May 2014

Note: graphics are currently missing from this post.

Friends and Partnership Contact
Nathan Bomer, Librarian Services Manager Kent/Woodmont/Des Moines 253.859.3330
Local News
Hello! I am the “new Carol!” My name is Nathan and I am the new Librarian Services Manager for the Kent/Des Moines/Woodmont cluster. I have worked for Tacoma Public Library, Tulsa Community College (OK), and Mono County Free Library (CA). I look forward to meeting you at upcoming Friends meetings and Library programs!
We had fantastic attendance at two recent programs- 70 for the Free Comic Book Giveaway at Woodmont on Sunday May 4, and 20 for the Guided Meditation program at Des Moines on Tuesday May 6.
Upcoming programs
Find a Job: The Hidden Job Market Saturday May 10 @ 2 PM- Kent
After Lunch Book Bunch Wednesday May 14 @ 1 PM- Kent
40 Years in the Outdoors (author event) Tuesday May 20 @ 7 PM- Kent
Find Your Inner Peace at Work with Yoga Thursday May 22 @ 7 PM- Woodmont
Seattle Stairway Walks (author event) Tuesday May 27 @ 7 PM- Des Moines
More programs for the branches can be found at http://www.kcls.org/programs Director’s Report

Staff from KCLS and the Seattle Public Library (SPL) met this month to interview consultants to conduct an updated cross-use study. The two library systems have operated under a reciprocal agreement for many years, and there have been several phases when the relationship of usage and cost imbalances have swung from one side to the other. In the current agreement, SPL patrons cannot place holds on materials at KCLS although they can check out items on the shelves. This restriction was put into place to offset a cost imbalance identified in the 2005 study. Since then the range of services provided by public libraries has continued to increase, requiring a fresh review. The consultant selected to conduct an assessment of the overall reciprocal usage situation will work with both libraries to propose an appropriate method to quantify the financial impact of cross-usage and to provide recommendations based upon the results of the analysis.
Circulation for the month of March declined 1% compared to last year and declined 3% year-to- date compared to 2013. In March, 98% of downloaded materials occurred outside of libraries; of that, 65% was downloaded directly to tablets and phones. Holds Placed increased 4% System-wide and increased 1% year-to-date compared to the previous year. The Bellevue, Enumclaw, Kenmore, Maple Valley, Renton and Skykomish Libraries all recorded circulation increases in March.
More than 600 enthusiastic residents braved the rain to celebrate the newly expanded and renovated Vashon Library on March 29. Speakers included KCLS Trustee Robin McClelland, State Senator Sharon Nelson, Vashon Honorary Mayor Kathi Jenkins and Vashon Fire & Rescue Chief Hank Lipe. The 10,000 square foot library offers patrons a thoughtful place to read and interact and connects them to their surroundings with enhanced views of Ober Park. During the open house, residents enjoyed refreshments provided by the Friends of Vashon Library and a performance by the Free Range Folk Choir.
Powered by BiblioCommons, a new mobile app for Apple iOS and Android launched

in mid-April. The app is fully integrated with the KCLS catalog and provides a more consistent user experience. Highlights include filtered searches for more accurate results, GPS-enabled mapping of catalog items, barcode scanning and integration of eBooks with print materials in the “My Borrowing” screen. The 2014

2014 Grand Champions
Radical Roosters, Cherry Crest Elementary School

Global Reading Grand Challenge took place on Friday, March 21 at Bellevue Library. More than 160 parents, teachers and children cheered on four teams competing for the honor of being named Grand Champions, which went to the Radical Roosters from Cherry Crest Elementary School. Patrick Jennings, author of Guinea Dog and one of 10 books the students read, spoke to the audience, and every team member received an autographed copy generously provided by the KCLS Foundation. The Grand Challenge is the culminating event of the Global Reading Challenge, which kicked-off last October. More than 2,100 students from 61 schools across 18 school districts participated in the program.
Celebrating spring with programs for all ages, Playing with Words kicked off in early April. Performing together for the first time, Nancy Stewart and Charlie Williams got great reviews for their Chancy and Narly Show. Many Voices, One Land wrapped up at the end of March and, as suspected, attendance in 2014 (12,818) far exceeded last year (8,975).
The much anticipated Start to Fitness program, Seahawks Past and Present, was held at the Northshore Performing
Arts Center on April 7. Brad
Adams of Root Sports
moderated the panel, which
included Seahawks Assistant
Strength Coach Mondray
Gee, Seahawks Wide
Receiver Bryan Walters and
former Seahawks Safety
Nesby Glasgow. In addition
to talking about the Super
Bowl season, panelists
highlighted the importance
of motivation, education and health - all in keeping with the Start to Fitness theme. A crowd of more than 165 people attended, a third of whom indicating it was their first time at a KCLS-sponsored program. More than 500 people attended 20 Start to Fitness programs in the month of March.
The White Center Community Development Association, a KCLS partner, was one of five community networks nationwide selected to receive a Networks for Integrating New Americans (NINA) grant through the Office of Vocational and Adult Education

