Tanya Misselt, Library Director

The River Falls Public Library opened at its current location in 1997. And while the library still does so many great things for the local community, it’s in need of some upgrades. Last year, the library received a $4 million grant for renovations, and the much-anticipated construction is underway. 

Library Director Tanya Misselt joins this episode of the Kinni Cast to share more about the work being done to help set up the River Falls Public Library for the future. Tanya also discusses her early career as a police officer and shares why she thinks public libraries are so important for a community like River Falls.

Learn more about the City of River Falls at www.rfcity.org. Follow the City of River Falls on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Transcript

Tyler Mason For anyone listening, if you keep tabs on River Falls or you live in River Falls, you know that the River Falls Public Library is undergoing some changes. There's going to be some renovations taking place here. A big grant was awarded last year. And to talk about that here on the Kinni Cast, we have Tanya Misselt, the library director, who's going to talk about her background and really, this big project that's going on at the library. Tanya, how are you today?

Tanya Misselt Thank you. Thanks for inviting me.

Tyler Mason Absolutely. Well, let's start with you, talk about you a little bit. You actually before you got into the library world, you began your career as a police officer, which I did not know until I was kind of doing some research for this. Tell me a little bit about that experience in law enforcement, and then maybe what that shift was like from law enforcement to working in libraries.

Tanya Misselt My father was a sociology professor, and the expression ivory tower often refers to academia. So I kind of grew up in an ivory tower. And I went to college really not having a specific plan, like a lot of kids did. I was very fascinated with sociology within the field of sociology. They have a criminal justice department. So I majored in sociology. I have a certificate in criminal justice. And I also did some concentration a little bit in social research. When I got out of college, I actually thought, well, you know, maybe I'll spend a little bit of time doing probation and parole. I took a state exam and I scored in the top ten percent, but that puts you at about two hundred people. So I didn't get a call up from probation or parole right away. And it was really, really important that I landed a job that I could take care of myself. So at one point, I saw an advertisement in the paper for a police officer for Appleton, Wisconsin. And I looked at it and I chuckled to myself, and I threw it in the garbage. And then I pulled it out of the garbage, and I thought, you know what? I really need a job. So I put a lot of effort into the application process. And it was a long process. It was like six months of different hurdles to jump through. And to my great shock and amazement, I ended up being one of two that was hired at that time. So I really kind of stumbled into law enforcement. It wasn't like I dreamed my whole life of becoming a police officer. It was actually somewhat comical to me. I was in patrol for seven years. I was really interested in was teenagers. I wanted to become a police officer who works in a school. A high school resource officer. And I became a sensitive crime investigator, which means child abuse and sexual assault investigation. And in that time, I also worked at a high school at Appleton East High School. And I spent eleven years in law enforcement. I didn't really want to stay in that field. I knew that I wanted to go on with my education. I didn't know what I wanted to do. When my husband and I were pregnant with our second child, I just decided, you know what? I'm just done. I'm done doing this. I want to be home with my kids. And that's when I went home.

Tyler Mason Then from I mean, after taking that kind of break from that, how did libraries enter the picture or is that something that you said growing up, you know, police officers never something you dreamed of, but was libraries ever something?

Tanya Misselt You know, it's also quite laughable. My mother suggested, because I, you know, was trying to figure out what I was going to do with myself. And I decided counseling wasn't it. She said, well, why don't you become a librarian? And I just, I mean, you could have rolled over laughing at that idea. But as I was just reading to my sons and just spent so much time trying to make sure that when they got to school that they would be equipped, I realized that I really, really loved children's literature. It was so rewarding to read to the boys and watch how engaged they were, and how naturally they came to love books because we spent so much time at it. So then I started to take that concept seriously, and here I am.

Tyler Mason Throughout your career, I think you worked at some other library systems before that, but you ended up in River Falls in 2018. How did you end up here and what were your initial impressions of the library at that point?

Tanya Misselt So I met my husband in law enforcement, and he retired from a police chief position in Metro Police Department at the age of 52, and he really wasn't ready to retire. And he ended up getting a job working for the State of Minnesota. And that obviously forced me out of my position as the children's services supervisor at Appleton Public Library. I was originally trying to get into the metro area in the library systems, but it was really, really hard to break into that system. And this position at River Falls opened up, which was even more perfect because it's a freestanding library in the metro area. There's a lot of these big system libraries.

Tyler Mason Or county libraries and that sort of thing.

