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Insights  is an email newsletter designed to keep you informed with local and System wide news and information.  I will be sending them to you once per month. 

Community Liaison Contact: Carol Van Baalen

LOCAL NEWS

Newly Remodeled Kent Library Opening March 6!

The temporary location located at 406 West Meeker Street, Suite A. will close March 3.
There will be no holds pick-ups or book drop available until the library located at 212 2nd Ave N opens.

Please join us Saturday, March 6 as your library re-opens!
Enjoy special family programs throughout the day.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

10:30am:Caspar Babypants
Ages 2 and older.
Enjoy a fun show that is part story time and part rock and roll show. The performance is a treat for the whole family with piano, guitar, percussion, vocals and lots of singing along!

12:30pm: Savani World Jazz Quintet
The Savani World Jazz Quintet, led by vocalist Elspeth Savani, combines the haunting melodies and sensual rhythms of Latin America with jazz.

El Quinteto Savani, dirigida por vocalista Elspeth Savani, mezcla las canciones y ritmos de latinoamerica con jazz. Esta presentacion se va a enfocar en arreglos originales de musica Mexicana: bolero, ranchera y vals! Vengan a escuchar su música hecha completamente nueva!

At Des Moines Library

        Meet the Sculptor:  Sunday, March 14, 2pm  Sculptors Mark Stevenson and Sarah Ohman-Ybarra Lopez describe, with vivid photo documentation and hand-on examples, the making of the bronze Turtle Island, Puget Sound. You are invited to follow your turtle sculpture from idea to installation and unveiling day.    

Complete March calendars for Des Moines, Kent, and Woodmont are attached to this email.

Upcoming Meetings:

Friends of the Kent Library – Wednesday, March 10, 12:00 noon at the Kent Library

Des Moines – Woodmont Library Advisory Board – March meeting rescheduled for Wednesday, March 31, 7:00pm at the Woodmont Library

SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

Results were certified for the February 9 Proposition 1 levy lid lift election on February 24; the approval rate held at 52.09%. The 37.22% (2/23) voter turnout was higher than predicted. It is unclear if this was due to the all mail-in ballot process or the number of school district issues that were also on the ballot. KCLS anticipated that the election would be a close call. Given current anti-tax sentiments coupled with the absence of a campaign effort, it is a remarkable testimony to the support of the KCLS community that this measure passed in this economic climate. We are very grateful to Library Friends and supporters who took the time to write letters to local newspapers and spread the word about the measure. KCLS believes the election results reflect the community’s response to the services, programs, facilities and collections that KCLS has offered over the years. As a token, the Library Foundation provided candy in all KCLS libraries to say thanks to our patrons for their support.

Renton Annexation Results: On February 9, Renton residents voted to annex to the King County Library System with a narrow margin of 53 ballots.  Effective March 1, KCLS will begin operating the Renton Main Library and the Renton Highlands Library.  The Renton libraries will join the Fairwood, Southcenter  and Valley View Cluster reporting to Angie Benedetti. Denise Siers, Associate Director for Public Services, will serve as the overall Renton transition and integration director for KCLS working closely with Bill Ptacek, Charlene Richards, Linda Glenicki, and Julie Brand.  An implementation team of APT members, Service Center department specialists and the Fairwood Cluster management is coordinating with Renton city and library staff to implement the myriad details of this integration. 

Invitations are in the mail for the Literary Lions Gala featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo.

The event will be held at the Bellevue Library on Saturday, March 6. Visit here for more information.

From the Director’s Report  (To view the complete February report, please look here.)

You may have noticed the new InfoToGo displays at your library, complete with pocket-size cards to take with you. Each month, KCLS features a service or product to feature. The cards are designed to heighten patron awareness of the service or product, and to make it easy to start using them right away. The InfoToGo topic for March is Library Elf. Library Elf makes it easy to keep track of what's due, overdue or ready for pickup from one or more library accounts. Library Elf is like a personal assistant designed with the busy or avid library user in mind. It is also ideal for families with multiple library cards or individuals who have cards from different library systems because you can consolidate multiple cards into one Library Elf account.

KCLS is proud to have been nominated and to receive the prestigious Partner in Adult Learning Services Award from the Commission on Adult Basic Education (ABE). The Award recognizes an organization that provides English as Second Language and GED classes. The Award states that “thus far in 2009, KCLS has offered 755 individual classes to 12,844 participants. Approximately 325 unduplicated seats are available in ABE classes for FREE each quarter due to the KCLS partnership.” KCLS was nominated by Laura Griep of Green River Community College on behalf of a consortium of other King County community colleges. KCLS Diversity Coordinator Jo Anderson Cavinta will accept the Award on behalf of KCLS at the Commission’s awards ceremony March 19. Learn more about KCLS Diversity Services here.

