Happy National Library Week!

National Library Week events

Monday, April 24: Right to Read Day, a day for readers, advocates, and library lovers to take action to protect, defend, and celebrate the right to read. State of America's Libraries Report released.
Tuesday, April 25: National Library Workers Day, a day for library staff, users, administrators, and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.
Wednesday, April 26: National Library Outreach Day (formerly National Bookmobile Day), a day to celebrate library outreach and the dedicated library professionals who are meeting their patrons where they are.
Thursday, April 27: Take Action for Libraries Day, a day to rally advocates to support libraries.

This past Monday at the Kenosha Common Council, they passed a Resolution by Principal Sponsor Alderperson Brandi Ferree to Declare April 17, 2023 as Library Workers and Librarians Day. Co-Sponsors to the resolution were added - Alderpersons Michalski, Wilson, Siel, Kangas, LaMacchia and Kennedy. Please reach out to your alderperson to thank them for recognizing the importance of the work you do!

Welcome back to Katie Meeker! It's great to have you back !

Congratulations to Megan on her appointment to the virtual YALSA Hub Advisory Committee! This is a great honor and we are so proud of you! 

Congratulations also to Linda who was selected as Co-Chair of the PLA Committee on Family Engagement! What a terrific honor! I know you'll do amazing work!

I noticed on Wednesday that a person came into the SW library with a small dog on a leash. The dog was not marked as a service dog. This reminds me that we haven't talked about service animals for a while, and some of you may not be aware of what we can and cannot ask. Here's what the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will allow:

When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.

More info here.

We've collected 72 gifts toward our 100 Extraordinary Women goal! Looks like we'll reach our target and then some. Thanks to everyone who has committed to supporting the new children's library! We are grateful for your support.

Today we had a chance to tour the shell of the new library with Joe and Kristin, our two architects from Engberg Anderson. There isn't much there yet- they were framing in the front windows and a little plumbing was already installed. In the meantime, we're hashing out the design of the inside so we can get the engineers a framework to consider. 

The Simmons air conditioner work continues next week as they install the new unit upstairs. So far, no interruption to public service.