The West Tisbury library offers virtual events throughout the week. Heres what is coming up: Thursday, June 18, at 10:30 am, Little Bird MVs Laura Jordan will continue her virtual music class for kids through Zoom. Classes include seasonal songs and movement. Email mlawson@clamsnet.org for the Zoom invitation to join.

On Friday, June 19, at 8 am, Jason Mazar-Kelly will continue teaching an all-levels Kripalu Flow Yoga Class via Zoom. Please contact wt_mail@clamsnet.org to sign up. Also on Friday, at 11:30 am, Kanta Lipsky will lead her weekly Balance Class through Zoom. You will need a chair for some of the movements. Kanta will be leading her class on both Mondays and Fridays at 11:30 am. Email wt_mail@clamsnet.org to join.

Saturday, June 20, at 10 am, Jen Burkin will lead an online painting class for kids ages 5 to 12. Burkin will continue teaching online kids painting classes on Tuesdays at 4:30 pm and Saturdays at 10 am. Email lhearn@clamsnet.org to sign up. Also on Saturday, at 11:30 am, education consultant Bob Gilpin will lead a virtual class for parents and teens titled The Gap Year: Things to Consider. Email lhearn@clamsnet.org for the Zoom invitation.

On Monday, June 22, at 11:30 am, new childrens librarian Mikaela Lawson will be hosting a virtual Social Justice Storytime. These storytimes will bring popular social justice issues to the level of children through reading books on anti-racism, the LGBTQ community, Pride Month, and acceptance and kindness. Email mlawson@clamsnet.org for the Zoom invitation. Monday at 5 pm, join the library for virtual Sci-Fi Book Club with librarian and lifelong sci-fi nerd Alexandra Pratt. Email apratt@clamsnet.org to join. Also on Monday, at 6:30 pm, the library presents an online talk with Dr. Magdalena, documentary filmmaker and Ph.D. in the field of consciousness and transformation. Magdalena will discuss how it is possible to consciously improve ones life and co-create a better future through specific lifestyle choices, such as how and where we focus our energy and thoughts, diet, and the use of ancient and modern techniques for health and well-being. Email wt_mail@clamsnet.org for the Zoom invitation.

Tuesday, June 23, the library will host an online conversational ESL class with instructor Jonah Kaplan-Woolner. Classes will meet weekly. This class is open to all levels. Time of the class meeting will be determined. Email wt_mail@clamsnet.org if you are interested. Also on Tuesday, at 3:30 pm, Heather Capece will lead an online Watercolor Class for teens and adults. Email lhearn@clamsnet.org to sign up. Tuesday, June 23, at 5:30 pm, Jen Burkin will teach a beginners drawing class for adults and teens. Email lhearn@clamsnet.org to sign up.

On Wednesday, June 24, at 3 pm, Val Estabrook will teach an online painting class for ages 7 to 10. Email mlawson@clamsnet.org to sign up. At 8 am on Wednesday, Jason Mazar-Kelly will lead a weekly Chair Yoga and Meditation class on Zoom. Email wt_mail@clamsnet.org to join.

Beginning on Wednesday at 3 pm, Elliott Bennett will lead an online book discussion about White Fragility: Why Its So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo. This group will meet every other week. Email wt_mail@clamsnet.org to join. Also on Wednesday, at 5 pm, Tom Dresser will give an online talk to discuss his newly released book, The Rise of Tourism on Marthas Vineyard. Email wt_mail@clamsnet.org for the Zoom invitation.

Curbside pickup will be underway starting June 15 at the West Tisbury library. There are lots of details posted here on the librarys website: westtisburylibrary.org/update-on-library-services.

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Coming up at the West Tisbury library - Martha's Vineyard Times

Vineyard Haven library is now accepting returns at its curbside book drop. Due dates for all currently checked-out items have been extended through June 30, and there is no need to return items immediately, according to the librarys press release. Items may only be returned at the curbside book drop; the book return slots at the entryway will remain closed. Returned items will be quarantined before being checked in, so there will be a delay of up to 10 days between the date of return and when the item is removed from your CLAMS account. Marthas Vineyard libraries are fine-free, and no late charges will accrue. If you would like more time to return materials, let the library know, and they can extend the due date.

