Milwaukee Police Department District 3's "Read to Me" Program

Milwaukee police arm children with books. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/16/2012)

Excerpt:   Using state-of-the-art tools employed by the Milwaukee Police Department such as video cameras and computer mapping systems, along with old-school, cop-on-the-beat techniques, officers from the District 3 station have added using the printed word to combat crime. 

Ten officers from the station at 2333 N. 49th St. are reading stories to and getting books into the hands of youths at the Next Door Foundation in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood with a collection drive for the foundation's Books for Kids program. 

It could be called a "throw the book at 'em," or "books-not-bullets" approach to crime-fighting, but Lt. Aimee Obregon calls it a positive experience for both the children and the cops. 

"Many times when these kids see officers it's in a negative situation," Obregon said, "and we're trying to change the way they look at us. 

"Fifteen years from now they're going to be adult citizens and we want to build as positive a relationship with them as we can." 

The "Read to Me" program involves volunteers from the community reading to 2- to 5-year-olds in the foundation's Head Start and charter school programs to help boost the children's pre-reading skills.

Webcrafters, Madison Book Manufacturer, to Cut Staff by 15%

Webcrafters plans to reduce staff by at least 15 percent. (Wisconsin State Journal, 3/16/2012)

Excerpt: With about 540 employees, jobs for at least 81 people will be cut. The company plans to offer "generous voluntary separation packages" as a first option, to minimize the number of involuntary reductions that will have to be made, President and CEO Jac Garner said in a statement Thursday. 

Positions in manufacturing, office work and supervision will be affected. 

Changes in technology, with more online content and electronic publishing of books, coupled with lower funding for printed educational materials by state and local governments due to tight budgets, led to the loss of business, company officials said. 

More publishing work also has become more automated, by clients using Webcrafters' high-speed, digital inkjet press.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Looking for Mid-Career Corporate or Nonprofit Exec

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library CEO search down to six names, all secret. (Charlotte Observer, 3/15/2012)

Excerpt: Six candidates remain in the running to be the next CEO of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, but library officials are keeping their names secret because they are well-known employees of other local businesses and charities. 

Library trustee Ed Williams, who is leading the search committee, described the six as talented experts who work “in the corporate or nonprofit community - executives in mid-career.” 

Naming all six, he said, might jeopardize careers for those not picked. 

The selection committee could make a final choice by the end of this month, he added, at which point the board of trustees will vote. Interim CEO Vick Phillips said he’d like to make the winner’s name public in May if not earlier. 

However, the library board has no plan to seek public input before taking a final vote, through the vote itself will be at an open meeting.

Getting to Know Chapter 43 of the Wisconsin State Statutes: Part 19, Joint Libraries

Statistical source for all of the above: 

Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, Fiscal Year 2009

43.53  Joint libraries.

(1) Joint libraries may be created

• by any 2 or more municipalities or 
• by a county and one or more municipalities 

located in whole or in part in the county, by appropriate agreement of their governing bodies. Section 43.52 applies to joint libraries.

Sidebar:  Wisconsin examples.  2 or more municipalities.  (A district library in name only.   Legally, a joint library under chapter 43.)

A county and one or more municipalities.

(2) Joint library agreements under sub. (1) shall contain provisions necessary to establish a library board under s. 43.54, including a procedure for adjusting the membership of the board to ensure that it remains representative of the populations of the participating municipalities, as shown by the most recent federal census, under s. 43.54 (1m) (a) 1.; perform the duties under s. 43.58; and own and operate the physical facilities. 

A joint library agreement shall also do all of the following: 

(a) Name one of the participants as the library's fiscal agent, who is responsible for the 

• payroll, 
• benefit administration, 
• insurance, and 
• financial record keeping and 
• auditing for the library. 

The participant's costs of providing the services under this paragraph count toward the financial support required of the participant under s. 43.15 (4) (b) 2. 

(b) Include a procedure for the distribution of a joint library's assets and liabilities if the joint library is dissolved. 

Sidebar:  Examples of agreements.

LINK

Original Sussex/Lisbon Agreement (Effective date 1/1/1998)

Now Pauline Haass Public Library

(3) [Proviso]  A joint library may not be established unless it includes at least one municipality with a public library established before May 8, 1990.

