The sun's rising, the coffee's broken, and what if we mourn it without don't frozen?
WRJN.
Well, look who's here, shake king, head of business development for the recene public
library.
Good morning, down at the good to be back.
Good morning.
You got a famous person working for you, if people don't know, the current Miss Wisconsin.
Oh, she's so cool.
And she works for the library.
She does.
She's still working there now, or she sure is.
She didn't take time off to go into the Miss America pageant.
I'm pretty sure that once Miss America business, like, kicks off in full, we will be seeing
her for a minute, but for now, what does she do there?
So she works at the reference desk upstairs.
Oh, how come she's never in here doing guest spots?
You know, that's a great question.
I'll see if she wants to come on.
No, no, don't see if she wants to come on, say we scheduled you to come in.
Look, I'm a very courteous person.
We were talking this before, she said, well, I'll ask people, no, no, ask people.
Tell them they got to tell me if you can ask them to get, say, no, well, I believe
her in free will.
So
All right.
The shakers here because there's so many things going on at the library, we're going
to start off with the negative one.
The library is closed Monday.
That's a number first.
Yeah.
Let's start off with the bad news.
Yep.
So Labor Day is coming up as some of you may know Monday, September 1st, the library and
the book mobile library building and book mobile will not be open.
We'll be back open again Tuesday, September 2nd, the following day.
That always depressed me, Labor Day, it really was because of school starting.
It's the end of summer and I don't know, I was always depressing here, Labor people
saying, Oh, Labor Day.
What a fun holiday.
No, it's a day to cry and mourn.
That's just the way I am.
Okay, let's say you get this is really good.
We had some guests here from the library as a matter of fact, we won the award here for
the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, a first place award with an author that we met
at the library.
Cool.
Yeah, she wrote the book Haunted Racine.
Oh, I've been wanting to read that.
Yes.
And she, what's her name now?
It's on the award out there.
She's got a great name for this type of thing.
I'll think of it in a second.
Look over and look now.
I'll get it.
Anyway, she wrote the book Haunted Racine.
We did the interview.
Cool.
The judges picked that as the first place interview in the state of Wisconsin.
Wow.
There are radio stations.
Yeah.
So look, we got at the library.
That's why I met her.
That's awesome.
Rory, Rory Graves.
Oh, yeah.
I knew it would come to.
I just wrote a name for her.
I was putting together a poster for the author showcase that Rory Graves attended.
And Rory's photo really stood out to me because she like, she leans into her last name.
She took her author photo in a graveyard.
I'd add you're you're right with your best, whatever you think, best stick in that
verse.
So, yes.
So we won the first place award, you know, an author we found at the Racine Public Library
one day.
I went to your author showcase.
I was going around and I picked a few, but her interview was really good.
That's awesome.
Well, she told great stories.
And people get spooked out.
We have a lot of stories.
The writers are the best storytellers.
Okay.
You have another author coming in.
Yes.
Yes.
Actually, we are really fortunate to have recently heard from a few romance authors who are donating
their time to the Racine Public Library for the friends of the Racine Public Library to
host a fundraiser featuring the authors.
So Lissa K. Adams, Avery Flynn and Abigail Owen will be the presenting visitors of our
next chapter romance edition event on Friday, September 5th.
So this is going to be a multi part event and it's going to have workshops led by the
authors.
It's going to have a panel discussion and Q&A session.
They will be doing book signings and there will be an intimate dinner with the authors.
That's good.
Yeah.
So you do have two purchase tickets that advance to attend, which you can do at RacineLibrary.info
slash friends.
I still have all the information from all the authors that I met there.
We have some of them on the air and we're going to get more of them here because they
all wrote great books and I got to meet them all and that's where I get my guest.
That's a great rotation to be visiting with.
Lakefront Expo 2025.
Yeah.
Now is this where you can actually watch it from your window?
So this is going to be, I don't know if you have ever been to the African American Chamber
of Commerce is Lakefront Expo.
It didn't always used to be at the library.
But the last few years we have been there location for the event and this one's going
to be Saturday, September 13th, 1030, I'm to 4 p.m., it will be inside the library this
year.
It's for all ages.
By that window?
Well, yep.
There will be folks by that window.
