Month: September 2014

KCK library to launch new bookmobile this fall

A new bookmobile is coming to Kansas City, Kan., this fall.

It will serve residents who otherwise might find it hard to get to the public library buildings in the community, according to a spokesman.

A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for the new Kansas City, Kan., Public Library bookmobile at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 1 at Juniper Gardens, 1980 N. 2nd St., Kansas City, Kan. The community is invited to attend the event.

“This is something we’ve been looking into for quite a while,” said Kim Woolery, public relations specialist for the library. “We know there are people in our city and Wyandotte County who don’t have access to the Internet, and do not have transportation access, and we wanted to do as much as we could to serve them. We don’t want them to feel left out because they were not able to come to one of our branches.”

It has been several years since a bookmobile operated in Kansas City Kan.

This bookmobile will be brand new, about the size of a recreational vehicle, and will have a computer mobile lab with Internet access on board as well as books, Woolery said. Patrons will be able to sign up for computer time.

The bookmobile will have a set collection of books always on board, and it also will be able to bring books that have been requested in advance from the library branches.

She said plans are for the bookmobile to operate Mondays through Fridays, making three stops on each day except for Monday, when it will make one stop. The bookmobile will reach 25 stops, alternating weeks, so that it visits the same place once every two weeks, she added.

The bookmobile can go all over the community, and she expects it to be visiting areas mostly in the eastern part of Kansas City, Kan., including senior centers, housing centers, and community centers.

Two librarians will staff the bookmobile. It will not run on holidays when the library is closed, and there is a chance it may not run in the event of inclement weather, she added.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 1, there will be a few weeks for technical testing of the bookmobile, then it is expected to be placed into service on Oct. 13, she said.

Lawmakers weigh in on changes to rules on liver transplants

U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-3rd Dist., with more than 50 colleagues, has written to express concerns about a plan that would change the way livers are allocated for transplants.

He has written to the Health Resources and Services Administration to express his concerns about a concept paper released by the United Network for Organ Sharing Liver and Intestine Committee.

The rules governing the allocation of livers for transplant would be changed if the ideas were adopted.

Under the proposed changes from UNOS, the geographic boundaries for sharing of donor livers would be significantly broadened, with the goal of reducing the disparities in liver allocation across the country.

Wider geographic organ sharing would increase access for larger, urban transplant centers on the East and West coasts while limiting organ availability for patients in the rest of the country, such as the Midwest and South.

The UNOS Liver and Intestine Committee is expected to meet in Chicago on Sept. 16 to discuss this proposal.

“There is a critical shortage of donor livers in the United States and a large geographic disparity in the rates of organ donation,” Rep. Yoder said. “Kansans, and the Midwest as a whole, are historically generous organ donors and UNOS should not adopt proposals that punish successful programs and decrease access to organs where donation rates are highest. We must implement programs that raise the organ donor consent rate in the areas of the country where disparities in wait times are the greatest.”

Currently, there are more than 12,000 patients listed for liver transplant and typically 6,000 liver transplants performed annually. In addition to this letter, more than 40 transplant professionals from across the country have also expressed significant concerns regarding the scientific and economic rationales of the UNOS proposal.

Hearing on gun sign regulations to be Wednesday in Topeka

A public hearing on regulations for gun signs will be held this week, according to the attorney general’s office.

The hearing will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, in the second floor auditorium of Memorial Hall, 120 S.W. 10th Ave., Topeka. The hearing date originally was announced July 14.

Derek Schmidt, Kansas attorney general, released proposed regulations in June for the new signs. The signs may be used to restrict the carrying of firearms, open, concealed or both, into buildings. Temporary rules are now in effect.

The proposed regulations are available at http://1.usa.gov/1tFyBof. Members of the public may submit comments on the proposed regulations on the website, by email to ksagcc@ag.ks.gov or by mail to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, 120 SW 10th Ave., 2nd Floor, Topeka, KS 66612.