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Amanda Barnhart gets by with a little help from her teens.
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KNOW YOUR LIBRARIANS
Teen Idol Who says you can't rock out in a library? At least, don't tell that to Amanda Barnhart, young adult coordinator at the Trails West Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. And certainly don't tell any of her teens. Last Friday at Trails, Barnhart organized a teen lock-in to celebrate the end of Summer Reading. Even though the kids present had all been born around the turn of the millennium, they came prepared to celebrate the party's theme, "You Weren't Here: The '80s," wearing headbands, heavy-metal tees, and neon accessories. Between turns on Rock Band, the kids engaged in activities such as making wallets from felt fabric and cassette tapes and testing their librarian skills on a scavenger hunt through the stacks. Like much of Barnhart's teen programming, the evening mixed fun with a little learning. "Teens really keep you on your toes, they're always challenging you, asking, 'Why do you do that?'" Barnhart says. "It's a different outlook on life that I like to be reminded of. It's like being a kid again." In her nearly five years of working with teens at Trails West, Barnhart has had to get strategic in her approach to engaging younger customers. Times are different than when she first came to Trails West eight years ago, following a stint in Outreach. In those days, teens were drawn into the Library by the computers. Now that many have Internet access at home, attracting them is more of a challenge. "You have to involve them in the process," Barnhart says. "That's the only way it works. When they see their own ideas in action, you know they're going to like it." Last year, the teens chose their own theme for the Summer Reading party: "Pirates & Ninjas" ("Who else is going to come up with a theme like that?" Barnhart says). Barnhart also motivates older teens by putting them in charge of organizing aspects of programs, such as presiding over the gaming room or helping with crafts. The teens at Trails West also get credit for maintaining two of the most active (and colorfully named) book groups in the Library system: Oh My Teen! and Barely Legal. The former prefers YA fiction, while the latter goes for more grown-up reads in the realms of romance and sci-fi. The teens came up with the names.  Barnhart has recently extended her reach into the Library's community of teen readers by taking on administrative duties for the KC Library Teens Facebook page, where she and her team of fellow librarians, including Wick Thomas (Central) and Ashlei Wheeler (Waldo), post book-related quizzes, take readers' advisory requests, and update teens about events.
"Tools like Facebook are helping us change the way teens see literature as 'uncool'," Barnhart says. Barnhart has already begun using the Facebook page to promote the YALSA Teens' Top Ten campaign, in which teens all over the country vote for their favorite books of the year from a list chosen by official nominating groups. (Barnhart's Trails teens were an official Top Ten nominating group for three years, from 2008-2010.) For Barnhart, engaging teens on different levels, using different techniques, is part of a bigger goal. "I hope to change the way teens see the Library," she says. "I hope they see it as a more friendly place that understands what kind of literature they want and can help them request books before they come out." "We're always fighting that old image of: You're going to be shushed, you're going to be given the evil eye because you're there to use the computer,'" Barnhart continues. "I want the Library to be more welcoming, more friendly, more, What would you like to read next?"
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Julie Robinson and "P.T." got acquainted at the I.H. Ruiz Branch Back to School Pep Rally. Click the photo for a Flickr gallery.
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FROM THE BRANCHES
School's In
Last Thursday, August 11, 2011, marked the 10th anniversary of the Back to School Pep Rally at the I.H. Ruiz Branch. And though it was a decade milestone for one of the Kansas City Public Library's biggest outreach-oriented events, according to Branch Manager Julie Robinson, the kids who came didn't care.
"What the kids care about is that this is for them -- and for them, it's a really big deal," Robinson says.
It's a big deal for the entire neighborhood. Each year before the start of school, a network of Westside community organizations and individuals circles around the I.H. Ruiz Branch. They put on a giant block party and give out scads of school supplies and books to students in grades pre-K through 12.
This year, the neighborhood schools that benefitted were Primitivo Garcia Elementary, Our Lady of Guadalupe School, Alta Vista Middle and Charter High Schools, and Cristo Rey High.