(OVAE). Grant recipients are provided technical assistance (not funding) in the form of training, expertise and coaching to address the linguistic, civic and economic needs of immigrant adults in support of the initiative. In addition to the White Center Community Development Association (lead agency) and KCLS, other partners in the community network include Highline Community College; Highline School District; OneAmerica; Port of Seattle; Southwest Youth and Family Services; Greenbridge YWCA; and King County Housing Authority.
The KCLS Foundation Board of Directors recently voted to expand eligibility requirements for its scholarship program to reflect the Foundation’s core values of supporting staff in the attainment of their personal goals. In past years only staff seeking a master’s in library and information science were eligible. However, scholarships are now available to staff pursing any advanced degree. As in previous years, scholars will be selected via a competitive application and interview
process. The top 10 applicants will be interviewed by members of the KCLSF Scholarship Committee in June and recipients will be announced in August. The 2014 Literary
Lions Gala was held
on March 22 at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue with record-setting attendance and dollars raised. More than 600 library lovers contributed more than $275,000
to support literacy,
learning and library
programs with an emphasis on teen programs. Study Zone tutoring and free SAT prep classes are a few examples of the programs supported by donor gifts. Best- selling author Amy Tan charmed the audience with a reading of the prize-winning essay she wrote as an eight year old girl titled “What the Library Means to Me.” Her most recent book, The Valley of Amazement, inspired the Asian-themed three-

(from left) KCLS Foundation Director Beth Castleberry, KCLS Foundation President Rick Taylor, Interim Library Director Julie Brand, Amy Tan and Nancy Pearl.

course dinner and evening’s décor. Third Place Books hosted a benefit book sale featuring authors Pierce Brown, Deb Caletti, Carol Cassella, Langdon Cook, William Dietrich, Timothy Egan, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Nancy Horan, Sarah Jio, Lauren Kessler, David Laskin, Domingo Martinez, Peter Mountford, Kevin O’Brien, Julie Paschkis, Cat Patrick, Nancy Pearl, Matthew Porter, Vicki Robin, Paul Schmid, Indu Sundaresan, John Sundstrom, Laini Taylor, Samantha Vamos, and Urban Waite. Guests were also able to purchase tickets to exclusive author salons hosted by local northwest writers such as J.A. Jance, Nancy Pearl, Ciscoe Morris and Nancy Horan.

February 2014

Friends & Partnership Contact: Carol Van Baalen

LOCAL NEWS

Program Highlights

Here are a few of the interesting programs being presented at our local libraries in February:

  Images of China Puppet Show

Saturday, February 1, 2pm at Des Moines Library.  Presented by Dragon Arts Studio, for ages 3 and up.

Using Chinese rod puppets, this talented duo presents stories from folklore with elegance, humor and special effects.





The World in Washington; an Exploration of Literature and our Lives

Thursday, February 6, 7pm at Kent Library.  UW Professor Anu Taranath will introduce us to stories and literature written by multicultural authors from around the state.



Feeding Your Immune System

Saturday, February 8, 1pm at Des Moines Library.  Presented by Nick Rose from PCC Natural Markets; part of the Start to Fitness series.

  The World of Miro

Sunday, February 16, 2pm at Kent Library.  Presented by Art Historian Susan Olds; an introduction to the upcoming exhibit at Seattle Art Museum.



