News for the Week

Good luck to our bowling teams tonight! 

Thanks to our literary talent who has agreed to win it all at this year's literary trivia contest hosted by the Kenosha Literacy Council. AR, Cathy, Megan, Emily, Justin, Marcia, you are going to shine!

The County Resolution to wall off "adult materials" in the library failed to pass by a vote of 16-5. 

Mayoral candidates were whittled down to 2 this week- David Bogdala and Lydia Spottswood. If you're a Kenosha resident, I hope that you are researching these candidates and making your choice at the polls on April 2nd. Whoever wins will appoint our future board members and decide how much money the city is willing to provide for library services each year. Please make your choice wisely.

Did you know that we support a digital archive  for Kenosha County? If you're a fan of history, especially local history, you'll enjoy this collection. For those of you working the public service desk, please keep this resource in mind. You can access it at this direct link or through the research section of our digital literacy website, or through Recollection Wisconsin, the digital archive for the entire state.

This week's Bright Spots 

From Karen:

"I'd like to nominate DJ for a bright spot award. After my storytime on Monday night, I accidentally returned my books that I needed for later this week. I called and DJ answered and I told him what happened. He found both books, checked them out to me and set them on the desk in the YFS workroom. Thank you for going above and beyond DJ!"

From Marcia:
"I just got off the phone with Joey. He called because he wants me to nominate Kristen (OPE) for the Bright Spot Award. Kristen does his weekly home delivery and he said she is just awesome. He loves her because she always calls when he likes, she's always on time with delivery and she packs up his MANY items so beautifully and with care. He said that when he got his delivery yesterday he just burst with joy for his love of the library and just had to call and tell me this feedback. We all love Joey so much, and this is a little note that he loves us back."

Have a happy weekend!

Barb

Statement on County Resolution to Restrict Access to Library Materials

Statement on County Resolution to Restrict Access to Library Materials

The county board resolution to restrict access to adult level reading material in public libraries is unnecessary and misleading. In Kenosha County, municipalities have authority over the administration of public libraries including decisions over library collections. Authority does not reside with the county government. The authors of the resolution before you are aware of this distinction and have chosen to bring this matter before you today in an attempt to tarnish the reputation of a trusted and beloved democratic institution, your public library. At least one member of the committee has indicated to me, however, that he voted in the affirmative at committee level to bring the matter to the level of public conversation. So let us have a conversation, but let us base that conversation in fact.

1. There are no pornographic materials in public libraries.

2. There are no materials in public libraries that could be legally described as obscene.

3. Professional librarians do not base purchase decisions on their personal viewpoints. Purchase decisions and decisions on shelving locations within the library are based on professional reviews by educators and librarians.

4. The term “adult” in public libraries refers to a reading and interest level higher than 6th grade. It does not refer to salacious content.

5. Library materials are organized into separate sections for children and adults based on reading level, interest, and sophistication of the ideas presented. No five year old would be interested in or able to read and understand a 300 page work on the history of the conflict in Gaza. Many children under the age of 18 would, however, be both interested and able to understand the text. Restriction to this material makes no sense.

6. “Adult” collections include advanced books on every subject, including science, math, engineering, art, history, and philosophy. These books include a broad and inclusive section on religion that includes many versions of the Bible.

7. “Adult” collections include classic literature like The Great Gatsby, Beowulf, and the works of Shakespeare, books that are thoroughly studied in our schools by children under 18. Families without the means to purchase these books rely on the public library to provide copies for school use.

8. Children under the age of 16 must have a parent’s signature to get a library card of their own.

9. Parents already have broad rights to control what their children read and view. State statutes give parents the right to know what a child under 16 has checked out from the public library. They can check their child’s account online or by calling the library. Many families opt for a shared family account to make this oversight even easier.

10. Every public library has a formal  process in place to accept requests for reconsideration of library materials from the public. Community members have the right to challenge any book’s place in the library through a formal process that includes Library Board review.

The Kenosha Public Library is dedicated to supporting the healthy educational development of children. We can debate the merits of any particular book as a community and never reach consensus, but one thing we can all agree on is this:

In the United States, the government does not determine what a person can read. That decision is an individual decision, and for minor children, the decision belongs to the child’s parents. That is the definition of liberty.

 Barbara Brattin, Director, Kenosha Public Library

Sirsi/Dynix Catalog upgrade

 What is happening?

The SirsiDynix Symphony server that connects to workflows and the workflows client will be upgraded.

When?

The night of February 13, starting at 10 pm

Why? 

There are several security vulnerabilities that need to be patched, and it enables security ordering with vendors. 

Who is affected? 