Around 2,000 people came out for the event, and 189 backpacks stuffed with grade-specific supplies were given to 72 families. Even more backpacks were given out in the ensuing days to families who had registered to receive them.
Each year, the school supplies and backpacks are donated by community members and organizations. This year, donors included Kramer Hardware, Manny's Restaurant, Boulevard Brewing Co., Carthage Marble, Walmart of Liberty, Mo., Perez Food Products and many others. Employees at the local U.S. Department of Homeland Security office even held a three-day drive to collect supplies for the event.
The Pep Rally was organized chiefly by the I.H. Ruiz Branch, the Westside Community Action Network (CAN) Center, and the Tony Aguirre Community Center. Kansas City Parks and Recreation provided the inflatables and hot dogs, and day laborers from the CAN Center helped with setup and teardown.
Twenty vendors from around Kansas City set up tables to give out information and prizes. Truman Medical Center, LINC, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Arvest Bank, El Dorado Architects, the American Red Cross, the Fire Dept., and Kansas City Public Television were among those represented.
Providing the manpower to help the event run smoothly were 28 Kansas City Public Library volunteers under the direction of Volunteer Coordinator Katie Taylor. In the days leading up to the event, Robinson organized other volunteers to stock backpacks with items from the KCMSD school-supply list. An additional two dozen volunteers from the neighborhood helped out, too, as they do year after year.
"My kids come to the Library all the time. One of the reasons I help out is that I'm giving back," said neighborhood volunteer Kenny Posey.
Several members of the Friends of the Library also rolled up their sleeves. In years past, the Friends have donated money to purchase the books that the Library gives to every child who attends. But this year, FOL board members Tom Platt and Susan Bailey and volunteers Eric Patterson, Carole and Dave Rowmer, and Don Biggs joined in the work -- and the fun.
Click the photo below for a slide show from the event. You can also view an online gallery of photos taken by the Kansas City Star.
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Richard DeWitt (right), Emily Iorg (center), and Helma Hawkins gave a book to every child. Click for image gallery.
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 THE BIG READ 2011 It's Your Big Read There's a lot to be excited about this year's Big Read.
Think about it: your Library is partnering with a world-renowned performance company to launch a reading initiative around the opening of a performing arts center (the only one of its kind opening anywhere in the world this year) to stage the world premiere of a ballet based on a book by a world-famous Missouri author.
If you saw the word "world" a lot in that paragraph, that was no accident. It wasn't an exaggeration, either.
"This should be our biggest and best Big Read ever," says Library Director Crosby Kemper III. "With Missouri's greatest author and one of the most iconic novels in American culture, plus the Library teaming up with KC Ballet to stage Tom Sawyer: A Ballet in Three Acts at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the Kansas City Public Library will be at the center of the biggest celebration of literature in local history."
That's super exciting. But will any of it count if people don't read the book?
That's where you come in.
Starting September 1, the Library will connect readers with the Big Read at every point of contact: at the service desks, in the kids' and teens' areas, in book groups, online, and through unique programs and activities.
In addition to ordering 500 copies of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the Library is bringing the Big Read to the community in September and October through a variety of ways. Here are a few highlights:
- Library book discussion groups are talking about Tom Sawyer at Central and three of the branches, and the Library will team up with The Kansas City Star to bring back the FYI Book Group. An article on Tom will appear in the Star on Saturday, Sept. 10, and the group will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the Plaza Branch.
- Signature events are also on the way, including a discussion with Autobiography of Mark Twain vol. 1 editor Robert Hirst, a piano-side chat with ballet composer Maury Yeston, and a Meet the Past with Mark Twain himself (as portrayed by George Frein).
- A community fence-painting event is taking place on Friday, Sept. 9, at the 51st & Main St. community garden, just down the street from the Plaza Branch. There, at 4:30 p.m., the Coterie Theatre will perform a dramatic reading of Chapter 2 of Tom Sawyer, then all in attendance will be invited to re-enact the famous whitewashing scene. (Note: overalls and bare feet are encouraged, but optional.)
