A National Library Week Like No Other

The week of April 19–25, 2020, is National Library Week — a time when libraries across the country typically celebrate their myriad offerings and show appreciation for the patrons they serve.  However, that celebration is drastically different this year due to precautions related to the COVID-19 coronavirus. The Marathon County Public Library’s (MCPL) Board of Trustees voted to close all 9 MCPL locations to the public beginning March 17, 2020. A "Safer at Home" order from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers went into effect on March 25 stating, “Libraries shall close for all in-person services, but may continue to provide on-line services and programming.” The...

This Earth Week, Become Eco-literate!

Did you know Earth Day is turning 50 this year?

“Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Senator Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, realized that if he could infuse the energy of anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States — took to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast...

Tween Book Talks

Everyone needs something new to read from time to time, even tweens!  Occasionally, we'll post tween book talks right here on www.mcpl.us. The talks will cover a wide range of novels aimed at late elementary and middle school-age kids. The talks can be experienced in two different ways. Tweens can either watch the YouTube video discussion associated with each book below, or can download an MP3 file of the talk to their computer, tablet or smartphone and listen to it podcast-style! Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz, Little White Duck: A Childhood in China by Andres Vera Martinez and Na Liu, and Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis All three are...

Passin' More Time with Pop Culture

Whenever I find myself home for long periods of time, one of my favorite ways to unwind is in front of the TV. While I love going for walks, reading and other hobbies, there's just something about settling in for a good movie or binge-watching a series I can't get enough of. The past few weeks have been the perfect time for that, with many of us finding ourselves with an overabundance of time at home. During this time, I've gotten engrossed in several series, documentaries and movies, and below are a few of the highlights. Each item on the list is available on one of the major streaming platforms - Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+, and some of them are available on DVD from the library.    “High Fidelity” on Hulu:...

ICYMI: Virtual Story Times, April 6-10

This week, the Marathon County Public Library continued offering its daily Virtual Story Time to help encourage kids and parents to read and tell stories at home! A roster of our staff members took turns singing songs and reading stories each morning, and will continue doing so for the next several weeks as all MCPL locations continue to be closed. If you or your family missed these story times, which are typically broadcast live on our Facebook page, we've collected them all for you here. You can also hop over to our YouTube channel to watch these story times and many other videos that we've posted!                    

Spooky, Scary, Supernatural Reads!

If you are anything like me, the unknown is a fascinating subject. Ghosts, UFOs, weird animals and weird experiences are all part of the supernatural. Below is a list of nonfiction books that deal with the supernatural; all are available from Wisconsin’s Digital Library. This is just a starting point, the digital library has many other books that deal with the supernatural.  Enjoy!  

Bake your stress away with these tasty materials!

If you are anything like me, baking is an outlet for stress during the best of times. I love looking at beautiful baking cookbooks, checking out my favorite bakers and bloggers on Instagram, and bookmarking new recipes. During this period of self-isolation, I am leaning in and baking even more than I normally do. I have already made my favorite chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, artisan bread, and even tried my hand at macarons. The macarons were not successful, but it was a fun experiment! I will be making my second attempt this weekend! Here is a list of some of my favorite baking cookbooks. I have also included links to these chef’s blogs and social media accocunts so you can find some baking...

10 From Dewey: A Dewey Decimal Reading List

Over a century ago, Melvil Dewey decided that libraries were too disorganized, so he set out to organize all the world’s knowledge into ten categories. While many librarians discuss the continued use of these categories to organize knowledge, many public libraries still use them today. If you're looking for a nonfiction book to read but aren't sure what you're in the mood for, I’ve picked 10 titles; one each from each of the subject areas. While one title doesn’t completely cover all the topics included in that one category, this will give you a taste of what each one contains. All of these books are available for free checkout and download in Wisconsin's Digital Library via the Overdrive or Libby apps.

ICYMI: Virtual Story Times, March 30-April 3

This week, the Marathon County Public Library continued offering its daily Virtual Story Time to help encourage kids and parents to read and tell stories at home! A roster of our staff members took turns singing songs and reading stories each morning, and will continue doing so for the next several weeks as all MCPL locations continue to be closed. If you or your family missed these story times, which are typically broadcast live on our Facebook page, we've collected them all for you here. You can also hop over to our YouTube channel to watch these story times and many other videos that we've posted!   Monday - Story Time with MJ     Tuesday- Story Time with Chad...

Passin' Time with Pop Culture

First, I feel fortunate as a library employee that I’m able to continue working during a pandemic – albeit with adjustments big and small – while friends, family and millions of others across the world are unable to work or face worse predicaments. Regardless of what you’re doing or not doing, we’re all going through a very strange and stressful time at the moment, and so it’s a natural response that we turn to movies, books, music and other pop culture pursuits; not only because many of us find ourselves with more time, but also for comfort, education and information, and entertainment. With that, in a mostly random order, here is a list of things I’ve enjoyed for various reasons. Links included if it’s...