OCLC Partnership

The Kokomo-Howard County Public Library announces a new partnership with OCLC, a nonprofit library organization that provides shared technologies and services to libraries worldwide.

With the partnership, KHCPL will implement OCLC Wise, the first community engagement system for U.S. public libraries. The estimated rollout is the fall of 2020.

Wise is an integrated system that uses data to support changes to the collection of materials KHCPL offers so they align with the community’s needs. Wise also creates new and more meaningful engagement opportunities between the library and patrons. For example, Wise allows patrons to review a list of topics and choose the ones that interest them. Then KHCPL will be able to share customized information with patrons, such as inviting them to library events related to subjects they enjoy.

Wise combines customer relationship management, marketing, and analytics with typical library management functionality, such as circulation and acquisitions of materials, into one holistic system.

“What I like most about Wise is that it is, at its center, about people,” KHCPL Director Faith Brautigam said. “Wise will allow KHCPL to connect and communicate with community members in natural, intuitive ways and will provide integrated data to guide us as we look to the future. Those capabilities will be an asset in creating opportunities for our community to become its best, which is our mission. Wise is a timely and powerful tool that I can’t wait to add to our toolkit.”

“We’re impressed by KHCPL’s focus on advancing the community — especially its commitment to local partnerships to support powerful programming,” said Mary Sauer-Games, OCLC Vice President, Global Product Management. “We’re happy to welcome KHCPL as a Wise early adopter. As our group of library partners expands, so does our commitment to provide a seamless implementation experience and ongoing opportunities to engage and collaborate.”

KHCPL joins a growing list of bold early adopters in the United States and is the second library to sign from Indiana. KHCPL joins Allen County Public Library in Indiana; Anythink Libraries in Colorado; Gwinnett County Public Library in Georgia; and the Orange County Library System in Florida. Seventy-five percent of public libraries in the Netherlands use Wise.

About OCLC

OCLC is a nonprofit global library cooperative providing shared technology services, original research, and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research, and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. Libraries gain efficiencies through OCLC’s WorldShare, a complete set of library management applications and services built on an open, cloud-based platform. It is through collaboration and sharing of the world’s collected knowledge that libraries can help people find answers they need to solve problems. Together as OCLC, member libraries, staff, and partners make breakthroughs possible.

Discover Tech: Engineers Make a World of Difference. Banksy Booked @ KHCPL. Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom. Sew Much. If you enjoyed any of these, it’s because Trina Evans, KHCPL Branch Assistant, is an Innovator. She had the idea for the two exhibits, the outdoor classroom, and teaching sewing in the library.

And now all of North America will realize what the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library has known all along: She’s “Tenacious T” aka #persistentlibrarian. Library Journal selected her as one of 2018’s Movers & Shakers. She won in the Innovator category.

When nominating Evans, KHCPL Director Faith Brautigam wrote, “Trina Evans believes that public libraries have unlimited potential to have a positive impact on their communities. … [W]e have come to depend on her trademark style: think big, do your homework, then shoot for the moon.”

Evans began working part-time at KHCPL in 2014. “We didn’t realize it at the time, but she had applied several times over the years,” said Lisa Fipps, Director of Marketing. “She kept telling her family, ‘I love the library, but the library doesn’t love me.’ Boy are we glad we did eventually hire her! She heard about Discover Tech and pursued it. While being trained for Discover Tech, she learned about outdoor classrooms and worked to make it happen. As a native of Los Angeles, she grew up around street art and loved it. After watching the Saving Banksy documentary, she sought out the owner of Banksy’s Haight Street Rat to get the exhibit to KHCPL – making Kokomo home to the first library in the world to host a Banksy. She worked to find funding so that KHCPL could offer sewing programs, called Sew Much. All of this happened in 16 months. Oh, and did we mention she’s taking classes to finish her Master of Library Science degree at the same time. And has a very active family life?”

“We love it when Trina says, ‘I have an idea,’ ” Brautigam said. “She has so much energy and a true passion for libraries. She has played a key role in helping KHCPL create new opportunities for our community.” Brautigam noted that the library’s Galentine’s event is a brainchild of Trina’s, and she also came up with the idea of trying to lure former Colts player Pat McAfee to Kokomo for Guys on Tap. His schedule didn’t allow it, but she and KHCPL definitely ended up on his radar.