Those are just a few of the focal points in this year's Big Read. Other projects include an audio podcast featuring readers from the community, story times, the always-popular Big Read Corporate Edition, a special Facebook readers' advisory campaign and more. Keep up with all the action at kcbigread.org.
For more information on how you can get involved, contact Paul Smith or Kaite Mediatore Stover.
And be sure to pick up a copy of Tom Sawyer for yourself (either physical or e-book).
After all, it's not just a Big Read - it's a good one, too.
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Anamarie Taylor shows off the 3-D story box she made in Jasmine Zelaya's Out of This World Crafts series. (Photo by Zelaya)
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YOUTH SERVICES
Honing Her Craft
With inspirational origins ranging from ancient Chinese and Aboriginal arts to modern graffiti and 3-D storytelling, Jasmine Zelaya's series of "Out of This World" craft programs at the Central Library was like art school meets the History Channel. It certainly fit the Summer Reading theme: "One World, Many Stories."
Pulling from her arts background, Zelaya developed seven weeks' worth of craft activities (13 programs total) for kids and teens that brought together ideas from cultures around the world, old and new.
Each activity used recycled and repurposed materials, such as grocery store plastic bags heated and fused to make book covers or plastic flowers, and leftover styrofoam plates turned into stamp-printing devices.
"They often take my initial idea and instruction to new heights," Zelaya says. "I've found that offering these sorts of programs helps me and our staff develop relationships with our regular teens and with each other, and also helps to leave lasting impressions on those patrons who were not already familiar with the Library or what we offer."
Check out some more pics (below) that Zelaya took of her young crafters, and contact her at jasminezelaya@kclibrary.org to discuss craft ideas for your kids and teens.
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Joy Taylor makes cake pops.
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This paper bracelet was made from 100% repurposed material.
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Kids work on life-sized self-portraits inspired by Aboriginal cave drawings.
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The Reading Routes bus guides will show area high schoolers the fastest way to their Library location of choice.
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BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF READERS
Reading Routes
Soon it will be easier than ever for local high school students to find their way to reading.
This summer, the Kansas City Public Library has been developing a series of bus guides that will show Kansas City Missouri School District high school students how to get from their school to the nearest Library location, as well as to the Central Library and Plaza Branch, using the KCATA Metro bus system.
These "Reading Routes" include bus maps, schedules, route times, and walking distances. They were created over 10 weeks by KU geography graduate student Lauren James, who was the Hall Center for the Humanities summer intern in the Public Affairs department. (Each summer since 2007, the Hall Center has provided a graduate student intern to Public Affairs.) Art Director Matthew Kemp is designing the pocket-sized guides, which should be distributed later in the summer.
Reading Routes is the idea of Public Affairs Director Henry Fortunato, who, as an avid user of public transportation - let alone a non-driver - knows that the Metro bus system can be daunting to new riders.
"The problem people face with public transportation is that if you don't have to use it, you don't know how to use it," Fortunato says. "We wanted to help break down barriers for entry by making sure that along with their Library cards, the students would have an easy guide to getting to the Library using the bus system."
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Lauren James gets a feel for public transit, KC style. (Photo by Henry Fortunato.)
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Reading Routes falls under the Library's Building a Community of Readers initiative, which also aims to equip every KCMSD high school student with a Kansas City Public Library card.
Each Reading Route guide is designed to get the user
to the Library from the school in the shortest amount of time possible, with the least amount of transfers. Two Library branches, Sugar Creek and I.H. Ruiz, are not included in the guides, due to lack of a nearby bus stop and district high school, respectively.
The guides are now being reviewed for accuracy and comprehensiveness by officials at KCATA. Additionally, to get some real user feedback, James asked Plaza Branch Teen Assistant Kathy Meier to form a teen focus-group to give input on the guides.
"The teens spent about 25 minutes with the guides and were really engaged," James reported. "They liked that the guides were small and colorful - something you could hand to a friend."
Hopefully, that's exactly what they'll be doing when the 2011 school year starts.
