"Slow down, you move too fast..."

The City Council-appointed Capital Facilities Committee has been meeting for a year, working to determine the future of our library facility. It has now been four years since the Library Board asked the City to address the issue. There have been two major studies, funded by the City and the Friends of the Appleton Library, as well as Board recommendations. People often ask me what's happening --and the simple answer is that we're still talking about it.

The Council has endorsed the Committee's recommendation for a single library building -- no branches. By now, there is a lot of agreement that a new downtown library building would be best for Appleton, but the location and configuration are uncertain and the funding is a very big question mark. Given the many unknowns on this project, it seems like a good idea to keep discussing, learn more, see how the economy and other factors affect available funds, and defer any final decision. If a new building is by no means affordable, then we'll need to do the best remodeling and expansion job we can to address service concerns, add needed space, and increase efficiency.

There are many reasons why new would be better than remodeled, including greater impact on downtown development, best design for improved efficiency, a larger percentage of the project done with private funds raised by our Friends group, as well as more flexible space for future growth and changes. But after a year of discussion, there are unanswered questions about how we would be able to fund a new building as well as location and the architectural relationship of potential sites to other City offices. Thus the Capital Facilities Committee has gone on hiatus, but asked two task forces to do further study on building issues and finance issues. There will be no building or site selection funds in next year’s budget, and we assume it will be several years before either an expansion of the current building or a new library could be built.

A wait of a few years is not a fatal problem: we’ve always understood that this would not be a rapid decision or a quick implementation once decided. But in our current situation crowding will get worse, it will be harder to realize efficiencies, and well nigh unto impossible to realize some of the requested service improvements that would make this library better for the community.

As time goes by, with increasing use and flat or decreased staffing, efficiency will become more important. As time goes by, with continued inaction, the library will become less of a nice place to be -- not the destination this city deserves, not the community learning center it needs. Form follows function, but form can also constrain function.

So I’m a bit disappointed that things cannot move more quickly or decisively, but realistically, this is a hard time to commit to any big projects. We need to wait for an improved economy or more funding sources. I appreciate the hard work and difficult deliberations of the Capital Facilities Committee, and trust they will reconvene in the future, with better information, to continue their efforts. In the meantime, we need to keep studying issues and possibilities, while working with our Friends and others to help the community understand the situation.

Art @ APL (2010)

Dan from our Reference staff went around the building and photographed the the items permanently on display from our public art collection. Then he converted it to a video, complete with soundtrack and put it on YouTube. Much of this was purchased by our Friends group. Some like the big Grade paper sculpture in the entryway was collaborative (school district, Wisconsin Arts grant, plus Friends). Some was donated in memoriam.

We have other pieces that are not displayed or are in staff offices. But I love the eclectic blend of local history, local and state artists and a few other things. Art is another medium through which the library expresses culture, diversity and community. Thanks, Dan!

Capital steps

The City Council's Capital Facilities Committee had a good meeting this month, and Chair Joe Martin assigned committee members to answer questions and share thoughts on a decision matrix to help determine whether Appleton should plan to build a new library or remodel the current facility. He will assess the collective answers of the respondents and use them to guide committee discussions.

I'm looking forward to seeing the range of responses from the thirteen member committee -- I'm sure there are many ideas I'd agree with, and maybe some I won't. Although I do not sit on the committee, Ald. Martin solicited feedback from Library administrative staff. Herewith, his questions and my responses:

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Project Feasibility Decision Matrix
BUILD NEW OR RENOVATE LIBRARY FACILITIES?

STUDIES

Have the past two architectural and consultant studies sufficiently established the need to address library facility concerns?

• Yes – there has been a lot of public input, including scientific random input from users and nonusers, as well as architectural and operational analysis that documents real needs.

SITE ISSUES

What are the requirements of the users that may influence the site location?

• There are several market segments with identifiable site-related needs, mostly due to transportation mode:
• Automobile drivers need convenient parking
• Automobile and private bus passengers need convenient, safe drop-off
• Pedestrians, especially downtown workers and shoppers, need a site close to the central city
• Valley Transit passengers, including school children, need a site within a few blocks of the Transit Center
• Elderly, parents with multiple young children and handicapped, need convenient parking near the library entrance

What affinities to other groups are necessary?

• It is highly desirable that the library be perceived as serving virtually every demographic in the City. In looking at affinities to other organizations, public schools and other educational groups would rank high, as would other government (local, state and national) and a range of community nonprofit groups who would either use library space or do joint programming with the library.

Is the site compatible with the long-range plan of the library?

