Retiring Guy's Digest: UPDATE. Racine Public Library: Annual Circulation and Program Attendance, 2009-2018

Saturday, August 31, 2019

UPDATE. Racine Public Library: Annual Circulation and Program Attendance, 2009-2018

Source: Wisconsin Public Library Service Data

Racine Public Library in the news:
City proposes county zoo, bus, library sales tax as one way to help budget. (Racine Journal Times, 8/26/2019)

Palenick said a one-cent county sales tax could generate enough revenue to cover the Racine Zoo, the Racine Public Library and public transportation.

Racine is one of six Wisconsin counties that does not have a county sales tax.

Palenick pointed out that a sales tax would bring in new revenue through everyday consumer activity: if a new store opens in an existing building, it would not affect net new construction, but it would contribute through the sales tax.

Racine Public Library adds a part-time social worker to work with patrons facing crises. (Racine Journal Times, 8/25/2019)

Libraries aren’t just for books anymore; librarians have been called on to be more than just experts on the Dewey Decimal System. They have do a lot more, taking on roles they didn’t expect to when they took the job.

Darcy Mohr, Racine Public Library’s head of adult and youth services, said that RPL’s librarians “had been identifying needs in the community that they weren’t really trained to answer and to help people with: things like poverty, homelessness, addiction, mental illness. These are things that we were never trained for, in library school, to help people with.”

Q&A: Racine Library director on Cubs, books and race equity. (Racine Journal Times, 12/25/2018)

Jessica MacPhail, Racine Public Library executive director, came to the library in 1999 and currently oversees a staff of 60 people.

MacPhail graduated from Rosary College (now Dominican University) in River Forest, ill., with a master’s degree in library science in 1976 and worked in Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio before coming to Racine for this position.

She is a single mother of four children and two grandsons and describes herself as a “maniacal” Cubs fan.

Library celebrates opening of upgraded Youth Services Department. (Racine Journal Times, 11/16/2019)

Three years ago, the Racine Public Library received a surprise donation of $98,000. The money was left to the library in the will of Marilyn Lois Wilson, who died in November 2013 and whose estate was settled in 2015.

The money came “no strings attached,” library Marketing Assistant Julia Heiser said, although Wilson had requested the money be used somehow to help the children who visit the library.

After several years of planning, that money has finally been put to use..

Related posts:
Madison Public Library. (8/26/2019)
Milwaukee Public Library. (8/27/2019)
Brown County Public Library. (8/27/2019)
Appleton Public Library. (8/27/2019)
Waukesha Public Library. (8/28/2019)
Hedberg Public Library, Janesville. (8/28/2019)
Kenosha Public Library. (8/29/2019)
La Crosse Public Library. (8/29/2019)
Marathon County Public Library. (8/30/2019)
Neenah Public Library. (8/30/2019)
Oshkosh Public Library. (8/31/2019)

10/9/2018 update starts here.

Source: Wisconsin Public Library Service Data

Racine Public Library in the news:
Racine library employees remember Peggy Martin. (Racine Journal Times, 3/16/2018)
Racine Public Library temporarily suspends, eliminates fines. (Racine Journal Times, 3/22/2018)
Racine Public Library needs renovation and expansion. (Racine Journal Times, 6/19/2018)
Racine Public Library cards get a makeover. (Racine Journal Times, 7/19/2018)
Racine Public Library's children’s department to close for renovations. (Racine Journal Times, 8/15/2018)

Source: WI DPI Public Library Development Team

Source: Wisconsin Public Library Service Data (2015 preliminary)

Recent RPL news:
Racine Public Library turns up the heat with wi-fi hotspots. (Racine Journal Times, 7/6/2016)

The library announced Wednesday that it has 10 Wi-Fi hotspots that can be checked out with a library card and taken off library property. The hotspots, which connect phones and computers and other digital devices to the internet, can be checked out for one week and may be renewed if no other patrons are waiting.

Racine Public Library need renovation and expansion. (Racine Journal Times, 6/19/2016)

Space needs can be seen when story time has to accommodate too many children in its designated area. It can be seen when one of the many popular adult programs requires chairs to be dragged into a second-floor patron space, causing others to complain of the noise. It can be seen by the long waiting lists for computer training because its current space can only accommodate seven patrons at a time. And it can be seen by the constant back and forth of makerspace materials to areas that have to serve multiple uses.

Ad hoc committee wants to add third floor to library. (Racine Journal Times, 6/12/2016)

The biggest benefit of adding the third floor will be an enclosed meeting space which could hold between 200 and 250 people, according to the architects. The library is in desperate need of such a space, Nash said. “They need an enclosed large meeting room, which they do not have,” she said. “They’re having to use floor space, where people are trying to study, to have meetings.”

Racine Public Library plan would make student IDs into library cards. (Racine Journal Times, 2/18/2016)

Every student in the Racine Unified School District would be able to access the Racine Public Library with his or her own student identification card at their own school library under a newly proposed partnership. Although the pilot program would start with just one school, officials’ goal is to eventually give every student an ID that doubles as a library card.

Original 8/20/2015 post starts here.