May Day gave a small group of NEKLS and member library staff a welcome reason to get away — rabbits, chicks, and a spring day out. The field-trip itinerary: The Rabbit Hole in North Kansas City for a tour, and Chicken N Pickle for lunch after.

The Rabbit hOle is an immersive museum dedicated to bringing a century of American children’s literature to life through interactive environments inspired by classic and contemporary books — and it turned out to be the perfect outing for the season.

To begin our adventure, we walked (and some crawled) through a darkened, tunnel-like “rabbit burrow” that transitions visitors from the outside world into a storybook one. From there, guests move through installations built around beloved titles such as Goodnight Moon, Frog and Toad, and Curious George, each reimagined as an environment you can immerse yourself in rather than simply read about.

Several in the group drew comparisons to spaces like the City Museum in St. Louis — noting similar qualities of exploration, and discovery. As one attendee put it, it felt like “stepping into familiar books in a completely new way.”

During the visit, founder Debbie Pettid joined the group for a Q&A, sharing the story behind the museum’s development and the work of 16 full-time fabricators who design and build every exhibit in-house. One aspect of their vision was a deliberate choice to minimize technology. Only one installation features buttons or direct electronic interaction, and there is no traditional interpretive signage anywhere in the museum. Instead, the books themselves are woven into each environment as the primary touchpoint.

“Seeing the books all together in that context was great fun… it allows us to interact with these works in unexpected ways,” one participant reflected. Another described the experience as “inspirational,” particularly in seeing childhood favorites re-presented in such an unexpected form.

Photos from the visit are available in our Flickr album.

It’s probably not what folks first imagine. Rather than “just” book talks or strategies for managing “bad” patron behavior, it is far more nuanced: breakout sessions that are data-driven, empathetic, and reflective; stories that are both celebratory and difficult to hear. Referencing the keynote by Bryan Stevenson, one attendee told me, “I never expected to tear up at PLA.”

This was my first PLA Conference—and my first national library conference since 2013—so I attended very much as a first-timer. Choosing sessions and managing an itinerary is its own challenge, and by the end, the cognitive overload is real. One attendee praised the inclusion of a quiet room as “an amazing way to recharge midway through the conference.”

I went to PLA to broaden my understanding of the state of libraries and librarianship. In my role as a continuing education consultant, I am always seeking out topics, ideas, and presenters that might translate into meaningful continuing education for libraries in Northeast Kansas. After the conference, I invited Kansas attendees to share their observations so I could combine their perspectives with my own and use that input to inform future NEKLS continuing education opportunities. Below is a summary of our observations.

PLA 2026 Conference Session Summary

What stood out across sessions was not a single theme, but a set of persistent ones: libraries working through how to engage with AI, how to better serve older adults as a central—not peripheral—audience, how to strengthen leadership and staff culture, and how to refine policies around safety, access, and privacy in increasingly complex environments.

If you have the opportunity to step away from your daily routine to learn, it’s worth taking. NEKLS offers Continuing Education Grants to support conference attendance, webinars, and coursework—opportunities designed to help our members expand both skill and perspective.

And maybe that’s part of the answer to the question I was asked that first night: what do librarians do at a conference?

We step outside our own libraries to see the work differently. We listen, compare notes, and notice patterns that aren’t visible from any one vantage point. What emerges is a clearer view of what is consistent across libraries, and what is shifting faster than any one of us can see alone.

Feature Image: Downtown Minneapolis at Night, Dan Alexander

Advocacy isn’t just for budget season or book challenges. It’s every conversation your staff, board members, and Friends volunteers have with the people who make decisions about your community. Most of those conversations are already happening. The question is whether they’re landing.

On Thursday, March 26, from 1:30–2:30 p.m., Dr. Andrew Smith of Emporia State University will share practical, low-lift strategies for communicating library value in everyday interactions — no PR budget or communications department required.

This session is for library staff at all levels, trustees, Friends group members, and anyone who ever has to explain why their library matters to someone who already thinks they know.

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/everydayadvocacyks

Free. Virtual. One hour. Worth it.