Tanya Misselt Yeah, you don't have as much local control. So being a part of a public library that is independent is a big deal because you can really cater to the community. And that's what I was used to at Appleton. So I was attracted to that and also obviously kept me in the state retirement system. When I came, I first came to visit the library, I really wasn't expecting the building to be so impressive. So I was like, Holy cow, this community really cares about its library. And then I saw that it had four librarians. Well, there's a difference between a non-degreed librarian and a degreed librarian. The professionalism that's brought up by people who have actually gone through the degree is, is something that was important to me to respect. And the fact that this community had that level of support for their libraries was very encouraging for me to apply. So those were really attractive points. And then as I learned more as I was studying for the interview, the commitment to sustainable living was a big deal. And commitment to the arts was a big deal, right? Obviously, the fact that it's a university town. Oh, that's a big deal for me, having grown up with a professor for a father. Right. I understood what it meant to grow up around universities, and that was a huge draw for me, too, because I knew that the intellectual curiosity would be here. Yeah. And that was it. That was sold. And I was lucky enough to get the job.

Tyler Mason I'm curious kind of when, you know, after you started with library here in River Falls, at what point did the conversations about the renovations first take place? Because I'm guessing it was it's probably been, you know, maybe years in the at least in the making of the discussion. But at what point did that enter the frame?

Tanya Misselt You know, pretty fast. Because when even with the astonishing architecture and the investment, the building was twenty years old when I got there and there had been some additions put on, but the furniture was really dated. The paint colors were really dated. The carpet was in not horrible shape, but not good. Those were my initial thoughts. But as soon as you talk about recarpeting a library, it's not like recarpeting a bedroom, right? You've got stacks and stacks of books, and it's very costly to recarpet a library. If you do it right. So then it opens up this whole Pandora's box. It's like, well, if we're going to move all this stuff around, what else do we need to think about doing?

Tyler Mason Sure.

Tanya Misselt So it was pretty fast, I would say.

Tyler Mason Sure. Obviously, though, the renovations are underway and things are getting moved around at the library, it's going to really kind of start in earnest coming up here and just, I guess, a week or two. But, um, as part of the renovation, the library received a grant for over $4 million last year. Governor Evers came to visit, and you gave him a tour of it. You and I talked a bit when that happened, but can you maybe go back to the moment when you found out about the grant and realized what that meant for the library?

Tanya Misselt Yeah. And I'm even going to backtrack a little bit and just say that normally a renovation or building a new library, it can take multiple careers to make that happen. So I wasn't really expecting that it would necessarily happen on my watch. I just started the process because I knew it needed to be done right. And the more input I got, um, the more I realized that there was a desire for more than what I had just imagined was initially with carpet and paint and furniture. So we started a space needs analysis, and we did a whole building assessment on what the quality of the building was, what needed to be fixed. And we were in a really good place when we found out about this flexible facilities grant. We had already done all this work, so when the opportunity came along, we were set. We were like, this wasn't scratchings on a on a napkin. This was something that we had really done a lot of invested money and time in to do. And so we stepped into that FFP grant prepared and we got it. And I think a lot of libraries applied for it and were probably not as prepared as we were, but still, it seems like it happened really fast. It still is like, oh my God, we got the money now.

Tyler Mason Like you said, you were speechless when you found out. 

Tanya Misselt I was! So I was just about to run out to grab a sandwich and the phone rang and I thought, ah, do I run out the door and get my sandwich? I thought, oh, you know, I better pick it up. So I pick it up and it turned out to be somebody from the state who was announcing this grant, and I didn't even – I couldn't even process mentally what questions I needed to ask. At that point, I was just sort of like, wow, that was about as far as my brain could get. And I think I was able to articulate a few questions, but there was emails that were exchanged after that. But I was really surprised. And then it's like, okay, who do I call first?

Tyler Mason Right. So who did you call first?

Tanya Misselt Well, you know, it's if I have to think about it, it was secretive. It was like they didn't want anybody to know that Evers was coming into town. So I had to keep it really close to my chest. I think I called Scot Simpson. I called Amy White. I didn't even tell the staff. They didn't know until the day that Evers arrived.

Tyler Mason Oh, really?

Tanya Misselt Because we were keeping it really close.

Tyler Mason You couldn't tell family or anything like that, I suppose.

Tanya Misselt Oh, I'm sure I told my husband. But no, it was like the board didn't even know. I'm sure I called the board president, Rebecca Ferguson. But the board didn't even know until he there was. There happened to be a board meeting on the night that Evers came over. So the library board found out that night. It was a whirlwind.