The library is unable to accept any book donations at this time, so they ask that you do not place any donated items in the book return.

You can now request books, movies, magazines, and audiobooks, and safely pick them up in the librarys entry vestibule.

To request local items, including books, movies, and audiobooks, place a hold online through the CLAMS catalog or Capira CLAMS app, or call 508-696-4210 to speak to a librarian, Mondays through Saturdays, from 10 am to 5 pm. You may also remain your request to vhpl_mail@clamsnet.org.

To pick up your items, visit the library during your scheduled time slot, wear a mask and maintain social distance of six feet, and be prepared to show your CLAMS card or other ID.

The library will contact you to schedule pickup when your hold is ready. Requests will be filled in the order they are received, the release says.

Library staff can only pull library materials that youve put on hold in advance; they cannot fill walk-up requests at this time. Until interlibrary delivery resumes, staff can only fulfill requests that are physically located at the Vineyard Haven library. Hundreds of materials are at other libraries, or still out in the community. The library thanks patrons for understanding that not everything will be available when you want or need it.

If you place holds on items located at other libraries, you would need to arrange to pick those items up at the library where the item is currently available.

More information, including a helpful video, can be found at the librarys website at vhlibrary.org/contactless.shtml.

Originally posted here:
Book return and pickup procedures at the Vineyard Haven library - Martha's Vineyard Times

Hampshire County Councils Library Service has continued to offer digital services throughout the Coronavirus pandemic and is now taking steps to get physical book loans started once again

Councillor Sen Woodward, Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage at Hampshire County Council, said: Not only has the Coronavirus pandemic seen an explosion in use of digital library services; but our staff have been working creatively to ensure that customers continue to enjoy a range of services beyond books and magazines from online workshops and activities, to phone calls with our most vulnerable customers.

Given that library buildings are not due to reopen until July, we are pulling out the stops to bridge that gap by offering paperbacks and hardbacks for loan once again, with Ready Reads. This is a new book collection service where our staff select books according to your preferences, for you to collect from your local branch.

How Ready Reads works:

Councillor Woodward continued: We began taking orders for Ready Reads last week, and the initial response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive, with lots of feedback welcoming this new way to broaden your reading. Our staff are experts at choosing good books being so often asked for advice by library customers and they are making the most of this opportunity to use their experience and knowledge to help customers get the best from their library, and their love of reading, even while the library buildings remain closed.

Ready Reads is free and can be accessed by completing this online formhttps://bit.ly/2A7yi0hor bycalling 01962 454747. Customers can choose how often and how many books they would like. Also, specific books can be chosen through the paid reservation service which has been restarted. You can reserve here:https://www.hants.gov.uk/librariesandarchives/library/reserve

Councillor Woodward added: Looking ahead, we are really looking forward to welcoming all of our customers back into libraries in July. We will publish these details soon.

Discoverthe full range of online activities from Hampshire libraries.

Our town library in Andover can be found in The Chantry centre.

#ReadyReads

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Ready Reads from Andover library - Love Andover

PIERCE COUNTY, Washington Welcome back to some Pierce County Library System services. Staff is eager to serve Pierce County residents with limited services from the library buildings, while the buildings remain closed to the public to help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic 2019 (COVID-19).

Book drops are now open at eight of the Library Systems 20 libraries: Fife, Gig Harbor, Lakewood, Parkland/Spanaway, South Hill, Summit, Sumner and University Place Pierce County Libraries. In the coming weeks, the Library will open book drops at its other locations. The Library thanks people for holding onto library books, movies and other items for the past several months.

Also, given the ongoing economic burden brought on by the pandemic as well as the overall disruption to library services, the Library System will not assess fines for overdue books and materials for the remainder of 2020.

