Our Community, Our Mission
Our Community, Our Mission
Ep #244 – Literacy, Learning, and Connection: A Conversation with Marie Pyko
In this episode, we’re joined by Marie Pyko, CEO of the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, to discuss the vital role the library plays in fostering community learning and connection.
Marie shares the Library's mission of being the center of community learning, emphasizing dignity, inclusion, and engagement for all, including those experiencing homelessness. With a staff of over 170, they continuously look for ways to connect with the community, ensuring that everyone feels welcome. We’ll explore the library’s unique approach as "the university for all" and its 2016 recognition as Library of the Year.
Join us as we dive into the power of libraries as bridge builders for community and the role they play in addressing local needs through empathy and innovation.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and your blessings and your provisions. God, we thank you for this time to record another podcast. Lord, thank you for all of our listeners. Pray that they would be blessed and encouraged today. And Lord just thank you for community partnerships. Lord helping us to make this community stronger. Lord bless this time and this conversation. In your holy name, we pray Amen.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody, Thank you for joining us, for our community, Our Mission. A podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission.
Speaker 3:This is your host today, barry Feaker, on Wednesday October 23rd 2024. Good morning, miriam. Good morning, oh my goodness.
Speaker 2:We are very close to Christmas. October 23rd is close to Christmas isn't it?
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, that is almost scary to me, do you?
Speaker 2:want to talk about Christmas. Miriam, probably not, okay. I'm not ready. I have a big question for you. Where were you last podcast? It was a celebration. We're here. Lamanda wasn't here. You weren't here. Josh wasn't even here. Josh, where were you? This was the fifth anniversary. I was expecting balloons cake.
Speaker 3:And so we just had a great podcast but no party.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, yeah so.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry about missing the party. I don't think I got the invite.
Speaker 2:So I'm waiting for another five. So we're going to have you here for the 10th, okay, Well, you know what?
Speaker 3:Let's just, let's just hope that both you and I are still with us at that point. We'll be here, you all will be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well.
Speaker 3:Barry and I are at the other end of that spectrum. What will the podcast?
Speaker 2:look like then.
Speaker 3:Josh, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, we'll all be doing this by mind. You know, we won't even have to talk, it'll just be like you know no.
Speaker 3:AI will just be doing it. That will just be doing it.
Speaker 1:That will not be good.
Speaker 2:That will not be good. Well anyway, welcome back.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Today is podcast episode number 244. So, josh, thank you for five years ago for starting this, yeah, getting all the equipment together and here we're still going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that was like maybe the first one I've actually like met. I don't know, I've only didn't like it either, so All right.
Speaker 2:Well, we've got another five to go. Well, I can tell you?
Speaker 3:I surely didn't.
Speaker 2:We were meeting with auditors, I know, we said you guys were at this party, but then we said no, they're probably in meetings. So anyway, yeah, well, our amazing research and development department has yet once again come up with these significant importances of the day of October 23rd. And, mary, generally, I just quiz you I know we're going to bring in our guest today, which is probably the smartest person in Topeka, I'm sure, the most well-read, the most well-versed.
Speaker 3:That could be it.
Speaker 2:Has access to all the information in the universe. Yeah, Right, Right out of here in Topeka Shawnee County, we have Marie Pico is the CEO of the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library. Welcome to what is it called Our community, our mission.
Speaker 4:Well, thank you, and that's a lot of pressure, but I think, I at least know how to look things up.
Speaker 2:There you go, you do, you do. Well, marie, we're going to talk about the library, we're going to talk about this, but we have to because, according to the research that's been done the scientific research of the Resource and Development Department, the Speaker Rescue Mission of Rolling Dice, crossing Fingers and Hoping for the Best, they have determined that many of our listeners want to know this information.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'm sure they do About what's important on this day.
Speaker 2:So the first one that they researched today is National iPod Day. Uh on this day.
Speaker 3:So the first one that they researched today is National iPod Day, I didn't say iPad Day. I know iPods are a little older?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what do you know about iPods?
Speaker 3:Oh, I know, it's how you listen to music.
Speaker 2:Still.
Speaker 3:Still no, but that's because that was back then.
Speaker 2:It was back then.
Speaker 3:Well, honestly, think about that, though. That was 2001. That's not even that many years ago.
Speaker 2:I know that's yeah, 2001. Seems like they sold 400 million units, generating billions of dollars of revenue for this thing called the iPod and I still have one. I do too.
Speaker 4:It doesn't work, but I still have one If I charge it. I think I still have it too. You used to do it, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so if we went to the library could we get an iPod.
Speaker 4:Probably not at the library. We probably wouldn't have technology that old. However, we would definitely be able to connect you to where you could get one because they are still available.
Speaker 2:She is the answer person.
Speaker 4:She is.
Speaker 1:She has connections Not to geek out too much because, as you guys know, I'm a big Apple fanboy. The iPod is what put Apple like on the map. I mean they were making like great stuff, like good computers and stuff. But iPod is really what started what we know as modern Apple today, and then it just continued on to the iPhone and now just being the mega corporation that they are and everybody's using their stuff now. So iPod was really the start of that. It was the main thing.