• The current site is basically compatible, but the current structure lacks both design features and space for current and future community needs. Concerns in the long-range plan would be most fully addressed by a new structure designed to address current priorities and future needs, but could also be addressed by extensive remodeling.

POSSIBLE FUNDING SOURCES

Are there potential donors to the project?

• Unlike police stations, water plants or other municipal construction projects, libraries have the potential to attract significant donations to help with construction. 25-33% of project cost is not unusual for public library projects.
• There are numerous potential donors, ranging from philanthropic individuals and corporations to grass-roots donations from a wide range of the library’s 86,000 cardholders.
• Realizing this potential will require considerable effort, and we assume much of the private fund-raising could be done by the Friends of the Appleton Library (FOAL) -- our community support group. Success of private fund-raising will be greatly enhanced by two factors: naming rights and perceptions of civic presence. A new library will have significantly more potential to bring in donations than a remodel.

Can revenue generation be used to fund the facilities construction or on-going costs? i.e. leasing OWLS, Literacy Coalition, other non-profits

• Some, although this is limited and related to project scope. Potential tenants among nonprofit organizations are unlikely to be able to afford anything comparable to prime commercial rentals. OWLS (the Outagamie Waupaca Library System, which provides many services to APL) currently pays about $30,000/year, and while this is on the low side of cost per square foot in the downtown, Appleton derives many benefits from their presence in ways that would be difficult to quantify in dollars. Likewise, we once housed the Literacy Coalition pro bono. If we were to house groups such as the Literacy Coalition or Multicultural Center, it would be due to the Library’s ongoing participation in and support of these groups as much, if not more, than for revenue generation.
• There is limited potential for commercial development to be co-located with a new library, but absent the involvement of a developer from the inception of the project, this would be difficult to pursue and fit into a structure.
• The most typical commercial activity found in public libraries is a library friends’ store, which will usually sell used books, library merchandise and sometimes have a coffee bar. This would be part of library space to supplement operating income rather than to generate general revenue.

PROJECT ALTERNATIVES

Is there an alternate solution for solving this space problem?

• The only viable alternatives comprising complete solutions are either extensive remodeling and expansion or new construction. It would be possible to address some concerns with a smaller scale remodel and expansion project, but this would almost certainly be unsatisfactory in the long term and neither result in service enhancements the community is seeking nor the same level of operational savings to be realized through more comprehensive design changes.

Do the existing facilities need to be remodeled, or are new facilities required?

• Extensive remodeling and expansion could answer very well, but would neither offer as many opportunities for operational savings through significant design improvements, nor make as strong a case for private funding as would a new building. A new building could also spur other downtown development to a greater extent than an expansion.

Is the space currently available within the library?

• Neither space nor design features to meet the needs are available within the existing structure and the existing footprint.

LINKAGES TO OTHER PROJECTS

What effect will this project have on other projects?

• Much of the effect will depend on the nature of the project. For example, a new building would make the current facility available for other uses, such as a larger, more visible and accessible City Hall. A new building attached to this one and the East Ramp would likely require the relocation of Valley Transit. A new building close to the river front could impact other development initiatives.

Is there a domino effect where another building will need to be renovated?

• Presumably, were this building vacated by the Library, it would require some renovation for different use. While it is theoretically possible that some other building could be renovated as a library, this is not highly practicable due to design and engineering requirements.

THE SIXTH FACTOR IS ONE THAT LOOKS AT THE ENTIRE PICTURE WHICH IS THE PROS AND CONS OF REMODELING AN EXISTING BUILDING VERSUS BUILDING NEW

Remodeling construction during the operation of the library

• There are two scenarios: one where the library moves to temporary quarters and one where remodeling is done while library operations adapt. The first would require the library to close twice for two moves and maintain dual facilities, but remodeling could be done most quickly. The second would not require closing but would entail serial disruptions of various services, and add to construction costs and duration. The extent of renovation might be a deciding factor.

Disruptions, limited usage

• Disruptions and limited usage would be significantly less with new construction as opposed to renovation. There would only be one move and it could be phased to keep closed days to minimum. By tweaking loan periods and asking for public help, some portion of the collection could be moved by patrons checking items out from the old library and returning them to the new.

• The advantages here are relatively short-term, but would result in some operational cost impacts for about two years of any project.

Adapting current spaces vs. designing

• There are some substantive advantages to designing new vs. remodeling. The first is in better opportunities to design spaces to meet current and anticipated future needs, rather than adapting. New design offers greater possibilities for efficiency, ease of use, and meeting community needs. Adapting will necessarily require a greater degree of compromise. The goal is to provide the best possible public service, knowing that staffing and operational resources will be limited over the long term.