Staff: 

• Workflows will not connect to the Sirsi server during the upgrade. 
• CNS will push out the update and will verify the laptops in OPE have the patch properly applied before the vehicles leave for the day. 
• If your computer isn't turned on during this deployment, a manual update will be applied to workflows the next time it's started. This update will take a few minutes to install and will retain user settings. 
• The AMH systems will not sort. 
  

Patrons:

• Online account access may be sporadic for both Enterprise and Bibliocommons.
• Access to online resources may be sporadic, with the exception of MasterClass, Hoopla, and BeanStack. 

Red Bins Everywhere! Book challenges too.

Yesterday was an interesting day. What appeared to be a frivolous waste of time on the part of the county finance committee actually garnered yes votes and now moves to the full county board. The resolution  seeks to persuade libraries to physically restrict adult collections from children's access. Here's what you should know about this matter:

• Collection policies are under the control of municipal or joint library boards, i.e. the KPL Board and the Community Library Board. No one else.
• The county library tax is levied on municipalities that don't pay KPL or CL directly. It's reimbursement for past use of our library by people who live elsewhere in Kenosha County. We only get money for actual use. It's not a subscription service. If people don't like our services, they don't use them. People like our services.
• The Kenosha County Library System, over which the county has some measure of control in that the county executive appoints the board members, asks the county to levy reimbursement taxes. The system also collects money from the state and county to support delivery and technology services. The county does not pay for collections.
• Resolutions are non-binding. They are only suggestions. 

The full board of county supervisors will meet on February 20th, the same day of the KPL Board meeting, so I will not be able to speak in person on this issue but I will craft a statement to send to the media. If you know any eloquent library supporters (there are many!) please alert them to this issue and ask them to speak up on our behalf either through letters to the editor, phone calls or emails to their county supervisors, or in person at the county board meeting. Thanks!

This week I had the opportunity to tour South Central Library System before Library Legislative Day in Madison. I snapped some pictures of their sorting area to share with you. That's a lot of red bins! And no, they don't have sorting systems. Everything is sorted by hand.

Thanks to Aaron who continues to provide a photographic timeline of construction progress.

Here's what it looked like Thursday.

Happy weekend, everyone. Hope we see lots of sunshine!

Barb

Intellectual Freedom Challenges

As you have read, libraries continue to be challenged for providing a wide variety of points of view that represent the vast diversity of our nation and our world. Dr. Jill Underly, our State Superintendent of Education, wrote a very powerful piece defending libraries and librarians back in December, and I know you would enjoy reading it. Here it is.

On Thursday, the Kenosha County board Finance and Administrative Committee will consider a "resolution to protect children from materials containing adult content in taxpayer funded libraries in Kenosha County." The proposal requests that libraries in Kenosha County restrict children's physical access to the adult book sections in public libraries, citing that the administrators of those libraries are not willing to protect children from harmful materials.

Tough time to be a librarian. But do not be discouraged! We will continue to protect the public's freedom to read. And the vast, vast majority of Americans stand with us.

TikTok Library Fun and Bright Spots

If you're on TikTok, a fun librarian fellow to follow is also there- Mychal the "sunshine librarian." I must say his love for children and reading is infectious. Take a look.
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I haven't seen a lot of patrons come in with service animals here at SW, but the airport is full of them and one of my library groups brought up some questions the other day. Since we have a lot of relatively new staff, I thought I'd remind everyone what legal questions we have the right to ask someone who comes in with a dog. Service animal rules are part of the Americans with Disabilities Act which is a long list of rules about how we all can make life a lot more comfortable for people with disabilities. According to the FAQ's about service animals, there are only 2 legal questions we can ask someone who walks in with a dog:
In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific 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 are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.

You should also know hat the dog does not need to wear a Service Dog vest. So generally people can say their companion is a service dog and we really don't have any way to investigate the validity of that, but even if they are valid service dogs, they can't misbehave. They need to be under control at all times and not make a lot of noise. 

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As part of the next book sale (February 16,17,28 at SW) we'll be offering Hometown Mugs in exchange for $50 toward the children's library capital campaign. I'll send you more details as we get closer to the date. 

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The February Library Board meeting is scheduled a week later than normal in February to accommodate our need to complete a complex annual report for DPI. So the next meeting is February 20th.

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I'll be in Madison for Library Legislative Day both Monday and Tuesday.

This week's Bright Spot comes from Megan:
"I would like to nominate Ben for a Bright Spot. One of our teens was working on his math homework in the teen space after school. 7th grade math is apparently a struggle for several of us to recall, but Ben was familiar enough with the material that he was able to confidently explain the homework and help our teen get his worksheets done. Thanks, Ben!"