Thursday, July 12, 2012

July 2012






Community Liaison Contact: Carol Van Baalen, Des Moines, Kent & Woodmont Libraries


LOCAL NEWS

How Does the Woodmont Garden Grow?

The answer is:  very well, with peas, pumpkins and potatoes growing bigger and better every day!  Lettuce, spinach, arugula, and radishes have already been harvested and given to families who attend library programs.  Don’t miss two garden programs coming up in July:  “Worm Bins and Food Composting,” presented by King County Solid Waste Division, on July 12 at 1pm, and “What’s the Buzz About?  Meet an Urban Beekeeper” on July 17, at 1pm.  Both programs are for children and families.

For a complete list of programs at your library, click here or open the attachments with this newsletter.
http://www.kcls.org/programs/library_programs.cfm

More Outreach in the Community

Last month’s newsletter highlighted the Let’s Read program, which has children’s librarians from Kent, Des Moines and Woodmont visiting “free lunch” sites at parks and school, bringing food for the mind with the library summer reading program.  Selected sites are:  Chestnut Ridge Park (Kent), Field House Park (Des Moines), Parkside Elementary (Des Moines), Meadow Ridge Elementary (Kent), Kent Elementary, Kiwanis Tot Lot #1 (Kent), and Morrill Meadows Park (Kent).

In addition, Des Moines Library is involved with a program called “Summer Boost,” partnering with the Puget Sound Educational Service District.  The focus is to help get PreK kids and their families ready for kindergarten by getting them involved in summer reading programs at the library.

At the Kent Library, the Kent School District is busing students once a week to the library during July, to get the students signed up and involved in the library summer reading program.



Farmers Market

Look for the Friends of the Woodmont Library at the Des Moines Farmers Market on Saturday, July 7.  The following weekend, the Des Moines Friends will be there.  Both groups will pass out information about the library and the Friends, and sell a few books besides. The market is at the north end of the Des Moines Marina, from 10am-2pm.

Meetings

The Des Moines Library Advisory Board will meet Thursday, July 12, at 7:00pm at the Des Moines Library.  Special guest will be Jennifer Wiseman, Project Manager for the King County Library System, who will speak about the role of the library advisory board.  Board meetings are open to the public.




SYSTEM NEWS


Take Time to Read, a three year joint promotion of KCLS and the KCLS Foundation, is taking place in July, August and September of this year.  Fourteen communities, 266 different sites – that’s how many local businesses and organizations are hosting Take Time to Read posters this summer.

At your branch – in addition to a Take Time to Read display and book poster, 15 librarians will be working as an online Reader’s Advisory team. Starting July 1, patrons who visit our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TakeTimetoRead, can “Like” us and fill out a form asking for custom reader’s advisory. Patrons in our service area who participate will get a coffee card from the Foundation in the mail, and will also have a chance to win a prize.
Questions about Take Time to Read? Find out at www.kcls.org/taketimetoread.


SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS


OPERATIONS

The Enumclaw Library joined KCLS on June 1 and changes will be gradual during the initial transition. Barcoding of the existing collection should be completed by the end of June. Items will be checked out using the Library’s existing system until Evergreen is installed the first week in July at which point new titles will be added to the collection.  Hours of operation will remain the same until the Library is fully staffed to support open hours seven days a week. Expanded hours are expected to go into effect by August 1.
 
KCLS has joined forces with over 70 library systems to issue a joint statement calling on digital content providers to follow basic principles that would give the public better and less cumbersome access to eBooks while lifting restrictions that limit what libraries can offer. KCLS has also joined another consortium of public libraries that is looking at establishing a formal organization to develop an official strategy to ensure public access to all commercial digital content. A letter-writing campaign launched by KCLS volunteers received national attention and many volunteers have received responses from publishers.

Convey, a new initiative to foster civic engagement appropriate to the needs of individual communities, is now underway in Kirkland. In partnership with the Kirkland Library and the Kirkland Arts Center, individuals have an opportunity to learn and offer public comment on future uses of the Cross Kirkland Corridor. As a neutral third party, KCLS will gather and disseminate information and the public can participate either in person or online through Dialogue, a customized online application. KCLS staff are working hard to reach all possible audiences through a variety of communication channels. This project will end in September and a collective report of suggestions and overall ratings will be provided to the Kirkland City Council

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

The new Tukwila Library received a timely and generous boost from the KCLS Foundation when Board members voted unanimously to fund an additional 2,000-square-feet of space to bring the facility up to a 10,000-square-foot library. KCLS’ Capital Bond program had been revised to include an 8,000-square-foot library, but the Tukwila City Council wanted assurance that the new library would be 10,000-square-feet before they could agree to a term sheet including property acquisition and infrastructure costs. With the Foundation’s support, KCLS was able to provide that assurance.
 
KCLS was surprised to learn that the Literacy*AmeriCorps program fell victim to federal budget cuts and will be cancelled July 1. KCLS has been the lead AmeriCorps agency for over a decade and currently has 28 members who provide ESL, citizenship and early literacy programs and services throughout the Puget Sound area, including Talk Time sessions that drew over 6,500 participants this past year.  Staff is looking at ways to utilize KCLS’ large network of volunteers to help maintain some level of service for those affected by the cuts. 

KCLS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN PROJECTS

View all at http://www.kcls.org/bond/or sign up here to receive automatic updates on the KCLS Capital Improvement Projects!

Upcoming Dates

The next Planning Committee Meeting takes place on Thursday, July 19, 12pm at the Burien Library.

The next Finance Committee Meeting takes place on Tuesday, July 31, 4pm at the Service Center.

The next KCLS Board of Trustees Meeting takes place on Tuesday, July 31, 5pm at the Service Center.