Speaker 2:You carry all your music around. You'd have to plug CDs in or tapes or wait for the radio to get your thing.
Speaker 4:And today's thing is what are CDs?
Speaker 2:Yeah, people don't even know what that is anymore. Wow.
Speaker 3:Okay. So in my house I have a whole like thing that it's called an entertainment center. Right, it has a turntable. Still, it has a tv, it has all. It has like a dvd player and all of these dvds and cds. They're totally useless, almost I don't need them at all. The turntable is just. You know, that's because that's kind of cool and it's coming back.
Speaker 1:Actually, like I know, like vinyl people are actually doing like albums?
Speaker 3:like yeah, I think of albums, yes, yeah, yeah. Vinyl like yeah, yeah, for sure, like the thing that's been, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, it's funny. I've got a, you know, seven year old and three year old, and I found a. We're going through some stuff in the garage and found a box of my, like, blu-ray movies, which again aren't that old, um, but I'm just like. They're like, what are these? This is how we used to watch movies. Josh, have you ever seen an eight track? I've seen an eight track.
Speaker 4:I have an eight track. Do you still have an eight track? Do you really? I do.
Speaker 2:She does, she's the library.
Speaker 4:That was something my dad, my dad gave me. I have his stereo that has a turntable and has an eight track and has the eight tracks that he had of Elvis Presley, the first music that I actually ever believed existed, because that was all my dad, all he played. That's all he played. I didn't learn anything else. The only guy that ever sang a song was Elvis. Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, that was amazing technology of the day. You could be in your car, you could put it in, yeah, and you could go from different group to different group and yeah. So anyway, we kind of got off the iPod, we went farther back, but how fun. So let's go to the next one, national Croc Day. Now, what does croc mean?
Speaker 3:Are you asking me or are you asking the expert? Well, I'm going to ask you first, Miriam, and then I'm going to get the expert in on that.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, that could, that could be, that could be something that could be more than one thing. Yes, right, because it could be a reptile right. Or it could be those horrible shoes that make your feet sweat, that's what it is, or it could be something else, but that's kind of a slang. That's just a bunch of croc Croc, Okay. So, Marie, it's National Croc Day and we've got all of the answers over here, but of course, in your amazing resource research development department yourself, do you?
Speaker 4:have a pair of Crocs. I actually have never owned a pair of Crocs you haven't I have not. I have owned jellies, oh, you know. So all the things that you would have worn at 16, 17. Yeah, but they are still very popular. Yes, they are, and I will say they are probably the number one shoe you see of any customer coming into the library.
Speaker 2:Is that right Really?
Speaker 4:Because you can just pop them off, put them back on. There's no tying having to. You know, Kids love them.
Speaker 1:Kids, yeah yeah, kids love them Like. So I've got some nieces and nephews and my kids, even Colton. They all wanted Crocs. Colton came up to me and said, dad, can I get some Crocs? I'm like really.
Speaker 3:You used to make fun of those?
Speaker 1:Well, they're like come back according to the comic. So yeah, you'll see kids in tons of kids in school, like that's the popular Juneau.
Speaker 4:And they come in all different colors. Yeah, that's it. You don't have to worry about brown and black. You got everything and you can put like little you know any of that.
Speaker 2:They didn't have any of those, so you have had Crocs.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I probably still.
Speaker 2:But you said they were sweaty.
Speaker 3:They're awful.
Speaker 2:They're awful.
Speaker 3:They're awful. They make your feet sweat Because they're plastic. I mean, they're rubber. I've never had them either.
Speaker 2:So no, they don't make Western Crocs, as far as I know, pointy ones, pointy ones like cowboy boots, pointy toes, they're hard to get on a horse, I know so, anyway, and I don't get on horses, but anyway, one more. Now, this is Miriam. Breathe, okay, breathe, I am Okay, let's hear it. No, chris, that's just rude. Thank you, josh, for the breath there. It's a long health day. To more serious things.
Speaker 3:All right, everybody just take a breath. Well, you know, let me tell you what happened yesterday, right? So Josh and I were actually in a meeting and all of a sudden we get a call from our front desk that there's a woman in distress up front and this is a woman that has COPD.
Speaker 3:So for her breathing was an incredible struggle and you could see her. Obviously she's dealt with it for a long time, but you could still kind of see that panic in her just a little bit when she couldn't take a deep breath, you know, and to be able to just then recognize what a true blessing it is to not have issues with lungs, you know, to be able to breathe and not worry about will I catch this next breath, will I be able to breathe and not worry about will I catch this next breath, will I be able to breathe deep enough? But when I saw this on our list today I'm like, oh goodness. Well, that was a really good reminder yesterday that this is truly something that is not always easy for people, that's right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and to keep the lungs healthy, I mean if we don't breathe. We don't live Right.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:But anyway, if this is your first time joining us, for our community, our mission, this is what we do at the front end of all of these to kind of get things loosened up, get our guests really like, well, these people aren't serious about anything, are they?
