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Kelli Parmley - Lexington Public Library · Look Who's Talking

0:14
You are listening to Look Who's Talking. I am
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Cameron Minter, your co -host, and our wonderful
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Head Start Director, Jessica Coffie. Hi, Cam.
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Is our host. How are you? I am. You are the host.
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I don't think you're the host. No, you're the
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host. I just run the board. If the board could
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be ran by itself, you'd be sitting here by yourself.
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How about that? I'm doing good, Cam. I'm doing
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good. I'm doing good. The weather is nice. It's
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starting to get nice. Yeah. Although. Yeah. How
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have your allergies been? You know what? Because
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I am the guy that takes allergy medicine 24 -7.
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Okay. Good. See, I'm the person who's supposed
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to take allergy medicine year -round, and I don't.
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See, you're like my daughter. I'd be like, did
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you take your allergy medicine? Because you can't
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wait until allergy season to try to take allergy
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medicine because it's got to build up in you.
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Well, that's what I do. Yep. But you know what?
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My allergies are worse in the fall than they
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are in the spring. You know, but I say that,
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you know, I take it all the time, but I have
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an adjusted life. Mm -hmm. Today's a great day
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to roll down the window, right? Ride home. If
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I do that, by the time I get home, I am done.
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Done. So, yeah. My allergies are in check, but
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they don't mean a whole lot when I can't enjoy
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life the way I like to. Well, let's hope the
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allergies stay away from me. Here's a question
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for you. Do you keep a clean car? You took too
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long. I mean... Don't! That's my answer. Okay.
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My car is clean right now. Okay. So when you...
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Do you clean it or do you take it to get clean?
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No. I take it to get clean. So you're not a car
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wash girl. You know what? I used to be when I
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first got my car. Yeah, you loved it. When you
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loved it. I was washing that baby every Saturday.
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And now I'm like, hey, this. Means of equipment
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is to give me from A to B. I know what you mean.
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But you know what? My car got a little bit out
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of hand and I took her to go get a deep cleaning
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inside and out. And now I feel like I have a
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whole new car. So now she's getting washed and
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there's a little bit more upkeep because I feel
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like I have a new car and it's not. Yeah, yeah.
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I'm with you. I'm totally with you because I've
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never been the guy outside. With the holes. Yeah.
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See, that's where me and my sister are different.
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She always keeps a clean car. Me, no. But I get
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keeping a clean car, but are you cleaning it?
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You know, the last time I remember even talking
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about waxing a car. Who does that? That's how
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long ago it was. That's too much work. If my
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dad's not waxing my car, then it will not get
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waxed. I mean, who does that? I don't know. You
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know what that reminds me of? Waxing your shoes.
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Do you do that? No. No. I don't either. That's
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like an old man thing. It is, but I'm an old
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man. You know, they're still at the airport,
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and you sit in the chair, put your little foot
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up, and they'll clean your shoes off. I used
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to, as a kid, I used to wax my shoes. Really?
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Yes. Like the black shoes? Oh, yeah, the dress
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shoes. Did you ever do like the white tennis
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shoes with the white? No, I didn't do all that.
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Okay. No. First of all, my granny only got me
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like kicks, you know. They were going to get
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dirty. Books. I didn't get no good shoes. It
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was like, you know, Kmart shoes or something.
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I don't know. I never was a name brand guy, so.
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Yeah. Yeah. I always had kids. Oh, wait a minute.
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What was it? Oh, Payless Shoes. That's where
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it was. Payless. Listen, Payless was the place
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to be. I always got my Easter shoes from Payless
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with the ruffly socks. Girl, I step in some Payless.
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I step in some water and some Payless shoes and
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things is coming apart. Not the leather or pleather
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dress shoes for the little girls. I thought you
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was going to say jellies. I don't know, but.
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I don't know where we got my jellies from, but
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I had an array of color of jelly shoes. And that's
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something you ain't got, right? Mm -hmm. What?
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I don't have them now. Jellies? No, because,
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you know, the 21st century jellies are Crocs.
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Are they? Ugh. Just think about it. Like, you
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know, we used to wear jellies all the time. No,
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Crocs are the thing. Yeah, yeah. But, you know,
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they make your feet. Stank. Yeah, okay. I wasn't
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going to say it. Stank. But I do have a pair
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of Crocs that I wear all the time. At home? No.
