News for the week

• It's official! We are the 2020 WLA Library of the Year! Brandi and Aaron are ready with banners and a newly designed commemorative t-shirt, so get ready for a lot of celebration social distancing-style! There's a lovefest on our Facebook page, so be sure to visit and grin. And while you're there, help get the word out by sharing Brandi's post. YOU DESERVE THIS! Congratulations, Everyone!
• We're finalizing an application to the Institute of Museum and Library Service for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.  10 winners are announced every year, usually around May. I think we're a strong contender, and so does DPI, who encouraged our application. 

• November kicks off our Gratitude Tour, designed to let you know just how much you mean to KPL. We have prizes for those of you who were named for individual and team awards (think masks, Tenuta's and time off vouchers) and we'll be making the rounds to celebrate you- stay tuned.

• Sirsi/Dynix has awarded three more libraries with the Power of Libraries award, and we stand in good company. Boone County, KY is right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio which was one of the    most active areas for the Underground Railroad's efforts to free enslaved people before the Civil War. 90% of the population in Boone County was black prior to the Civil War, now that                population is less than 10% and along with the black residents, their history disappeared. So Boone County Library pieced it back together. Watch this inspiring video that describes the project and its impact here. Broward County, Fla (Fort Lauderdale) libraries began a Veterans Connect program for military servicemen returning to the area. East Hamilton (Indiana) Public Library turned their 3rd floor into a 15,000 sq. ft. makerspace called Ignite!

• Thanks to Zander, Kristin, Sue P,  and Sandy for joining me on Tuesday to work for the elections team!
• Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour this weekend! 
• You rocked the Halloween costumes this year! Thanks to everyone who dared to look ridiculous! If you want to enter the costume contest, make sure you ask Brandi to take your picture.

• This week's Bright Spot goes to the Simmons Team for their Living History event, including period costumes. Thoughtful, educational, stunningly beautiful. Simply amazing! 

I'm taking this next week off to recharge. I'll see my election colleagues on Tuesday, and the rest of you on November 9th. Stay well, stay happy!

Barb

Northside Closed Until October 22nd

We knew it was inevitable, and inevitable it proved to be. Our first positive staff case of COVID-19 has been confirmed and reported. We were notified yesterday of this positive test result and have been working diligently with our local health experts to craft the best response. This morning we spent time with the Kenosha County Health Department who advised us to follow through with a 2 week quarantine of all staff who had prolonged contact with the positive case. Based on the last known contact dates, it is clear we do not have enough staff to run the Northside Branch or conduct Outreach until October 22nd when everyone is cleared. All  staff with known contact at work have been notified and will be off work in quarantine for 14 days after the last known contact. They will be paid their regular wages through CARES Act funding and will not need to use their KPL paid time off . Several Northside staff who do not need to be quarantined will be reassigned to other locations. 

Here are some questions we think you may have and associated answers:

Q: If staff who have been in contact with the positive case test negative, can they come back to work?

A: No. The virus could take a while to build up to a level that's detectable. The health department follows the 14 day quarantine, no symptoms, no fever criteria for release from quarantine. 

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Q: If someone who had contact at NS worked at my branch, should I quarantine?

A: No. Quarantine is for people with direct contact, not secondary contact.

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Q: If I'm on quarantine, can I work from home?

A: You are not expected to work while on the CARES Act paid time away.

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Q: What should we tell the public?

A: Brandi is crafting the messages and the signage. Please read those messages and take your talking points from her finely worded messages. Here are some quick highlights:

• Our staff's health and the health of the public are our priorities. We are taking these extra precautionary measures in order to mitigate the spread of this serious disease. 
• The Northside branch facility is not a risk to the public. It is clean and there is no risk to the public. We simply do not have the staff to operate the branch nor the Outreach services during this quarantine period.
• Southwest, Simmons and Uptown locations remain open. 
• The library continues all precautions, including quarantining library materials for 4 days after return, cleaning covers of all materials on hold, social distancing, plexiglass barriers, handwashing, and face masks.   