Now free Wi-Fi service is available for use outside of all of the library buildings in parking lots, with a continued emphasis on social distancing.

Staff is also making plans to offer curbside service for people to pick up books, movies and other materials, as well as copies of prints people may send remotely to printers in the libraries this summer.

For now, staff will be checking in safely the thousands of books and movies people will return to the libraries. At the same time, staff is processing thousands of new books that will be ready for readers.

Librarians and other staff are preparing the library buildings to offer more learning and enjoyment services for Pierce County communities. The Library is reimaging services for the public and starting with limited services, as it readies its operations and offerings to bring more services safely in the coming weeks and months.

The buildings will ensure social distancing for the safety of the public and staff. The safety measures the Library is taking will allow people to use and enjoy libraries with spacing between public computers, queuing areas for checking out books and materials, and other actions to help keep the public and staff safe.

Pierce County Library encourages people to continue checking out e-books, audiobooks and magazines online. It also recommends people check out many research and enjoyable online resources. From resources to help people learn new languages to finding out the price of the antiques and other stuff they are discovering as they have been cleaning out their closets and attics during the states Stay Home, Stay Healthy order.

In June, the Library launched its Virtual Library with online classes and events for people of all ages. Using platforms such as Facebook Groups, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, the virtual library features story times for young learners and their parents, STEAM Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math events for school-age children, and book discussions and other events for adults.

While working remotely, staff produced videos from home to bring a variety of services directly to peoples computers, phones and mobile devices. From early learning story times and school-age science experiments to crafts and a variety of other topics, the videos support learning and bring enjoyment.

Also, in the coming days the Library System will launch its Summer Reading program for people of all ages. For the most part, the Summer Reading program will be an online program with activities and live events.

The Pierce County Library is committed to safe and welcoming libraries for the publics use and a safe work place for staff, and it will offer further services in the coming weeks and months.

Continued here:
Pierce County Library System opening book drops and turning on Wi-Fi - The Suburban Times

TheUniversity of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing(UP-ICW) recently offered its Philippine Literature collection for free online browsing amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On June 15, UP-ICW announced on Facebook and Twitteran initiative called Freelipiniana:MalayangPagbasasaGitnangPandemyawherein it offered itsonlinelibraryof Philippine orFilipinianaliteratureand attached links to thefree archive andthe introduction page.

Para samalayangpagbabasasagitnangpandemya! the post read.

In its introductory statement,theUP-ICW said that thegoal of this project is tobring these materials, which are mostly unavailable in digital format, closer to readersas they cope with the global financial and economic crisis.

As libraries continue to be inaccessible due to COVID19, the peoples access to reading materials remains limited. This is especially true forFilipinianaselections which are prized for their cultural and intellectualvalue butare largely unavailable now because many have not yet been digitized and opened for online access,the statement read.

TheUP-ICW also hopes to encourage literacy and make education accessible through published literary texts such as novels, zines, poems, books and anthologies.

Through theFreelipinianaOnline Library, the LIKHAAN: UP Institute of Creative Writing aims to collect and uploadFilipinianaworks to allow readers to consume these local texts from the safety of their homes, be they for leisure or research. We want to encourage literacy and make education accessible even while the pandemic limits many of our essential activities, it said.

It alsostated thatFilipinoauthors and publishers of the featured works volunteeredfor this projectcurated by Filipinos for Filipinos.However, these selections cannot be printed, reproduced, or sold without permission.

Uploaded works may be read on the website, with some available for download. While these materials are accessible, they cannot be printed, reproduced, or sold without permission from the author/owner, the statement read.

On the archive page, selectedworks of fiction, non-fiction, poetry,and childrens literatureare accessibleto read and download for free.Those under drama and graphic literature, meanwhile, will be made free soon.

Libraries, museums and other leisure or recreational places are still not allowed to reopen during the relaxed general community quarantine phase.