Tyler Mason Yeah, I was in the know because I was able to kind of take pictures, but I had to keep it hush hush, too.

Tanya Misselt Yeah. We needed to tell you, too, because you're part of that whole communication.

Tyler Mason Exactly. So, yeah, that was a big day. Um, well, I guess since that point, you know, obviously a lot has happened to kind of get ready. We talked about moving things and just all the other work that is going on to get this done, because based on how the grant is, it is kind of an accelerated timeline. What have these last several months been like for you and the rest of the library staff as you’ve been preparing for all this?

Tanya Misselt Pretty nuts. Controlled chaos. I have never been the lead on a big building project. So it's really, you know, kind of like jumping into the deep end fast. Fortunately, I think most of the community knows that, those that are frequenters of the library know that we have really exceptional staff. They're not only just kind and dedicated, but they always want to know what's happening next. And they want to get busy and start working on stuff. And the city has really lined me up with a lot of support. So we have the city engineer who's been helping. We have the city's public works have stepped in when needed. And we have a project manager from the city and a project manager from the architectural firm, and a project manager from the construction company. So we've got a lot of project managers to help me figure out where what we need to do next.

Tyler Mason Right. Well, let's talk a little bit about kind of what's what will be included in these renovations. I know you and I have talked about it. I think people are interested. You and Alice Olson from the library did a video of kind of some of the paint colors and carpet samples and that sort of thing, but maybe just kind of when you when you think about the interior renovations, because nothing on the outside of the building will change, as you've noted before. Um, what can people expect? What are kind of some of the highlights of some of these renovations?

Tanya Misselt So obviously the carpet and the paint are covered by this FFP grant, relocating the service desks. Both of them are going to get changed. Some people may remember we actually had three service desks when I first got here, but now we're down to two. And those two will slightly relocate for better traffic flow and for both the public and staff. So, um, we want to minimize the steps for everybody to do their work, whether it's the staff or the public. And we've tried to do that with this renovation, the main floor bathrooms are going to be adjusted to make them better accessible for people with special needs. So those bathrooms were ADA approved when the building was built. But if you touch anything in there, they're they fall out of outside of current ADA accessibility rules. And we wanted to have a private bathroom that would serve many, many different needs in that area. And those first set of bathrooms, when you come in the main door, even more particularly for aging adults. So we all know that nationwide we have an aging adult population. We have the baby boomers aging.It's really unprecedented. And we wanted to make sure that we had a bathroom for adults with caretakers. And while that may seem to be kind of a rarity, they have them in laws in Minnesota now, they are required to have adult changing tables. So things are changing. Our world is changing based on the population shifts. And we want to be to be able to make sure that we can serve everybody. We have a lot of ARC individuals with special needs that come in weekly and use our bathrooms, and we want to make sure we have we have them and we have aging adults who we can offer, um, facilities for that work. We need additional meeting rooms so people know that our meeting rooms are in high demand, and they're missing them right now because of the remodel. And we wanted to make sure that we without expanding the footprint because it's already a pretty big library. We wanted to do a few things to add meeting rooms. So there's one main meeting room that looks like it was originally intended to be two meeting rooms. It can like there was a sliding door that should have been there.

Tyler Mason Is that kind of where the boardroom area is?

Tanya Misselt No, it's the main meeting room when you first come in.

Tyler Mason Oh, sure. Yeah.

Tanya Misselt It's kind of L-shaped. So we want to be able to put those collapsible walls in there so that we can make a small meeting room, or we can add a large meeting room, or it could open it up like it is. And so that's one thing that's going to change. We also are adding two group study rooms. We have three single study rooms that are often all in use. So they're in high demand. And we want to have a couple that are a little bit bigger for group study. So we're adding that within the existing footprint we are enlarging the boardroom. That room does not accommodate both the foundation and the board at the same time. And we frequently the library Board of Trustees, which is the governing body, and the Library Foundation, which is a fiscal 501c3 for us, they often meet together to plan things. So we're all in the same strategic trajectory, right? And then room's not big enough. So we wanted to make that room a little bit bigger. Some other exciting things are we are putting in a telehealth room. So there's an increased demand for telehealth, particularly in the area of counseling. I think everybody knows that there's been ongoing discussions about the nation's mental health since COVID and the isolation – I would even argue the isolation from technology is contributing to it. But we have increased demand for counseling and limited counseling services here in River Falls. So by providing a telehealth room, we're providing a place where people can go and meet with their counselor or their doctor in a private room. So there'll be a telehealth room. We also are building a, I'm calling it a tech nest at this time, but it has naming rights and it may change names. We have a lot of physical technology that circulates from the library. It's an unbelievable amount of technology that people can check out. That technology has been funded for years by the Library Foundation, but it's locked away in an area where people can't see it. It needs to be locked away. So, you know, nobody walks away with it, but it's locked away in a way that nobody can see it. Sure. So this tech nest I'm calling is actually kind of a glorified closet with windows that people can see all the technology that we have so that they know that they have access to a lot of really cool stuff at our library. So that's another thing. We're also within the existing footprints. We're putting in what we're calling a quiet room. They might be more commonly known as a comfort room, and it's adjacent to the children's department. It's for lactating mothers. Whether they're breastfeeding or pumping, they can use that room. It's also for children who are having meltdowns. So whether it's because they need a nap or because they're hungry or because they're sensory overstimulated, we'll have that quiet room for that purpose also. And then in-wall technology. So the technology in our in our building right now is super old that you got to remember that that building was built, 27 years ago. Well, where was the world 27 years ago when it came to technology?

