty visited her over the weekend and picked up some of our items.  The patron was so touched that the library cares about her so much.  The home delivery relationships are so very important to our patrons receiving this service."

And Stephanie writes after an incident with a patron who needed medical help, "I'd also like to say that Phillip did a fantastic job of handling the situation and should get a Bright Spot Award for being so approachable and compassionate when Richard asked to speak with him. In fact, when we were waiting for the police to show, Richard didn't want Phillip to leave because he made him feel safe. Phillip also didn't think twice about throwing on some plastic gloves and searching through the garbage with me (which was particularly grosser than normal!)"

 It's people like Lori, Patty, and Phillip that make KPL so beloved in our community. Thank you for your amazing compassionate work!

And thanks to everyone who opened their offices, work rooms, and staff break areas to those of us at CCB who were out in the cold on Tuesday!

Barb