History:
1971 Senate Bill 47.  43.56.  Joint library boards.
1985 Wisconsin Act 177.  43.56 is renumbered 43.53 and amended.
1989 Wisconsin Act 286. 43.53 (3) is created.
1995 Wisconsin Act 270. 43.53 (1) is amended.
2005 Wisconsin Act 420.

• 43.53 (2) is renumbered 43.53 (2) (intro.) and amended .
• 43.53 (2) (a) and (b) are created.

2011 Wisconsin Act 32.  43.53 (2) (a) is amended.

Related posts:
Part 1:  Legislative findings and declaration of policy.
Part 2:  Definitions.
Part 3:  General duties of the State Superintendent.
Part 4:  General duties of the Division.
Part 5:  Council on Library and Network Development.
Part 6:  Certificates and standards..
Part 7: County library planning committees.
Part 8:  County payment for library service.
Part 9:  Division review
Part 10.  Standards for public library systems.
Part 11.  Resource libraries.
Part 12:  Public library systems; general provisions.
Part 13.  Withdrawal, abolition, and expulsion.
Part 14.  Federated public library systems.
Part 15.  Consolidated public library systems.
Part 16.  State aid.
Part 17.  Public library records.
Part 18.  Municipal libraries.

Mindoro Residents Continue to Push for Their Own Library

Mindoro library land referendum could revive project. (Jackson County Chronicle, 3/14/2012)

Excerpt: Farmington moved forward on a library project in 2008 and spent $80,000 to purchase the lot at N8296 Church St. and demolish the home. But in 2010, residents voted to halt the library project amid cost concerns. 

Farmington resident Dewey Wegner said there isn’t a need for another library because most residents already access the system’s five current branches, especially libraries in West Salem and Holmen. He said if cuts are made to the system, a Mindoro branch would be the first one targeted. “

We have to go to West Salem and Holmen no matter what you buy, and there are libraries there and people go to them,” Wegner said. “I don’t think a little community can support a library. “

As soon as the county decides to cut back (on library funding), it’s not going to be West Salem, it’s not going to be Bangor, it’s not going to be Holmen — it’s going to be Mindoro.” 

Proponents of a Mindoro library, though, argue Farmington taxpayers already contribute about $52,400 a year to the La Crosse County Library System and another $500 to the Winding Rivers Library System. La Crosse County Library Director Chris McArdle Rojo said the library system would provide staff and materials for a Mindoro library, so there wouldn’t be any additional cost to taxpayers and instead keeps that money local. 

The library system already has $100,000 budgeted for a Mindoro library to cover collections, programs and staffing.

"Where the Wild Things Are" As Read by Christopher Walken

Or Not

Yesterday.

Today.

Getting to Know Chapter 43 of the Wisconsin State Statutes: Part 18, Municipal Libraries

Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries in the United States: Fiscal Year 2009.

43.52 Municipal libraries. 

(1)  Establishing a municipal library

Any municipality may

• establish, equip and maintain a public library, and may 
• annually levy a tax or appropriate money to provide a library fund, to be used exclusively to maintain the public library.

The municipality may enact and enforce police regulations to govern the use, management and preservation of the public library.

Any municipality desiring to establish a new public library shall obtain a written opinion by the division regarding the feasibility and desirability of establishing the public library before final action is taken.

The division shall render its opinion within 30 days of the time the request is received.

Wisconsin's newest municipal library.  Opened June 29, 2011.

(1m) (a)  Establishing or participating in a joint library.

• Any town desiring to establish a new public library or participate in a joint library under s. 43.53 [Joint libraries] shall in addition to the requirement under sub. (1) obtain the approval of the county library board, if one exists, and the county board of supervisors before final action is taken. 
• The county library board and the county board of supervisors shall render decisions within 90 days of the request being received. 
• A town may appeal to the state superintendent a decision of the county library board or the county board of supervisors that disapproves the participation by the town in a joint library with a municipality located in another county. 
• The state superintendent shall hold a public hearing on the appeal within 60 days after receiving notice of the appeal. 
• The state superintendent shall publish a class 1 notice under ch. 985 [Publication of legal notices; public newspapers; fees] of the hearing and shall also provide notice of the hearing to the town board, the county board of supervisors and the county library board. 
• The state superintendent shall decide the appeal within 30 days after the adjournment of the public hearing.

(b)  Establishing a new library or participating in a joint library within a consolidated county library.

