September 8, 2022

On August 29, MCPL’s Spencer Branch hosted a special event at the LuCille Tack Center for the Arts in Spencer with Chris Tucker, a Long Island, New York native who was working as an air traffic controller on the morning of September 11, 2001. This event had originally been planned to happen in 2020 but was delayed due to COVID. After more than two years, it was a delight to finally see it come to fruition. For those that weren’t able to attend, we’ve included a brief summary below. Tucker started his presentation by explaining what an air traffic controller’s job is, and what they watch for on their screen. He included visuals depicting exactly what an air traffic controller’s screen looks like on most days...

Adults Community Events History Library Branches

September 6, 2022

Over the summer, we at the Marathon County Public Library (MCPL) have been working on getting our collection of local high school yearbooks uploaded to the Central Wisconsin Digitization Project website. With help from Andi Coffin and WiLS, the first batch of yearbooks is now up on the website and available for viewing here. Our team began with our oldest yearbooks from Wausau High School, scanning and uploading almost all of the yearbooks from Wausau High School and Wausau East High School through the year 2000. When browsing, you may notice a few missing yearbooks - that's because we don't own a copy and no one has donated their copy to us to add to our collection. If you'd like to help us complete...

Adults Community Genealogy History Online Resources Volunteering

August 11, 2021

Do your children want to learn more about those who have made substantial contributions to history, and the world? We've put together a reading list of biographies for kids, arranging them by length - short, longer, and longest. We've also included links to two podcasts that also may interest them - Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and The Past & the Curious. For additional recommendations, call the children's desk at the Marathon County Public Library's Wausau Headquarters at 715-261-7220. 

Books Children Early Literacy Education History Learning Reading Recommendations Tweens

October 1, 2020

It’s a natural fit for the Marathon County Historical Society (MCHS) and the Marathon County Public Library (MCPL) to work together to bring information and events to the public. They share some of the same goals to keep history — and local history in particular — alive and accessible. With both locations either being closed or offering only limited access due the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve partnered to adapt and reorganize our joint programming for a virtual environment. Virtual talks are broadcast simultaneously via the platform Zoom, and live streamed on MCHS’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Each presentation is archived on the MCHS Facebook page and...

Community Events History

September 8, 2020

The Central Wisconsin Book Festival will take place Sept. 21-27, 2020. Before it happens, we want to share a bit about some of the guests, so we've asked a few to answer some questions from festival organizers about themselves and their work. Below is a back-and-forth from Charles Hagner and CWBF committee member Chad Dally through email. Charles will join us virtually at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27 to tell us why Wisconsin is a great state to look for birds, and share some tips and techniques to identify birds. He’s the director of Bird City Wisconsin and author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to Birds of Wisconsin.   What's your background and how did you get involved with...

Authors Books Central Wisconsin Book Festival Community History Nature Wisconsin

February 6, 2019

Are you a local high school graduate who wouldn't mind parting with your high school yearbook? Or are you helping a family member de-clutter and have some yearbooks to get rid of? The Marathon County Public Library might want them! MCPL’s Wausau Headquarters houses a large collection of local high school yearbooks, including the Wausau East (formerly Wausau High School) Wahiscan, Wausau West Aurora, Newman High School Cardinal (formerly The Red Hat), the D.C. Everest Everette, and Faith Christian Academy annual. In addition, our Marathon City Branch has a limited collection of the Marathon High School Fleetfoot, and our Mosinee Branch also recently acquired a small collection of the Mosinee High School...

Community History

January 5, 2019

Earlier this week, the world celebrated the end of 2018 and the start of a new year, and we’re already nearly a full week into January! While everyone here at the Marathon County Public Library is excited to see what 2019 will bring, we can’t help but reflect back on the past year and all of the events, milestones and innovations that we experienced over the past 12 months. While the following isn’t a complete list of all of our accomplishments from 2018, we’ve compiled some of the highlights. Now, we can’t wait to see all that 2019 brings! First LENA Start sessions in Wisconsin held Beginning in February, MCPL Wausau hosted the first two LENA Start sessions in the state of Wisconsin. The program...

Libraries History

November 25, 2017

Each fall, eighth grade students from the D.C. Everest School District take part in National History Day. Held annually, students around the country will conduct their own research into topics related to an overarching National History Day theme. After months of research, the students write a paper and present their final projects to school staff and the public. Winning projects are then recognized at the school's History Day Award Ceremony.  This year's National History Day theme is "Taking a Stand in History." Inevitably, many students participating in National History Day visit their location Marathon County Public Library location to conduct their research and to acquire various published written...

On-Site Services Online Resources Books Libraries National History Day History

July 1, 2013

From 1920 to 1933, the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol were forbidden by law in the United States. Despite this, the public’s thirst for ‘demon rum’ continued and organized crime stepped in to meet the demand. Thanks to Illegal distilleries, smuggled shipments of alcohol and local moonshiners, alcohol continued to flow despite the best efforts of law enforcement. And what was the Marathon County experience during Prohibition? On Tuesday, July 16th, Gary Gisselman, librarian at the Marathon County Historical Society, will present THE LAST CALL, PROHIBITION IN MARATHON COUNTY, a program detailing how Marathon County residents weathered Prohibition. Did Marathon County obey the law of the land...

History

April 14, 2010

Today, Wednesday April 14 is the first ever National Bookmobile Day during National Library Week.  To coincide with this, Marathon County Bookmobile history is on display at MCPL Wausau throughout April. The first bookmobile arrived in Marathon County in December 1949, as a result of much petitioning and urging by rural school teachers and Kay Biwer, the head of Marathon County Library, located in the courthouse, serving the rural areas of Marathon County.  Marathon County’s bookmobile became the 4thbookmobile in Wisconsin. Bookmobile service began in Marathon County as way to provide additional books to children in the rural schools, later branching out to stops in communities and...

National Library Week History

January 21, 2010

Interviews with 22 survivors of the Nazi Holocaust who settled in Wisconsin have just been published online by the Wisconsin Historical Society.  Thirty years ago, Society staff interviewed 22 survivors and two American eyewitnesses, yielding 160 hours of tape recordings and more than 3,000 pages of transcripts. These have now been published in their entirety at www.wisconsinhistory.org/holocaustsurvivors Users can stream the recordings while reading along or download the audio (mp3) and text (pdf) for later use. A search engine leads to anecdotes about specific topics, places, people, and events. Nearly 200 photographs are included.  Dozens of short excerpts are organized under headings...

History

February 9, 2007

The Marathon County Public Library will be 100 Years old on April 3. Come and help us celebrate on April 15, 1:30-4:00 at the Wausau location. Listen to the music of Andy Z. and the Spankin' Monkeys Band,the Golden Glow Barbershop Quartet and storybook characters telling stories to families. Hop aboard the trolley for a fun ride and view of the city, have some birthday cake and treats, and join in the other fun activities for the whole family.

Centennial Events History Libraries