Speaker 2:But no, we're very serious. Marie Pico, CEO of the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library. Again, thank you for being a part of our podcast today. Thank you for being a part of our podcast today. So tell us about. You've been with the library for a bit of time Now. You're the director, ceo of that. Talk about what is the mission. When we think of a library, we're going to think about a lot of things, but you know, generally, when you're as old as Mary Menzies, just think about books and that's the only thing. That's there. Oh, barry, someday. Anyway, we talk about iPods and we've talked about other things, but what's the general want to talk about? You know what? All certain, maybe in all your services, because we'd be here all day, but I could do that.
Speaker 2:What is the mission of a library and, in particular, what is the mission of the library here in Topeka, shawnee County?
Speaker 4:library here in Topeka, shawnee County. Well, we are very blessed to have an amazing library that is very well supported and has, through its entire history, over 150 years, really put literacy and learning at the center of the community, and we've been that central gathering place and we're continuing that. And so one of the things that is regardless of format is it print, is it digital, is it audio, all those sort of things it's all about putting our community at the center of everything we do and welcoming everybody in, regardless of your walk of life, regardless of what you're interested in, and so that's kind of like the foundation. It's about literacy, learning, connection, and that's so important now is really being able to connect with you know, fellow people in the community, maybe not people you would work with day in and day out, but everybody.
Speaker 2:So when you say connection obviously with the materials, you have the literacy, the learning. I think we get that. But how? I mean sometimes we have this mental picture, maybe through the movies. You come in the library, you have to be quiet.
Speaker 3:Oh gosh yeah.
Speaker 2:Don't interact, you know, stay focused on your thing. If you talk too loud, the librarians are going to go shh Right, that's the movies, right, yeah, how do you do connection when people are trying to study and learn?
Speaker 4:We do have places where it is absolutely foreboding that you have any kind of conversation, and so people who need that know where those spaces are. But we are a living organism, we're dynamic. There's lots of activity going on. One of the things I love about what our library is in particular is there are people who come who just come to be and what they want to be is among community, and maybe at home they're living alone, maybe they've sent their kids off to school and they just need a place to center and be, and so there's a whole segment of people who come in that we know regularly.
Speaker 4:We say hello to, we visit with them, maybe we find them a book, maybe we help them attend a program, or maybe we just are that friendly person who says you know, so happy you're here and you know how are things going, you know, and just what else? What else in the community we can help you connect with? And the energy when you walk into that space is palpable. You can just feel that you can feel like you belong and you can feel like you belong However you want to belong, that there's not a set way that you have to belong. So there are very few places we shush, we North Reading Room, and that's the quiet space and, honestly, it's our customers who help shush everybody else, because that's, that's the social contract.
Speaker 4:You're in that space. It's quiet, but every other space it's about conversation and it's about helping people find what they want, and maybe they're going to get a book and maybe we're going to talk about other authors they might want to consider, or maybe what they're asking for is help to connect to other social services, and so the role of the librarian is to be that conduit to help them with story and with learning. And that looks very different today than it did when I started in the 90s. So, but it's all about that connection, and there are people who are coming in and are not our staff and not our volunteers that are coming in every single day because that's what they need and it's beautiful.
Speaker 2:So one of the things we wanted to kind of gravitate to in this conversation is the homeless, and it sounds like this is a place for individuals who are unsheltered to be able to go. I want to come back to that because that's really a very important discussion here. But gathering for just the general public? You have meeting rooms.
Speaker 2:We do you have a cafe there? People that want to just connect, regardless of their status in life, and they maybe come in because they're lonely, they don't have relationships. This is a place that can come Absolutely. I don't, mary, did you think? A lot of people know that is a part of the library.
Speaker 3:Well, I think more people than we realize know that that, that that the library is this place of connection or community Right, but no, I think people would be surprised to know who all those people are. Right, like I was just thinking a mom who just dropped off her kids and needs just some time, that wouldn't have been somebody that I would have necessarily thought about, would just go to the library to regroup or center herself or something like that, and I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 4:We're also centrally located, right across the street from the hospital.
Speaker 3:Oh sure.
Speaker 4:So we have people who are visiting family, who are in the hospital, who come over and just either need resources or need to regroup oh sure, and be there. So you wouldn't be surprised to walk in that space and see a whole bunch of people in scrubs which, again, you don't think about that with a library but they just need 10, 15 minutes. They need space. Maybe they need to pick up their books, maybe they need to do some personal research, but they just need space.
Speaker 3:Or maybe they need to shop, because you have a very wonderful little shop there we do. That has really great jewelry. Yes.
Speaker 2:So we talked about books, but you talked about these other resources. You have computers. We do, people can come in and do searches A lot of times. The library is recommended by the IRS. If you don't have a way to file online, you can go there.