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KNOW YOUR LIBRARIANS
Trading Places
As of August 8, 2011, Joel Jones became Director of Branch and Outreach Services and Dorothy Elliott became Plaza Branch Director. LibraryLand caught up with Jones and Elliott to get them to reflect on their careers and look toward the road ahead.
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Dorothy Elliott
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Dorothy Elliot
From: Deputy Executive Director for Branch and Outreach Services
To: Plaza Branch Director
What other Library jobs have you held?
"I was Deputy Executive Director of Branches from March 2006 to August 2011, and before that, I was Deputy Executive Director for Central Library Services from June 2002 to March 2006."
What were your biggest accomplishments as Deputy Executive Director of Branches?
"To quote Library consultant (and former executive director of the Springfield-Greene Public Library) Annie Busch, branches are where 'the rubber hits the road.' I worked to serve as an advocate for the branches of The Kansas City Public Library, their customers and their staffs. In addition, I saw myself as a conduit between top administration and branch staff. I tried to make sure people were getting what they needed to do their jobs. I was interested in facilitating getting the right people around the table for various initiatives. I listened a lot. I learned, and, at Crosby's frequent request, I coached."
What are you looking forward to in your new job?
"Working with the great Plaza Branch staff, providing more direct customer service, and nurturing relationships with community groups."
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Joel Jones
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Joel Jones
From: Plaza Branch Director
To: Director of Branch and Outreach Services
What other Library jobs have you held?
"I was hired in December 1994 in the A/V department at the old Main Library. I have served as branch manager for Southeast (five years), Waldo (two years), and the Plaza (six years)."
What were your biggest accomplishments as Plaza Branch Director?
"Having a staff that is committed to providing excellent service to people. I am also glad that I could help maintain the Plaza Branch's reputation as the "in" place to go for all Library services in the Plaza area. We maintained a positive reputation in the community as a place where people want to come."
What are you looking forward to in your new job?
"I've worked as manager at three different branches, and I have a good knowledge of how our branches are vital to their communities -- and how they make their communities more vital. I hope to continue Dorothy's committment to the the mission and values of the Library, its board, and its director. I hope to continue keeping in mind where the Library wants to go, because it reflects ultimately where the community wants to go."
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A Vibrant Litany
Library fan Shan Neely wrote to the Editor of the Kansas City Star to thank the Library for bringing great authors and speakers, or, as Neely put it, "a vibrant litany of literary and historical presentations." Neely also thanked Crosby Kemper III and Henry Fortunato for their "boundless energy, passion, and imagination" in regard to Library programming. Read the very kind letter here.
Leader of the Rings The Kansas City Star Magazine featured an in-depth cover story on the exhibit currently at Central, Reckless Beauty and Mounting Laughter: A Day in the Life of the American Circus, 1900-1956, which contains circus posters and artifacts from the collection of Tim Tegge, circus performer and historian. 
Beer, My Dear
Boulevard Brewing Co. founder John McDonald dropped by the KCTV5 studios to preview his August 3, 2011, appearance at the Library for the Cradle of Entrepreneurs series of public discussions with local business founders. Others to come include Mary Carol Garrity (Oct. 11), Danny O'Neill (Nov. 15), and Ollie Gates (Nov. 16). Watch the video online.
Making Missouri History
On August 10, 1861, Union General Nathaniel Lyon led a surprise attack on 12,000 Confederate secessionist troops camped at Wilson's Creek in Missouri. It was the first Civil War battle west of the Mississippi, and to commemorate its 150th anniversary, historian Terry Beckenbaugh of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth spoke at the Library before a crowd of 250 and was a guest on KCUR's Up-to-Date with Steve Kraske.
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 Your questions, answered. Q: How can I get my pay stub electronically? A: If you don't keep your pay statements after you've read them but you don't want to throw them away, you can set ADP to send your statements electronically. You will be able to save four years' worth of pay stubs and view them anytime online -- and you'll save paper!
Here's how to set ADP to "Go Paperless." 1. Log into the ADP portal at https://portal.adp.com.