Tyler Mason It was a lot different back then.

Tanya Misselt A lot different. So all of our in-wall technology needs to get updated and we hope to have some, you know, state of the art technology built into the walls, whether that's speakers and microphones, cameras for programming. Also, um, our intercom system is dated and it's very difficult to hear. So a lot of those things are going to get fixed.

Tyler Mason Yeah, that's a lot. 

Tanya Misselt It's a lot.

Tyler Mason I think when it's all said and done, it's going to look great. And I've seen some of the renderings and some of that kind of stuff And yeah, it looks great. As you kind of look at this, obviously the grant, you know, $4 million sounds like a lot of money, but this type of project costs a lot of money, and the grant might not cover everything. So the capital campaign that was launched has been a big part of this project as well. What would you like people listening to know about this ongoing capital campaign, and maybe what additional funding will help with?

Tanya Misselt We have a $7.5 million capital campaign going on. Of that, $4.4 million is already achieved through the FFP Flexible Facilities grant. $2.3 million is still needed for kind of finishing the job. So we need furniture, chairs. Some of the some of the stuff we will either try to recover or just reuse. But there are a lot of things that are just archaic. So we really need to replace some of those things. And so furniture is a big thing. Our window treatments are falling apart. And literally some of the windows blinds don't open or close. Some of the curtains are ripped, so we want all new window treatments, art installations. We know this is an artist’s community and we want to be able to reflect that in in the library, we have some big ideas with outdoor spaces, which I'd like to talk a little bit more about, but there's a lot of expense in the mechanical systems of the library that they're twenty seven years old and they're it's not a fun thing to replace your HVAC system or your humidifier, but they're super expensive and it needs to happen.

Tyler Mason Yeah. It’s a necessity.

Tanya Misselt Yeah. Exactly. So these things are part of that $2.3 million to just to get the building mechanical systems back up to a place where they'll last another 20 years. So that's important. Also, our parking lot, we repaved it a couple of years ago, but it needs to be ground all the way down. So even after it was fixed a couple of years ago, it was just a resurfacing. And if you actually walk around out there, it's already falling apart. So that has to be ground all the way down. And that's another seventy thousand dollars just to get that parking lot, um, regraded and repaved. I wanted to talk about the outdoor space.

Tyler Mason Yeah, absolutely.

Tanya Misselt That's a lot more exciting.

Tyler Mason More exciting than HVAC?