It's the greatest window.
You get to overlook the lake.
This is like you should have to pay to sit by this window.
I love that window.
One day I came in super early just like it's sit by the window instead of sitting in
my office.
It's right by the DVD section.
Oh, yep.
So when I go there, I was looking at just like getting mesmerized by watching the shoreline
and there's no people out there which is really nice.
There may be geese out there, however.
I don't mind the geese.
It's the people that ruined the picture.
I can deal with the animal.
That's in that nature I can deal with that.
So Lakefront Expo is coming up Saturday, September 13th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. just show up.
Yep, just show up.
It's a festival.
So you can show up and show up whatever time works for you that day.
So if you want to become a vendor though, how do you get a spot in there?
So you would need to contact, I'm about to read off a phone number at an email address.
262-456-7527.
Again, that's 262-4567 or heap for email.
You can get in touch with the person who's coordinating vendors at AACCR at DLS.net.
Again, that's AACCR at DLS.net.
This is also available on our website calendar racing library dot info slash calendar.
If you want a written reference later on, I learned two words taking Spanish four years
in high school, two years in college, and I learned two words.
So don't remember Albondi Goss meatballs and Biblio teca live bird, Biblio teca.
The two words I remember out of the whole thing.
And donation day is coming up on Saturday, September 13th.
Can't believe that's like two weeks away.
Yep.
Same day as the Lakefront Expo.
So upstairs is going to be the expo.
And then downstairs, if you stop into the first floor lobby with a stack of books or movies
or games or puzzles to donate, the friends of the racing public library will be there
to accept your donation.
The next topic has to do with the, it's called the value of the library.
It has to with money.
Oh, yeah.
You know, the library doesn't run for free.
I mean, she's a nice person, but she still has to eat like everybody else.
So let's talk about that.
Yes.
So one of the things that we are trying to make more present to our patrons to the community
is we want to communicate more about our value.
What does it cost to run a library?
And what is the value of the impact that we use taxpayer dollars to create?
So just to give you a taste of what we're building towards communicating, we found that
the value of the services we provided in 2024 was triple the value of the taxpayer dollars
that we received.
That's good.
So 2024 value is $13 million.
This is based on calculations about what is the value of a reference interaction.
Like any time you ask a librarian to help you find something, that source of information
has a value or every time you check out a book instead of buying one, your receipt at
the receive of a library shows you like, oh, you saved $50 today.
Well, I get two DVDs in the car.
I have to return today.
I know because I got an email and I got a text message saying today's the day.
Get your DVDs back in.
I love it because there's only one video reddle store in all of town that I can think
of.
And this is great.
Just walk in, get a great library of DVDs and blu-rays in there and also CDs.
Very popular.
People have asked us before to have like a display shelf of just just the new DVDs.
You did it one time.
And these days we literally cannot because they go off the shelf so quickly the display
would be empty the whole time.
And also if you see a new one, this library might not have it, but they'll go schlep all
around the area to go get it for you.
And they've done that for me many, many times.
And it's like you spending a dollar and get three dollars worth of stuff back.
That's what it's like.
Yep.
They put it in simple terms.
So that is the value of the library.
More and more library news here.
The last of summer see the last.
I hate when you hear the last of summer something because it I know it's depressing.
So I'm just here up now.
These are the summer scares.
The last ones around the corner list and the team craft and book discussions.
Let's talk about that.
Okay.
On August 27th, that is going to be our final teen summer scares session.
There's going to be a craft and book discussion three to four p.m. followed by a movie night
immediately after the craft and book discussion that goes from about four to six thirty p.m.
So the craft and book discussion.
The attendees will be discussing Devils Untidust by Emma Berquist.
If you still want to get in on that and you need help getting a copy, you can ask Carrie
by stopping into teen scene or calling the library or email Carrie dot rich band.
That's our ICH M-O-N-D at Racine library that info.
By the way, do you get teens to read?
We sure do.
And that's that's the whole purpose of it.
Oh, yeah.
Reading and writing has gone out the window unless you want to read tick tock messages.
That's about it.
And you know, that's the simplest form.
We got three words for you to read.
But reading a book, I'm just finished the Bob Barry book.