Community perceptions / values / civic presence / identity

• The second advantage to new design is the message we send to – and the presence we create in -- the community. A highly visible and substantial investment in this public service makes a clear statement that this city values education, family, opportunity and community space. It says that we value our downtown and will invest in its success, creating better destinations for people, and more reasons to be part of Appleton. The library is a gateway to knowledge, opportunity and community, as well as to our downtown.
• A corollary benefit is the opportunity to create as sustainable and green a building as makes sense for operational needs and costs: as an educational and highly visible public space, this creates a statement of community values and concern for the future.

The power of collaboration: Fox Cities Book Festival kicks off

It's National Library Week, and for the third year in a row, it's also the Fox Cities Book Festival. Over the next eight days, 50 authors will appear at 18 venues, including libraries, schools, universities, museums and coffee houses. One of the first is occurring here at the Appleton Public Library, as Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter, discusses her writing.

Each year's Book Festival is a huge collaborative effort, requiring a year of prep work. The Board includes representatives of all the local public libraries, plus public schools and higher education, as well as many community volunteers passionate about books and reading. A highlight is always the appearance of the Fox Cities Reads author, who will speak at many different area libraries and schools.

None of this would be possible without both inspiration and hard work. The original inspiration for the event came from Ellen Kort, an Appleton writer and teacher who was Wisconsin's first Poet Laureate. Ellen talked for years with interested people before a committee finally gelled and organized the first book festival. It's now an annual event including committees to do fund-raising, coordinate dozens of volunteers, make author arrangements, organize the community read and market the event. None of this would work without a broad cross-section the whole Fox Cities community, and it's no wonder that our libraries are deeply involved.

As Kim Edwards advised budding authors: "Read, read and read, and write, write and write."

You've got a friend

Over thirty years ago, a group of community-minded citizens got together, determined that their public library should be better. They formed the Friends of Appleton Library (FOAL) and began supporting library programs, working for an improved facility and helping the library develop and grow. FOAL has been helping and giving since 1975. From their beginning, they've provided community to their members, created and promoted programs, and been a voice for our library in the wider community.

The Friends' Building Committee was key in passing the 1978 referendum that led to the construction of our current building. Once the new building was underway, FOAL focused more on program support, and began the FOAL Endowment Fund to create ongoing support for library programs.

In 1985, a group of individuals who felt the need to create more and broader support for the library set up the Appleton Library Foundation. The Foundation undertook a five year campaign and built up a endowment of over a million dollars, with proceeds used as grants for library materials, programs, technology and other innovative ideas. Within a few years, FOAL decided to invest their endowment as a designated fund of the Foundation. Since they began giving grants, the Foundation has given the library nearly a million dollars, while maintaining a strong principle balance in their endowment fund.

With increased support from staff -- especially Elizabeth Eisen, who coordinated volunteers and adult programs -- and a succession of good presidents and committee chairs, FOAL grew stronger, with hundreds of members. They began doing joint planning with the Foundation and helped with fundraisers. The Foundation began funding a library staff person to recruit and coordinate volunteers. The two groups were beginning to move closer together.

In 2008, the Foundation invested their endowment funds through our Community Foundation, leaving their Board with less need to oversee investments. Their new strategic plan called for more collaborations with the Friends. With agreement of FOAL leadership, the Foundation hired Peter Pearson of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library to conduct a feasibility study of merging the two groups. Pearson's study, in the Fall of 2008, suggested that merger was indeed feasible, provided advice based on the experience of other libraries, and identified several considerations for decision. The two boards continued to discuss the issues, and agreed to hold a joint facilitated planning retreat in the Spring of 2009. The two boards continued to discuss the issues, and agreed on a joint facilitated planning retreat in the Spring of 2009.

Nearly all members of the two boards, including two library board members, attended the planning retreat, and were impressed by the amount of consensus. There was strong agreement on a single statement:

The merger of the Appleton Library Foundation and the Friends of Appleton Library would provide a unified entity which would be more efficient with added functionality, resulting in more resources for the Appleton Public Library – and provide higher visibility in the community and a better utilization of volunteer talents.

It was also agreed the group would work in several areas:

• Advocate for the library
• Fund-raise for the library
• Support programs and services
• Advise and support library staff
• Thrive as a membership organization
• Marketing and public awareness

Deciding that the merged group would be called FOAL, the group charged the two board presidents and the library director with implementing the merger. With generous pro bono legal help from McCarty Law, merger documents and bylaws were drafted and approved by the two groups in the next few months. The initial board of the new FOAL is comprised of all the members of both existing boards who wished to continue, until the membership elects a new board at next year's annual meeting.

