Leaking terraces and a new role for Shannon

 News from the city:

The Brown Bank project is underway, with higher ed partners, Best Buy, the YMCA, Jockey, and the city collaborating on a remodel of the old building into KELA, the Kenosha Emerging Leaders Academy. KELA is the "second stop" on the education pipeline from our new Uptown Children's Library (birth through 5th grade) to KELA (6th grade to age 24), to the Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood (high tech business incubator space.) KELA is projected to open in spring 2023.

At Monday's Common Council meeting, the Mayor will be asking Council to schedule a special public referendum (vote) on exceeding levy limits for public safety expenses. The state caps the amount of property tax increase a city can collect annually.  A city can override this restriction by majority citizen vote. That decision comes with a penalty- the city loses it's "shared revenue" payment, 1:1. For instance, if the city exceeds the limit by 1 million dollars, the state deducts 1 million dollars from the city's shared revenue payment. For more information, and to gain a serious appreciation for the complexity of this issue, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue provides this Q and A. If the Council agrees to schedule a referendum, KPL can expect to host one extra election this year.

Happening @ KPL

Thanks go out to Shannon for agreeing to pass Adult Programs to Community Programs and Partnerships to free up her time to concentrate on space planning for SW. Last October, we were provided with a very large plan to overhaul our public spaces. We've been waiting for other large projects such as our total website redesign to be complete to free up time for the space plan. And we've been waiting for the new flooring at SW to be available so we can make the overhaul of Main Street part of the space project. Shannon is particularly good at project management, and we are delighted that she has agreed to lead a very collaborative project that will invite all staff to contribute their expertise. Get ready to have fun and design a space that our community and staff will love. More information coming soon!

The terrace at Simmons is leaking worse than ever into the maintenance area below, so we will be conducting some investigation that includes architects and construction companies. Expect to see trucks in our parking lots. We'll probably need to redirect staff entry at some point, too. The replacement of the air conditioning unit at Simmons is set for September and construction will last six weeks. Always working on that beautiful old building!

The Board Finance Committee voted Monday night to recommend to the full Board in May that we use some of our fund balance to expedite some facilities projects. On the list is a new bookmobile, new flooring, furniture for our space plan projects, and new signage. If the full Board agrees to the expenditures, we will start with leveling the floor in the SW children's area which has become a tripping hazard and replacing the flooring in that area. 

This week's Bright Spot Award nomination comes from Brandi:

"I'd like to nominate Aaron for a bright spot award! He has done such a beautiful job creating new graphics and images for our website. That warm welcoming feeling people get when they first visit the site is because he so thoughtfully fine-tuned a million details! In what has been a very busy season for our team, Aaron has really stood out with his can-do attitude, calm demeanor, and flexibility!"

Have a great rest of the week, everyone!

New SW Teen Space

Bright Spot nomination from Megan:
"Alejandria and I would like to nominate a number of people for a Bright Spot that helped turn our Teen Space dream into reality.


Aaron for coming up with a beautiful color scheme and assisting with putting up the sound panels. Maintenance for assembling furniture, painting, prepping the walls, etc. Heather, Linda and Barb for their ongoing support. Rob for moving the self-checks out, as well as helping us out with our tech questions through the whole process. And a special thank you to everyone else who helped contribute that we unintentionally left off this list! This has truly been a collaborative effort across KPL and we are very grateful for everyone's help. We are so excited to open the space today--if you haven't seen it yet, come visit us and check it out!




Megan would also like to nominate Alejandria for a Bright Spot. She really took the lead on this and has spent many hours organizing and setting up the space, making it functional and appealing for our teens. "

Congratulations to the whole YFS Team for creating such a beautiful space for our teen visitors!

Wage consultant recommendations (presentation)

Last night at the KPL  Board meeting the consultant from Carlson Dettmann, the company hired to analyze our current wage scale in relation to the current job market, presented his findings. We do this analysis every 3-4 years to get professional advice about whether our jobs are fairly compensated, particularly when the economy is in flux.  We conduct a study separate from the city, which typically lags behind in scheduling and implementing study recommendations. 

Carlson Dettmann is the same firm that did our last wage study and conducts wage studies for the City of Kenosha and many other Wisconsin municipalities and Patrick Glynn, the consultant you will see in this recording of the presentation, was our consultant during the last study and again this time. 

Last time we did this study, the consultant recommended significant adjustments to a variety of positions. This time, the consultant did not recommend any changes to the wage scale. He did, however, suggest that the board consider another cost of living adjustment for 2023, probably in the same range as the 4% we received this year. For an overview of the process he used and all the reasons why he came to his conclusions, I encourage you to watch Patrick's presentation. I think you'll find it very interesting.

The city would like us to submit a draft budget to them by the end of May this year, so we will need to do a lot of speculation on how much the inflation rate will change from now till December. Since it will be impossible to ask for more once the budget has been submitted, we will draft a budget that includes a 4% raise across the board which reflects the high end of the consultant's recommendations,  plus eligible step increases, for the Board to consider before sending the draft to the city. 

I know many of you will be disappointed to learn that your current pay is in line with the job market. Please remember that your job description was evaluated, not your personal skills or abilities or the effort you put into your work. The consultant does not know you.

As always, thanks for the wonderful work you do every day!

Barb

Spring Break Camp for youth planned at KPL

In case you didn't see the Kenosha News article on yesterday's front page, we are hosting a spring break camp in collaboration with UW Extension April 20-21 from 10am to 2pm in our new teen space at SW. There will be speakers and activities and even lunch. 