Speaker 4:And do you have staff that will help people that know how to navigate through a computer? We do. Every staff member who's working the service floor has a pretty high level of skills to be able to help the lay person work on technology, and so we're helping people, even today, navigate and still with that mouse all the way to filling out their taxes. Maybe not all of them, because we're not going to be your tax preparer, but we have times that we actually have tax preparers that come in. We have people who are helping to teach people how to do podcasts, and we have people that are.
Speaker 4:There's courses that you can learn how to use a 3D printer. So everywhere, from mouse to Excel, to database searches, to getting that book that's on your iPod or iPhone or iPad with our digital resources, to more advanced, all the way up to the most popular thing in our level two tech center, since it's opened, has actually been the vinyl printer. A lot of hobbyists are coming in as maybe a side hustle or just because they think it's cool, um, and want to make some different um resources that maybe they can sell on Etsy or they can make for families, um, and so we're teaching them how to use a cricket, um you've lost me, oh I know exactly, really.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing, um. And then the podcast that people are creating their own music. People are um are making videos. There are people who are doing um online interviews in our community, in our co-labs and our team rooms. So there's just so many different ways that people are connecting with the library that they didn't when I started. They came to the library to do research. They came to the library because they have the burning question of what was the first line of a poem, and we had those books. We opened them up and we helped them find that. That's not necessarily what's happening now. Now we may show them how to find that information online, but we're not the sages on the stage for that sort of reason.
Speaker 2:So it used to be. You'd go to the library and there was a card file. You'd go alphabetically.
Speaker 3:Wasn't that called the Dewey?
Speaker 4:We still do have the Dewey desk. Do you still have the Dewey desk?
Speaker 3:That would be the card catalog.
Speaker 2:So the card catalog, you could still, you still have those.
Speaker 4:No, no, no Okay, because they were nice pieces of furniture in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Speaker 2:Because everybody's gathered around there trying to, you know, figure out where they're supposed to go.
Speaker 3:And then you would get a number and a code and an alphabet or whatever the Dewey Decimal System. You'll go get your.
Speaker 2:How do people find books today at the library?
Speaker 4:They still can do that, but it's on a catalog. So they're on an online catalog, often with their own phone. They're looking it up on their phone and when they look it up, we have something on the phone that actually maps to exactly where it would be located, so you can look it up oh, it's in, it's over here, where is it?
Speaker 2:And it maps it right to where you need to go, so you don't have to be looking around like I don't know where I'm going.
Speaker 4:No, no, there's still people who do that.
Speaker 2:But you know what does this mean? I'd call Josh Josh. What does this mean?
Speaker 4:But that's the beauty of the librarian, because our goal is to engage you in a conversation about what you're looking for and to get to know you as a person, because maybe you're looking for something that you might feel uncomfortable talking about and we can get you into the space. And we can, you know, with level of confidentiality, because we're not going to talk about what you're looking for we can help you find those resources and you're in a safe space. You could get those resources on your own.
Speaker 2:So it sounds like there could be a lot of variables with that kind of openness to talking to some people. One of your top goals is to have conversation with them, to have a relationship of some sort with them. Let's talk about the kind of people that need to work there. It doesn't sound like it's just somebody who is a tech person who can direct somebody in the right way Not that there's anything wrong with tech people, josh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I didn't, but you have to. It's almost quasi-social work counselor type person.
Speaker 4:It takes a very special person. You have to be very much the person that gets energy from other people and that is curious wants to learn more, wants to get to know you and the things that are important to you and is willing to kind of have a little bit of a vulnerability and share a little bit about who they are, and that's and that's how you build engagement. So, so yeah it were. We libraries have a large number of people who are introverts just by the nature of of the field. However, they are people that when they get on the stage or get on the floor, they light up and they're engaged and they're excited and they're really deeply listening to what matters to you, and often it's library related and often you're just a sounding board.
Speaker 4:They just want to talk to somebody and then you're connecting the resources that can help them. So, yeah, we need tech people absolutely, but we first need people people people who care about people.
Speaker 2:I was going to say what's the number one quality, and you just said that to people. People, how big is your team? And then how many customers, patrons, whatever you call us that you would see in a day, a month or a year?
Speaker 4:So we currently have about 170 to 175 staff at the library. Now that sounds like a lot, but it's a one-building library that has all the aspects. It has its own HR department, it has its own digital services department or IT. We are not part of the city or part of the county. We need to have all of those pieces in place. It allows us to have a level of autonomy, it allows us to be nimble and to really be responsive to what the needs are for the community. And when I start talking about where everybody goes, then then you're like oh okay, I get it.
Speaker 4:So we have bookmobile service. We go out into the community five, six days a week. We go out to every single retirement complex in the Topeka and Shawnee County area and um, and so we have staff that are going door to door, room to room in a lot of those places, like at Brewster and Aldersgate, prez, manor, all those sorts of places. So there's a whole team that does that. That is sight unseen in the building. You wouldn't see that. We have outreach storytellers. So we have storytellers that go into the daycares, go into the preschools and do stories, and right now we're at about 85 different story times a month and we're providing story and we're connecting with children because literacy and learning is crucial.