After two meetings of the new FOAL Board, they now have: elected officers, a finance policy and budget, an agreement with the Library Board, several committees in place and several in process, and a plan to hire an executive director. They're working on a new logo and thinking about a website, even while several fund-raising events are underway or in planning. It's been a busy time for the library staff, in helping facilitate these efforts, but we're excited and grateful for the thoughtful volunteer efforts of so many good people -- our friends.

Community space

Our library provides meeting spaces for community groups as one of our essential services. At Monday's meeting of the Capital Facilities Committee, examining the need for a new library building, one of our Alderpersons questioned plans to include expanded meeting spaces, asking:

"Why should the library incorporate everything for everyone? Why should the taxpayers pay for this when other structures exist? Why did the library provide space for a state legislator's listening session?"

Thankfully, another Alderperson, Michael Meyer, had a good answer, showing a strong understanding of the importance of public spaces in a public library. He said many of the same things I would say.

My answer is that of course we are not incorporating everything for everyone. We are doing specific things for specific reasons, in this case providing public gathering spaces to community groups, educational and cultural presentations, government, and library programs. I think we're doing it for some well considered reasons:

• It's our mission: "The Appleton Public Library is a center of community life, offering opportunities to learn, know, gather, and grow."
• Public libraries support democracy and democratic processes
• we're the new town square
• we're neutral ground, not on one side of issues
  
• we are freely accessible -- the ability to use the library is not dependent on ability to pay
• we promote free speech in collections and policies
  
• we promote access to information -- and public access to government, including legislators, congressional representatives, schools, and local, state and national committees and boards
• We're a well-known gathering place for all ages -- children, parents, seniors and families -- as well as all socioeconomic groups, all religions, all ethnic groups, all political viewpoints. The library is visibly for everyone
  
• We support community groups, through providing resources, information, a place to post public notices, as well as a place to gather
• Meeting spaces are integrated with library services:
• we provide library programs, and educational and cultural events, for all ages
• we provide a great many programs in collaboration with other organizations -- often the schools, but also colleges, the Multicultural Center, hospitals, social service agencies, and coalitions like the Project Promise Poverty group, and MoneySmart Week.
• we view collaborations and other meeting room use as an opportunity to help people become aware of books,reading, and other library materials and services -- once we've got them in the door, I love it if they walk out carrying a book!
• Our rooms are heavily used by a broad cross-section of the community: when I looked at several years of records, I found many uses by the local school district and various aspects of government (chiefly local), but also scouts, 4-H, religious groups, the League of Women Voters -- the list is LONG!
• Use is growing steadily over the long term, despite the fact that we have to turn groups away with no space available an impose limits both on the types of users and number of uses. We have a supply and demand issue and a staff cost to meet the demand.
• A new or updated building would allow for:
• Expanded meeting room hours -- available before and after library hours if designed for secure access
• Permanently set-up rooms (board rooms, lecture hall/auditorium) allowing for increased use with decreased set-up times & reduced staffing cost
• More use by business, perhaps on a fee basis, if there's enough space available that a sales meeting wouldn't mean there's no space for the soccer club
• The possibility that we could find donors to subsidize the cost of creating meeting spaces in exchange for naming rights.

The discussion continues...

Diverse book recommendations

Toward Community: Unity in Diversity held their annual Celebrate Diversity picnic on Aug. 16, 2009. Attendees were asked to write down their favorite books. Though only a minority of folks participated, they came up with an interesting list that reveals diverse ages, backgrounds, and literary tastes. Thanks to Toward Community board chair Kamal Varma for compiling and sharing.

• Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
• What is the What - the Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng: a novel by Dave Eggers
  
• Blue Sweater: bridging the gap between rich and poor in an interconnected world by Jacqueline Novogratz
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
• Drums of War by Edward Marston
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
• Invisible Man by Herbert George Wells (and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is pretty good, too - TD)
  
• Song of Solomon by Tony Morrison
• Black like Me by John Howard Griffin
• Stuffed Starved by Raj Patel
• Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
• White Teacher by Vivian Gussin Paley

"Get rid of the homeless"

Heard second-hand from a highly reliable source:

Well, yes, we need a new library. But first, they should get rid of the homeless people.

This is pretty sad, but I'm afraid there are a fair number of people who think this way. It's even sadder in a time when the economy is down, unemployment is up and people are hurting. This is a time when lots of people, including the temporarily impoverished, need public libraries more.