“I love working at KHCPL, where my boss, Lori Hugley, Head of the Branches, says, ‘Go for it!’ ” Evans said. “I love being empowered like that. It’s a sign of a great library. But I also like that staff members came along side me to make it all happen. Yes, I have the ideas and get the ball rolling, but those were all huge projects that took teamwork.” In fact, when staff found out about Evans’s award, she told them, “I really couldn’t have accomplished any of my ideas without the analytical thinking of those working at the library. I feel the work WE are doing really impacts our community! So congratulations to US! Our library is doing amazing things!”

Trina Evans, left, receives a certificate of appreciation from KHCPL Board of Trustees President Cathy Stover.

Library Journal (C) 2018, Media Source Inc.

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Have you ever checked out a book that made you change the way you look at the world? Well, on Friday, October 6, the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library hopes you do just that when it hosts the Human Library.

The Human Library is much like a regular library ꟷexcept the books are volunteers from all walks of life who have experienced discrimination based on race, religion, sexual preference, class, gender identity, sex, age, lifestyle choices, disability, and other aspects of their life. 

During the October First Friday, from 5 to 8 p.m. at KHCPL Main, you’ll find a board listing all the books available for checkout. Titles include “Catholic Convert to Judaism,” “Trans Male College Student,” “Foster Child to Homeless Woman,” “From Child Mexican Immigrant to Small Business Owner,” and “Mother of Two Autistic Children.” You select the book you want to read. Then you sit down and talk.

“Just as we have rules about materials that we loan out, we’ll have rules for these books,” said Lisa Fipps, Director of Marketing. “The reader should return the book in the same mental and physical condition in which it was borrowed is a primary rule. In other words, you don’t check out a book to try to change it, judge it, or berate it. We’ll have staff stationed around the books to ensure that doesn’t happen, and the books will be trained to walk away if that happens. In essence, borrowing is based on mutual respect. This is a time to read the book to grow in understanding of what it’s like, for example, to leave the religion you were born into, raised in, for another religion. It’s not the time to proselytize.” 

The Human Library started in Denmark, where it’s called “Menneskebiblioteket,” in 2000 at the Roskilde Festival. The organizer started it in response to a person being attacked for being different. It was open eight hours a day for four days straight and featured more than 50 books. The selection provided readers the ability ample to challenge their stereotypes. To date, the Human Library has been presented in more than 70 countries around the world.

Thanks to a grant from Aptiv, the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library will launch Digital Divers, an afterschool program to help improve students’ science, technology, engineering, and math skills, on Aug. 3 during First Friday.

With an ocean theme, third- through seventh-graders dive deeper into the sea with each completed, self-led STEM challenge in a race to the bottom of the ocean. Along the way, kids will earn points to redeem for prizes and time to use the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. 

“Digital Divers wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of Aptiv,” said Lisa Fipps, KHCPL Director of Marketing. “Aptiv was a key partner in helping us make the Discover Tech: Engineers Make a World of Difference exhibit a success in 2017. It provided funding and volunteers. When we approached the grant committee about an opportunity to partner with us again for Digital Divers, it immediately said yes. Our community is fortunate to have a company with employees who understand the importance of STEM and are eager to help ensure our students succeed.”

Companies such as Aptiv understand that America’s global leadership is threatened because too few U.S. high school students do well with STEM, let alone pursue STEM degrees or careers — especially lower-income women and minorities, Fipps said. “Those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and minorities are deeply underrepresented in STEM fields — just 2.2% of Latinos, 2.7% of African Americans, and 3.3% of Native Americans and Alaska Natives have earned a university degree in STEM fields. This underrepresentation means that the poor and minorities lack qualifications to access STEM-related jobs, which, in addition to being more plentiful, are also better paid than many other jobs.” 

KHCPL’s Digital Divers is based on Muncie Public Library’s Digital Climbers. “We heard great things about their after-school, self-led STEM challenge, so we took a tour,” said Brennan Reed, Head of KHCPL Children’s Services. Muncie Public Library agreed to let us duplicate the program for Kokomo.”

KHCPL would love to see teachers attend the launch.