Speaker 4:So, again, sight unseen, you wouldn't see them. We have a team that does that, and then we have people who are just the infrastructure. They're doing the purchasing, they're doing the buying. They're buying not just physical, but they're also buying digital, because half of everything that is checked out at this point is digital. So the question you ask is how many people are coming into the building? We average between 2,000 and 2,500 people coming into the physical building, but that doesn't include who's getting onto the bookmobiles, who we're seeing at red carpet, who we're doing with outreach storytelling 2,000 to 2,500 over a period of what time?
Speaker 2:That's a day, wow. No wonder you need that many team members.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think I ever realized that. So, yeah, there's a lot of different fields of expertise that you would have. Obviously, we've kind of gotten involved in the podcast arena, knowing that you, you got to have the right people. And if some guy comes along and says I want to start a podcast, would this be a way that he could learn how to do it and then could he record that podcast there?
Speaker 4:Absolutely. Up in the Level 2 Tech Center, we have a podcast studio and a video studio and we're averaging um. I think I was sharing with josh. I looked at the statistics and and last month we had about 300 customers who came in and used those two studios, um, and so what they often do is they record there and then, um once they've recorded, they go into another space called our digital art studio, where we have computers that they can edit and they can kind of play with a little bit so we can get people in through the studios quicker, because then they have another spot that they can edit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a lot of tech very cool. That's very, very cool yeah, didn't start out that way, did you, josh? No, maybe didn't know about it or would have. So, all these services, you have the books, you have the online, you have computers, you have tech people there, you can do podcast recordings, you can learn, and on and, on, and on and on. So what is the fee that we would have to pay to be able to take advantage of any of that?
Speaker 4:Well, the community supports it and it is supported through property tax, and so well, I'm never going to say it was free because you've prepaid for it. Anybody coming in is welcome and there is no cost associated. We do not have fees or fines for any of our materials. So if you remember from back in the day where you had a book and it was three days late and you're like that's five cents a day, you don't have to stress about the 15 cents. We do not have fines and fees. Our goal is to get the materials back, not to penalize or add barriers so that you don't connect.
Speaker 2:So there's no penalty fee for late returns or what if somebody doesn't return a book?
Speaker 4:We'll talk with you if there's damaged material. And then we work with each individual customer because each situation is different, and so we work with. We work with each individual customer because each situation is different, um, and so we have had people that, um, something has happened and we work on a payment plan, and it's very nominal, um, but the goal is not to create barriers. So people stop using the library because that is in the library world. We call the public library the university for all. So, um, you may not afford to, may not afford to be able to afford to go to college, but you can come to your public library. In fact, that is what Ray Bradbury did he went to his public library and that's how he learned everything he did. Really, yeah, in the Los Angeles Public Library, wow.
Speaker 2:You know, Maryam, we talk about in the ministry, the rescue mission and working with the homeless to try to end chronic homelessness. We have to remove barriers. Barriers exist everywhere, don't?
Speaker 3:they Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Sounds like. What we're hearing here is that the library is a place that you try to remove every barrier.
Speaker 3:Every barrier that there would be for people not wanting to go there or being afraid to go or being, you know, intimidated to go, and I think that's that's incredible.
Speaker 2:It really is. So, marie, how do people know what you're talking to us about today, what are your avenues, if they're not currently a patron of the library? The bookmobile doesn't come to their neighborhood. How do they know that they, you, offer all of these things? How can they find out? Do you have like an awareness campaign?
Speaker 4:We have an amazing marketing team that really does a lot of push marketing. For all of the resources we have available, we work every kind of media stream we possibly can, but there's nothing more powerful than the person who's gone in and can share it with a friend.
Speaker 4:Because the research shows it's very clear Somebody can see something on the news, they can see something even on social media. But if they hear, if my friend Miriam says, hey, this is a great place to be, I'm going to go check it out. Because Miriam has said, because it's all about trusted relationships. So that's why for me, for our entire staff, it's important to be connected and be in all different parts of the community. One barrier that we are challenged with and I'll call it out right now and that's the challenge of access. If you don't have transportation to get to the main library, so we've created services to get out, but that's based on what works for you. We've created services like all the digital Well, that works as long as you have good internet. So that's kind of the next avenue we're looking at how else can we make sure that everybody, regardless of distance, regardless of access of resources, has a meaningful library experience? And so, yeah, any help we can get If you have great suggestions.
Speaker 2:I think that's a great point.
Speaker 2:I mean we're talking about that and serving the homeless population. How do we get them from where they are to where they need to be? And we're talking about one-stop shops, places people go, like a resource center, which obviously you guys are already involved with the Mobile Access Partnership. I want to talk about that in a minute. So, before we jump into this issue of homelessness we have in our community, as well as many other communities, and what the library's response to that is, you guys got a pretty big national award not terribly long ago. Talk about that.