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No? I've worn them out in public. Wow. Yeah.
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I only see work, Jessica. Well, you know, if
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you would come over to the office and visit us,
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you'll see. Well, I wore them like one day last
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week. And I was like, hold up. But you know they're
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not regular Crocs. The Crocs with the big, big
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wedge on it. Oh, wow. I ain't even seen them.
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Yeah. So it has a little wedge heel. Oh, yeah.
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I love them. This got to be ugly, though. A Croc
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with a heel? Oh, it's beautiful. Oh, my God.
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It is. And I feel like I'm walking on clouds.
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I bet. I bet. Do you switch your shoes up like
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from summer to winter? No. Really? No. Matter
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of fact. Is that a woman thing? It must be because,
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well, I mean, I have one pair of shoes that is
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seasonal. Are they like some boots? No, they're
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some blue suede shoes. Where I'm wearing those
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socks. I know, right? You know I was going to
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do that, right? I know. So, yeah, they're that
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type of shoe that, you know, has to be warm.
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It can't be raining type of shoe. But that's
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the only shoe I got like that. Oh, Cam. I know.
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And really and truly, if it wasn't for the sneaker
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ball. You wouldn't have. I wouldn't have. Sneakers.
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I wouldn't have because I don't. I don't get
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joy out of that. I'm sorry. It's not big on my
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list. See, I have to have options. If I have
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a black pair of shoes, I have to have options
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within the black pair of shoes. That's too much,
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though. I'm trying to condense down. So I'm like,
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okay. Where do your shoes go when you get tired
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of them? Like when I don't want to wear them
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at all anymore. The trash. Wow. Because I've
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worn them out. Oh, no one will want those. Oh,
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so you do wear them until they... Oh, yeah. You
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know what? One day, I had a pair of shoes that
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I hadn't worn in a while, so I wore them to work.
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It had a little heel. It was cute. I was walking
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in the parking lot. And all of a sudden the heel
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came off. And I fell. And I'm like, you know,
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I'm looking up at the window to make sure no
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one saw. Somebody saw you. Yeah. And, like, I
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literally will wear the shoes until, like, they
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fall off and break or something. Or someone,
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meaning usually the director of community resources,
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says don't wear those anymore. Right, right,
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right. Yeah. Okay, well. Oh, I get some good
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wear. Well, I mean, that's better. You know,
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a lot of women just, you know, hand them down.
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Especially them shoes you buy that are cute but
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you can't wear. Yeah, those. We're not going
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to talk about that no more. Let's have a Coffie
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Break. Yes, sir. Okay, so for today's Coffie
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Break quote, I would like to say from Albert
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Einstein, a ship is always safe at the shore,
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but that is not what it is built for. Yeah. What
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you got to say about that? Wow. That's different.
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From Einstein, you say? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, yeah,
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we can be safe. Oh, gosh. We could be safe. Come
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on with it. No, I'm not going to do it. But we
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could be safe but never experience what we were
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meant to be. And that's like going through life
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without a purpose, not knowing what purpose you
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are serving in this life. That's what I was going
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to say. That is straight. all about purpose what
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what are you here for what are you doing again
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you can be safe yeah i could have i could have
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after school stayed in paducah and been safe
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right but because i moved and wanted to experience
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more i think i've evolved and absolutely i really
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really know my purpose and and you know what
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i'm supposed to do who am i supposed to help
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things like that absolutely and that's powerful
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because Unfortunately, some people go through
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life being safe, and they never experience what
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they were meant to be. Right. On the opposite,
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some people go through life being reckless, but
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we're not going to talk about that. We're not
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going to talk about that. But, you know, sometimes
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I just wonder, like, inanimate objects, like
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a straw. Let's just say a straw. A straw is meant
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to be used, right? Yeah. But what happens if
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the straw just gets... you know it gets wet or
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something it gets dirty and it's thrown away
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its purpose was never fulfilled how's the straw
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feel you know yeah thank god i didn't get to
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get you know that's how that's how a more positive
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quote on the next i mean that's i mean that is
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positive though this is encouraging people to
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spread their wings and expand their horizon yeah
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i think that's good i think you should But you
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know what? You're always evolving. Exactly. So
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your purpose can evolve as well. Exactly. Exactly.
