Thursday, March 18, 2021
On March 18, 2021, the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced 30 finalists for the 2021 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that demonstrate excellence in service to their communities. Since 1996, the award has honored 170 institutions that demonstrated extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service. To date, Wisconsin has received four of those medals:
- 2018 Outagamie County Historical Society, Appleton, WI
- 2017 Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
- 2016 Madison Public Library, Madison, WI
- 2011 Madison Children's Museum, Madison, WI
I very much hope to see one more library added to that esteemed list. In the running for the 2021 National Medal is the Kenosha Public Library. To mark the occasion, I’m sharing the letter of recommendation I wrote to accompany Kenosha’s application for the honor.
Please join me in congratulating this outstanding library which models so well the value a library holds within their community.
Thank you, Kenosha Public Library!
-Kurt
Crosby Kemper III, IMLS Director, Washington D.C.
Dear Mr Kemper,
On behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Division for Libraries and Technology, please accept this letter of support for the Kenosha Public Library in their nomination for the IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
The DPI Division for Libraries and Technology serves as the state library agency for Wisconsin. In this role, we support public libraries and regional library systems on behalf of Wisconsin residents to ensure equitable access to library services. We serve as stewards of state and federal funds and sustainers of statutory compliance. We strive to empower public library and regional system staff and stakeholders to aid in the fulfillment of community goals. There is excellence in public libraries demonstrated throughout our state and I couldn’t be more proud to put forth this recommendation for one specific library.
The Kenosha Public Library embraces and leverages its position at the center of the communities it serves. 2020 has proven challenging for all libraries in our country. In addition to the daily tests provided by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenosha, Wisconsin was thrust into the epicenter of the Black Lives Matter movement with another police shooting of a citizen. The library was ready when the Kenosha community reacted.
The Kenosha Public Library spent the last six years deeply committed to and heavily involved in the county’s StriveTogether initiative, Building Our Future. Immersion in this collective impact partnership forced the library to critically reexamine its policies, services, staffing, and collections through an equity lens. Previous to COVID, the Kenosha Public Library formed a team for Wisconsin Libraries Transforming Communities that pairs a young African American librarian and the Manager of Community Engagement for Building Our Future, also a young African American professional. Together they are working in the heart of the Uptown neighborhood, the area most hard hit in the recent civil unrest, talking with the neighborhood residents about what they need and how the library can help. These two men hold the deep relationships within the community that empowered them to help a local, long-standing City Councilman meet his primarily Black Uptown constituents for the first time. They are the ones trying to bring the local police department to the table for community conversations. Their efforts received state and national attention when elected officials pointed to their work as shining examples of the power of community organizing in the face of adversity.
I am convinced that the leadership and staff at the Kenosha Public Library make a discernible difference in the lives of Kenosha residents. They rose to the twin challenges of COVID-19 and racially-fueled civil unrest. They face local challenges side-by-side with the people they serve. I heartily recommend the Kenosha Public Library as a recipient of the IMLS National Medal.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require more information. Thank you for your consideration of the Kenosha Public Library for this highest of honors.
Sincerely,
Kurt Kiefer
Assistant State Superintendent, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Division for Libraries and Technology