• Any city or village that is entirely located in a county that operates and maintains a consolidated public library for the county under s. 43.57 [Consolidated county libraries and county library services], and that desires to establish a new public library or participate in a joint library under s. 43.53, shall, in addition to the requirement under sub. (1), obtain the approval of the county library board, if one exists, and the county board of supervisors before final action is taken. 
• The county library board and the county board of supervisors shall render decisions within 90 days of the request being received. 
• The common council or village board may appeal to the state superintendent a decision of the county library board or the county board of supervisors that disapproves the participation by the city or village in a joint library with a municipality located in another county. 
• The state superintendent shall hold a public hearing on the appeal within 60 days after receiving notice of the appeal. 
• The state superintendent shall publish a class 1 notice under ch. 985 of the hearing and shall also provide notice of the hearing to the common council or village board, the county board of supervisors, and the county library board. 
• The state superintendent shall decide the appeal within 30 days after the adjournment of the public hearing.

(2) Every public library shall be free for the use of the inhabitants of the municipality by which it is established and maintained, subject to such reasonable regulations as the library board prescribes in order to render its use most beneficial to the greatest number. The library board may exclude from the use of the public library all persons who willfully violate such regulations.

Attorney General opinions

• 73 Atty. Gen. 86. (1984) 
• The Madison Public Library can charge user fees for any services that fall outside of a library’s inherent information−providing functions; core “library services” must be provided free of charge to the inhabitants of the municipality.
• Applying this guideline to the various charges and fees established by the Madison Public Library, it is my opinion that only the following may be imposed: charges for use of 
• framed pictures, 
• projectors, screens, 
• audio cassette players, 
• AM/FM radios and 
• meeting and lecture rooms. 
• In my opinion these are services which are tangential to a library's inherent information-providing function. The charges for borrowing 16 mm films and for holding materials on reserve are, in my opinion, charges for core "library services" and, as such, are prohibited.
• 78 Atty. Gen. 163.  (1989)  
• Municipal libraries may not charge a fee for lending video cassettes that are part of a reasonable permanent collection, but may charge for lending additional copies. 
• Municipal libraries may not charge a fee for online searching of bibliographic or informational databases. 

LINK

LINK

LINK

FAQ on Public Library Administration and Governance.

(Wisconsin Deportment of Public Instruction)

(3) Any municipality may purchase or acquire one or more sites, erect one or more buildings and equip the same for a public library or any library already established; or may adopt, take over and acquire any library already established, by consent of the authorities controlling the same.

(4) A municipal library may contract with library organizations within this state or in adjacent states to provide or receive library services.

History:
1971 Senate Bill 47.   43 25 (1 , (2), (3) and (4) are renumbered 43.52 (1) and 2) and 43.64 (1) and (2), respectively, and amended.
1977 Assembly Bill 1220. 43.52 (3) is created to read: Any school district which maintained and operated a public library facility prior to December 17, 1971, shall be considered a municipality for the purposes of this chapter.
1985 Wisconsin Act 187.  

• 43.52 (1) of the statutes is amended
• 43.52 (lm) of the statutes is created
• 43.52 (3) of the statutes is repealed

1989 Wisconsin Act 286.  43.52 (4) is created.
1997 Wisconsin Act 150.  43.52 (1m) is amended.
2005 Wisconsin Act 226. 43.52 (1m) is amended.

Related posts:
Part 1:  Legislative findings and declaration of policy.
Part 2:  Definitions.
Part 3:  General duties of the State Superintendent.
Part 4:  General duties of the Division.
Part 5:  Council on Library and Network Development.
Part 6:  Certificates and standards..
Part 7: County library planning committees.
Part 8:  County payment for library service.
Part 9:  Division review
Part 10.  Standards for public library systems.
Part 11.  Resource libraries.
Part 12:  Public library systems; general provisions.
Part 13.  Withdrawal, abolition, and expulsion.
Part 14.  Federated public library systems.
Part 15.  Consolidated public library systems.
Part 16.  State aid.
Part 17.  Public library records.

And Here You Thought Rachael Wrote All Those Books Herself

I was a Cookbook Ghostwriter.  (The New York Times, 3/14/2012)

Excerpt:    Many real-world cooks have wondered at the output of authors like Martha Stewart, Paula Deen and Jamie Oliver, who maintain cookbook production schedules that boggle the mind. Rachael Ray alone has published thousands of recipes in her cookbooks and magazine since 2005. How, you might ask, do they do it? 

