Guns in the Library, Big Read 2023, and other news for the week

Congratulations on being selected  to host Big Read 2023! Here's the announcement from Brandi:

Today is an exciting day! The Arts Midwest has announced the NEA Big Read recipients for 2022-2023. This means our embargo has officially lifted, and we can discuss some of our plans for the upcoming NEA Big Read celebrating Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Before I hit send on our local press release, I wanted to pause and celebrate with all of you.

Some fast facts for you should you get questions:
We will be executing NEA Big Read programming beginning in May 2023, with programs going throughout the summer. KPL plans to tie the NEA Big Read program in with our adult summer reading program next year, so there will be programs throughout the summer.
Homegoing was selected because of its beautiful storytelling and rich character development that allows us to explore what it means to be human and how events great and small can impact us for generations. There are a lot of diverse topics and themes to unpack, and we are excited to create experiences for our entire community, focusing on them.
More information will be coming closer to May 2023, but we will continue to share our excitement until then. If you have anyone who has questions about partnering with KPL or being a distribution site, please feel free to give them one of my business cards. In the meantime, I encourage you to read the book and share any inspiration for programming or events with me.
If you have any other questions, let me know.

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Northside recently experienced an incident where one person threatened to bring his gun the next time he visited to settle an issue with another patron. There are more and more questions surrounding the right to carry a gun these days, especially with the county supervisors voting soon on changing their rules to allow people to bring guns into the county office building. So let me clarify what our policy is, what the statutes say, and who can do what.

Our libraries are municipal buildings and state statutes prohibit people from bringing firearms into our buildings unless they have special permissions (such as a police officer on duty). We have signs on our front doors to that effect.  However, in the current climate of tension over gun rights, we can expect that someone will try to test that rule. 

Police Chief Larsen assures me that people with special permission to carry a gun in public buildings are very unlikely to wear that firearm in plain sight. If we have a visitor that is openly displaying a firearm, he unequivocally states we should CALL THE POLICE to handle the matter. You never know what frame of mind people openly toting guns are in- be very careful about engaging. 

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A number of municipal buildings and libraries in Wisconsin have been visited by citizens with cameras in a test to see if local governments are adhering to the first amendment rights of citizens to know what their government is doing. Milwaukee and Eau Claire libraries have had these visits. Here's a video (long one-you'll get the idea after a few minutes of watching) from the duo's visit to Eau Claire. 

So what do we do if people show up here with video cameras? Above all, be friendly. They have the right to film in public buildings, as long as they don't impede on other people's rights, including confidentiality of library records. They can film in public areas, but they should be reminded not to film what people are doing on the computers or checking out- that's each person's private business, protected in the state statutes. They can't film in staff areas and they know it. Overall, if you welcome them and smile, they will be friendly in return. If you push them back, they'll use that the way they did in this video.

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Over the past few months, we've had 2 incidents where a group visit left a child behind. Our Unattended Child Policy didn't specifically address exactly what to do, so we updated the policy upon the advice of the City Attorney and the Police Chief:

CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND AFTER A GROUP VISIT

If a child of any age is part of a group visit that has left the child behind, library staff are instructed to call the police non-emergency number (262-656-1234) to request an officer manage the reunification of the child with an authorized adult.


If a representative of the agency that left the child behind returns to retrieve the child before the officer arrives, library staff should not release the child into their custody until cleared by the police officer to do so.

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The Mayor reports that construction on the Uptown Lofts project where we will have a new children's library will begin July/August! Can't wait to see action on that site! Tonight we're visiting Brass Community School for a Community Conversation where we'll begin to get feedback on the types of programs parents would like to see at our 5th location. 

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The City of Kenosha will offer an opportunity for residents to shred documents free of charge at three city locations from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 25, 2022. Shredding will be offered outside in the parking lots at the Northside Library, 1500 27th Ave.; at Southwest Library, 7979 38th Ave., and at the Kenosha Water Utility, 4401 Green Bay Road. In addition, hard drive destruction is offered at the Kenosha Water Utility location only. Kenosha residents are welcome to bring up to five bags or boxes of items to be shredded by Shred-It representatives. A future shredding date is set for Saturday, October 22.

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Brandi reports "The Kenosha Art Market kicks off this Sunday at Union Park and our very own Kelly and Melissa will be their selling their fantastic art!"

https://www.kenoshaartmarket.org/

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This week's Brights Spot:

From Jennifer:  "Amy H made this fantastic display (photo attached) for Northside this month as well! Her gift for displays is enjoyed by both staff and patrons."