Lunch & Learn: A Conversation with Tony Silvestri
Thursday, March 12, 2026
10:00 am–1:00 pm
NEKLS Office | Lawrence

Register and learn more here: https://nekls.org/event/lunch-learn-conversation-with-tony-silvestri/

Charles Anthony Silvestri is an award-winning poet, writer, educator, and speaker. He is the author of three books, and his poetry has been set to choral music by more than 100 composers worldwide.

Together, we will explore curiosity, mentorship, imagination, history, and the long arc of influence that libraries shape every day. The morning will include a conversation with Tony, participant reflections (Spark Talks), and time to connect with colleagues—followed by lunch.

Perry Lecompton Community Library Becomes a District

An election was held in November 2025 to establish Library District No. 2, Jefferson County (aka Perry Lecompton Community Library) and the ballot measure passed. This is an exciting development for the residents of the new library district! Here are some of the questions we are receiving at the NEKLS office . . . .

Didn’t Perry and Lecompton already have a library?

Yes, the Perry Lecompton Community Library has been operating for years as a volunteer library funded almost entirely though donations. As a legally established district library, the elected board of directors will have the ability to levy taxes in support of library operations.

What are the geographic boundaries of the library district?

The new taxing district largely mirrors that of USD 343 Perry-Lecompton with the exception  of a small portion in the city limits of Lawrence (taxed in support of Lawrence Public Library) and a small portion taxed by the Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library.

Is the Perry Lecompton Community Library a member of NEKLS?

While NEKLS has permitted the library to participate in the Next shared catalog and courier service, the library was never a member of NEKLS. It is expected that the library board will petition for membership in NEKLS.

How will the creation of this new district library impact NEKLS and the other member libraries?

The formation of this district is a positive development. The system will gain a valuable member library and residents of the district will see enhanced services offered by their local library. The formation of this district does mean a loss in taxing area to NEKLS and will result in a permanent loss of revenue (estimated to be between $120,000 and $130,000). It is our intention to mitigate the direct impact of this lost revenue on member libraries.

When will the library officially make the transition from volunteer library to district library?

Next week!  The Jefferson County Clerk’s office has called a special meeting for Thursday, January 22, 2026 for qualified electors of the district to elect the library’s inaugural governing body. As you might imagine, the library will have a lot of “firsts” in 2026 – drafting and approving bylaws, holding the annual meeting in March, preparing the municipal budget workbook, reviewing and setting policy, and all of the other things that go with running a public library. Questions? Contact Mike McDonald at mmcdonald@nekls.org or call the NEKLS office.

Changes to Kansas Administrative Regulations

The State Library Board approved in December 2025 changes to two Administrative Regulations applicable to regional systems of cooperating libraries (e.g. NEKLS).

K.A.R. 54-1-8 addresses provision of free service:

Libraries participating in NEKLS shall permit any citizen of the NEKLS region to borrow materials or receive services without charge, subject to reasonable local library rules.

• NEKLS shall not restrict the services and funding it provides to a member library based on this provision unless ordered by the State Library Board.

• If NEKLS believes a member library’s rules are unreasonable or discriminatory, the system may bring the matter to the State Library Board for review.

• Any action by the State Library Board shall be binding on all parties.

How might this regulation apply in practical terms? Suppose a member public library determines that a disproportionate number of out-of-district borrowers is consuming e-content and straining the library’s budget for this service. The library might choose, for example, to charge a small fee to out-of-district borrowers for access to e-content or perhaps choose to limit the number of monthly e-content e-contents for such borrowers. If NEKLS felt these policies were unreasonable, the system could ask the State Library Board to review the matter.

K.A.R. 54-1-15 pertains to what happens to property purchased with NEKLS funds when a member library petitions the State Library Board for withdrawal from the system. Property may include books, furniture, equipment or other property.

Legislative Update

The Kansas Legislature opened the new session on Monday, January 12, 2026. Access all things Kansas Legislature here: https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/

• NEKLS will endeavor to keep members apprised of bills that may impact libraries. If a bill gains traction and receives a hearing, you may wish to consider providing written or oral testimony.

• Kansas Legislative Day for libraries will be Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at the Statehouse.

HB 2410 has been pre-filed and would amend K.S.A. 75-2549. This statute addresses how public libraries withdraw their taxing district from a regional system of cooperating libraries (“system”). As introduced, this bill would:

• Reduce from two to one the number of years a local library must levy at least 0.25 mills before petitioning the State Library Board to have the system tax removed.