This is the beginning of a new UW/KPL partnership called NIA (Nia means "purpose" in Swahili.) The program is designed for young people of color in 7th through 12th grade who may not have seriously considered what they intend to do with their lives. By introducing them to a myriad of possibilities via field trips to colleges and minority-owned businesses, visiting speakers, and, of course, our fabulous librarians, the program planners hope to inspire young people to find their purpose, believe in their talents, and follow their dreams.

After the initial spring break camp, NIA will meet at the SW library Monday-Friday from 3-6pm beginning April 28th.

Karen Fredrick leaving employee health clinic

We received the following message from City HR this past week:

It is with great sadness that we announce that Karen Fredrick, Nurse Practitioner at the Health & Wellness Clinic, has resigned from Everside. Karen's last day in the clinic will be April 28, 2022. The City was expecting this resignation and has started the process of evaluating the clinic and exploring other vendor options for the Health & Wellness Clinic. The City will continue to work with Everside to select a new medical provider. If a new medical provider hasn't been selected before Karen's last day, Everside has committed to staffing with clinic with a provider in the interim. Candel will continue to work at our clinic.


Karen included this message to employees: "This has been a wonderful employment opportunity for me---the best of my career, thanks to the City of Kenosha and their employees. I will sincerely miss all of you. My departure is accompanied by fond memories of the City of Kenosha."


Karen will continue to see patients until her last day with Everside. For employees in need of an appointment before April 28, 2022, please call the clinic at 262-653-4444 to schedule.


We will continue to provide updates to employees as we have new information.

Thanks, Book Sale Volunteers!

Thanks to everyone who pitched in to make our weekend book sale the best ever. By the looks of the crowds this afternoon, it could be a record sale! Going forward, I'd like to see many more of you participating. A lot of the work is low key, just keeping things nice and neat, so if you have some physical challenges, you can still help! FOL provides us $20,000, sometimes $25,000 in added support for things we couldn't afford otherwise and their volunteers are getting very old. Let's lend them some youthful spirit and say thanks at the same time!

Reminder to managers that I need your 2023 budget drafts by the end of next week.

The new website is getting closer to launch. Here's what it looks like today. The public will first get to see it on April 18th. 

This week's Bright Spot Award goes to the Novel Noshes team! Thank you for planning such a fun event for a dark and rainy spring evening. We can't wait to all get together and immerse in the books you've chosen for us.

New KPL Department on Board Agenda

Later today, the Library Board packet will go out to board members and staff. Included in the packet is a proposed change to the organizational chart and pay grade schedule. 

A couple of important things to note:

1. The organizational chart now includes a Community Programs and Partnerships department that combines adult programs, library-wide events, and all marketing activities including web design, social media, and graphic design. The synergy of combining programs and marketing into one team is going to be very powerful- I am very excited to see the results. Everyone involved in adult programs before is welcome to continue participating! This is simply a regrouping of tasks. Brandi Cummings will be the Head of that new department. Under her leadership, I know the new department will thrive. 

2. Note that YFS programs will not be managed by the new department, but remain within the YFS Department where it continues to thrive!

3. We will fill the programs vacancy with two part time Programs and Events Specialists. If you love to design and deliver public programs, you are encouraged to apply!

4.  The Pay Grade Schedule DOES NOT reflect any results of the wage study. The schedule in the packet merely adds the new positions and deletes the old positions. We have not received a final report from our consultant. He will deliver his recommendations at the board meeting on Tuesday. At that point, it will be up to the board whether to act on his recommendations. 

Censorship in Libraries on the Rise

 

Efforts to control library collections have increased across the country and in some communities, libraries have a real fight on their hands. As is often the case, it seems a very small minority of the population is making a lot of noise. ALA hired professionals to poll the public to understand the source and concentration of book banning sentiment. Here's what they found.

ALA Poll Finds Public Broadly Opposes Book Banning Efforts

So what happens here if someone challenges our collection? Our Collection Development Policy walks you through the whole process and includes a Reconsideration Form to provide to anyone who wishes to make a formal complaint about an item in our collection. Bottom line, don't argue with anyone about whether a collection item has merit or belongs in our collection. Just listen and assure the patron they have been heard, then offer them a copy of the Collection Policy (from our website or the staff digital workspace)  which includes the Reconsideration Form.  Most of the time they don't follow through with a formal complaint if they think someone listened to them. If they do choose to follow through, send the completed Reconsideration Form to Rob or to me. We'll follow through and respond to the patron.

Other News

If you live in Kenosha County and have electronic devices you need to discard, May 7th is a free collection day. See details here.

Our next Library Board meeting is @ Northside on Tuesday April 12th at 5:30pm. Carlson Dettman, our wage consultant firm, will deliver their recommendations to the board during this meeting. This is a public meeting and everyone is welcome to attend.

City Administration is asking for our 2023 Budget draft very early this year- by the end of May. So we'll have our noses in spreadsheets for the next two months calculating income and expenses for the coming year.

A group of three volunteers from Public Allies will be working with our Friends of the Library to streamline book sales and recruit FOL membership. They've also pledged to find offsite storage space for FOL donations to free up our garages for maintenance needs. 

The Friends book sale is next weekend, Friday-Sunday in the Southwest lobby.

Hope to see you tomorrow (Saturday) at KPL's Uptown Neighborhood party from 1-4pm 

Have a wonderful almost-spring weekend, everyone!

Barb