Your Library Card Works at ALL WCFLS Libraries

A lot of our patrons may not realize that their Mukwonago Community Library card is actually good at all of Waukesha County Federated Library System (WCFLS) libraries. That has all sorts of benefits for you! 1. You can check items out from other Waukesha County libraries. 2. You can return your items to any of the WCFLS libraries and it will get checked in and returned to the library that owns it! So if you live in Mukwonago and are running errands in Waukesha..you can return the items at the Waukesha library. 3. You can participate in any programs hosted by other libraries. If computer classes or storytime events don't fit your schedule at our library check out our companion libraries to see if they have something that fits your needs. You can check the WCFLS events calendar here. 4. You have 24/7 access to research and job search databases. 5. Don't forget you can always call any of the libraries for questions or reference services! Maybe you can take a drive and check out some of our wonderful libraries.

Happy (almost) New Year!

2009 was a good year. A lot of progress was made on the expansion front, both in “concrete” terms—building plans, drawings, cost estimates, etc.—and in “soft” terms—building connections to the community. We are always looking for suggestions and other feedback, so please let us know your thoughts on expansion!

Visits and check-outs were both up and demand for the library’s computer stations was up significantly. We had some terrific programs during the year, and another hugely successful summer reading program. The Winter Reading Challenge is in full swing right now, and plans for the Summer are already in the works.

Our collection was further weeded in 2009, a process begun in December of 2008, and nearly all areas of our holdings have now been weeded. While still short of stack space, the weeding has allowed us to add new titles and formats to our holdings and even provide us with a little space to grow into until the expansion is ready.

Thanks to the generosity of many of our patrons we are closer than ever to our fundraising goal, plus we have some new CD racks, a beautiful “Tree of Giving” in the lobby and will soon have wireless printing. It’s been a great year, and we’re looking for even better things in 2010!

Happy New Year everyone!

Expansion Open House: Dec. 15

Join us in one week at village hall for a look at the preliminary plans for expansion! On Tuesday, December 15 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the village hall board room, the library and our architects will have drawings of what an expanded library might look like and how it might be arranged. Del Wilson, of Uihlein-Wilson Architects, will be available for questions, as will the Library Director and Library Board members.

Stick around at 7:30 for a Village Board meeting which will include a presentation about the expansion and a Q&A session with the Village Board members. As we head into a new year, it is time to get excited about all the terrific things an expanded and renovated library can offer the community!

Come on down to village hall, Tuesday, December 15 and see how our plans are progressing.

Mukwonago Community Library: Rooted in the Past, Growing for Tomorrow.

Libraries Are a Bargain

First of all, I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving. For myself, I believe I am fully recovered from the food coma that was Thursday. The Packers smoking the Lions helped.

Now onto more mundane stuff-- it is difficult to pin down the exact economic impact of libraries, but recent studies indicate that it is significant. In Wisconsin, a study done in 2008 indicated that for every tax dollar spent to support libraries, the state's residents got back over $4 in goods and services. The full report can be found here, along with links to other studies.

This echoes findings found in the rest of the country, as well. Studies done in Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Washington show similar results. In Ohio, a study showed that nine public library systems generated an annual economic impact of nearly four times the amount invested in their operations.

Libraries draw people to a community, bring people in to shopping districts and downtown areas. We offer job training and retraining help in difficult economic times, and help to those learning the vital computer skills so important in the 21st century. We connect individuals and groups and offer a backbone of knowledge that benefits not just our patrons but everyone they interact with before and after their visits.

The Wisconsin Library Association had a catch phrase a few years back that I think sums it up well: If knowledge is power, than libraries are power plants.

And we are-- efficient, highly flexible and adaptable power plants.

The Economic Impact of Libraries

Many people love their local library. We love the books. We love the smell. We love the movies and the programs and the computer access and the magazines. We love studying there, researching there, and going to storytimes and other programs there. For us, the library is a wondrous place, full of fun, full of adventure, full of opportunity.

But what about those folks in the community who don’t love, or even use, the library? It’s important to for them to know just how valuable a good local library really is—not just in societal or cultural terms, but in cold, hard economic terms. A recent survey we conducted indicates that over 90% of the people that visit the Mukwonago library do other shopping and business within the village during their trips to the library. Additionally, in a 2007 survey of Wisconsin residents, 29.7% of respondents list access to a good library as a strong factor in deciding where to live. Another 31.7% list it as a contributing factor—nearly two-thirds of those surveyed consider the local library in deciding where to live.