On February 1 several KCLS staff members took vacation time to travel to Olympia to discuss with legislators the Governor’s proposed budget for the Washington State Library (WSL). Staff visited the offices of every King County legislator in the House and Senate. Given the condition of the State’s finances, there is no question that the State Library will be impacted by the cuts. However, the proposed budget allocated a higher percentage of cuts to WSL’s budget relative to other departments, to the point where it would no longer qualify for matching federal funds, so Washington libraries would suffer a double cut. KCLS advocated for proportionate cuts and made a point of explaining how important the State Library is to the effort to participate in Round Two of the Broadband Stimulus Initiative, which could bring millions of dollars of grant money from the federal government to support technology infrastructure. Please join us on March 3 for Library Legislative Day, when we meet with legislators again to advocate for libraries. For more information, contact your KCLS Community Liaison.

KCLS Capital Improvement Plan Projects

Sign up here under “Email Updates” to receive automatic updates on the KCLS Capital Improvement Project!

The Kent Library renovation is nearly complete and will reopen on March 6. The project included a redesign to reduce the vestibule, relocate the restrooms and move the staff workroom closer to the entrance. These measures should improve the efficiency of the Library, provide more public space and allow the staff to better monitor patron activity throughout the building. An Automated Materials Handling (AMH) unit was also installed in this busy Library. The new AMH units in the Kirkland and Sammamish Libraries have been well received. Patrons are using the units 86% of the time and 69% of the time, respectively, to return library materials.

At the last public meeting on the Auburn Library expansion, the Mayor and City Council weighed in on the requirement for KCLS to add parking to support Library and Park activities. After meetings with the City’s Planning Department, it is now known that the City expects KCLS to build another 20 spaces in addition to replacing the 10 spaces that will be lost during construction. While parking capacity already exceeds code requirements, the City is property landlord and can make this a condition of the project. The site has limited space to build more parking. However, a desirable property adjacent to the Library on Auburn Way has become available. KCLS will be meeting with the City to investigate the possibility of jointly acquiring that property to satisfy their requirements for additional parking. The adjacent property will also give the Auburn Library better visibility.

KCLS was invited to make a presentation about the Newcastle Library at a Hazelwood Community Association meeting. As anticipated, there was support for the Library project and concern for the second phase residential project. Several members of the City Council confirmed that KCLS is developing the site in accordance with land use policies established by the previous City Council. Overriding the concern was that the Library project is moving ahead as quickly as possible. The Mayor and City Council members pledged cooperation to move the project through the permit process. Construction could start by August or September.

The new Kenmore Library project continues to be delayed due to the impending move of the United States Postal Service from the building. KCLS has been able to use the time productively working with the City of Kenmore to locate and bury underground utilities. We now anticipate an April groundbreaking.

Upcoming Dates Events and Projects

The next Planning Committee Meeting takes place on Thursday, March 18,  12pm at Burien Library.

The next Finance Committee Meeting takes place on Tuesday, March 30,  4pm at the KCLS Service Center.

The next KCLS Board of Trustees Meeting takes place on, Tuesday, March 30, 5pm at the KCLS Service Center.

Insights  is an email newsletter designed to keep you informed with local and System wide news and information.  I will be sending them to you once per month. 

Community Liaison Contact: Carol Van Baalen

LOCAL NEWS

Des Moines and Woodmont continue to be very busy libraries while Kent is closed for remodeling.  Circulation statistics for the month of October:  26,703 items checked out at Des Moines, a 17% increase over October 2008; 25,321 items checked out at Woodmont, a 25% increase over October 2008.  Traffic counts for October:  19,090 people walked through the doors at Des Moines and 19,433 at Woodmont.

The Kent temporary location has been busy also:  23,338 items were checked out there.  Pretty impressive, considering that these are holds, dvds, and children’s books only.

Update on the Kent construction:  Construction is ahead of schedule!  It is anticipated that the library will reopen late February or early March.

Library Advisory Board News:

Check out the new blog of the Des Moines / Woodmont Library Advisory Board:  http://woodmontdesmoineslibraries.blogspot.com.  Thanks to Tony Wilson, Board Member, for setting up our blog.  You can view many photos from the sculpture installation and unveiling on the blog, as well as take a virtual tour of our libraries.