The answer: they don’t. The days when a celebrated chef might wait until the end of a distinguished career and spend years polishing the prose of the single volume that would represent his life’s work are gone. Recipes are product, and today’s successful cookbook authors are demons at providing it — usually, with the assistance of an army of writer-cooks.

Encyclopedia Britannica Gets Out of the Print Business

Back in my reference workshop days, I always offered the following advice. If you can afford just one encyclopedia in your collection, make it World Book.  I feel that Britannica took itself out of serious contention in 1974 with its 15th edition -- the cumbersome, misguided, Micropedia/Macropedia method of organization.

And Wikipedia is there.

The Magic of the Britannica 11.  Still revered in some quarters.

The Downward Trend in Property Tax Collections

Source:  Bureau of Economic Analysis

Property tax collections start downward trend. (USA Today, 3/12/2012)

Last year, property tax collections rose just 1.2%* — and actually declined 0.9% when adjusted for inflation, according to data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. That's the first time property tax collections have fallen below the inflation rate since 1995 and only the third time in 40 years.

If the downward trend continues, property taxes may actually bring in fewer dollars this year than last even before adjusting for inflation. That hasn't happened since the Great Depression.

*The numbers I found in table 1 here show a slight decline in constant dollars, which appears to be confirmed by this 9/27/2011 Bloomberg article. State and local property-tax receipts dropped 1.2 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the U.S. Census Bureau said today. That marked the third-straight decline.

And here's what the National League of Cities had to say, with emphasis added, about a year ago.

Property tax revenues in 2010 dropped by -2.0% compared with 2009 levels, in constant dollars, the first year-to-year decline in city property tax revenues in fifteen years. Property tax collections for 2011 point to worsening effects from the downturn in real estate values, projected to decline by -3.7%.  (Closer to 0.5% according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis numbers.)

And I'm sure you don't need to be reminded.

Related posts:
The property tax domino effect.  (12/27/2010)
Wisconsin Department of Revenue releases equalized values.  (8/13/2010)

Utah's Murray Library Celebrates Its Centennial

Murray Library celebrates centennial with year of events. (Salt Lake Tribune, 2/29/2012)  

Excerpt: The library now contains more than 75,000 books, magazines, CDs, movies and other items, and patrons check out more than a half-million of them each year. 

An auditorium and meeting rooms provide a venue for performances and places for groups to gather, from the Utah Old Time Fiddlers to Overeaters Anonymous. And the calendar is packed with events — story times, game nights, teen book clubs, Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Will Be Girls clubs and more. 

"It’s a popular library and an important part of the community," said Shaun Delliskave, head of the Murray Library Centennial Committee.
 
The library, founded in the spring of 1912, is holding a yearlong celebration.

Getting to Know Chapter 43 of the Wisconsin State Statutes: Part 17, Public Library Records

Page 1 of 4

43.30 Public library records.

(1b) In this section:

(a) “Custodial parent” includes any parent other than a parent who has been denied periods of physical placement with a child under s. 767.41 (4). 

(b) “Law enforcement officer” has the meaning given in s. 165.85 (2) (c)

(1m) [Privacy of public library records/List of exceptions]  Records of any library which is in whole or in part supported by public funds, including the records of a public library system, indicating the identity of any individual who borrows or uses the library’s documents or other materials, resources, or services may not be disclosed except

• by court order or 
• to persons acting within the scope of their duties in the administration of the library or library system, 
• to persons authorized by the individual to inspect such records, 
• to custodial parents or guardians of children under the age of 16 under sub. (4), 
• to libraries under subs. (2) and (3), or 
• to law enforcement officers under sub. (5). 

(2) A library supported in whole or in part by public funds may disclose an individual’s identity to another library for the purpose of borrowing materials for the individual only if the library to which the individual’s identity is being disclosed meets at least one of the following requirements:

(a) The library is supported in whole or in part by public funds.

(b) The library has a written policy prohibiting the disclosure of the identity of the individual except as authorized under sub. (3).

(c) The library agrees not to disclose the identity of the individual except as authorized under sub. (3).

(3) A library to which an individual’s identity is disclosed under sub. (2) and that is not supported in whole or in part by public funds may disclose that individual’s identity to another library for the purpose of borrowing materials for that individual only if the library to which the identity is being disclosed meets at least one of the requirements specified under sub. (2) (a) to (c).