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So what we got on the show today? Who's on the
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show? So today we have Miss Kelly Parmley with
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the Lexington Library, who is the director of
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education. And let me add this, too. She was
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on our policy council. for years and now she
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is one of our board of directors wow welcome
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kelly welcome thanks for having me glad to be
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here yeah so before we get into some of the things
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that you know are happening at the lexington
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libraries i want to get into a little bit of
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you Who are you? Who are you? How did you become,
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you know, in this role for the library? Word.
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I don't know if people want to know that or not.
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We know you, but they don't know you, Kelly.
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Well, I am the director of education, like you
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said, for the Lexington Public Library. I have
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worked there for 35 years. Fun fact, the library
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is the only place I have ever worked. I started
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working there when I was in high school and I
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never left. That was not necessarily my intention,
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but that's how life shook out. I've had several
12:34
jobs and worked in several of our locations,
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but I think the job that I have now is my favorite
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one. So I'm super excited about that. How long
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have you been in that position? I have officially
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been in this position for like two months. Oh,
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wow. Unofficially, six or eight months. And in
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a position similar to it for a few years before
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that. But it's a lot of fun. I get to... and
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work with our staff that do a lot of our programs
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for children's teens and adults and kind of help
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develop programs with them i get to plan our
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summer at the library which is the absolute favorite
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thing i've done and work in 35 years is planning
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summer at the library it's amazing our language
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services our upcoming outreach services all of
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our experiential learning spaces they all kind
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of fall into the area where i am and so i have
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a lot of great people to work with that are very
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creative and do a lot of amazing things Good
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deal. So we are coming up. School is about to
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end in what, like less than a month? Yes. And
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we want to know, okay, what do you all have for
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kids of all ages? during this summer i know you
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have a lot what do we not have i think it's easier
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question to answer like i said summer is um it's
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chaos at the library it's a good kind of chaos
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when kids get out of school they come right to
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the teachers just kind of look at us like here
14:01
you go and we are happy um to do that we kick
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off summer the first week of june um june 3rd
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through the 7th we have our annual summer kickoff
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parties So it's kind of a party at each location.
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During that week, we're going to have petting
14:19
zoos, and we're giving away new books at every
14:22
location to every child that comes. The police
14:26
department is going to be there doing popsicles.
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We have a lot of character meet and greets. Kids
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can meet Pete the Cat and Elephant and Piggy
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and Curious George and Clifford and all kinds
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of characters are going to be there. So we're
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going to have a lot of fun at those kickoff parties.
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They're really popular, really crowded. And then
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as we go through June, June 10th and 11th, we
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have Kentucky Down Under. Coming to the libraries,
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and they always bring live animals. We never
14:52
know what they're going to bring, so I don't
14:54
know what they're going to bring. But they show
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up with live animals. We have several hundred
14:57
people come to each one of our locations to see
15:00
Kentucky Down Under. The Lexington Children's
15:03
Theater, we partner with them every summer. I
15:06
think Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, which is
15:09
kind of a play for very young, is the one that
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they're going to be doing with us. Jim Gill.
15:16
who is, if you're a librarian, if you're a teacher,
15:19
a preschool teacher, a teacher of young children,
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Jim Gill is a children's musician that you know.
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He's nationally renowned, and so we get to be
15:27
a stop on his national tour this year. So we're
15:30
really excited to have him at all of our branches.
15:32
But then the big one is going to be July 9th
15:36
and 10th at the Central Library, and we're going
15:39
to have Bluey. Oh! That's kind of a big deal.
15:44
We're calling it the Blue Dog Bash. So you see
15:49
the word Blue Dog Bash. It's bluey. We're going
15:53
to take a quick commercial break, but she ain't
15:57
even halfway done with what they doing. We're
16:00
coming back. We are talking with Kelly with the
16:04
Lexington Public Library. You're listening to
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at comaction .org. That's commaction .org. talking
17:58
and we're talking with Kelly Parmley from the
18:01
Lexington Public Library so Kelly you just mentioned
18:05
you know quite a few things that you are doing
18:08
you all are doing this summer but I want to get
18:11
into your partnership with Fayette County Public
18:14
Schools and talk about the summer feeding program
18:17
oh yeah I actually talked at the board meeting
18:19
at Fayette County Public Schools this week about
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some of the things the library does and one of
18:24
The things that we do for Fayette County Public
18:26
Schools is this summer, four of our locations,
18:29
Northside, Marksbury Family Branch, Eastside
18:32
Branch, and Tate's Creek, will all be serving
18:37
as summer feeding sites in partnership with Fayette
18:39
County Public Schools, which means we'll be serving
18:41
lunch and an afternoon snack during the weekdays
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in June and July. I think there's a couple. Days
18:48
in the calendar where the school system is not
18:50
doing lunch, I think Juneteenth is one of the
18:51
days, and then another maybe Fourth of July,
18:53
right around in there. But other than that, we're
18:55
going to be serving meals at the libraries in
18:58
June and July. So tell me, how does that work?
