When Austin Weekly News arrived to interview Roy Kinsey, the Austin branch library manager since December, he was busy discussing patron data with a specialist. And he paused the interview to hear a pitch from Beverly Hill of the Solidify Community Project. She wanted to discuss setting up a “community closet” specifically for teens.
This reflected the approach he said is trying to take with his role. Kinsey wants the library to serve the residents’ needs, whether in terms of the kind of materials they can borrow or the kind of services they can get. And he said he is constantly looking to develop partnerships with local organizations and institutions to work with his branch at 5615 Race.
Kinsey has already introduced some innovations. He set up a free clothing closet, where patrons could take clean donated clothing and leave donated items of their own, behind the library service desk. As with other branches he managed, Kinsey is expanding arts and wellness programming. He already launched a film club, and he is launching a monthly open mic – the library’s first since before the pandemic – this Wednesday evening.
The Austin library is the oldest of the three active branch libraries in the community.
Kinsey replaced long-time branch manager JoAnne Willis, who moved to the South Side’s Canaryville branch. He said he started out as a library page when he was 16 and kept working his way up.
“I worked [at] a bunch of different libraries around the city, doing different jobs,” Kinsey said.
After earning a Master’s in Library Studies degree, he worked his way up to branch manager. Kinsey previously served as the Richard M. Daley — West Humboldt branch library manager, and most recently served as the Lincoln Park branch library manager “for about a year.” But he said that his story with the Chicago Public Library system goes back much further than that.
Kinsey said he appreciated how much of an impact Willis had, and that the patrons still ask staff about her. This, he reflected, was just one of the examples of how loving and supportive the Austin community can be.
“It’s just the soul, I think, of the West Side, it just speaks volumes about the ties to Mississippi, right, and the people that have come and still are the children of the Great Migration, and they still have that spirit of [mutual aid] and wanting to help other people, just help other people,” Kinsey said.
He added that he also appreciates “a rich history of community organizing here in Austin.”
“I think being able to not only witness what everybody is doing when it comes to activism and organizing and serving the community — that has been great,” Kinsey said. “It’s been great getting to know the community and let them know that I’m here. […] I’ve been met with a ton of support, and people seem to be very excited to work with me and to know that they can partner with the library and continue their work.”
He said he wants to grow and expand children’s programming in-house, as well as to work with area daycare centers and build on existing partnerships with local schools. As Kinsey noted, the library already helps patrons with resumes and applications for services, and he wants to build on that. He is also growing community partnerships to do programming for adults. Kinsey mentioned quilting classes organized by local resident Jacqueline Doctor Johnson every Friday from noon to 3 p.m., and free yoga classes organized by the Collective Yoga Co-Op every third Saturday of the month at 10 a.m.
Kinsey held open mics at other libraries he managed. As he noted, the library already had some arts and culture programs – most notably, regular free movie screenings. Kinsey said he simply wanted to build on it, along with Austin’s rich cultural legacy in general. A film club kicked off in early March, and the first of what he hopes will be monthly open mics will be held on March 18 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
He is a rapper outside work, and he credited open mics with giving him opportunities.
“I just feel like the community — a lot of us, I think, are very expressive, and we need outlets to express ourselves, I think we need opportunities to create the community of arts,” Kinsey said. “For us to be able to gather around the mic, to gather around poetry – I think it’s great for everybody.”
Besides, he argued, the second-floor meeting room, which can hold up to 100 people, is too good of an asset not to use.
Another thing he is continuing in Austin is a club for patrons who want to explore growing plants and using them for medicinal purposes. Kinsey said he wants to add plants at the entrance, try to get more use of the library lawn on the sides and behind the building, and collaborate with Austin Town Hall Fieldhouse directly south of the library property.
Ultimately, he said he welcomes ideas from all corners.
“It is our duty, to get to know our community so we can serve them best,” Kinsey said.