However, before May ended, the National Task Force against COVID-19 allowed their gradual resumption at reduced capacity which started on June 7.

Since strict lockdown measures were imposed last March, big digital libraries such as Scribd, JSTOR andScience Direct offered a part of their large databases for free access during the duration of the pandemic.

As of writing,somecontent onScribd, JSTOR and Science Directcan stillbe accessed for free.

READ:You can now access digital libraries JSTOR, Scribd and Filipino creatives works for free. Heres how.

Meanwhile, UP-ICW recently announced that the website went down over some technical issues butis now up and running.

The website is back up and running! Well keep working to prevent similar incidents in the future. Thank you for your patience. Feel free to check out theFreelipinianalibrary now, it said on Facebook.

UPDATE: The website is back up and running! We'll keep working to prevent similar incidents in the future. Thank you for

Posted by Likhaan: University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing onMonday, June 15, 2020

More here:
Freelipiniana: UP Creative Writing department shares online library of Philippine literature to public - interaksyon.com

The American Library Association (ALA) recently announced that the Round Rock Public Library was selected to receive a $2,000 grant to participate in Libraries Lead with Digital Skills, an initiative of ALA and the Public Library Association (PLA), sponsored by Grow With Google, the tech companys economic opportunity initiative. We will be utilizing this grant to continue our workshops for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Libraries have long been Americas gathering place for learning. From learning new digital skills for the workplace, to creating a rsum or growing your business online, people are going to libraries as resources for professional growth now more than ever, said Nicky Rigg, program manager for Digital Skills outreach at Google. Grow with Google is excited to support library programs across the country to help ensure that economic opportunity exists for everyone.

Join us for our next free virtual business workshop, Everything You Need to Know about Google My Business, presented by Jon Bean and SCORE Austin, Tuesday, June 16, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Click here for a spot

This program is funded by Libraries Lead with Digital Skills, which was created so that local libraries can combine their own program offerings with Grow with Google training materials to offer virtual community workshops or other activities aimed at empowering small businesses to grow online or assisting job seekers to prepare for and find work.

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Library selected to participate in Libraries Lead with Digital Skills - City of Round Rock

People will be asked a series of health questions at the door before being allowed inside.

The Confederation Centre Public Library in downtown Charlottetown has officially reopenedto the public.

The centre's library, along with the public library inSummerside, reopenedJune 12, offering counter serviceafterbeing closed fortwo and a half monthsdue to COVID-19.

But borrowing a bookwilllook a little different now. The Charlottetown location will be operating at a limited capacity and there are restrictions in place.

People will be asked a series of health questions at the door before being allowed inside.

Once inside, browsing for books will not be permitted. Instead, library staffwill speak with patrons about their interests and what kind of booksthey are looking to borrow, then pick out a varietyto choose from.

"We do wish people could browse, but I know personally, I found it kind of fun to ask people what they like and talk about books and pull things for them to read and hope I find a new author that they're really going to love," said Beth Clinton, a regional librarian based at the Confederation Centre Public Library.

Those looking for a specific title can reserve it ahead of time online and go to the library to pick it up. Computer services willnot be permitted at this time, but Wi-Fi will still be accessiblefrom outsidein the courtyard.

"We just wanted to offer as much services as we could at this point," said Clinton.

Staff have also taken the time to reorganize the childrens section. Childrens books have been curated into sections based on interest and age groups to make it easier for children and their parents to find what they're looking for.

Prior to reopening, the library sought approval on its service plans from the Chief Public Health Office.

Throughout the provincial public health closures, patrons with library books were asked to hold onto them until they reopened. The Confederation Centre Public Library hada process for dropoffsin place.

"We are putting them into bins, washing up very carefully and quarantining them for 72 hours before they are checked in and made available for the next person," Clinton said.

She saidthe library chose this cleaning process based on health recommendations.

"That quarantine is based on what many other libraries are doing."

For peoplewith overdue library books caused by public safety closures, Clinton saidthere will not be an additional charge. All books and materials are due at the end of June.