There was a very timely op-ed piece in the New York Times:

Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?
By BARBARA EHRENREICH
Published: August 9, 2009
In defiance of all reason and compassion, the criminalization of poverty has actually been intensifying as the recession generates ever more of it. ...

Barbara Ehrenreich, who wrote this piece, provided one of the springboards for our local Project Promise efforts on poverty, when we used her book Nickeled & Dimed for our community read a couple years back. Project Promise believes we can eliminate poverty in the Fox Cities. So is this a way to eliminate poverty? Let's just outlaw poor people -- or at least make 'em stay in places where we never have to notice them... NIMBY -- it's not just a good idea, it's the law!

It's pure discrimination to want the homeless to go away or to use them as an excuse not to support the library. If there are behavior issues that interfere with a good library experience, the staff will deal with them. Some problems at the library may occur from homeless people. Some problems may originate with wealthy people, with mentally ill people, with high-spirited teens or just a regular person having a bad day. We've seen all of these.

We deal with the problem, not with the societal class of the person causing the problem.

The library is for the whole community. We offer opportunities. You can't make it better by denying it to some of those who have the greatest need for our services. It was written that "the poor will never cease to be in the land", and I doubt that meant we should just get them into a different part of the land where we never encounter them.

Fortunately, I don't think most of the community and most of our users feel this way, or we wouldn't be seeing the record use -- from all social strata -- that we're enjoying. But I fear this quiet discrimination, from some in our community, is something we will continually fight. Gandhi wrote that "Poverty is the worst form of violence."

You don't shun or punish the victims. You find ways to give them chances. That's one reason we're here, and whether we every get a new library or not, we need to be true to the goal of providing opportunities for the whole community.

This really frosts my cake...

The online forums in the Post-Crescent (or any online forum, generally) are not always the place for reasoned debate. In particular, the anonymity of the great majority of those who post using "handles" makes it possible for people to say anything without attaching their names to it --and thus taking responsibility for their statements.

I'll let a lot of the things I read there roll off. I'll usually post -- using my name, natch -- if I feel there are some facts lacking that can be readily supplied. Sometimes I just have to take issue, which is the case when I read statements that appear prejudicial. There were two today:

PSY-OPS wrote:

"yuppy [condo] tennants probably wouldn't like mingling with the library's current daytime clientele."

helpusnow wrote:

"food, clothing and shelter are needs-libraries are wants; because poor people"want" a place to hangout i dont feel a "need" to pay for it"

Without even getting into whether education, culture, opportunity and hope are needs (and they are), I felt obligated to speak out on behalf of both poor people and all library users, and posted the following:

There are those who legitimately disagree whether this is a worthwhile project. But it is difficult to accept minimizing the need by belittling those in the community who may be poor or homeless. Yes, the poor, the homeless, the disabled, and the mentally ill use the library.

Many other people use the library in even larger numbers. There are lots of toddlers and babies here every day -- and doctors, housewives, teenagers, senior citizens, judges, business people, students, & mostly just plain folks. It's a place for everyone.

We've had 8,602 people through the doors in the last three-and-a-half days. With this volume of use, this many people, there are occasional problems & all are not solved instantly. But staff and volunteers do a good job of enforcing the basic common sense rule: keep it nice for everybody.

It's a lousy argument to say the library includes people to look down on & thus is unworthy of support.

Terry Dawson

Farm Market Stories & Songs

Miss Kathleen keeps 'em spellbound at the Appleton Downtown Farm Market:Our Children's staff is doing story hours at the market on three Saturday mornings this summer -- and even without the stories, the weekly market is a cure for the summertime blues (part 5).

Getting our act(ors) together

Like most public libraries, we depend upon -- and need -- a broad range of community support. And like many, we are lucky to have organized supporters who work to improve and assist the library. At the Appleton Public Library, we are fortunate enough to have both a friends group (Friends of Appleton Library, or FOAL) and a Foundation (Appleton Library Foundation, Inc.). Now the two are on the verge of merging into a single, and stronger, organization.

The Friends have been around since the mid-1970s, were formed to support the library, as well as in support of the need to improve library service and possibly get a new library building. They were heavily involved in political support for the 1978 referendum which resulted in our current building. They created the "walking books" program of delivery to the homebound. They started an endowment fund which supports programs. Currently they have about 250 members, run two book sales each year as their main fundraiser and coordinate the annual holiday "Give a Child a Book" campaign. The provide the library with volunteer and financial support, particularly with regard to programming. They have a grass roots focus and an emphasis on fellowship.