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Do they come and pick up food, or are there activities
19:05
at the spots? They come. You have to eat. The
19:07
food has to be consumed on site. Okay. That's
19:10
their rule, I think, an FDA kind of regulation
19:12
that they have. And so we kind of set up a room
19:15
in each one of our branches, like 30 minute period
19:18
it's not like you know and so you kind of have
19:20
to be there during that period and have your
19:23
meal and it is open to anyone 18 and under. And
19:27
I think whether you're a Fayette County School
19:28
student or not, I believe it's open to anyone
19:32
in the community. So we served over 6 ,000 last
19:36
year at our branches during that summer period.
19:38
Cam, have you ever, did they have the food truck
19:42
when you were younger? Why are you trying, why
19:43
are you trying? They did, they did have lunch,
19:47
but it wasn't at the library. Yeah, we had it
19:50
at a park. And what made me think about it is
19:53
when Kelly said, you have to eat lunch there.
19:55
Because I used to, fun fact, we used to eat,
20:00
like going to the park for the summer was like
20:03
the funnest thing ever. Parks and Recreations,
20:05
then they have food truck come. We would take
20:08
our food and run to the house, my babysitter's
20:11
house, and eat the food there because we wanted
20:14
to eat it in the air conditioning. So every time
20:18
we would get in trouble for leaving, but you
20:22
weren't supposed to do that. You didn't do that?
20:24
No. Oh, okay. We're air -conditioned, so people
20:27
get to eat in the air -conditioned. Oh, that's
20:29
even better. It's all good. It's all good. See,
20:32
the library has taken, you know, that's a great
20:36
transition right there because when we were growing
20:41
up, and I'm not going to put you in my grade,
20:43
but when we were growing up, The library was
20:46
not doing what it's doing now. And other people
20:50
or other groups were doing that. And now the
20:53
library has taken on that. And it's almost like
20:57
summer school. Yeah, yeah. You know, the second
21:02
place where your child can go be safe, get education,
21:07
and get a meal. How has that been for you to
21:12
see, because you said you've been doing this
21:14
for 35 years, to see the transition of what the
21:19
library means to the community? It's been fun
21:22
just to see, just to watch the library grow.
21:25
It really has been astounding. Like you said,
21:27
when we were kids, you know, I remember going
21:29
in the library and I picked out my eight or ten
21:31
books and I checked them out at the desk and
21:33
I took them home and read them. I mean, or I
21:35
could sit there and read them. That's really
21:37
all that was going on then. You know, you could
21:39
just kind of sit there and read. Yeah, it was
21:41
a very shh environment. You're never going to
21:43
hear anybody say that hardly ever now. But there's
21:46
just. all kinds of things going on all the time
21:49
for people of all ages. You know, you can read
21:52
your books, and we have quiet spaces to do that,
21:54
but we have programs going on all the time, story
21:56
times going on, classes. We have the maker spaces
22:00
where people are coming in and just making astounding
22:03
things at the library. People are podcasting
22:06
at the library because we have a digital studio.
22:08
We have the video podcasting. I didn't know that.
22:10
All those things are going on. You'd be astounded
22:14
at what all goes on in libraries these days.
22:15
Fun fact. I got my start in knowing what I wanted
22:21
to do here at Community Action from the library.
22:24
Did you go to the Northside Digital Studio? Yes,
22:26
I did. I went there. I got educated on the equipment
22:31
and the software. And that was what I was able
22:36
to use to say, this is what we need for me to
22:39
do. You know what I'm saying? And so I took classes.
22:42
I got all the equipment. And got all my knowledge
22:46
from the north side. And you did that for free,
22:48
didn't you? For free. That is right. For free.
22:52
So, yeah, it is amazing what all is available.