2. If you're a manager, choose the "Employee" view from the leftmost dropdown menu (non-managers move on to step 3).
3. Choose "Pay Statements" off the "Pay & Taxes" menu.
4. Click "Go Paperless," a blue link near the upper-left-hand corner.
5. Click the checkbox beside "Access my pay statements online only" and then click "Next."
6. Click "Accept" to agree to the "Agreement to Stop Receiving Paper Pay Statements."
7. In order to verify that you can read the statements online, you will be shown a confirmation number which you need to type in the field near the bottom of the page. (Depending on your screen resolution, you may not be able to see the code and the box you type it in at the same time. In this case, you may need to write the number down before typing it in.)
8. Click "Save"
9. Your email address will be displayed. This is the address to which notification of your pay statement's availability will be sent each payroll. If you like, you can choose a different email address by clicking "Edit."
10. Click "Done." -- Bob Pedersen, Sr. Human Resources Generalist
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"I'm at the @ downtown to participate in the Big Read. We're reading Tom Sawyer this year. Should be good fun!"
- Missouri Senator Jolie Justus (@joliejustus)
"MBB is excited to be signed up for the Big Read @. We be doin' sum learnin'." - Official account for Muller Bressler + Brown (@mbbagency)
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NEW ARRIVALS & MOVES
Joel Jones - Director of Branch and Outreach Services
Dorothy Elliott - Plaza Branch Director
STAFF LINKS
Customer Service Training Videoconference - Sept. 20
The Library will host a free Missouri State Library videoconference on "Customer Service for the Rest of Us," on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 9:15 a.m. To attend, you must register online by August 26.
Health Webinars
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City and A Healthier You offer free health webinars to BCBS members. Click for a schedule of ongoing classes. Employees who are not BCBS members can access the "Webinars on Demand" for free and participate in the "Ongoing Classes" for a fee.
Training Opportunities
Get the August 2011 schedule of staff training opportunities .
LIBRARY BRIEFS
Click any photo to enlarge
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From left: Nicholas Wang, Alonzo Adams, David Goodwin, Khadijah Brown, Sydney Ruffin, and Ebony and Desha Goodwin.
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Big Helpers
It's Monday, and you've got to put stickers onto the covers of 3,000 2011 Big Read Reader's Guides by the end of the week. What's a librarian to do? Ask the teens to help!  Teen volunteers Nicholas Wang, Sydney Ruffin, and Desha and Ebony Goodwin along with regular customers Alonzo Adams, Khadijah Brown, and David Goodwin spent no small part of the end of their summer break adding stickers to the NEA-provided Big Read Guides to promote the Library's website: kcbigread.org. Big thanks!
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The Jane Austen Society of Metro KC exhibits sense, sensibility.
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Lady Jane at the Library
On Sunday, August 7, 40 members of the Jane Austen Society of North America - Metropolitan Kansas City Region convened at the Plaza Branch to share their love of all things Jane. The featured speaker was Professor Andrea Bloomfield, who gave a presentation on modes of transportation in Sense & Sensibility. JASNA will return to the Library on October 30, 2011, for a lecture on medical issues in Jane Austen's era. Find out more on jasnakc.org.
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The Kauffman Scholars boned up on local history in MVSC.
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A Visit from the Scholar Squad
Fifty young researchers from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's Kauffman Scholars program made their annual trip to the Missouri Valley Room on July 26. As part of their college-preparation studies, the students (who are in urban middle and high schools) write a research paper on a local history topic, and each year they spend an afternoon making use of the Missouri Valley Special Collections' resources and staff.
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It's not summertime without Mr. Stinky Feet. (Photo: Amy Morris)
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Sounds Like Summer Reading
Summer Reading may be over, and that's a bit of a bummer, but we can always remember the good times - like anytime Jim "Mr. Stinky Feet" Cosgrove serenaded us in the stacks. "Mr. Stinky Feet's Road Trip" pulled into Westport on August 2. Mr. Stinky also played the End of Summer Party at the Plaza Branch on August 5. Look for more reports from 2011 Summer Reading in the next issue of LibraryLand.
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