The Foundation was started in 1985 by supporters who wanted to focus on providing broad financial support for any library services which would give our library "the edge of excellence", including materials, technology and marketing in addition to programs. They had a successful five year capital campaign to jump start their endowment fund and make annual grants from a budget approved by the Library Board, according to their Gifts Policy. They do an annual end of year donation request letter and hold an annual fundraising dinner. The Foundation also serves as the fiscal agent for the Friends.

With two wonderful, successful groups, why would we want to change? For one reason: to focus community and staff efforts and library goals and plans. With two groups, two boards, two structures, two sets of meetings, there are areas of overlap and there are gaps. There is a lack of clear public identity as to who is the library support group -- and there's occasional public confusion. There is additional overhead for staff in care and feeding of two organizations.

Public funding is increasingly tight at the same time that library use is growing dramatically. To maintain and grow our services, we need ever more volunteers, ever more private dollars and ever more people willing and able to speak up about the value of the library to decision makers. We need an active community willing to focus on and engage library service needs.

Inspired by a program exploring similar mergers at last year's Public Library Association conference, we started looking at pros and cons of changing. Our Friends and Foundation have been talking for most of the last year and are now looking at a merger agreement. We did a study, conducted by Library Strategies, to identify issues and opportunities. After reflection and discussion, we had a facilitated planning session in which members of both boards rolled up their sleeves and set priorities. The help of an attorney to see to the legal issues has been crucial.

When approved, the new body will be called the Friends of Appleton Library, but will be incorporated like the Foundation. It will be organized like the current Friends, but with some of the Foundation's business structure. And we'll ask everyone serving on both boards to join as members of the initial board of the merged entity. And then we'll need to develop new policies and a new budget.

This has been and will be a lot of work in the short run, but we have little doubt of the long term payoff. The single support group would be able to have a staff, start a capital campaign to help with a new library building, grow their membership and be an increasingly strong voice to recruit volunteers, promote library services and advocate for the library.

We're excited to see what happens next!

The Community Library

I worked for seven years in academic libraries and found it worthwhile and fulfilling on many levels. There was a focus on formal learning and research, knowledge in depth, extensive research tools, and a community of scholars. But it wasn't quite my niche. I was looking for something broader, more encompassing and inclusive. I found it at the Appleton Public Library.

I love the fact that this is a place that welcomes all ages and income levels. e only criteria for using the public library are wanting to be here and civil behavior. We've made it easy because we need to be inclusive. We get the babies and the senior citizens. We get the able, the disabled, the well and the ill. We get the doctors, the judges, the preachers, and the homeless. We get the readers and the watchers, those who walk, and those in strollers or wheelchairs. We serve the nonprofit organizations, the business community, and the unemployed. We welcome everyone to a place which is, if not a community of scholars, nonetheless a community of learning, culture, and communication.

Communities and people need public libraries: places to read, talk, go to a 4-H meeting, a puppet show, or a discussion series on the Revolutionary War. Some of us may do research and social networking on home computers, but we need to physically gather with other humans, to ask questions, explore ideas, discuss and learn. We need to find what we’re looking for, but also to be surprised by all the things that are here and all the things others bring. In a democratic society, it’s vital that we create opportunities for everyone to learn – as each person determines their own wants and needs. And people need books, and will for years to come.

We need to be part of a diverse community, to offer and be part of equal opportunity, to seek the challenges of diverse people and different points of view.

Naysayers -- or those neither curious nor community-minded -- may say the day of the library, especially the public library, is past. Those who are paying attention, those who are engaged in making better lives and learning opportunities for themselves and all their neighbors, and the increasing numbers who use us, know better. That’s why U.S. News & World Report picked “librarian” as one of the top careers for 2009, saying “librarians are among our society's most empowering people.” We’re present – and we have a bright future.

Welcome to your public library. We’ll work to keep it welcoming for everyone.


from the Fine Print newsletter, Summer 2009

Book Cart Brigade on parade!

photos from the parade, taken by Michael Kenney:

Cure for the Summertime Blues (part 3)

Appleton is proud of having the nation's oldest and longest flag day parade, but today I was especially proud of our library's Book Cart Brigade. After a couple decades' absence from the parade, the library returned with the first appearance of our book cart drill team.

The team was a huge success, drawing applause from crowds along the parade route, and comments on Facebook and in emails. Big BIG thanks to the hard-working team members, led by Ellen Jepson and including Ashley, Autumn, Charisse, Doris, Joann, Kathleen W., Katie, Lynnette, & Vicki B.