22:57
And what I'm saying is the same program that
23:02
I'm using to edit videos and to do the things
23:06
that I'm doing is available free in the community.
23:10
It's available free in the community. removes
23:14
so many barriers that if you are interested in
23:19
pursuing something, you can get some serious
23:23
help from the library for free. Now, when you
23:27
go out and you try to get this stuff in your
23:29
house, there's thousands of dollars. We had somebody
23:33
nominated for a Grammy not too long ago, and
23:35
they made their album in the library. For free?
23:38
In the audio booth at the library for free. Oh,
23:41
wow. See? Yeah. Wow. all kinds of there's a couple
23:45
doctors that come in there and do a regular health
23:47
podcast that's really popular heard in several
23:50
states and they record that at the library students
23:52
come in and do things but we've had so many musicians
23:56
do their music there we have green screen over
23:59
in the room over in at north side we have a lot
24:01
of this stuff that i'm seeing in this room around
24:04
yeah yeah we have there for the public to come
24:07
and use for free and we have We're adding an
24:10
extra audio booth, actually, in the next few
24:13
weeks because the demand is so great. And then
24:16
that audio booth will have the podcasting capability
24:19
as well as the capability to do video podcasting.
24:22
I mean, did you think 35 years ago when you started
24:24
at the library that, you know, it would evolve
24:27
into what it is now? No, I had no idea. It's
24:29
been amazing to watch the library grow and just
24:32
to see the impact that we've had. the projects
24:35
that we've been involved in, the free services
24:38
that we're able to provide and help people get
24:41
their start, whether they're starting a business,
24:43
making an album, learning a new skill, learning
24:46
a new hobby. I mean, anything is possible at
24:49
the library. So it's an amazing place to work.
24:51
So what I want to move on to is, you know, we're
24:55
about to have our promotion ceremony for those
24:59
kiddos who will be going to kindergarten. Tell
25:02
us about some of the kindergarten programs that
25:04
you all have. Well, we have regular story time,
25:07
obviously, which is so beneficial. Story time
25:10
is beneficial because we talk, read, write, sing,
25:12
talk, and play. You learn all those things in
25:15
story time. And the way our librarians do story
25:19
time is from a very educational standpoint. standpoint
25:21
so we really help with that but this past um
25:24
this past year we launched a program called kindergarten
25:27
life skills um because when we've had our kindergarten
25:30
programs before they were numbers letters colors
25:32
things like that things that you learn in school
25:34
teachers told us some kindergarten teachers told
25:37
us we got that You know, we got that part. We
25:41
need social and emotional learning. And so that's
25:44
what our latest program series called Kindergarten
25:46
Life Skills has been about. It's been about how
25:49
do I share? How do I handle my big feelings?
25:52
How do I wait? How am I able to take care of
25:56
myself? Because so many of these kids, they start
25:58
school, and mom has always tied their shoe and
26:01
opened their milk for them and done everything.
26:03
They don't know how to do anything themselves.
26:05
How to be independent when you start school.
26:07
And we ask the parents to come to these programs
26:10
as well. But the parents' role, when you want
26:12
to jump in and do that for the child, no, no.
26:14
Don't do it. That's not how this works. You need
26:17
to step back and watch them learn it. So that
26:19
program has gotten a lot of positive feedback
26:21
and been successful. We're probably going to
26:23
sign it. cycle it around again in the fall when
26:26
the new school year starts to get these little
26:28
ones ready for school. Yeah, that's one thing
26:30
I love about Head Start because we make lesson
26:34
plans individualized, but social -emotional is
26:37
really, really big. It is, yeah. You know, we
26:40
have... parents come and say my child said i
26:44
need to go take a break and breathe in and breathe
26:47
out because to regulate my emotions yeah and
26:50
i'm like yeah we you know go through that with
26:53
children yeah people that don't have any brothers
26:55
and sisters grow up with no brothers and sisters
26:57
they don't know how to share they've never had
26:58
to i have a sister i don't know how to share
27:01
but i'm working i didn't have to i don't have
27:04
any siblings but you know i always tell um my
27:07
my my wife and my daughter Let them go because
27:12
they have so much more freedom at school than
27:16
they do at home, which seems to be the opposite.
27:19
You know what I'm saying? And it's like, you
27:21
know, it's dinner time and she wants to put him
27:24
in her lap and feed him. No, he's doing all of
27:28
that at school now. So it's just that transition
27:32
and Head Start is providing that. Well, you know.