Speaker 4:We did in 2016, which seems like quite a while ago. It doesn't seem that long ago.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, that just makes me feel so much older too, then.
Speaker 4:And the reason I know that, other than knowing it is, I walk in through the rotunda every day and there's this big medallion with that date on there. Thank you, gina Millsap. That is there and it's just. It was such an honor because it's an honor of all libraries in North America.
Speaker 2:So what was that honor? What was that?
Speaker 4:honor. The honor is Library of the Year.
Speaker 2:Out of all the libraries in North America, of all the libraries in North America.
Speaker 4:That's a deal. And what really the pinnacle of that award was about the idea of facilitation and what we do to facilitate conversations and facilitate engagement in the community, and that was very unique. It's still unique, but it was very unique in 2016 that we would stick our necks out and say, hey, we can help have better conversations by going out. We were all a lot of us were trained in how to do that and going out and engaging in community conversations, and that wasn't something that a lot of libraries had done, and we're right up there with Seattle and San Francisco and New York Public Library. That is so remarkable. I know it's amazing.
Speaker 2:It's amazing, it is amazing. Yeah, Well, your predecessor, Gina Millsap was a go-getter and got a lot of things moving in the right direction. You have been with the library since the 90s, as you had said, and since 2020, December.
Speaker 4:Gina retired in December. I actually became the CEO in October of 21.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, so you've had a good picture of the changes that have occurred with the library here and also probably the changes that we've seen in people accessing that don't have shelter, and one of the things I have remembered from early on was just this openness of Topeka Shawnee County Library, always being open to anybody, as you've said, but really probably more empathetic towards people who are homeless than any other institution other than maybe those that serve them, like the Rescue Mission in our community, which always kind of surprised me, because people who live on the streets don't always come to your establishment with necessarily the greatest hygiene, sometimes the greatest behaviors, and so what have you seen in your time with the library? That has stayed the same but maybe has evolved based upon the increase of people being homeless.
Speaker 4:So one of the things that I recall early on, when I started, I started in the youth services department and, having never worked in libraries, I did human services. That was my background. I have an early childhood background. One of the things that really struck me was there were people who were coming into the library, who were maybe showering in the bathroom and you know, we didn't have showers set up and stuff like that but there was always a sense of dignity that we put dignity at the center of everything. Um, and and and.
Speaker 4:Honestly, it's things like that that made me decide. The library field was the place I wanted to be, and the Topeka library, specifically, was the place that I wanted to um, have my library journey, because we did put dignity at the center of everything. Now the numbers were smaller then in the 90s, but we still had people who were experiencing homelessness. Even then we knew people's names. We were able to talk with them about what was going on in their life. There was no need for an exchange of. We weren't asking anything, it was about the conversation, and I think that that removed apprehension for people coming in.
Speaker 4:We are seeing now more families coming in and families who are experiencing homelessness yes um, if, if I didn't have the conversation with those families, I would probably not know, because I don't make the assumption right off the bat. Um, and and I said this to somebody the other day, some of the families who come in come in about 830 in the morning and the library doesn't open till nine. We decided early on we were going to open our doors at seven and that was important because it gets hot and it gets cold, and so, even though the library doesn't open till nine, we have a nice vestibule where people can be.
Speaker 2:And I think there's so much that we can learn from that.
Speaker 4:Oh my goodness that spirit of dignity of non-judgment, the other thing that's beautiful about it is they actually really know our system and know our rules. So when other customers come in they'll say you need to look at that monitor.
Speaker 2:That tells you, because they're there.
Speaker 4:And I'm like thank you. Thank you so much for helping our customers, so what?
Speaker 2:that says to me is that they're not just coming in to be in a place. They're coming in and they have ownership in the place they've coming into. In other words, they are your partners now. Absolutely Because you've made them feel like they can be.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. And for some they're here every day, so they actually know. They'll say, oh, you know what, but they're remodeling that area over there, so you might want to stay once it's open, you might want to go over. I mean it's just amazing. And again, we know people by name and we're talking it's great, and we're saying, oh, you're getting ready to come for story time, don't forget, it's at 10 o'clock and they could be there all day, and so it's amazing.
Speaker 2:What are some of the challenges you have with that? We have people that are maybe a medical professional at one of the hospitals. They come over. They want to get a break, read a book, do research, get away. People just want to socialize. Some people come there for meetings. You're a cornucopia of bringing different groups with different situations together. What are some of the challenges you may have with that and what do you do with those challenges?
Speaker 4:Two things. One, it's a fairly large building so there's lots of space to spread out and you never know how many people are actually in the building until we have a fire drill or something like that, and then everybody has to leave and they're like where did all these people come from? But the other thing is that there's just spaces where people know there's an expectation. Again, if you go into the North Reading Room, you're not going to talk, so it's going to be quiet.