“KHCPL will be encouraging schools to tour Digital Divers and to compete with other classes and schools,” Reed said. “We would love to see, for example, Western’s third-graders compete with Northwestern’s. Teachers who direct students to KHCPL for Digital Divers will then have kids who come to class with more excitement about and understanding of STEM. That’s a big plus. In addition, for teachers who take advantage of our Teacher Delivery Service, we can provide a variety of STEM-focused materials to the classrooms. To provide the most benefit for our community’s students, we truly want and need partnership with teachers, classrooms, and school districts.”

KHCPL seeks college students, retirees, and others with STEM skills or a passion for STEM to volunteer to be Digital Mentors. “The students select and complete the STEM challenges independently. Digital Mentors answer questions or help with technological glitches,” Reed said. “This would be a great opportunity for retired engineers and current college students who want to go into teaching STEM, for example.”

(Staff received training on the various STEM challenges students will have to complete)

While Digital Divers is for students in third through seventh grades, all ages are welcome to join us in the Multipurpose Room on the second floor of KHCPL Main for the grand unveiling between 5:30 and 8 p.m. There will be refreshments and giveaways for kids while supplies last. 

Teens and adults will be making shark tooth necklaces during First Friday.

Starting Aug. 6, Digital Divers will be from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday at KHCPL Main, as well as from 2 to 4 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month. “The hours can be adjusted if we find patron demand for more Saturdays or longer weekday hours because of work schedules. This is our starting schedule.”

KHCPL South will also offer Digital Divers on a smaller scale from 1 to 3 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month. Third- through seventh-graders, will complete STEM challenges. Any points earned at KHCPL South can be used at KHCPL Main to redeem prizes or and time to use the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. 

In addition to Aptiv, Digital Divers is sponsored by The SIA Foundation, Friends of the Library, and a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Indiana State Library.

“We are so grateful for all of the funding so that we could bring Digital Divers to Kokomo,” Fipps said.

Call 626.0830 for more information or to become a Digital Mentor. 

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In 2018 terms, an Indiana Civil War soldier writes to his wife, “I know it’s a warzone between Kokomo, Indiana, and central Georgia, but I’m lonely, so please come visit.”

In 1863 terms, his letter read, “Dear Wife … If we stop about the 1st of October, it will be in Central Georgia and at that time it will suit you much to come south.”

That’s an excerpt from one of 90 written pages from the Civil War diary of John Underwood, 39th Indiana Infantry/8th Indiana Cavalry under the command of T.J. Harrison. Those letters and many more Howard County, Indiana, Civil War documents will soon be digitized, online, and searchable, thanks to an $11,000 grant the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library received.

“Not only is this great news for genealogists trying to find their ancestors who served during the Civil War, but it also allows people to learn more about our history,” said Amy Russell, head of KHCPL’s Genealogy & Local History Department. “Howard County is known for its patriotism and has a strong history of supporting the military. Records show that in the 16 to 35 age range, Howard County led the state in percentage of Civil War recruits.”

The Howard County Historical Society owns the Civil War records. The Kokomo-Howard County Public Library is partnering with it to digitize them. The grant covers the library’s personnel cost for the process and is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Indiana State Library.

Some of the other items to be digitized include:

• record book of minutes from the Headquarters of the Thomas J. Harrison Post No. 30 Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), dated 24 March 1905 through October 1912, and Nov. 8, 1912, through Jan. 1, 1916;

• G.A R. Hugh H. Willits Post No. 424 ledger, financial report 1899-1928 (Greentown, Indiana);

• Civil War chest and contents used by Captain William H. Sumption, Company E, 11th Indiana Volunteer Cavalry;

• miscellaneous muster in, muster out, appointments, discharge, pension certificates, and inventory of effects of deceased soldiers; and

• letters to Serena Brannen from several soldiers.

Once the project is complete, the digitized records will be found on KHCPL’s Howard County Memory Project website, howardcountymemory.net, and the Indiana State Library’s Indiana Memory website, digital.library.in.gov.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. 

In an effort to remove reading barriers, increase childhood literacy, and improve library access, the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library has created a pilot program to eliminate late fees on certain items.

Effectively immediately, overdue fines will not accrue on books classified as juvenile, junior high, or young adult, no matter what the age of the person checking out the materials.

“To be clear, this is for books only,” said Lisa Fipps, Director of Marketing. “So late fees for items such as movies or CDs still apply. We’re making it a pilot program because we need to gauge the success and cost because there will be a loss of revenue.”

