News for the week

Thanks again to Brandi and Aaron for delivering pretty new t-shirts and polo shirts for us to wear. Some of you have wondered whether you can have both types of shirts. The purpose of the polo shirts is to provide easy visual identification of managers. Say, for instance, a family walks into the Youth and Family Services section of the library at Southwest and has a concern about the program they are attending. Heather's gray polo shirt is a visual cue that she is the department manager and the person to whom they should voice their concern.

We have great news from our SE Wisconsin training consortium. They will be offering access to an online version of the training we received from Ryan Dowd , author of Librarian's Guide to Homelessness, in 2020. It was definitely the favorite CE opportunity we've offered to staff so far, and now our newest staff will have the opportunity to learn from Ryan online. It will also be a great time for a refresher for seasoned staff.

We'll be sending out a little something for the holidays to each of you. Look for that Monday.

This week I received two nominations for the Bright Spot Award.
This from Martha:
"I nominate Linda Hinderliter for this weeks bright spot.  Two kids at Uptown just asked where she is this morning.  They love Linda!"

This from Heather:

"Rosa demonstrated excellent judgment and compassion while helping a teen who was in a difficult situation. Thanks to her, we have one more person who knows that KPL is a safe place with staff that really cares about the well-being of their patrons." 

I'll be out of the library from December 24th through January 2nd. (back the 3rd). Rob and Linda are your contacts for big issues while I'm away.
I wish you all a very lovely holiday surrounded by those you love. May the New Year bring you joy and prosperity!
Barb

Uptown Brainstorm, T-Shirts, and Bowling for Books

Thanks to all who came together last Friday to brainstorm solutions to our drop in use at Uptown. We began each session with this problem: Since 2011, use of the Uptown Library has dropped 50%.
It didn't take long for us to understand that our "problem" was really a symptom, and the underlying problem we could dissect and tackle was this:
The Uptown Neighborhood is disconnected from its library.
Together, we identified several possible reasons from a user perspective:
1. No one who works at the library looks like me. (At least one staff member has heard Uptown referred to as "the white people's library" in the neighborhood.)
2. You don't have anything for me.
3. I'm not welcome there.
4. You close at 6. You're closed on Fridays. You're open 4 hours on Saturday and never on Sunday. My work schedule is always changing. When do you think I can come?
5. You don't care about us. The Northside Library's children's section is all new and pretty, the Southwest library gets million dollar makeovers and the Simmons Library gets a 4 million dollar makeover. We're lucky if you plant flowers in the window boxes at Uptown.
6. I have to sit outside to use your wireless after 6pm. I need Internet access to do my homework and I need your computers to do that.
7. Dimensions in Learning used to bring classes. They don't come anymore. We should find out why.

We have a lot of work to do, but it's clear what we can do to reconnect with the Uptown Neighborhood. If you have ideas that you weren't able to share last Friday, use this link to access a form where you can tell us all about your brilliant idea. 
Thanks for participating!


Kenosha Rotary West is organizing an event to raise money to purchase materials for Outreach Services.  Mardi Gras Bowl for Books will be on Feb. 15th 1-5pm at the Sheridan Lanes. We get to bowl in formal wear- how FUN! Hope you can join us!

Monday is the big day! Our new logo will launch to the public. To support this promotion, we encourage you all to wear your new shirts every day this coming week. Don't forget the new dress code allows library issued t-shirts and polo shirts every day for all staff members.  We have purchased enough shirts for everyone to receive 2. Before we deliver the second shirt, we want to be sure you have the right size, so please provide us with any size change requests ASAP.
Here's more from Brandi:

New T-shirts and name tag inserts have been delivered to all the branches. Please work with your supervisor to get your T-shirts. With the logo launch being next week we are encouraging everyone to wear their T-shirts throughout the week. 

Each department has a different color T-shirt with one of our strategic promises proudly displayed on the back. 

Strategic Promises:

Keeping You Curious 

Strengthening Neighborhoods 

Inspiring Learning

These strategic promises are our pledges to the community that our user-centered services are here to help make all parts of Kenosha better. I’m so excited we get to share them in this fun new way! 

Each T-shirt has a tag with washing instructions to help your new favorite shirt live a long vibrant life. 

If you have any issues with your shirts or name that inserts please reach out. I’m happy to help! 

This week's Bright Spot Award goes to Alejandria and Susannah who describe their mission at KPL as "to create a safe space for teens where everyone can be who they are." How lucky our teens are to have such advocates at the library. Thanks to these young professionals who create that safe space with such dedication and passion.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Barb