I'm heading for the Alaskan wilderness on Friday and will likely have no internet or cell service where I'm going. Linda and Rob are fully in charge in my absence. Have a fabulous, hopefully cooler, week! 

See you on the 27th!

Barb

News for the Week

With our new Simmons and Uptown Branch Manager on his way, we've been brainstorming where we can set up one more staff office for Linda, who's been using the one at Simmons. The only viable option is for one of us to move to the purple room at SW, so I will be moving my office into that space in the coming week and Linda will be returning to my current office space in the SW circ workroom. For now, the KCM students who need to edit their files will continue to do so on the machines along the back wall outside the KCM office. It isn't optimal, but it's working. Hopefully we can create a little staff work space at the new Uptown Children's Library to help with our cramped quarters.

There's a big hole at the bottom of the back steps into Simmons.  We're finally fixing the drain at the bottom that's been flooding that area for years. Staff will need to enter the front of the building until that work is completed- see Linda for details. 

From Alejandria: Please be aware that the Southwest Library Teen Space will be open Summer Hours starting next week. We will be open 1:00-6:00 PM through summer. 

From Rob:

Please be aware that the Maintenance Team will be attending training sessions at Gateway Technical College on:

June 22 - 8 am to 12 pm

June 29 - 8 am to 12 pm

July 13 - 8 am to 12 pm

July 27 - 8 am to 12 pm

August 3 - 8 am to 12 pm

August 9 - 8 am to 12 pm

August 16 - 8 am to 12 pm

During this time, they will not be in the buildings and if an emergency pops up, please contact Dan by phone. 

The SW Mainstreet Flooring Project will start on July 18 and is estimated to last until July 29. Dickow & Cyzak will do no sanding of the subfloor; they use a surface leveling compound. When finished, the laminate floor will be walkable.   

Dickow & Cyzak is coordinating with their installers to begin the project as early in the day as possible to minimize the patron impact. 

We're asking the Board to close SW mornings the first week (M-F) of the installation to speed up the work. We'll be open at 1pm till regular closing time. Look for training announcements to fill those mornings while we're closed to the public.

From the city:

Candelora Voss, Medical Assistant at the Health & Wellness Clinic, has resigned from Everside. Candel's last day in the clinic was Wednesday, June 1, 2022. The City continues to make progress in evaluating other vendor options for the Health & Wellness Clinic that will position ourselves make the best decision in order to provide employees with quality medical services. Presently, Everside has committed to staffing the clinic with a provider and medical assistant in the interim while we continue to search for permanent replacements for both positions. It is our expectation that City employees and spouses will continue to be receive excellent medical care at the Health & Wellness Clinic, however, there may be some days in which a provider or medical assistant sub isn't scheduled to work in the clinic. We apologize in advance for any of these inconveniences and will have additional updates to share soon.
Employees can continue to call the clinic at 262-653-4444 to schedule an appointment.

This week's Bright Spot nominations come from Brandi and Elkid:

From Brandi: "I'd like to nominate Jason and Jeff. Jason and Jeff lead a Women in Focus Ms. Fix-It workshop for students of the Kenosha Literacy Council, teaching them basic tool skills and home repair. We all know just how busy these guys are - their willingness to use their skills to help guide others shows their commitment to the library's mission. Super proud of these two bright stars!"

Also from Brandi: "Our very own Kelly is a regionally recognized artist! How lucky are we to have such talent on staff? Not only does Kelly do an amazing job working in collection services but she also lends us her artistic talent from time to time. Keep an eye out for a pop-art-inspired photo backdrop at Nights at Northside that Kelly is making just for our event!

How a Horlick grad went from reading Teen Vogue to having her work featured in it

Elkid nominating Amy H: "A group of young boys came on the BKM at Harborside and they were so excited about the pictures on the APA (Asian Pacific Americans) display. They didn't register that it was about APA Heritage Month. They were pointing to the pictures of the athletes and just sharing stats and facts in that overly excited way that middle schoolers do. It was really cool to watch and let them fill me in on all kinds of sports news.
On a side note, did you know that Manti Te'o is the tallest player in the NFL?*
*(this has not been fact checked - and my resources were 13-year-olds)

Barb on vacation 

I'm heading for the Alaskan wilderness for a week off grid. I'll be gone June 17th-27th, back the 28th. Linda and Rob are in charge during my absence. 

Stay dry, everybody!