Speaker 4:We have staff that are working the floor all the time and they're connecting with people and so a lot of behavior is emulated by how they see our staff connect and if we're not worried about it concern, we talk to them. We take them aside and we talk to them and we talk through the stuff in no way making them not feel good about their feelings on it, but also not othering people. That's really important. We do have security. We've had security since we opened this very large building and it's important that we have that presence. But most of the time what security is doing is they know everybody off-duty police officers to go and game with the kids and have a good time so that there's a meaningful relationship, if ever there has to be a more other kind of relationship.
Speaker 2:That needs to happen. It helps a ton.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So what would you say to a person who's listening to this right now and saying, man, I really wanted to check out the library. I think it's really exciting. I didn't know they did all this or whatever, but I'm a little concerned about going there when those people go there too.
Speaker 4:Yeah, honestly, it's not. We are in no way overrun by any group of people. And, and again, there are parts of Topeka that people don't feel safe, real or imagined. I grew up in the Metro Detroit area, so I feel safe everywhere here, but that's how they feel. So it's just making sure that people, that everything's well lit, that everybody is, you know, maintaining the policies and the standards we have is, you know, maintaining the policies and the standards we have, and that we're talking with people. There will be people who will be walking through the space and having a conversation with themselves.
Speaker 4:um, see that walmart exactly exactly, and that's that's not scary. That doesn't mean that they're a threat, that there's anything that's going to happen, and so it's important for how the staff connect with that and how the staff kind of like ease it down and make sure that people understand that it's fine, they're fine, and then we're just being very vigilant if there's anything going on, and it's really knock on wood. We haven't had a lot of incidents, knock on wood, we haven't had a lot of incidents. I think the bigger thing is just also making sure our campus feels welcoming, because sometimes people don't feel comfortable if there's somebody outside, and so making sure that our campus is also. We've got people kind of keeping an eye on everything that's going on and saying, hi, how you doing? Are you getting what you need? As opposed to hey, you need to move on.
Speaker 2:I think they got like a rescue mission over there.
Speaker 3:What's so interesting is if there would be a way that I would categorize the library and their teams.
Speaker 3:There it's.
Speaker 3:They are really bridge builders, right, between people who are different right, so I'm different than you so they make something comfortable so that there is this bridge built, regardless of what that means, you know, or they're bringing this kind of information into the community, into meetings where not all of the participants may feel the same way the library does or handle things the same way the library does, and yet they bring their influence into those meetings, thereby building bridges, hopefully, with the folks at that table, because now they have a different understanding that, if the library can do this because I don't think people think of the library as social services people right, they're librarians, right, not do-gooders kind of people, and yet they are right and so they get to bring this really beautiful, inclusive perspective to people that need that, that need to hear this other side, that need to see that and hear that there can be this incredibly successful, purpose driven work that is including people that others may be afraid of, may be disgusted by, may be just lack understanding and knowledge about kind of thing, and I I think it's.
Speaker 3:I think it's amazing.
Speaker 2:Sounds like it's a, a, a very much that neutral ground that people can come to. It's not a place to come judge others. It's not a place to be afraid of others. It's not a place to create story about others. It's a place where everybody can put all that down and to be themselves.
Speaker 4:It's a place where we have Lisa Scottalini come and 250 people are sitting there listening to this nationally recognized author and I know because I know people are, you know, ceos of companies and people who are experiencing homelessness all in that same room having that shared experience all getting a signed copy of that book. So I mean it was amazing. It was amazing to see that and and so many people you know were like I would I've never had a book before that this is mine and I'm like, yeah, it's yours and it's signed.
Speaker 3:What an incredible value and when you think about that is, I'm guessing that the people that were sitting next to each other had no idea who they were sitting next to. Absolutely Right. So there is this. You know, sometimes our perspective is a little different because we see people in really intense times of struggle, right, but not necessarily everybody experiencing homelessness would be easily recognized as someone experiencing homelessness. So there's interaction that occurs that no one even knows.
Speaker 4:Oh, by the way, you're sitting beside someone who's who doesn't have shelter tonight or is staying at Topeka rescue mission, or something like that, couch surfing, I mean all those things Right, and and and is welcome to have the same experience, and and they, there's no entrance fee, there's no barrier. You know, we, years ago, we, we always ask for an address and stuff like that. But we, and we still do. But a lot of times we use the rescue mission as because it just needs a place to fill a box and it's not. It's not in any way to kind of say, well, you don't have an address, but you do, you all have an address.
Speaker 4:So it's, it's important that we look for ways to show our humanity and you never know what experience that somebody's having sitting next to somebody else who then decides, hey, I can do this, I can write a book, I can create a podcast, I can you know all those things that will help them take that next step. And so we feel like we're part of that journey and we'll never know, and that's okay, we don't need the credit for it, we don't need to know. But we. I love hearing people say, um, let me tell you the story about and they told me a personal story about their experience with the library and it's you know there's a lot of tears often when that happens.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm sure.
Speaker 2:Well, my gears are rolling. We have a limited time on podcast. Marie, you are just casually involved in the concerns of homelessness in our community. You're very involved and, despite what you guys do every day, what is your hope that we can see done in this community with the awareness of homelessness now in a greater way, the magnitude of it, the cost to community of it and this kind of big idea that we have that we can actually one day end chronic homelessness here? As we even contemplate that, what is your vision? What do you see the library's role in that could be?
