The July MKE Creatives at Anodyne Coffee had a swell group of people in attendance, working on a great variety of projects. There was Kristine, a travel/wine/real estate writer with a lot of bylines in Milwaukee Magazine, who’s working on her first novel. Paul, another writer is working on a variety of projects – some travel, some sci-fi! Paul, a storyteller, had just had an excellent opening weekend at Bristol Renaissance Faire. Lauren, a newly self-employed writer has been keeping busy writing and creating socmed strategies for clients; she’s had bylines in MKE BizJournal, VOX, and others. Liz, mainly known for her romance writing, has also been keeping busy doing some vulgar cross-stitching and copy editing. Jessica, an admin/organizer/event planner, has been working on a retreat for women, a “women’s warrior weekend.” Paul, a content-creator with Photavia, has been working on customized video content for waiting areas in hospitals/hotels/clinics and the like. I had just recently completed a significant running goal – I ran 52.2 trailrun miles at the Titletown Ultra! (who ARE these fab folks? Find most of the gang here and on Facebook)
We were all there though, to hear from Kim Boldt, the manager of the Villard Square and Mobile Express branches of the Milwaukee Public Library. Kim has had an amazing variety of life experiences that led her to where she is today. Those experiences began when she was a child – as she mentioned, “I grew up in a small town, no cable or internet, but was always curious, always asking questions, and the library was a haven for me.” Eventually she went away to college, even studying in France, but wasn’t sure what she wanted “to be when she grew up.” That affection for learning, and constant curiosity, led her to UW-Milwaukee, where she studied library sciences.
Some tough experiences in life had taught her that she needed to be independent, and able to stand on her own – she’s been working one job or another since she was 13! With her library sciences degree, she gained even more experiences – working in a mental health library, a men’s prison library (“That was a >>tough<< job for me as a young mom; I cried every day over that job”), and eventually ended up at an academic library where she spent a number of years.
While at the academic library, she formed a Makerspace, taught computer education, and did pretty much everything she could in that library. That meant it was time to look for something different, which brought her to Milwaukee Public Library. Though she enjoyed the autonomy of the smaller libraries she’d worked in, there have definitely been advantages in being part of a larger system: “the nice thing about being in MPL is that it IS big, so you have back-up. When you need help, it’s there.”
Kim wanted to make sure the Creatives knew some things about the library system:
1. “We serve people of every need – homeless, single parents, kids, families – everyone comes to the library.”
2. The databases housed in the library are various, and extensive. For anyone doing research, the resources in MPL are sorta awe-inspiring!
3. The MPL system has a variety of meeting rooms that are for the public to use – make use of them.
4. The MPL system is always looking for new programming to offer people – and is open to suggestions.
5. A gentle reminder: “Do NOT snap your fingers at the librarian (to get their attention).” Manners matter, gang.
6. The MPL mission is about serving the residents of Milwaukee in a variety of ways – through reading, through learning/programming, through connecting – MPL is about a lot more than just books, DVDs, and CDs.
7. Please always remember that library services are NOT free, in fact – they’re paid for by supporters, friends (like), foundations (like) and the local government.
8. The library >loves< social – find it on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook! 🙂