• Remove the consideration of “manifest harm” to a system when a local public library petitions the State Library Board to remove the system tax.

• Require the State Library Board to exclude such taxing district from the system if the local library’s taxing district meets statutory requirements.

• Curiously, the bill amends language about a 0.75 mill cap on a system’s annual ad valorem tax. This provision in K.S.A 75-2551 was removed by the Legislature several years ago, is therefore residual and should be corrected by the Revisor of Statutes.

In practical terms, this bill would apply to the Perry Lecompton district library petitioning to have the NEKLS tax removed from the library’s taxing district.

Government Accountability Office Report

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report in December 2025 to congressional committees regarding public library buildings that found, in part:

• An estimated 38 percent (about 6,000) of the nation’s public libraries have at least one building system, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), in poor condition, according to GAO’s survey of libraries.

• An estimated 61 percent (about 9,800 libraries) have at least one building system or feature that poses a potential health or safety concern. Library size and physical accessibility were most frequently cited as potential concerns.

• An estimated 70 percent (about 11,200 libraries) have a backlog of deferred maintenance and repair, according to GAO’s survey.

• According to budget forecasts and planned projects, an estimated 70 percent of libraries also expect deferred maintenance to persist or increase in the next 3 years.

• An estimated 39 percent (about 6,200 libraries) had a deferred maintenance backlog of more than $100,000 each.

I would expect these percentages ring true in Kansas and the NEKLS region. It is an important reminder for libraries and their municipal partners that building maintenance must be considered in the annual budget. Contact a NEKLS consultant to discuss space planning and library facility maintenance.

View the full report HERE.

A few reactions we heard along the way:

• “These were so good!”
• “I’m honestly intrigued by #10, A Diabolical Dictionary of Education. It looks funny.”
• “Thanks for a chance to play!”
• “Hilarious!”
• “This is fun! Thank you for doing it.”

News of our contest made it far outside of our region—Oregon State University Librarians reportedly shared/liked/loved the submissions on their internal Slack channel.

It was a tight competition, but our first-place finisher ultimately pulled ahead. Scoring worked as follows: 3 points for a first-place vote, 2 for second, and 1 for third.

With 38 total points and in first place this year:

Weeding Library Collections

Natalie Moreland, School Librarian, Logan Elementary

With 17 total points and in second place this year:

The Happy Lion’s Quest

Jenny Wirt, Youth Services Librarian, Atchison Public Library

With 15 total points and in third place this year:

Five Lessons

Michelle Larson, Library Director, Horton Public Library

Here’s the submissions again if you missed them: 2025 MUSTIE Submissions. Finally, below is how the scoring broke down—I wish I could award you all prizes for your efforts—I’ll be in contact with the top three to get them their gift cards!

Looking ahead to 2026, NEKLS is always here to support your collection development work—whether that’s weeding, inventory, or policy updates. Happy holidays, and thanks for playing.

It’s that time of year again—the MUSTIES are our version of an ugly sweater contest… but for circulating items from your collection that were weeded in 2025.

How to Participate

• Submit up to three weeded items per member library. Multiple photos of items are welcome.
• Submit via email to: dalexander@nekls.org | Subject: 2025 MUSTIES
• Deadline: Friday, December 5
• Voting: After the submission deadline, an ambassador from each NEKLS member library will have the opportunity to vote.
• Winners announced: Monday, December 15

Weeding keeps your collection useful, current, and aligned with your collection development policy. For guidance, we look to the CREW method—a legacy framework for weeding library collections. You can review the archived manual here: CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries

This is all in good fun, but it’s also a chance to reflect on items that served their time—and make way for the new. Whether it’s a DVD, kit, cake pan, costume, or book that has outlived its usefulness, we want to see it! Snap some photos and let’s reward the weird, the ridiculous, and the gloriously retired. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be awarded a gift card!

MUSTIE is an acronym for six negative factors that frequently ruin a book’s usefulness and make it a prime candidate for weeding: M = Misleading, U = Ugly, S = Superseded, T = Trivial, I = Irrelevant, E = Easily available elsewhere.

WORST (for media) stands for Worn out, Out of date, Rarely used, Supplied elsewhere, or Trivial and faddish.

#NationalFriendsofLibrariesWeek | October 19–25, 2025