Patrons will still be billed for items that are not renewed or returned within three weeks after the due date.

If you have further questions, please call Circulation at 457.3242.

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine, and it gives you a chance to spotlight a book that you are eagerly waiting to be released. This week I picked:

If I Fix You

By Abigail Johnson

Publication Date October 25th, 2016

Summary From Goodreads:

Readers of Sarah Dessen, Cammie McGovern and Morgan Matson will adore this thought-provoking, complex and romantic contemporary novel from debut author Abigail Johnson, about finding the strength to put yourself back together when everything you know has fallen apart.

When sixteen-year-old Jill Whitaker’s mom walks out—with a sticky note as a goodbye—only Jill knows the real reason she’s gone. But how can she tell her father? Jill can hardly believe the truth herself.

Suddenly, the girl who likes to fix things—cars, relationships, romances, people—is all broken up. Used to be, her best friend, tall, blond and hot flirt Sean Addison, could make her smile in seconds. But not anymore. They don’t even talk.

With nothing making sense, Jill tries to pick up the pieces of her life. But when a new guy moves in next door, intense, seriously cute, but with scars—on the inside and out—that he thinks don’t show, Jill finds herself trying to make things better for Daniel. But over one long, hot Arizona summer, she realizes she can’t fix anyone’s life until she fixes her own. And she knows just where to start . . .

Why I Picked It:

I love Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson, and if this debut author is anything like them, I'm sure I'll love her too. And, I'm really curious to see what really happened to make her mom leave so abruptly, and what happens between Jill and Sean. Does she fix her relationship with him? and what about this new mysterious neighbor? I can't wait to find out! If you'd like to read this book, click here to be redirected to page so you can put your name on the hold list.

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine, and it gives you a chance to spotlight a book that you are eagerly waiting to be released. This week I picked:

The Chemist

By: Stephenie Meyer

Publication Date: November 15th, 2016

Summary From Goodreads:

In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life.

She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn't even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning.

Now, she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They've killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon.

When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it's her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous.

Resolving to meet the threat head on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life, but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of.

In this tautly plotted novel, Meyer creates a fierce and fascinating new heroine with a very specialized skill set. And she shows once again why she's one of the world's bestselling authors.

Why?

Yes, that's right, Stephenie Meyer finally has another book coming out! I love Stephenie Meyer. And the last book she wrote for Adults (The Host) was superb, and I cannot wait to see if this one lives up to the hype that I'm building it up to be in my head. *Fingers Crossed* If you'd like to read this book and see what it's all about click here to put your name on the Hold list.

With publishers consolidating and purchasing fewer books each year, and breakout self-publishing successes, self-publishing is a practical approach to making real money and getting your books in the hands of readers. Come to the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library to learn all about it from author Robert Kent.

The Basics of Self-Publishing program will be from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 7, at KHCPL South, 1755 E. Center Road.

Kent writes middle-grade novels, including Banneker Bones and the Giant Robot Bees, and Banneker Bones and the Alligator People. He runs the popular Middle Grade Ninja blog, which features interviews with and guest posts from sought-after professionals, such as M.T. Anderson, author of Feed, Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan and Wishtree, Michael Grant, author of the Gone and BZRK series, and Lois Lowry, author of The Giver; literary agents Victoria Arms Wells of Hannigan Salky Getzler, Alec Shane of Writers House, Sara Crowe of Pippin Properties, and Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary Agency; and other publishing experts.

“Rob’s been one of my writing critique partners for nine years,” said Lisa Fipps, KHCPL Director of Marketing. “I would have never gotten my agent or Nancy Paulsen, at Nancy Paulsen Books of Penguin Books USA, as an editor for my upcoming debut middle-grade novel, Starfish, if it weren’t for my critique partners, including Rob. He’s had great success self-publishing. That’s why I invited him to Kokomo. Each year when we host the Local Author Fair, we have people asking us to bring in writing professionals so they can learn how to get published. So I asked Rob to lead The Basics of Self-Publishing program for the library. A three-hour course that’s free and led by an author of Kent’s caliber isn’t easy to find, especially locally. Not only does KHCPL encourage people to take advantage of it, but I personally do.”

Kent holds degrees in Literature and Creative Writing from Indiana University. He also teaches courses at the Indiana Writers Center. Find out more about him and his blog at middlegradeninja.com.

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