(4) Upon the request of a custodial parent or guardian of a child who is under the age of 16, a library supported in whole or part by public funds shall disclose to the custodial parent or guardian all library records relating to the use of the library’s documents or other materials, resources, or services by that child.

(5) (a) Upon the request of a law enforcement officer who is investigating criminal conduct alleged to have occurred at a library supported in whole or in part by public funds, the library shall disclose to the law enforcement officer all records pertinent to the alleged criminal conduct that were produced by a surveillance device under the control of the library.

(b) If a library requests the assistance of a law enforcement officer, and the director of the library determines that records produced by a surveillance device under the control of the library may assist the law enforcement officer to render the requested assistance, the library may disclose the records to the law enforcement officer.

The genesis of 43.30 (5) (b)

2007 Senate Bill 214

For further information:  
Before the Police Arrive.  (South Central Library System)

Frequently Asked Questions About Libraries and Wisconsin’s Public Records Law.  (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction)

Wisconsin Public Records Law.

LINK

Wisconsin State Law Library.

History:
1981 Senate Bill 250.  43.30 is created.
1991 Wisconsin Act 261.  43.30 (2) and (3) of the statutes are created.
2003 Wisconsin Act 207.

• 43.30 (1) is amended.
• 43.30 (1b) and 43.30 (4) is created.

2007 Wisconsin Act 34.

• 43.30 (1b) is renumbered 43.30 (1b) (intro.) and amended.
• 43.30 (1b) (b) of the statutes is created.
• 43.30 (1m) of the statutes is amended.
• 43.30 (5) of the statutes is created.

2009 Wisconsin 180.  The treatment of 43.30 (1b) of the statutes by 2007 Wisconsin Act 34 is not repealed by 2007 Wisconsin Act 96. Both treatments stand.

Related posts:
Part 1:  Legislative findings and declaration of policy.
Part 2:  Definitions.
Part 3:  General duties of the State Superintendent.
Part 4:  General duties of the Division.
Part 5:  Council on Library and Network Development.
Part 6:  Certificates and standards..
Part 7: County library planning committees.
Part 8:  County payment for library service.
Part 9:  Division review
Part 10.  Standards for public library systems.
Part 11.  Resource libraries.
Part 12:  Public library systems; general provisions.
Part 13.  Withdrawal, abolition, and expulsion.
Part 14.  Federated public library systems.
Part 15.  Consolidated public library systems.
Part 16.  State aid.

Chicago's New Library Commissioner Brian Bannon: In sync with the City's philosophy of turning libraries into vibrant community centers

Cityscapes. Libraries of the future? With Chicago's new library commissioner taking over this month, one prototype library design offers a solid mix of form and function while another falls short. (Chicago Tribune, 3/1/2012)

Excerpt: The debut of new library commissioner Brian Bannon, who is expected to start this month, gives Chicago a chance to think afresh about its libraries--and how good design can uplift the experience of the millions of people who use them. 

Bannon, it turns out, is no stranger to architecture. Before he became chief information officer for the San Francisco Public Library, he was the system’s chief of branches. In that role, he managed a $200 million Branch Library Improvement Program (BLIP, for short) that has so far renovated 16 libraries and built six new ones. The upgrades sparked increases in visits and checked-out materials. 

Many of the libraries won LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification, which suggests that Bannon should have no trouble adapting to Chicago’s emphasis on energy-saving green design. He also appears in sync with Chicago’s philosophy of turning libraries from imposing temples of reading into vibrant community anchors.

Little Free Library Idea Catches On

Worldwide locations

Excerpt: I ran into Rick Brooks recently and, not surprisingly, talk soon turned to Little Free Library -- the project he co-founded that places small boxes offering free books in places where people will find them. 

You’ve probably seen the cunning little book depositories that have sprung up on the Madison landscape like daffodils in spring: on the bike path, in the coffee shop, and maybe on your neighbor’s lawn. 

You may have read this story about them that was posted on madison.com last summer. 

But you probably didn’t realize what an international sensation the libraries have become. 

Brooks has told me a movement was spreading, but it wasn’t until a friend gave me a nudge this week and I checked out littlefreelibrary.org, that I realized just how far and wide the seeds of Little Free Library have gone.

U.S. locations

Related posts:
Born in Wisconsin, Little Free Library pops up in Syracuse. (2/28/2012)
Little libraries pop up Waunakee.  (10/27/2011)
"Take a book leave a book" at the little library. (8/13/2011)