27:35
Kids also play mind games. Of course. Of course.
27:39
Because when they get home. Yeah, cut it. Yeah,
27:42
yeah. When they get home, they know, oh, this
27:46
is what's going to be expected of me. Nothing.
27:48
Yeah. But when I come to school, oh, I have responsibility.
27:53
I have to, you know. Got to do it myself. Yeah,
27:56
yeah. Which I love that because, you know, and
28:00
I don't know about you all, but, you know, having
28:03
parents come in and see the process of what it
28:07
takes to, well, either run a classroom or help
28:12
the child understand independence and things
28:15
like that. COVID did all the training. We don't
28:18
want to learn anymore about what it takes to
28:22
run a classroom. We don't want that no more.
28:25
But, yeah, yeah, it's just really refreshing.
28:28
And so one thing I want to ask you is the skill
28:32
set, all right? You came in with one skill set,
28:35
and now you're dealing in technology. You're
28:40
dealing in this. What does it take for you to
28:43
continually flip the script and pivot and learn
28:46
something new? That's a really good question.
28:48
I don't know how that's happened, but like you
28:50
said, when I did come out of library school,
28:52
my skill set was you come in and you ask me a
28:54
question, and I can go get a book off the shelf,
28:56
and I can flip through and I can find the answer
28:57
to your question. Well, the Internet changed
28:59
all that. So then you had to shift your skills
29:02
from looking it up in a book to learning how
29:04
to search on the Internet, knowing which sources
29:06
were viable and which ones weren't, because,
29:08
I mean, we can find anything on the Internet.
29:10
Some of it might not be accurate. So kind of
29:14
judging the validity of different things, we've
29:16
had to do that. We've had to turn some of our
29:19
time into programming and trying to do the fun.
29:23
And that's kind of a fun opportunity for people
29:24
that have various interests, and they can turn
29:27
some of those interests into programs for the
29:29
public. But the technology has changed a lot.
29:33
We have a very well -versed, and I'm not one
29:36
of them, I admit it. We have a very technically
29:38
well -versed. staff. And people can do things
29:41
called like book a librarian and you can make
29:45
an appointment with a librarian to help you do
29:47
research, help you write a paper, help you do
29:50
family genealogy. But you can also say, I don't
29:53
know how to work my Kindle. I don't know how
29:54
to buy something on Amazon. You know, different,
29:57
I don't know how to work my cell phone, just
29:59
various technological things. And so we have
30:02
different people that are kind of experts, for
30:04
lack of a better word, in different things. And
30:06
people can make appointments with them to learn.
30:08
you know, kind of about all those things too.
30:10
That's good to know. That's amazing. But then
30:13
it lets you know, if you want to work at the
30:16
library, you've got to be ready to flip it on
30:19
the script, right? You're looking for people
30:22
that are willing to advance, you know, and the
30:26
one thing, if you don't, you're stuck. Like the
30:30
library had an opportunity just to be gone, you
30:33
know what I'm saying? If they did not pivot.
30:36
They stay relevant. Stay relevant. Yeah, you
30:38
have to stay relevant. And the staff members
30:40
are ready for anything. I mean, one person could
30:43
ask you to help with their kindergartner, and
30:45
then the next person needs to write a resume,
30:47
and then the person after this needs something
30:49
else. So you've got to really be nimble and be
30:51
able to pivot. with people's needs, and that's
30:54
one of the fun things about working at the library.
30:56
That's kind of stressful sometimes, too, but
30:58
that also makes it a very unique and fun place
31:01
to work because every day brings new opportunities
31:04
and new surprises. That's it. That's it. How
31:07
can we get in touch with you? How can they figure
31:09
out what's going on at the library? Lexpublib
31:12
.org. Check the events on our website. They can
31:15
find a calendar of events, and then all the various
31:18
resources are there on our website. Amazing.
31:21
Thank you, Kelly. It's been a pleasure having
31:23
you on the show. Thank you. All right. You got
31:26
anything, JC? Nope. You don't quit saying nope.
31:29
You don't say something. Gee whiz. Let me talk
31:33
about your Beyonce hat. Yeah, you didn't talk
31:35
about the Beyonce hat, but we've heard enough.
31:38
And thank you for listening to Look Who's Talking.