A Big Thank You to outgoing board members Barbara McMichael and Dana Ketcham.  Barbara has served two terms, including one year as board president; Dana has served one term.  The search is underway for two new board members to fill their shoes.

Upcoming Dates:

Wednesday, December 9:  Kent Friends Holiday Luncheon at the Kent Senior Center.  Call Margie Krist for luncheon time and details.

Thursday, December 10, 6pm:  Woodmont Friends Holiday Potluck.  Des Moines Friends will also be joining the party!  Bring an appetizer to share.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 7pm:  Des Moines Friends Annual Meeting.  Guest speakers will be Bill Ptacek, KCLS Director, and Julie Brand from Community Relations, with information about the KCLS Levy Lid Lift which will be on the ballot in February.  The Library Advisory Board will also be attending this meeting, instead of their regular January meeting date.

SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

Lots of visitors in your house? It’s a great time to visit local museums using free passes provided through kcls.org. We open the door to Bellevue Arts Museum, KidsQuest Children’s Museum and the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma. The number of admissions per pass varies by museum. Click on the KCLS Programs page and scroll down to Free Museum Passes. Choose the museum you would like to visit and click on the calendar dates for more information. Enjoy the Best Books of 2009, as chosen by the Materials Selection Team at the King County Library System. Each section is presented in alphabetical order by author.

From the Director’s Report  (To view the complete November report, please look here.)

The Vashon Park District Board has formally approved a lease with KCLS that will allow for the expansion of the Vashon Library. As mentioned in October, all of the points of agreement were incorporated into a new lease that was presented in October and approved at the Park District Board meeting on November 11. The lease will be presented for approval at the November KCLS Board meeting. Based on the Board’s response to the request from the Vashon Community Council for a Library Committee, Donna McMillen, the area’s Cluster Manager, has made contact with a Community Council representative to initiate ongoing contact with the Library Committee.

The City of Duvall was very pleased that KCLS was able to finalize the agreement with the Duvall Church for the new Duvall Library in the historic downtown area. KCLS updated the City Council on the agreement and asked that they help move the project forward quickly so that KCLS can take

advantage of the good bidding climate. The City’s staff responded very well in the first meeting with KCLS Facilities staff and the architect regarding the general plan for the Library. While KCLS would love to have the Library above the street level, the plan calls for the building to be located at the street level, meaning that patrons who drive to the Library will have access it via a staircase or elevator. The City Council is also considering a resolution to support Proposition 1, KCLS’ levy lid lift measure.

KCLS is excited about a joint project with the Seattle Public Library and KCLS that will result in Citizenship Fairs to be held at two Seattle Libraries and the Greenbridge Library on December 12. The program will include information about becoming a U.S. citizen, legal advice, sample test questions from the citizenship test, naturalization study materials and naturalization application forms. Jo Anderson Cavinta, KCLS’ Diversity Coordinator, helped to develop this program.

Each year, the American Library Association announces the winner of the Newberry and Caldecott awards for Children’s books and illustrations. This year, before the awards are announced, KCLS is asking young patrons what they think should be the next Newberry award book, and giving them the chance to vote. KCLS staff has been reviewing and gathering comments since September and have chosen eight finalists. The books are: All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg, Also Known as Harper by Ann Haywood Leal, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine, Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and

Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino, Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez, The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and Wild Things by Clay Carmichael. Posters and bookmarks of the selected titles were produced by KCLS’ Graphics department and sent out to all of the libraries, along with paper ballots. The paper ballots will be available on Friday, December 18, when voting will also go live on the “You Choose” blog.

 The Library Express @ Redmond Ridge opened on Saturday, November 7. The 300-square-foot facility is so small that groups of visitors had to be escorted into the facility in small, pre-arranged groups. There was a steady stream of visitors the entire day despite the rainy and windy conditions. Since Library Express opened, checkouts have averaged 30 per day but are growing each week as more people become aware of the service. The Library Express is KCLS’ 45^th library facility.

Circulation for the month increased by 3% across the entire System. KCLS is still operating without three of its largest libraries, which are closed due to expansion or renovation. Year-to-date circulation is 5% higher than 2008. Items placed on hold continue to increase at an even faster rate of 12% more than 2008. The 33% increase in circulation at Issaquah is consistent with the rapid rise in circulation at that Library over the entire year. It will be interesting to see if use of the Issaquah Library changes much when the new Sammamish Library opens in early 2010.

Upcoming Dates Events and Projects

·         The next Finance Committee Meeting takes place on Tuesday, December 15,  4pm at Service Center.

·         The next KCLS Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for 5pm, Tuesday, December 15, at Service Center.