Bob Barry is a legendary DJ in Milwaukee, wrote a book and to be honest, my wife actually
read it to me and in bed at night before we go to bed, she reads so well.
And I have to read the I read the end of it.
But Bob Barry is going to be our guest next Tuesday.
This guy, he introduced the Beatles on stage.
He introduced the Rolling Stones.
I mean, this guy is a legendary radio DJ, Bob Barry.
He sounds on the phone.
I'm talking of just like he did when he was at his height at W.O.K.
Y.
I'm a walkie and this is going to be it's going to be our guest and it should be a lot
of fun.
But you got to read his book to get to that point and it's a wonderful book.
I mean, people who don't read books, you know, you're missing so much.
I know.
I mean, movies are nice, TV shows are nice, but reading takes you into the whole another
realm.
I do like to plug Libby for people who are like, I don't know.
I don't have the time to read, but you might have the time to put an audiobook on in the
background and your library card gives you access to Libby, which is full of audiobooks
for free.
A Libby's not a real human being.
No.
It's called the Libby app, like Libby short for library, not short for Elizabeth.
Yeah.
And you are missing out on a lot because your imagination runs crazy when you read and
my wife reads to me a lot because she's just a great reader.
I can't read.
She just sounds great when she doesn't stumble or anything, just, she does a great job at
it.
So read read read teenagers.
What's the team?
Do you tell us the team movie night time?
So the team movie night, I don't have the title with me, but you know what?
When you go to get your book from Carrie, she probably can tell you the title that's going
to be playing.
I know, but it's going to be scary, whatever it is.
Everybody's going to be popcorn.
Okay.
All right.
So that's the show up to find out what it is, but you promise scares.
Yes.
We promise scares, which is scariest movie you've ever seen.
I have two of them.
Hereditary comes to mind.
My I have two.
One was the actressist, which I saw the day after it came out in theaters.
I saw the day after Christmas and I went with a couple of other guys and we were terrified.
I mean, I didn't know what to expect.
The other one was a 1963 movie called The Haunting.
Oh, wait, I think I've seen this.
There was a remake done.
The remake, forget the remake.
This was from 1963.
Oh, is the remake the haunting of Hill House?
Is that the one you're thinking of?
No, it was called The Haunting and it was made, it's based on that, but it was The Haunting
with Liam Neeson.
Okay.
I didn't see this one.
I didn't want the original was done by Robert Wise.
He did it between West Side Story and the Sound of Music.
Oh, wow.
He made this movie and it's terrifying.
You don't, there's no blood or anything like that.
It's all psychological.
Yep.
That's my favorite kind of art.
It's terrifying.
I mean, I watched it so many times and I'm still frightened watching this, The Haunting.
It just is.
I might have to watch it.
I've kind of gotten numb to the fright of horror movies.
It's got to be the 1963.
1963, okay.
1963, okay.
The remake was terrible.
It's the one with Julie Harris and Rust Hamlin.
It's a really great.
Okay.
As a matter of fact, after we made West Side Story, he grabbed Rust Hamlin from that movie
and brought it into this film.
In that strange, he made West Side Story and the Sound of Music in this horror movie,
right?
They're like, ooh.
I think you'd be really scary on stage.
That was good.
All right.
So that's seasonal screams, adult book discussion, summer scares still going on.
And this is Wednesday, August 27th.
Yep.
So 5.30 to 7pm, Wednesday, August 27th is going to be our next edition of seasonal
screams.
Now, seasonal screams and summer scares have some overlap.
Summer scares technically ends when the summer is over, but we do host seasonal screams programs
for adults all throughout the year.
You think it'll be going through October?
It will be.
Well, summer scares doesn't go through October, but seasonal screams goes through October
and beyond.
Now, who picks out the scary movie night for adults?
For adults, that would be Rebecca Leanna, who actually, she's like horror is so much
her focal point that she's been invited to speak at horror, like, conventions before.
So she knows her horror.
Haunting.
Okay.
Oh, there's no bad language in it.
There's no blood and gore.
It's a psychological terror, but you don't know what's going to happen.
And the images that Robert Wise put on that screen are just fantastic.
It's him black and white, which makes it even scarier.
It takes place in, and I think Vermont remain somewhere around there.
