Vacation Carryover, Project Updates and Bright Spots

Happy Thanksgiving week, everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful, restful holiday full of laughter and warmth with family and friends! I am thankful to be working with all of you doing this important work and I am thankful to know each of you, as each of you has greatly enriched my life by teaching me patience and kindness, guiding me through difficult times, or simply making me laugh. You are very special and Kenosha is very lucky to have you at their libraries.

As we approach the deep dark winter before us, it's important to know that KPL will be the only evening warming center for the city again this year. Froedert continues to restrict access due to COVID-19. If you get questions about shelter, please remember that Savannah is here to help. On the staff intranet under departments, the Simmons/ UPT team has posted a list of the best places for referral for various needs including shelter, food, and mental health counseling. That list continues to be updated, so feel free to make it your first stop when looking for community resources.

If you find yourself with an abundance of 2022 vacation to use by the end of the year, you have the option to carry over up to 40 hours into 2023. Any carryover needs to be used the first quarter of 2023 (by the end of March.) If you want to do this, please email me your request, per the handbook.  Remember that personal time does NOT carry over, so if you have personal time that you haven't scheduled yet, make that the first thing you schedule. 

Project progress:

• We're drafting a contract with Engberg Anderson for the design of the children's library space.
• We have a request for proposal out to three consultant firms to help us raise money for the children's library.
• We're pulling together a 100 Extraordinary Women campaign to kick off fundraising for the children's library.
• We're finalizing a contract with a bookmobile expert who will guide us in the selection and design of a new bookmobile.
• We have a contract with Mulberry History Advisors to write a NEH Infrastructure and Capacity Challenge grant application starting January. That grant would provide significant funds to KPL for Simmons restoration and to create an ADA accessible entrance on the building.
• We're just about ready to launch our FINRA funded financial education 2 year initiative that will include public workshops, individualized financial coaching for the public, staff training, and financial education collection development. This is a partnership with The Urban League.

I'll keep you posted as these projects progress.

This week's Bright Spot nomination comes from Marcia.
"I want to nominate Kimmy Smith for Bright Spot award for shoveling the NS front entry and the book drop approach Saturday afternoon when the heavy lake effect snow accumulation left too much snow to ignore. Kimmy went out and shoveled and salted in cold, windy darkness."