The Library Mixtape

Track 02 — Liner Notes

Meet Kevin

Librarian. Consultant. Speaker. DJ. Professional Mixtape Maker.

Kevin King has spent nearly three decades figuring out what makes libraries work: good people, bold ideas, strong communities, a willingness to change, and occasionally turning the volume up a little louder than everyone else.

Kevin began his library career at Kalamazoo Public Library in 1998 as a Teen Services Librarian, helping build a nationally recognized teen program before moving into branch management, technology, circulation, organizational leadership, and, ultimately, community engagement. Along the way, he helped rethink what a public library could be and who it could serve.

His work has included going fine-free, connecting thousands of students to their public library through the OneCard program, developing a Peer Navigator program to connect vulnerable community members with help and resources, advancing trauma-informed approaches to library safety and security, building community partnerships, supporting equity initiatives, and creating programs that put people before bureaucracy.

In 2020, Kevin received the Michigan Library Association’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to libraries and the profession. He has presented across the country on innovation, organizational culture, community engagement, programming, leadership, trauma-informed service, and the future of libraries. He has also held leadership roles within the American Library Association and other professional organizations.

But Kevin has never been particularly interested in doing something just because that’s the way libraries have always done it.

That’s where The Library Mixtape comes in.

Kevin believes great libraries are a lot like great mixtapes. You need to know your audience. You need some trusted favorites, a few unexpected discoveries, good pacing, and the courage to occasionally put something on there that makes people ask, “What is this?”

And yes, the music metaphor is intentional.

Kevin is also a lifelong music obsessive and Gen X DJ who is just as comfortable talking about The Replacements, Prince, Public Enemy, New Order, and a perfectly sequenced playlist as he is talking about strategic planning, organizational culture, and community engagement.

The Library Mixtape brings those two worlds together.

Kevin works with libraries and library organizations to create customized consulting, workshops, retreats, presentations and planning experiences designed around one simple idea:

There is no single playlist for a great library.

You have to build the right mix for your people, your organization and your community.

So flip the cassette over.

Let’s make Side B even better.