"I know a lot of people have missed us," Clinton said.

The library is open seven days a week.

Six other library locations across P.E.I. opened at the beginning of June offering curbside service to Islanders.

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How your next trip to the Confederation Centre library will be different than before - CBC.ca

"Stuff weve had for two or three years, were running out of," said Michelle Barron, owner of The Book House in Maplewood. "Weve got a ton of backorders"

Author: Lea Konczal St. Louis Business Journal

ST. LOUIS White Fragility.

How To Be An Antiracist.

So You Want To Talk About Race.

Such titles, once primarily tucked away in niche sections of bookstores, now top Amazon and New York Times bestseller lists in the wake of national outrage and soul-searching after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer. In St. Louis, 500-plus miles from the Minneapolis street corner where Floyds death triggered national protests, books about race have been flying off the shelves of booksellers and libraries.

Its just been overwhelming in the last couple weeks, said Sarah Brown, manager of acquisitions and collection development at St. Louis County Library. Its incredible.

Although the librarys 20 branches are only open for curbside pickup, Brown said the library has seen hugely increased demand for books about race across all formats (print, e-books and audiobooks).

The librarys most-requested title is White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, which currently tops The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. Prior to the nationwide protests, the library's print copies of the book were typically only checked out about once a month. As of Monday, the book had 375 holds on 11 print copies, 659 holds on 100 e-book copies, 489 holds on 40 downloadable audiobooks and 49 holds on three audiobook CDs.

We have been repurchasing from our vendors like mad, Brown said. The library is using its robust e-media budget to quickly add more e-books and downloadable audiobooks for wide range of titles (due to publisher restrictions, e-media copies are limited to one checkout at a time). Normally the library has a maximum limit of 100 e-media copies per book, but SLCL broke its rule to buy 140 e-media titles of White Fragility since June 1. Before that, the library had just 10.

St. Louis Public Library has also seen skyrocketing holds on a wide range of titles about race. Meanwhile, people who dont want to wait months for a library book are turning to local bookstores.

Stuff weve had for two or three years, were running out of, said Michelle Barron, owner of 34-year-old independent bookseller The Book House in Maplewood. Weve got a ton of backorders.

Barron said the sudden influx has doubled The Book Houses sales, which had fallen to just 25% of pre-pandemic levels. Barron credits media outlets and influencers for raising customers awareness of titles.

Everybodys got these reading lists, and (customers are) coming with the reading lists that have been posted, which is great, she said.

A few miles away in Webster Groves, independent bookseller The Novel Neighbor has seen a 200% increase in sales of nonfiction books about race since May 27, two days after Floyd's killing. Sales of fictional works by black authors and illustrators are up, too.

Aside from White Fragility, some of the bookstores best-selling titles are So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Uluo and Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. Owner Holland Saltsman said she is ordering cartons of the titles to keep up with demand.

Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of Left Bank Books in the Central West End, said all of her stores current bestsellers deal with topics of race.

If it wasn't clear before why a bookstore needed to be open or somehow functional through Covid, it certainly got clear right away after George Floyds death, Kleindienst said. People need information, they need to process, they need to have resources. They look for books to explain things to children, to help with stress.

EyeSeeMe, a black-owned University City bookseller that specializes in African American childrens books, recently hired three new people to keep up with demand. Owner Jeffrey Blair said when the national protests started and he looked at the orders coming in, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"I thought maybe something was wrong with my system," he said.

Although Blair said the majority of the demand has been for adult books about race, which EyeSeeMe has always stocked, there are also more parents inquiring about kids' books. Whereas 25% to 35% of his customers had been non-black before the pandemic, Blair said he's now seeing a 50-50 split.

"There's been a really big increase of white parents wanting to educate themselves and their children about racism," he said.

Click here for the full story.