Finally, it should be noted that the Mukwonago Community Library is not only an economic asset for the community, it is also an incredibly efficient municipal entity. We have the lowest cost per circulation in the county and among the lowest in the country. For every tax dollar that goes to the library, nearly six dollars worth of materials and services are made available to our patrons. So tell everyone you know how economically valuable the library is!

About That Poll...

Initially I was discouraged by the results of the poll in last week’s Mukwonago Chief, but a few things reassured me. First, it was only 125 votes, hardly representative of the Mukwonago community. Second, online polls are notoriously imprecise and, as noted in The Chief, unscientific. But here’s the most interesting fact about it—it is still open. Go to http://www.livinglakecountry.com/polls/56715842.html and you can still vote. As I write this entry, the vote had changed considerably—55% in favor and 45% opposed, with 215 total votes. So, a huge thank you to everyone that voted in favor of expansion.

We have a tremendous library, but it is too small and too old to best serve the community. We need study rooms for all our students, traditional and returning; we need another, a larger meeting room to meet the needs of our growing, inter-connected community; we really need a bigger, separate children's area so that kids can be kids (with apologies to Chuck E. Cheese) and have some fun while they read and learn at the library; and we need more shelves to hold our collection, so that we don't have to pull a book off the shelves every time we add a new one.

A Slightly Different Poll
The library surveyed 265 of our patrons two weeks ago, and 83% of them shop or run other errands as part of going to the library. This number is even higher for out of village patrons, with nearly 95% doing other things in the village when they visit the library-- shopping at the grocery store, visiting the pharmacy, eating lunch at one of the many restaurants and fast food joints in town, going to Ace Hardware or Home Depot, etc., etc. Which reassures me that the library is a strong component not only of the social and cultural life of Mukwonago, but also of its economic well-being.

If the library doesn't expand and the inevitable age and space constraints begin to take their toll on our ability to serve this community, we could easily start to lose our patrons to other libraries. And if they go to another library to meet their information, reading, viewing and other library needs, they'll go to some other community's grocery stores, gas stations, drug stores, restaurants, bike shops, hardware stores... well, you get the idea.

A Busy Week

On Monday, the Page Turners Book Club met in the afternoon to discuss the book Don't Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhoold. That evening Mary Blott, Executive Director of the Mukwonago Area Chamber of Commerce, talked with our patrons about Staycations-- fun, local and inexpensive vacation and relaxation opportunities during the summer.

Tuesday night was Espresso Self night, with local teens painting with espresso. The art is very cool.

Last night, the Library hosted an open mic event, and local authors, musicians and artists came out to read, sing, play and discuss their works. Fueled by some excellent coffee donated by Espresso Love, the night was a lot of fun.

This morning, Miss Jane had her lapsit storytime for our littlest patrons-- newborn to 36 months-- a session that featured quite a bit of quacking. Later today and tomorrow, there will be gatherings of the 1000 Cranes for Peace Club. 1:00-1:30 both days, the event is open to grades 3-8. Help us reach our goal of 1000 paper cranes by the end of the summer. Current crane total: 213.

Also today and tomorrow, we will have visits by our therapy dogs for the Paws to Read progam. Today at 1:30, Cinnamon will be in the house, while tomorrow at 1:30 B.J. will be available.

We are having a fun, creative summer at the Library-- come join the fun!

What He Said

Hard to expand on this article, detailing the importance of libraries. Also, the dangers libraries often face during municipal budget cutting phases. Key bit:

If education and information are going to provide the means as America digs itself out the great big hole we are in, the public library is handing out the shovels. Cut or kill the libraries and you yank away a shovel.

So please, Mayor IT Guy. And Mayors anywhere else, for that matter. Leave the libraries alone. Believe me. They are not a luxury, but a lifeline.

• New York

Michael Bloomberg may be the ultimate IT Guy. Okay, maybe that's still Bill Gates. But the point is, Michael Bloomberg took Information and Technology and made himself an empire with Bloomberg News. T...

Michael Bloomberg may be the ultimate IT Guy. Okay, maybe that's still Bill Gates. But the point is, Michael Bloomberg took Information and Technology and made himself an empire with Bloomberg News. T...

Libraries Can Make You Healthier

So says the March 3, 2009 Woman's Day magazine, and thinking about it, I'm not really very surprised. The public library was Google long before computers were even conceived of, much less the internet. There is information available at the library on nearly everything-- and not just any information, dependable, critically-reviewed information. And not just information, but people willing to help you find the information you need.

Money quote from the article:
"It's funny, I was always told to be mindful of my health. Luckily, the library taught me that the way to good health is to have a mind that's full."