For a complete list of library programs, click on this link:  http://www.kcls.org/programs/



Upcoming Meetings:

Des Moines Friends of the Library           Wednesday, February 12, 7pm

Kent Friends of the Library                          Thursday, February 13, 12 noon

Woodmont Friends of the Library             Thursday, February 13, 6:30pm



Farewell

I too am saying farewell this month, as I will retire from KCLS at the end of January.  I want to express my thanks and appreciation for all you do to support KCLS as Friends, Board Members, and volunteers.  It has been a pleasure to work with you,

Carol Van Baalen



King County Library System

Director’s Report
January 2014
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
The current Legislative session will be a short one as it is the second year of the biennium. The Washington Library Association is hosting Library Legislative Day on Friday, January 24 and more than 30 advocates from KCLS have already registered. Although there isn’t much pending legislation that pertains to libraries, one bill that would increase funding for school libraries will be a primary talking point for library supporters. Another bill, House Bill 2522, would allow the King County Executive to participate in the selection of KCLS’ Library Director, but does not appear to have enough support to advance. It does, however, point to the need for library supporters to maintain a strong presence in Olympia to preserve the fabric and structure of independent public library districts. 


KCLS and Seattle Public Library (SPL) are in the process of reviewing the current cross-use agreement which has been in place between the two Systems since 2006. KCLS and SPL are working together to identify a consultant to develop a measurement system that takes into account all factors that potentially affect cross-use. The process could ultimately lead to a new agreement that is predicated on the idea that any cross-use discrepancy will be reconciled financially and not through a differentiation in service. KCLS and SPL could have a new draft agreement ready for review by their respective Boards in late 2014.
KCLS was pleased to learn that Trustee Lucy Krakowiak was unanimously selected by her fellow council members to be the new Mayor of the City of Burien. While past KCLS Boards of Trustees have included city council members, judges, and mayors’ spouses, Lucy is the first sitting Mayor.

OPERATIONS
The eBook cost analysis project that KCLS is leading in conjunction with the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) received a strong show of support when 47 libraries across the United States and Canada agreed to participate in the project. eBook purchasing information from the respective libraries will be gathered and reported by the end of February,  allowing for a broad analysis. In the meantime, several law firms have been contacted to determine whether there is interest in potentially representing public libraries in the United States and Canada on this issue.

Staff has identified a potential site in a former retail space for a new 5,000 square foot East Hill of Kent Library. Lease terms are still being refined, but staff plans to present a site analysis at the February 26 Board meeting. The East Hill of Kent Library is the last scheduled project in KCLS’ 2004 Capital Bond program.


In 2014, KCLS will partner with United Way of King County to engage in a new Convey project focused on the issue of hunger in King County. Launching in late February, the project will be a three-phase, ongoing project through 2014, engaging county residents in conversation around hunger and food insecurity and possibly including participation in a summer meal site program.  Information forums will also be held at KCLS Libraries. Tying closely to this is KCLS’ food donation effort, which started in 2013 as part of A Place at the Table. Through that effort, KCLS collected more than 30,000 pounds of food that was distributed to local food banks. The food donation effort will continue in 2014 through KCLS’ Start to Fitness program.

Linda Glenicki, Julie Brand and I will conduct the first round of interviews for a new Finance Director the week of January 27. The top two candidates will advance to a second round of interviews with Administrative Planning Team members and Business Office staff.  The final decision will be made by Interim Director Julie Brand in consultation with Linda Glenicki and Human Resources Director Charlene Richards.



OTHER
A group from the Los Angeles Public Library Innovation Leadership Program (ILP) visited KCLS in mid-January to learn about innovative programming, service strategies and staff development initiatives at KCLS. The cohort met with Administrative Planning Team (APT) members, toured the Materials Distribution Services Center in Preston, and visited the Federal Way cluster to discuss implementation of KCLS’ new Services Strategy. The ILP is a mentoring program that pairs library managers with librarians-in-residence and is funded by the Los Angeles Public Library Foundation.

The Aven Foundation awarded a $15,000 grant to the King County Library System Foundation for its Tukwila Library Community Mosaic Capital Campaign.


FAREWELL
Over the last few weeks, as I’ve begun to look ahead to my new job as CEO of the Calgary Public Library, many people have taken the time to let me know what a great library system KCLS has become over the years. I am honored by the comments, but I have one recurring thought. The success that KCLS has achieved during my 25 years with KCLS is a direct result of the hard work of a very talented and dedicated staff. In turn, their efforts have been bolstered by the Board of Trustees, KCLS Foundation, Library Advisory Boards and Friends of the Library who have volunteered countless hours to support KCLS’ mission.

KCLS has had the good fortune to serve patrons who value their public library. It is undoubtedly the strong support that KCLS has received from the entire community that has ultimately set the stage for the extraordinary work of the King County Library System.

As I come to the end of my 294th Director’s Report, I would like to thank everyone who has had a hand in our success. I will miss KCLS and this great community.

Cheers,

Bill