Tanya Misselt Yeah, but related to HVAC. So actually, when the lower level was added with the gallery and I want to say it was about 2003. And at that time they added the elevator and they I believe it was that time where they added a concrete pad outside of the lower level that created a community programming space right outside the lower level on the south side. Well, in two thousand and eight, if I have my years right. When they added the boardroom and the solarium, they took the HVAC system off the roof where the boardroom is now, and they put it down by that programming space. And unfortunately, that HVAC system is so loud that it it really makes it impossible to have a program in there anymore. I had talked to our facilities manager, and I talked to some people from our construction company about what we could do to try to reclaim that programming space around the HVAC, and everybody said no. Even when you upgrade the HVAC, when you put some money in this HVAC, it's never going to be quiet enough to reclaim that community, that community space. So why don't you move it over here? So the discussion was to move the programming space to the southeast corner of the building. Okay. And ironically, kind of de facto, that has become a little bit of a programming area because during the pandemic, when we needed to move programs outside, we put we bought a canopy. Um, actually donated. And that canopy became an outdoor programming space for the kids. And they loved it. Yeah. And we had it up the next year, and they loved it. And then the next year we didn't put it up. And there was like long faces that, you know, I had one mother tell me, oh, my child was so looking forward to coming. And he calls it the tent. Yeah. So that area has become a de facto programming area. And we even had adults who were saying, oh, can we get some chairs out here so we can sit outside and okay, so it's an alternative space for outdoor programming that we would like to be able to offer the public. Another part of the capital campaign is we're working on is $1.2 million in endowments. And there's things that our library is not doing that it should be doing, in my opinion, based on what other public libraries are doing, what I know about this community, what we have been specifically asked to bring back. So we need two hundred thousand just to for our programming and events, uh, endowment. We already have one, but we need to raise that by about two hundred thousand. All of our programs and events are primarily paid for by the Library Foundation. And then we want to start another $1 million endowment for operational things. So the program and events endowment pays for presenters and the prizes that people get and technology that people use, but it doesn't pay for the staff needed to bring those programs to fruition. So what I'm proposing is a $1 million operational endowment so we can start four programs. One of them is an artist in residence. The community has really missed that art gallery. The Artists in Residence program is a lot more fiscally responsible approach to bringing the arts back to the library. And I'd also like to bring in a naturalist in residence program. I also want this operational endowment to trial an AI and technology uh, position. These positions are all only fifteen hours a week to start with, but artificial intelligence is the future whether we like it or not. It’s not going away, and we need to harness the best of it. And we need to have the public educated about what the concerns and pitfalls are. And so that's another portion that I want this endowment to, to help us fund. And the last one is I would really like us to have an outreach program for families with fewer financial resources. So that's the other part of the endowment or the capital campaign that I think a lot of people don't realize. And it's not just about the building, it's what we offer.

Tyler Mason And for people who are interested in learning more about the capital campaign or maybe even want to become a donor of the capital campaign, all that information is on the library's website, www.riverfallspubliclibrary.org. Send them there for more information or kind of details about that. A couple left here for you, Tanya. You've talked a lot about just all the different things that the library does. Why do you think or why do you feel that public libraries are so important to communities like River falls?

Tanya Misselt We offer free access to physical resources, digital resources. And when I say physical, it's not just books and movies, it's also technology, which we've talked about. And we have a bunch of hotspots which are used regularly by the community to access the internet. So we offer literacy programs. We help bridge the digital divide, which means from people who have or have not. And in this community, it's those who have internet or don't have internet. Whether it's because of financial reasons or because of the technology, just doesn't reach them very well. We offer meeting room space. We offer community connections, civic engagement, lectures, clubs, cultural programs, music, arts. We do all these things. And one of the repeated themes that we had when we did a feasibility study was that people loved the library. And I really feel that the library contributes a lot to civic life in River Falls, and I would like that to continue to be long into the future.

Tyler Mason Absolutely. Yeah. I feel like I've heard nothing but great things from the community about the library, and it's a sentiment that I've heard in other communities as well. But especially in River Falls, it seems like people love their library, love the staff. And so kudos to you and everyone else over there for really the great thing that you have going on there. And it's going to get even better with the with these renovations here. Thank you. Well, last question here for you, Tanya. This is what I ask everybody here. But when you think about your work here with library, but you know, in River Falls as well, what impact do you hope your work has on the people of River Falls?

Tanya Misselt So I'll be honest, I'm 60 now and I might go to 65, but I do care about legacy. I care about Nancy Miller's legacy. I care about the legacy of the women 100 years ago who built this library. And I want to make sure that that I leave the library as good as I found it, if not better. And I want the library to continue to thrive and be a central part of community life. I want it to continue to be a central resource and make life better for people in River Falls. And I think that I speak for all the staff when I say that, and I think I speak for the city when I say that too, that I think maintaining the library and making sure it's strong and to the future is important.

Tyler Mason Yeah, that's a great way to wrap it up here. Well, Tanya Misselt from the River Falls Public Library, thank you so much for sharing a little bit about yourself, a little bit about the renovations going on and all the great things that the River Falls Public Library has to offer. Thank you. And again, for anyone interested in learning more about the renovations the capital campaign, go to the River Falls Public Library website, www.riverfallspubliclibrary.org. By the time you're listening to this, there will be some construction going on. So again, just be patient. Things are going to be kind of moving around a bit and it's all going to be worth it in the end. So uh, again, thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Kinney cast. Be sure to subscribe if you don't yet on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. You can also find the episodes at rfcity.org. Just look for the podcast tab as well. But until next time, have a great day, River Falls.