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St. Louis-area libraries, booksellers see influx of demand for books about race - KSDK.com

The North Shore Library, located on the ground floor of the BVK office building at 6800 N. Port Washington Road, is in need of a renovation, but the four communities that belong to the North Shore Library have been unable to reach a joint library agreement, deadlocking on Glendale's proposal to charge rent for the building.(Photo: C.T. Kruger)

Four North Shore communities agreethe North Shore Library is in need of renovations, but their inability to come to consensus on a joint library agreement has prompted Glendale officials to float the possibility of relocating the library to a new building.

Officials in Glendale, River Hills, Bayside and Fox Point have all agreed to fund a $4.2 million renovation of the current North Shore Library space at 6800 N. Port Washington Road. The North Shore Library Foundation has agreed to contribute $1 million to the renovation.

In planning for those renovations, Glendale City Administrator Rachel Safstrom said she and the three village managers decided the library agreement, which expires in 15 years, should be updated before they issue a 20-year bond for the renovation.

But reaching a new agreement has been difficult for the four communities, which have reached a stalemate after Glendale requested rent from the other communities.

"The North Shore Library is a great library today, but if it is not properly supported by North Shore villages and Glendale, it will not survive many more years," said River Hills VillagePresident J. Stephen Anderson.

The failed negotiations between the communities has been "extremely disappointing" for North Shore Library Director Susan Draeger-Anderson, whose main goal in her five years on the job was to push for a renovation of the "very shabby" facility.

"The library has been held hostage by the four communities," said Draeger-Anderson, who recently announced her resignation.

The originaljoint library agreementwas drafted in 1985, when the library first opened. At the time,Cardinal Stritch University sold the land to abuilding developer with a provision that gave Glendale 15,000 square feet on the first floor for community use.

Under the existing agreement, Glendale collects $1 in annual rent from the library for the first 50 years, or until 2035.

Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy said Fox Point broke thatagreement when it requested and received payment for acting as the library's fiscal agent. Fox Point had received the payments for four years,startingaround$9,000 per year and increasing to $14,000.

Kennedy said hefirst learned Fox Point was receiving thefiscal agent credit nearlytwo years ago, during the conversations about a joint library agreement.

"They never told the other communities they were doing that, and it's a direct violation of the agreement," Kennedy said.

If communities are seeking compensation for their contributions, Kennedy said Glendale should be compensated for providing the library space.

"We didn't know they were creating a fiscal agent fee, but we are fine with that if everyone is going to be compensated for what they are contributing," Kennedy said.

The original development agreement, which stipulated Glendale use the space for community use, expired in 2010, Kennedy said.

In the new, proposed joint library agreement, Glendale requested a rent credit thataverages roughly $75,000 per year.

In addition to Glendale's8.5% credit for owning the space, the agreement would have provided a 2.2% credit to Baysidefor acting as fiscal agent and a 0.85% credit to River Hills for providing maintenance service.

Kennedy said the request for rent is not unprecedented as Brown Deer and Shorewood receive a rental credit in the North Shore Health Department agreement. Likewise, the North Shore Fire Department pays rent to Whitefish Bay, which owns its fire station, and has paid rent to other communities for fire stations in the past.

If Glendale wanted to sell the library space, Kennedy saidit could be sold for$1.5 million to $2 million. Putting the library space back on the tax rolls would generate about $75,000 to $80,000 per year in municipal taxes, he said.

The estimated fair market value for the top three floors of the four-story building is$6.7 million, according to online tax records. The owner of the building paid $154,692 in taxes last year, with roughly $44,000 going to Glendale.

The proposed agreement was approved by Glendale officials in January. Bayside officials approved a previous iteration of the agreement in October, and supported the revised agreement in concept, Bayside Village Manager Andy Pederson said.

The village boards in Fox Point and River Hills did not approve the agreement, as they did not agree with Glendale's request for rent credit.

Anderson said the agreement was "heavily weighted to benefit Glendale and not the other villages."

Fox Point Village Manager Scott Botcher said Fox Pointtrusteessupport the renovation of the library, but they donot see the need for a new lease agreement.