Thanks to all of you who have been so kind and supportive with us as we make these hard decisions!  

OTHER NEWS AND REMINDERS
One thing that's clear about winning an award like Wisconsin Library of the Year is, it takes a whole lot of exceptional staff doing exceptional work to get an award like this. So let's all call out those exceptional people and the exceptional work they do and thank them!  Make your coworker's day and nominate them for a fun (or serious) award. It's easy to do- just go to this form and start typing in names of people who have really done an exceptional job this year! 

This week's Bright Spot Award goes to the KPL Kitten Rescue Squad. What a darling little creature! Well done, team!

Delightful Podcast About Children's Librarians and other news

Thanks to everyone who completed the Choose Your Own Adventure survey. We are so delighted to see how many of our talented staff have an interest in contributing their skills to other positions. Michelle, Linda, Rob and I will be designing "boot camps" for a number of positions, including Cataloging Specialist and Customer Service Specialist and set up mentoring programs for manager positions so we have a strong workforce ready to slide into vacant positions as they become available. By gradually training in small manageable chunks you'll have time to practice what you learn before you commit and get a feel for jobs you might (or might not) enjoy. It's like trying on a pair of shoes before you buy. So if you indicated you'd like to "try on" another role in the library, look for an introductory email in October that invites you to an orientation session.

For those of you wondering when we'll add evening hours at SW and NS, the latest surge in the pandemic in Wisconsin has caused us to place any such plans on hold. We'll keep watching for an opportunity to expand services. The next phase will most likely be 6pm-9pm one night a week with a lull between 3 and 6 so we can continue to avoid any after school crowds.

Thanks to everyone who is scheduling out their remaining vacation and personal time for the year. Remember, there will be no exceptions for carryovers this year. So schedule it and use it up!

The next Library Board meeting is this Tuesday at 5:30pm via Zoom. We'll present a request to close by 5pm at all locations to give you a chance to get a head start on the new year.

A friend of mine sent me the link to this delightful podcast from 99percentinvisible celebrating the magic and warmth of children's librarians. Listen here.

This week's Bright Spot Award goes to every one of you for being named the 2020 Wisconsin Library of the Year! I couldn't be prouder and I hope you are, too!

Enjoy this beautiful fall weekend, everyone! I'll be back in the library on Tuesday.

CONGRATULATIONS WISCONSIN LIBRARY OF THE YEAR!

Good morning,

 

As chair of the WLA Awards and Honors Committee, it is my great pleasure to inform you that the Kenosha Public Library has been selected as the 2020 Wisconsin Library Association Library of the Year.  Congratulations! 

 

The selection committee was greatly impressed by all aspects of your nomination, but especially by the library’s excellent work on inclusion and equity, as well as the library’s response to the twin challenges of the pandemic and the turmoil in the streets of Kenosha.  I’ve been a part of this committee for several years and it’s always a lot of fun recognizing the great work that libraries, library staff, and library supporters are doing around the state, but it’s especially satisfying this year.

 

As you might know, recipients of this and other awards are normally recognized at the Wisconsin Library Association conference.  Unfortunately, this has been cancelled due to the pandemic.  The association is working on some other form of recognition for this year’s recipients.  We will share that information with you as it develops.

 

WLA will soon issue a press release sharing this wonderful news statewide.  Before they do, they want to make sure that all of the winners have been notified.  Would you please confirm that you’ve received this and had a chance to share the information?

 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Joe

 

Joseph Bongers, MLIS

Head of Information Services

Oshkosh Public Library

920-236-5214

www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org

Wow! What a joy to have our work recognized for the tremendous impact it's making! This team has been simply amazing during all the challenges of 2020 and YOU deserve this award so very much. I couldn't be prouder of all of you! Thank you on behalf of the Kenosha community for all you do every day on their behalf.

Curious what I said in the application? Read it here.