Additional support came from banner carriers Meg & Elizabeth, as well as support walkers Elaine, Jared & Colleen. Paul lent a touch of class with his Model A chase & support car. Maintenance staff secured the cart wheels for street use, Marvelous Marketin' Michael made sure we had good shirts, signs & decorations for carts, car and marchers, and was on hand to document, decorate and make sure everything went smoothly. The Library Foundation picked up the tab for out of pocket costs via a marketing grant. Truly, a great piece of teamwork!

The team executes a weave -- photo by Barb Kelly

Public opinions:

• "so entertaining ... What a stitch! I hope they do that every year. I loved it!"
• "the best unit in the parade"
• "You guys were great!"
• "the highlight of the parade!"
• "It looked really great!"
• "Go, Book Cart Brigade!!"

Book Festival wraps up

Elizabeth Berg, who was the last program of this year's Fox Cities Book Festival, is finishing up in our program area. She drew a crowd of 183 people and we had to scramble to set up additional chairs. A whole bunch of volunteers and Book Festival Board members quickly materialized to help get the chairs out.

That's just the way the whole thing has been -- all sorts of people, from all over the Fox Cities, pitching in together to promote authors, books and reading. It'll be awhile before all the heads are counted and all the evaluations are read, but I'd say it was a howling success. Our library had almost 1,100 people attending programs over the past four days. Michael Perry, our community read author, drew about 1,500 people speaking at every public library in the Fox Cities, plus the UW-Fox campus and in concert at the Performing Arts Center. Our National Library Week door count was 1,868 people a day coming to our building.

But numbers hardly tell the story. The real news was in all the conversations that sprang up, all the connections that developed, all the people exposed to authors and ideas they didn't know before. You get a lot of laughs hearing Sherman Alexie describe his appearance on the Colbert Report, or watching Nikola-Lisa wearing shades, playing the blues harp and doing a rap version of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" -- and then you can talk to people about it.

It took a lot of work, a lot of donations and a lot of hours of volunteer time by a lot of people. Every public library, and a lot of the school and university libraries, in the Fox Cities has been involved, along with many other community-minded folks who work for the joys of books, readers and writers. I'm betting we'll do it again!

photo: Michael Perry @ APL. Photo by Michael Kenney

Diversity: What is Your Comfort Level?

I'm excited that next Saturday, March 7, Appleton will host a Diversity Conference. Our library will be a participant at the event, held at Appleton North High School and sponsored by the Fox Cities Rotary Multicultural Center -- of which the library is a member.

I have long felt that public libraries have a natural affinity for diversity efforts. Inclusiveness and opportunity for the entire community are part of our core values, and our continuing focus on intellectual freedom means we are bound to seek out and include all points of view. So I'm glad we'll be participating in this conference, which "is to provide ideas, resources and inspiration to educators and community members to make a difference", with a focus on

• Enhancing a Multicultural Learning Environment
• Eliminating the Achievement Gap
• Fostering Social Justice/Activism
• Promoting Multicultural Education in the 21st Century

Sessions will include, among others:

• Eliminating the Achievement (Opportunity) Gap through Multicultural Education: Shifts of Consciousness and Practice
• Societal Trends Affecting Education
• Mental Health Issues in the Classroom and the Community
• Integrating Multicultural Literature Into Curriculum: A Space and Place For All
• Closing the Knowledge Gap is a key to Eliminating the Achievement Gap
• Honoring our Common Differences: Creating Inclusive Classroom or Workplaces
• Disparities in Poverty and Race: Closing the Achievement Gap
• Promoting an Inclusive Environment for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender Individuals in our Schools, Workplace, and Community
• Diversity Resources at the Appleton Public Library
• Lawrence University ArtsBridge: A Successful Model for Integrating the Arts with the Contemporary World Studies Curriculum
• Our Impoverished Notions of Poverty: Toward an Authentic Understanding of Education and Class
• Community Dialogue on Unity and Diversity

I'm glad our community is intentional about this conversation and look forward to the increased awareness that will result. I'm proud we can be a small part of it. Get a brochure for the event here.

I Love My Library Dinner 2009

Community Read: Michael Perry

We've kicked off this year's community read, with Wisconsin writer Michael Perry and we got a nice article in the Post Crescent:

Fox Cities Reads program hopes Michael Perry gets Valley laughing
Humorist's books chosen for community read

By Cheryl Anderson • Post-Crescent staff writer • January 23, 2009

APPLETON — Three of best-selling Wisconsin author and humorist Michael Perry's works will be featured in the 2009 Fox Cities Reads.