"We have a lease in place for $1 per year for the next 15 years," Botcher said. "The board doesn't think they are getting a fair value for giving up that lease."

Fox Point Village President Douglas Frazer took issue with comparing Glendale's rent credit to Fox Point's partial reimbursement for fiscal agent fees.

"The library board approves its own budget and voted to reimburse Fox Point for some of the fiscal agent costs, as was its prerogative," Frazer said.

Fox Point village officials made a counter-proposal in January that offered to extend the terms of the lease and the joint library agreement to 2050. The counter-proposal offeredGlendale $75,000 in annual rent starting in 2036, when the existing lease expires.

The proposal would also allow Glendale to amortize the rent over the 30-year term of the extended lease so the city could start receiving rent payments immediately, Frazer said.

Kennedy said Fox Point's counter-proposal did not interest his board, which would prefer rentcredits over cash payments. Because Glendale has already reached its spending limit under the state's expenditure restraint program, he said the city would not be able to spend any funds it receives from the library.

To eliminate the issue of building ownership, Safstrom has suggested the four communities share the cost of a new building, and then transfer ownership of the building to the North Shore Library Board.

The proposed new location is a 14,462-square-foot building at7545 N. Port Washington Road, just south of Calumet Road.

If the communities agree to buy a new building, Glendale would sell its 15,000 square feetof space and keep the proceeds. The communities would share the proceeds for the 1,000 square feet of space they collectively own.

Officials in Glendale, Fox Point, Bayside and River Hills are discussing the possible relocation of the North Shore Library to this building at 7545 N. Port Washington Road.(Photo: Google Maps)

Architects have not been hired to draw up renovation plans, but Safstrom has used $4 million as an estimate for the renovation cost.

Safstrom estimated the communities could buy the building for $900,000, and then split the cost of the $4 million renovation, with Glendale paying $1.93 million, Fox Point $1.06 million, Bayside $627,387, River Hills $283,693 and the North Shore Library Foundation $1 million.

If the communities agreed to buy the new building, Glendale would no longer take a rent credit, but River Hills and Bayside would still receivecredits for maintenance and acting as the fiscal agent, respectively.

The River Hills Village Board agreed on May 20a new building was worth considering, VillagePresident J. Stephen Anderson said.

The Fox Point Village Board was less receptive when Safstrom presented the concept of a new library building at its June 9 meeting.

"I think Glendale has to figure out how it's going to compensate the library for giving up that lease," said Fox Point Trustee Eric Fonstad, who also serves on the North Shore Library Board.

Fox Point TrusteeChristine Symchych said the negotiationshave"turned into a circus."

Fox Point Trustee Marty Tirado said he has looked at the building in the past, and it needs extensive renovation work.

In a vote after closed session discussion, the Fox Point Village Board said it did not support an alternative library sitebut supports renovations at the existing site.

The dingy carpeting at the North Shore Library is 31 years old and in many spots is held together with duct tape. This long narrow space is also mostly filled with tall bookshelves, leaving little room for other features.(Photo: Jeff Rumage/Now Media Group)

The four communities' inability to agree on library funding is nothing new.

Kurt Glaisner, the president of the library board and a trustee on the River Hills Village Board, said the library has been underfunded for years, since each communities' contributions are often decreased to adjust for the community that offers the smallest increase in its budget.

Several years ago, Draeger-Anderson worked withPederson to study employee wages, and found employees were making 25% to 30% less than their counterparts at other libraries.

The top wageat the circulation desk has increased from$8.57 to $11.11 over the past several years, as Draeger-Anderson has pushed to correct its relatively low wages.

But to raise its wages, the library has dipped into its reserve funds.

Because the library is on the first floor of an office building, thelibrary is also required to pay annual buildingmaintenance fees, for which the library has budgeted$51,000 this year.

By relocating to a new building free of maintenance charges, the library would be able to direct that $51,000 toward personnel, Safstrom said.

