New Firearms Signs on Doors

In case you haven't noticed, all library locations now have a sign posted prohibiting firearms in the library. This prohibition is authorized by state statute and by the City of Kenosha Ordinances, which refer to the statutes.

Here's the exact text from city ordinances:

City of Kenosha Code of Ordinances 

11.065 CARRYING FIREARM IN PUBLIC BUILDING. A. Prohibition. It shall be unlawful for any person to go armed with a firearm in any building owned or leased by the State or any political subdivision of the State. B. Exception. Paragraph A shall not apply to any of the following: 1. Peace officers or armed forces or military personnel who go armed in the line of duty or to any person duly authorized by the chief of police of any city, village or town, the chief of the capitol police, or the sheriff of any county to possess a firearm in any building under Paragraph A. For purposes of this section peace officer does not include a commission warden who is not a state-certified commissionwarden. 2. A qualified out-of-state law enforcement officer, as defined in Section 941.23 (1) (g), Wis. Stats., to whom section 941.23 (2) (b) 1. to 3. Wis. Stats., applies. 3. A former officer, as defined in Section 941.23 (1)(c) Wis. Stats., to whom Section 941.23 (2) (c) 1. to 7. Wis. Stats., applies. 4. A licensee, as defined in Section 175.60 (1) (d) Wis. Stats., or an out-of-state licensee, as defined in Section 175.60 (1) (g) Wis. Stats. 11.07 ENDURANCE CONTESTS

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thanks to all you Bright Spots!

Thinking you'd like to turn your part time library job into a library career? Think management might be for you? Let us know! Participate in this year's Choose Your Own Adventure survey so we can design the training program that lands you in your library dream job.

David Vinjamuri of ThirdWay Brand Trainers will visit Northside Library on Tuesday, September 21st and Southwest Library on September 22nd. You'll see him walking around with a camera, laptop, and very thoughtful facial expressions as he evaluates our public spaces and considers ways we can utilize them more effectively. David's method is to walk though new spaces as a first time visitor without any pre-conceived notions about what works and what doesn't. We haven't shared our "troubles" with him at all. He's meeting the space like a new patron would. After he's completed his walk though on his own he'll tour staff spaces and storage areas to see what other spaces we have and then he'll talk with managers about what they see as space challenges.  So please greet David warmly and welcome him to KPL, but let him navigate the branches his own way so we get the best space audit possible. 

This week's Bright Spots are plentiful- 

• Aaron for our beautiful parking lot pole signs
• Brandi for organizing a terrific Library Card Sign-up Campaign
• All you who volunteered to go out into the community to get library cards into people's hands! Linda reports, "PS staff issued 38 library cards in two hours at Carthage College and 33 at UW-Parkside in two hours while out at National Library Card Sign Up Month pop ups this week. At Carthage we had Lori and Martha. At UW-Parkside we had Daisy and Phillip. Daisy shared with me that several of the UW-Parkside students didn't know KPL was available to them. "
• Katie Meeker for helping me correctly book a meeting room for a DPI group without even being asked! 
• Sandy, Linda and Brandi for coordinating Thanksgiving in September
• Michelle for leading us though a wicked Wednesday morning (don't ask!)
• Michaela for braving a very scary event on Thursday evening
• Tessa for kindly bringing us an opportunity to help the Afghan refugees housed at Fort McCoy
• The entire YFS Team for another amazing summer learning program!!!
• Marcia and the Outreach Team for a great Clean Water Kenosha series
• Shawn, Erin, Shannon and Marcia for getting their WLA programs accepted. You're going to make us so proud!
• Zander for launching the 60 for 30 Project videos
• Jennifer for bringing us the Immigrant Journeys exhibit
• Sue Vaal for launching Senior Read-Alouds
• Max, Brent, and Rob for rebuilding a server after a power outage. Thanks for keeping us connected!

Fort McCoy Donations

From Brandi:

In the coming days, we will be receiving two donation bins with signage from Journey Disaster Relief, collecting donations for Afghan community members arriving at Fort McCoy. The Journey Disaster Relief Team will check in on the bins occasionally and pick up donations. Should you notice a bin nearing capacity, please let me know. Currently, the greatest need is for new modest clothing. We will not need to sort through the donations, but please keep an eye on the bins like we do other times of the year that we collect donations to make sure no one mistakes them for trash or book returns. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you to Tessa and Rosa, who both brought up opportunities for us to be a part of providing a more welcoming start to these families. 

Note from Barb: This cause is particularly important to me, as my own parents were war refugees. They came to America with one trunk full of possessions, one trunk more than many of the refugees now at Fort McCoy. After processing at Ellis Island, they found their way to a cafe in downtown NYC where they ordered a cup of coffee, all they could afford. The cafe owner, hearing their German accents, asked them if they were new arrivals to America, and when they said yes he paid their bill and welcomed them to their new country. This was 1953, 8 years after World War II ended, a devastating war that touched every family, every person in America, and there was much anti-German sentiment in the air. And yet that man showed tremendous hospitality to my parents. My parents told that story over and over throughout their lives and all the stories of kind acceptance that followed. This was the America I was told about, this was the America I was taught to love. Let's show that America to the people now arriving from Afghanistan who gave up everything to help their country and the American soldiers stationed there, but now have been cast out as refugees. Let's welcome them to America the way my parents were welcomed so long ago.

My heart thanks you.

Barb