Friends, Associations, Guilds & Partnerships Contact:
Carol Van Baalen
We look forward to seeing you on Friends Day! RSVP at kcls.org/friendsday/
LOCAL NEWS . . .
Kent Library will host a Naturalization Ceremony for new U.S. citizens on Monday, October 28, at 2pm.
Several local dignitaries are expected to attend, and the ceremony is
open to the public. The Friends of the Kent Library will provide
refreshments
after the ceremony.
For a complete list of programs at your library, click here:
http://www.kcls.org/programs/
The
Woodmont Library Garden had another successful year. Programs
for children included how to build a composting bin, complete with
worms, and an informative presentation about bees and honey, as well as
several planting and harvesting parties. New this
year were several programs for adults, including Kim Richmond, from the
Des Moines Sonju Community Garden, and Tom Watson, EcoConsumer for the
Seattle Times. This picture was taken during a visit to the garden for
bean picking at the end of an Infant / Toddler
Story Time. Special thanks to the Friends of the Woodmont Library, who
sponsored the garden programs again this year.
Upcoming Meetings:
Friends of the Des Moines Library
Friends of the Woodmont Library Thursday, October 10, 6:30pm
Friends of the Kent Library
Meetings are held at the respective libraries, unless noted. New members are always welcome!
KCLS System Highlights
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
As a result of the many partnerships King County Library System has
developed over the years, KCLS will have an important role in the
implementation of the new
Affordable Care Act. As previously reported, the
Washington Health Benefit Exchange selected
Public Health Seattle-King County (PHSKC) as a lead assistance
provider to ensure that all King County residents enroll in qualified
health insurance plans. Representatives from PHSKC will provide
one-on-one assistance in twenty-nine KCLS libraries during
open enrollment from October 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014. Much like the rollout of the
State’s benefit portal
a few years ago, the State of Washington and other public agencies turn
to the public library to get the word out to communities across the
County about important new services.
KCLS once again rules the world of library “sortation.” For the third year, KCLS
Materials Distribution Services (MDS) staff in Preston
competed against their counterparts at the New York Public Library
(NYPL) to see which System could sort the most items in one hour. Both
Library Systems use the same
Automated Materials Handling
equipment and in fact NYPL studied KCLS’ sorting installation in
preparation for this year’s contest. KCLS won the contest in 2011 and
NYPL won in 2012. I am pleased to report
that with a production hour of 13,122 items, KCLS has won back the
Lyngsoe trophy from NYPL! Rumor has it that MDS staff will be rewarded
with authentic New York cheesecake.
Good news on the technology front. KCLS’
mobile outreach vehicles are being refitted with hardware and
software that will vastly improve connectivity. This will yield
immediate results as the Mobile Learning Labs will begin to be deployed
next month. It will also improve the ability to
check out materials and register new patrons on Library2Go vehicles.
BiblioCommons, the long-awaited catalog improvement, has moved
through the testing phase and into the training phase for staff members
at community libraries. A soft launch of the service is scheduled for
later this year with a full roll out anticipated
after Thanksgiving.
Circulation in the month of August increased 3%. The new Bellevue
Library garage is having an impact as circulation at that Library
increased 12%. More importantly, the number of items checked out
(119,000) is getting close to the 125,000 figure that
was common before the garage project reduced patron’s access to the
building. In the same cluster, circulation at the Lake Hills Library
increased 30% due, in part, to the closure of Library Connection @
Crossroads for renovations. There was also a 47% increase
in eBook downloads, which is a trend that has remained consistent over
the last year. The number of holds placed is running at the same level
as last year and indicates that patrons are becoming more comfortable
placing holds on eBooks.
The following announcement went out to all KCLS staff on Wednesday, September 18 regarding the new
KCLS Foundation Director:
It is not often that we have a change in the membership of KCLS’
Administrative Planning Team (APT). However as you know, Jeanne Thorsen,
KCLS Foundation Executive Director is retiring at the end of September.
As you also know, much of what KCLS does and
can do is shaped by the ability to raise money and seek partners for
our work. The KCLS Foundation Executive Director is critical to both and
Jeanne has played an important role with APT for nearly 14 years.
There was an extensive recruitment effort to find Jeanne’s successor.
Members from both the KCLS Foundation Board and Administrative Planning
Team interviewed four very well qualified candidates. From that pool, I
am pleased to announce that Elizabeth Castleberry
has been selected as the next Executive Director of the KCLS
Foundation.
Beth has 18 years of experience in fundraising and development. Most
recently, she has served as the Chief Development Officer for Global
Partnership, a Seattle-based non-profit that expands opportunities for
people living in poverty. She also held development
positions at the Washington State University Foundation, Seattle
Symphony, Junior Achievement and served as Deputy Director of
Development at Seattle Public Library Foundation from 1999 to 2004.
In her spare time, Beth is a board member for a number of outstanding
community organizations. She was a founding board member of the Seattle
Animal Shelter Foundation and, perhaps most importantly, is a 15-year
veteran of the Lit Chicks book club.
In order to wrap-up commitments in her current position, Beth will join KCLS November 1
at which point she will plan to visit as many libraries and departments
as possible prior to the end of the year. As she makes her rounds, I am
sure she would love to
hear any ideas or suggestions from staff members.
Study Zones continue to grow in popularity with more students and volunteers participating each year. Now in its 14th year, a new logo and promotional
materials have been designed to call even more attention to this great library program.
The King County Library
System Capital Bond Report has been updated with photographs and
descriptions of the library projects that were completed this past year.
The report is available on the
bond project Web page. You may also view it by clicking
here.
UPCOMING DATES
No comments:
Post a Comment