An official welcome to South Milwaukee, Kathy Manning!
Here is the press release on the hiring of our new library director …
Kathy Manning, a 13-year library administrator in Milwaukee County, is the new Library Director of the South Milwaukee Library (SML). The SML Library Board officially appointed Manning director at its September 24 meeting.
Since April Manning has been the SML Interim Director, leading the library as it continues to innovate and attract returning and new patrons.
“Kathy has provided meaningful and creative leadership during her six months as Interim Director,” said Dan Reszel, Library Board President. “Along with the terrific professional staff, we are confident this great community treasure is in the best possible hands.”
Among the recent innovations and successful programs at the SML during Manning’s brief tenure:
- Begun implementation of self-checkout RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. Two kiosks (one near the library’s exit and one in the second floor children’s space) are expected to go live in December.
- Created a “Teen Zone” on the first level with materials, games, whiteboard and study space geared to young people.
- A highly successful recently completed Summer Reading program that attracted more than 1,800 participants from pre-school through adult.
Manning has worked in the Germantown and North Shore libraries. She was the head of Circulation Services at North Shore for more than 10 years. Manning holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.
The SML is the city’s most used non-school public facility. In 2018, there were more than 78,000 patron visits, with almost 7,000 active library users, about one-third of the city’s population. It is located at 1907 10th Avenue. For news and updates, visit smlibrary.org and facebook.com/SouthMilwaukeePublicLibrary/
I’m a big fan of libraries, and ours in particular. They provide so much for so many different people, beyond just books. With the support of its board, ours has seen a lot of positive changes in recent years, and I’m excited to see where it heads next, under Kathy’s leadership.
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