COVID-19 in Wisconsin Update

This afternoon I attended an online presentation by Dr. John Raymond of the Medical College of Wisconsin. I thought you might be interested in what the experts are saying about the recent virus surge. Here are my notes and a link to Dr. Raymond's slides.

Notes from Medical College of Wisconsin Webinar 10/2/2020 (Dr. John Raymond)

(access presentation slides here )

• The Wisconsin surge in COVID-19 spread will last 2 full months. Expect the surge to move south into Milwaukee County next week. Positive tests are currently 17% and 6% of those are being hospitalized. 

• COVID-19 and the common flu are both respiratory illnesses but COVID-19 differs from common flu strains in a couple of ways. Common flu stays in your respiratory system. COVID-19 enters the respiratory tract, then attacks your blood vessels and clots your blood, which can cause long lasting symptoms long after the virus is overcome. 

• This is a respiratory pathogen. There is low risk of surface transmission of COVID-19. In other words, touching common surfaces is an issue only if you then move your hands to your face where it can enter your respiratory system. That’s another good reason to wear a mask- your hands don’t absentmindedly touch your mouth and nose.

• When you get a COVID-19  test, your results capture the status of the virus in your system on that day. If you don’t have symptoms or your symptoms are mild and and you test negative, then develop symptoms a few days later, it could be that you didn’t have enough virus in your system the day you were tested, but the virus has now replicated to the point where another test will be positive.

• It takes 5-7 days after exposure to the disease to exhibit symptoms and you are most contagious 2 days before you begin feeling symptoms. So if you know you’ve been exposed and no one was wearing a mask, you need to quarantine even if you don’t have symptoms. If you feel worse before your test results come back, and your test comes back negative you should be retested.

• Youth ages 10-19 are twice as likely to spread the disease as any other age group.

Choose Your Own Adventure and other matters

Michelle and I are having great fun reading your responses to the Choose Your Own Adventure survey. It's a joy to see how many of you are enthusiastic about taking on new roles at the library. With my eyes set on retirement a few years from now, I'm personally excited to begin a Director's Boot Camp to share the inside view of the work I do in my position. It will be great for the organization to have someone who can confidently jump right in, knowing what needs to be done and clued in on the tricks I've learned to getting it done according to the expectations of all the agencies we report to. The same goes for other positions here at KPL. Providing an insider's view to the job you think you want may seal the deal for you or convince you to pursue something else. So feel free to dabble. No obligation.
For those of you who responded that you're blissfully happy in your current position, congratulations on landing where you belong! Contentment is the best state of mind. We're so glad you enjoy what you do- it shows!
If you haven't yet responded, please do. I have no doubt that 2021 will bring new opportunities.

This morning the New York Times reported that Oshkosh, WI has more COVID-19 cases per capita than anywhere in the country and that of the top 20 per capita concentrations of cases in the country, 8 northern Wisconsin cities are on the list. KPL has been really, really lucky so far and Kenosha County is doing very well in comparison to many parts of the state. 

No positive cases at KPL so far!!

Let's keep doing everything we have been doing, no matter how tiresome it gets! Wear the masks, wash your hands, spray down those surfaces, keep your distance. Avoid public gatherings and if you find yourself at one, please wear your mask. We're counting on you!
A side note: HIPPA rules protect the identity of any who contracts COVID-19. So should anyone on staff test positive, we won't be able to tell you who it is unless that person gives us permission. If you've possibly been exposed to anyone testing positive, the county health department will contact you through contact tracing and provide you with instructions. 

Coming soon: Staff Gratitude Awards. We've come up with some funny and serious awards for you to vote on this month as a lead up to Thanksgiving. We've been though a lot this year! Let's celebrate our good fortune to be healthy, employed, and facing a brighter future!

This week's Bright Spot Award goes to Zander for his calm and courageous leadership in launching KPL Community Conversations. Zander has a way of creating safe spaces for honest and meaningful dialogue that's just remarkable! Thank you for taking on this important work with such grace, Zander!

Happy fall weekend, everyone! Enjoy today's sunshine!

Barb