DPI has awarded ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Funds for projects from now till June 22nd. KPL applied in 3 categories and we won funding for all 3 applications!
Grant #1: 11 mid-sized libraries (Kenosha, Oshkosh, Appleton, Eau Claire, Beloit, Marathon County, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Racine, Fond Du Lac, La Crosse) will receive $143,783 (total) for staff training and implementation of Whole Person Librarianship services such as on-site social work students or practicing professionals. By increasing our de-escalation and crisis intervention training and by learning more about our county social service system, we'll be better equipped to confidently meet the challenges we face and help those in need connect with the services available. This spring, we'll host Carthage College bachelors level School of Social Work students and UWP Masters in Clinical Psychology students who will assess our training needs and help us meet our goals. They'll also advise us on what permanent social work trained staffing we should consider going forward.
Here's a recent article about social workers in the library to help you understand what's happening across the country.
Grant #2, $101,300 : KPL will install book vending machines at the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Clubs for kids to use during after school and check out for home use. We will also place book return units at those locations.
Grant #3 Provides $125,868 for modifications to our study rooms and meeting rooms for privacy and enhanced equipment for virtual meetings, a public address system at NS and SW so we can make decent public announcements in an emergency, and furniture for displays as recommended by the space planner.
All projects must be completed by June 2022, so we'll be working hard to get everything into place.
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We collect comments from patrons and I wanted to address one that came up recently:
A patron was visiting an out of state library and found out that they automatically renew items if there is no hold and she thinks we should do that hereThis is a common practice in other states where there is no compensation to libraries for serving patrons out-of-district and no money exchanges hands based on circulation statistics. It's great for the library because it jacks up their statistics. But we can't do it here. Here's why:
In Wisconsin, counties pay for "universal service," meaning if a person from Pleasant Prairie wants to check out a book at KPL or Racine PL or Community Library, they can do that, because there is an agreement that Pleasant Prairie will compensate those libraries for that service. Reimbursement is based on checkouts, and if we automatically renew an item, that's an additional checkout Pleasant Prairie will be charged for. If the patron wants to renew, that's her choice. By automating renewals we are making the choice, and that's not fair to Pleasant Prairie. So that's why we don't do it here.
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I'll be on vacation next week with limited access to cell service. Linda is your library-wide person in charge. Happy week ahead, everyone!
Barb
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