The public libraries of Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Kaukauna, Kimberly and Little Chute and the library of the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley kicked off the third annual community read Thursday at the Copper Leaf Hotel. [entire article here]

We're pretty excited, and had not only the newspaper, but three television stations and three radio stations give us coverage. Rev. Will Bloedow, APL Board member -- and with his wife Ruth, co-chair of the Fox Cities Book Festival -- said:

Every library in the Fox Cities is here today, along with two mayors and a village administrator. This shows a sense of community which our leaders tells us we need badly to rebuild our nation and our world. It's an example of working together to build community and efficiency through collaboration.

Websites to check:

• Fox Cities Reads
• Michael Perry
• Fox Cities Book Festival
  

Social trends 2009

From Frank Martinelli's Nonprofit Picks of the Week blog comes a link to trends -- as identified by change.org -- that will affect nonprofits, especially "social entrepreneurs." Many of these dovetail closely with our library's planning conversations; all are worth considering.

• Globally-Engaged Education
• Measuring Social Impact
• Mobile Technology
• Online Action Platforms
• Blended Value Investing
• Green Innovation
• A Partner in the White House

More at http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org.

Squeeze play

As the economy gets worse, there's one place where business just keeps getting better: the public library.

...the Post Crescent noted in an article last week. Amen -- and just about every library staffer I know can corroborate this. The work keeps growing, even if the staff or the materials budget doesn't. We keep trying to get more efficient, and our strategies have included automation, training, volunteers and alternative revenue streams (grants, printing revenue, donations, etc.). But as the impact of a worsening economy continues to ripple through our community, concerns for the library will grow as well.

Then in a Dec. 30 editorial, the Post Crescent opined:

During this time of economic uncertainty and a projected $5.4 billion state budget shortfall, we should expect across-the-board cuts to state and county programs, to salaries and to jobs — deep cuts in some places. As Gov. Jim Doyle said during the dark days preparing for the next legislative session, "Everything should be on the table." We agree.

So, take a deep breath, folks. It may not matter how busy we get, how much difference we can make, or how much more we're needed -- if the money isn't there. This means lower wage increases for staff, decreases in insurance benefits, and obviously some people are considering other benefit reductions as well. Although our budget for the year is approved, our City Council is looking at imposing a hiring freeze -- and those of us who are ever busier would feel it more.

So what can we do?

1. Don't panic. Douglas Adams' advice is always good -- we need to stay level-headed to provide the best service we can and deal with challenges.
   
2. Keep perspective. We're not in this alone -- there's a global economic problem with particular implications for the public sector here in Wisconsin. We need to own our share. Just because libraries have to tighten belts doesn't mean we're a target. And if we're staying open and not doing big layoffs, we're ahead of many places.
   
3. Trust in our value. "Everything is on the table" is hardly the same as"all is lost." We need to continuously re-examine our assumptions and goals, as well as our activities, but our importance as an institution is undiminished. Libraries have been socially vital for millenia; the Internet has, at least so far, increased the value of public libraries.
   
4. Stay the course. Our strategies of automation, training, volunteers and alternative revenue streams have been effective, and we can find more ways to apply them. Although the economy has affected many people's ability to give, it has not stopped people from being generous to our Friends and Foundation. There's more work we can do.
   
5. Work with the system. Our City Council, Mayor and our City Human Resources and Finance Departments may not have identical interests to library priorities, but our common interests are significantly larger than our differences. We're part of a federated library system and automation network with other significant common interests. We have a great Board and supporters. Together we can do our best for the community.
   
6. Seek new efficiencies. 2009 will be a good year to go lean and green. Sustainable green practices can be more affordable in the short run while good for the library and the planet in the long run. And we can make a mindful effort to re-examine activities and processes for more efficiency. Our Technical Services staff is doing significantly more work -- through more efficient work flow and automation -- without significant staff growth. Our Business Manager came up with a plan to use different light bulbs that saves tens of thousands of dollars in utility bills. Our Circulation staff recently worked with our network to change the format of a routing slip in a way that saves a dozen hours a month in staff time. There's more that can be done.
   

Dang! Did I just do New Year's resolutions for the library director? If not, then here are some for me:

1. Provide good community value -- ensure that our services are responsive, professional, friendly and efficient
2. Speak up -- Communicate the library's value to help people make the best use of services, and to help funders understand needs and opportunities
   
3. Advocate for our staff -- while helping the staff deal with the real impact of economic problems
4. Keep planning -- we have a good long range library plan, technology plan and Foundation Plan. City staff is working to revise the City's strategic plan, and we need to do more planning with our Friends group. All our plans should be used, but re-examined to be useful living documents, not stone tablets.

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