Okay.
The scariest states, I guess.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Good, good, good.
Okay.
The summer reading program is still active, even though summer has come.
And some, but summer doesn't end till like the 21st of September.
We always think it ends on labor.
It doesn't really.
It doesn't really.
At the library, we kind of treat it like it ends in August since the summer reading program
runs through the end of August, but yeah, there's still a little bit of summer left after
that.
So summer reading program, there is still time to finish reading or to finish activities
if you're using the all-agestime challenge on read squared.
There's even time if you want to get started still and you haven't started your reading challenge
yet, you can still do that.
So kids can pick up or turn in their logs at the youth services desk on the first floor.
Teens can do so in teen scene on the second floor, and adults can do so by getting a paper
log at the reference desk, or they can work off of the online version of the summer reading
challenge at racingpl.readsquared.com.
Now, I actually see all the emails I get from the public library.
Ah.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Why do we think I am?
You know, I'm tax dollars.
I pay.
Here's that.
That's right.
There's that notice to return the DVDs or else we'll have, you know, some thug show
with your front door and okay, here it is.
So here are some of the other things going on here.
Here's that romance edition.
You talked to that.
Oh, yeah.
Color out world, which is a, what's that a steam challenge?
Steam says for what's an acronym again?
Yes.
Steam stands for science, technology, engineering, math and arts.
So steam is all of the programs that take place in our innovation lab, which is full of
three printers, laser engravers.
We do tech help sessions, both for to teach kids how to code.
We teach adults how to use their computers and phones.
It's a great place.
And the innovation lab is hosting in all ages steam challenge.
As part of our summer reading program, you can also sign up for this at racingpl.readsquared.com.
And it's completing activities like attending one of the innovation labs programs, learning
about technology, reading a book about technology, things like that.
And so for the steam challenge and all of our reading challenges, you will win prizes
for completing your challenge.
And you'll be entered to win some bigger prizes that we'll be drawing for at the end of
the month.
So for the adult challenge, some of the prizes you can be entered to win is gift cards to
use at local pottery studios.
You can get a basket of items from like the racing garden network.
And some of the items for the steam challenge would be like you can get a Chromebook or you
could get a Roku or a Kindle.
So take part in the challenges.
You could get some cool stuff out of it.
See everybody thinks the library is a bunch of old dusty books.
It's not.
It's so much more than that.
But you know, in the days of the 18th, late 1800s or early 1900s, it probably was a bunch
of dusty books.
And that's it.
But you know, technology moves out and so does the library.
Computers and whatever is the newest, hottest thing, that's what it is.
And it takes a lot of people to put this together at the library.
If you go in there sometime, you'll see all the people it takes.
You've got that innovation room on the second floor.
That's interesting to look at.
It's cool.
Yeah.
If everything going on there at the library, I appreciate you coming in.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So we're going to get another list of people pretty soon.
That's right.
I've already got four dates taken so far.
Oh, okay.
Good.
Yep.
Are they a willing participant?
Or is it like a hostage situation?
Wow.
You don't see everything that goes on behind the scenes.
My lips are sealed.
You know, Ellen DeGeneres does a funny bit.
And she says at the library, you can get so many things.
Just everything there.
Every word imaginable is found in the library, except one library.
You will not find the word library, the library.
She says, I don't like to judge people, but I do judge people to say the word library.
Oh, man.
Adam, all the words in the library, you will not find the library.
That's good.
Hey, thank you for coming in.
Yeah.
Thank you.
It's always a pleasure.
Oh, thank you.
You normally like that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or if I interview some of the people in the library, they're going to say, oh, you mean grumpy
Shay?
Yeah, we know grumpy Shay.
You get to see the smile so that when I go back to my desk, I can take all the frowns
out there.
Now, you're ahead of business development.
Yes.
And what does that mean?
It means, in so many words, head of marketing, essentially, I wasn't the one who came up with
a job title, but you should have come up with, you know, head of the head of the entire
library.
You could come up with anything.
Yeah, right.
So that's good.
How long have you been there?
Oh, four years, three or four years now, 2021 is when I started.
So yeah, four years.
Good for you.
Yeah.
I love having you in here.
Thank you.
It's a joy.
Thank you.