Speaker 4:Well, I definitely see that we're standing right beside all the other partners, all the other partners, and we're there to facilitate conversations, to be that solution person. Often we say that when you sit at a table you have a better conversation and you can move things faster if you have a librarian sitting at the table, because we do have super mad skills for searching and connecting, but but energy to do that too.
Speaker 4:The other thing is we are that safe space where people can be as they're going through whatever they're going through, and we want to keep doing that. We want to be that place that people kind of go I'm having a rough day, I'm having a rough week, I'm having a rough year and so we want to be that place that anyone can come to. The other thing is I'm interested in us being another place to help really amplify the conversation and get it out of. It's a small group of people that are, you know, sight unseen to this. These are members of our community that have chosen to live in Topeka and Shawnee County, and as is we all, so I would love to be part of that, bringing in people that we can talk to.
Speaker 4:We also study a lot of stuff about this. This is something you hear at our library conferences. It's very much emblematic of things that are happening in the library world, and we're just looking at it from a different lens. So I'm interested in. I'm also interested in knowing what the need is and figuring out if we can support it. One of the things that we're really focused on is that idea of digital equity really focused in on is that idea of digital equity. The need to have access to digital resources and digital literacy is just as important as clean water and electricity at this point in time, and because that is where so much of communication happens, commerce happens, all of those sort of things, and so that is an area that we feel like we are poised to be able to play in that field. And then early literacy, you know, helping our young children and families start build that foundation and help them wire their brains in a certain way.
Speaker 4:So they can be successful in life. Again, that's in our wheelhouse, this is what we do, and so why would we not say, okay, where in the community does this need to happen more than anywhere else, and how can we be part of that? So we've talked about this. There's probably lots of lanes that the library can be involved in. We want to make sure we're meaningful. Never want to participate if we can't go all in and help, because the last thing a community needs is a partner that says, yeah, they can do it, and then doesn't deliver.
Speaker 4:We don't do that. We've never done that. We may sunset a collection, we may, you know eventually, but we don't. Once we commit to something, we don't do it. We organize around the work and we figure out how we're going to do it Um. So that's where I think the library can go. So it's literacy, it's learning, it's, it's it's supporting the people who are doing the hard work and it's being that safe, safe space for everybody to be um and and build community.
Speaker 2:I'm a believer to be and build community. I'm a believer, I know Well. Thank you, marie. You've unpacked things that I think that were good to refresh for some of us and some brand new information for others, and we only scratched the surface. I know so. I know you've been involved. The library has been involved, topeka Rescue Mission in so many ways. You mentioned an address and then people able to get a card to be able to check out things. We have an actual satellite here Topeka Rescue Missions, children's Palace, the public library, and the list goes on and on and on. So thank you for what you do. Thank you for staying in Topeka Now the CEO in Topeka, now the CEO. Thank you for being proactive in so many different ways to help our community be everything it can be. I have a feeling that there's going to be more that we're going to hear about you guys stepping up and being a big, big part of this. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners today?
Speaker 4:You know, one of the things that I don't know that people realize with our library specifically, is we don't do anything without partnership. So the relationship we have with the rescue mission we are never going to claim to be the experts in how do you work with people who are experiencing homelessness? So we're going to work with people who know that and who can help with that. We're the same thing with early literacy, the same thing with digital equity, and so when you are thinking about things that have any of that focus, I would ask think of the library. At least reach out and say, hey, is this something the library would want to be involved with? Because we partner on everything. We don't do anything alone, and that helps us be stronger. It's also I mean, I don't know if it's been like this for you know, 150 years in Topeka, but this is Topeka to me the last 30 plus years that I've been here. Nobody does things alone, it's true and does it well, not very well Exactly?
Speaker 2:Nobody does things alone, it's true. And does it well, not very well, exactly?
Speaker 4:We might try to do it alone, but we don't do it alone, and that is unique in the library world. That is not what happens when I talk with Trey George, with Topeka Housing Authority, and we talk nationally. They said so. The housing authority and a public library are working together. Yeah, that's the only way we're going to do it. We're going to bring the experts and work together. So please consider us.
Speaker 2:Done. Matter of fact, we're going to have more conversations going forward because we have to do this together and you guys are a goldmine in our community. You have been for a very, very long time and I think that just by virtue of your mission, the way you do it, the opportunities and the needs and opportunities we have in our community, the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library has got to be right there in the middle of all of it. So, thank you. So you heard from Marie Pico today, ceo of the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library. We unpacked a little bit about what goes on there and the vital part that they play in our community. So check them out if you haven't been there. I think we're going to be over there a lot more. So thank you for listening to our community, our mission. Podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission. If you'd like more information on TRM, you can go to trmonlineorg. That's trmonlineorg. Tune in next time for podcast number 245.