The day after Fox Point rejected a new library location, Draeger-Anderson wrote her resignation letter to theNorth Shore Library Board.

Draeger-Anderson said her resignation was not tied to her disappointment in the library negotiations, but because she is concerned her potential exposure to the coronavirus in the library building would harm her husband, who has pulmonary fibrosis and needs a lung transplant.

Draeger-Anderson said she will continue to work at the library for the next several months until a replacement is hired.

ContactJeff Rumage at (262) 446-6616or jeff.rumage@jrn.com. Followhim on Twitter at @JeffRumage orFacebook atwww.facebook.com/northshorenow.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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'The library has been held hostage': The North Shore Library is in need of repairs, but these four communities can't find a solution - Milwaukee...

This years Summer Reading Club will take young readers on an out of this world adventure. (Photo credit: Stock image)

This years BC Summer Reading Club (BC SRC) offered free through the Thompson-Nicola Regional Library service (TNRL) is out of this world, giving readers aged five to 14 an opportunity to Explore Our Universe, and for the first time its being offered virtually to young readers and their families.

The program is usually offered in person at branches throughout the summer, and features special programming, crafts, activities, and more. This year, participants will be able to take part by registering, then tracking their progress online from now until the end of September 2020.

Its far and away the largest program we offer every year, says Melissa Lowenberg, Manager of Community Libraries for the TNRL. But we do something a little different to other libraries in B.C., because we also have summer reading clubs for teens and adults. Well have those additional programs on our website (www.tnrl.ca) as well.

The BC Summer Reading program is such an important program for kids. Were aware of the summer slide that can happen. Kids can lose a full grade if they dont keep up their reading skills over the summer. If they can read every day in summer theyll do better come fall when school starts.

Registration is now open at the TNRLs website and at https://bcsrc.ca/. Some of the online features that have been added to the program include digital badges for reaching reading goals, as well as a certificate of completion for finishing the program; live events and video demonstrations, including hands-on crafts and experiments; weekly stay-at-home activity packages; and a dashboard for parents/guardians to track their kids reading progress and the digital badges they have earned.

Lowenberg says that kids and their parents can also contact their local community library, which will have paper registration packages available. You dont have to sign up online. And each library will be having its own Name a Mascot contest, with the lucky winner going home with the mascot.

Summer Reading Club activities will be starting the week of June 29, but participants can register and take part at any time over the summer. All reading counts, and participation is easy. Kids can read whatever they want, including story books, information books, graphic novels, and comic books, and they can also listen to someone else read or tell them stories.

A really important piece of getting kids to like reading is having them pick the books and topics. When they do that theyre much more likely to read and learn, says Lowenberg. When parents talk to kids about the books theyre reading, let them describe the books in their own words, because thats much better for kids.

Or you can be listening to audiobooks together, or the kids can be told a story. Its increasing their vocabulary, introducing new ideas; its an engagement piece. And if you enjoy reading, kids see that and will mirror that activity. It can be a newspaper, or something online. Anything showing that reading is a worthwhile activity can be a terrific example for kids.

The Summer Reading Club has a different theme each year. Lowenberg says one of the highlights of this years club and theme will be the Ask an Astronomer events in July and August featuring astronomers from the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver.

Theyll be on YouTube as well. We wont be doing in-branch activities, but there will be takeaway activities that kids can pick up at branches. Were doing the Summer Reading Club, but it will look a little different this year.

The Province of British Columbia has invested $65,000 through the BC Library Association (BCLA), in partnership with the BC Libraries Cooperative, to enhance the BC SRCs website and make online participation possible this year.

Fun and engaging programs like the BC Summer Reading Club that help our kids strengthen their literacy skills are even more important this year, says Rob Fleming, Minister of Education. Im so pleased this incredibly popular program will continue this summer with expanded online features.

The BC Summer Reading Club has been in operation for almost 30 years. In 2019, it reached more than 173,000 children in more than 200 communities around the province.

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