What has 3,500 books, 250 movies, 200 magazines, four eyes, four legs and eight wheels? If you guessed the Fond du Lac Public Library’s Bookmobiles, you’re right.
The library has two Bookmobiles, and they’re busy bringing information hither and yon.
Starting February 8, one Bookmobile will be parked and will stay put at the Rosendale Community Center, 211 N. Grant St. The Rosendale Bookmobile will be open Monday and Thursday, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, the second Bookmobile is on the go. It travels Monday through Saturday, stopping at Festival Foods, Peebles, Waucousta, Mount Calvary, Johnsburg, St. Peter, the Town of Forest, St. Cloud and Marytown.
Both Bookmobiles bring all the services of the full library to outlying areas. Customers can apply for a library card and get help from the staff person on duty. Each Bookmobile carries a collection of best sellers, books, movies, music and magazines for all ages and interests. But the full collection of the entire Winnefox Library System – a 30-library cooperative from five counties – is made accessible, too. Customers can put materials on hold and pick them up on the Bookmobiles, and any bookmobile-borrowed item can be returned to any library in the system.
The Bookmobile’s full schedule is available on our website or by calling (920) 929-7080, ext. 140.
Grants To Bring Library Programs To Backyard and Beyond
Two new grants will help the library greatly expand access to its programming, funding a new mobile computer training lab and online video broadcasts of events.
As unemployment rates in the city and county climbed, the library experienced a surge in usage, especially of its public access computers and computer skills training. During the last year, libraries in the county have seen circulation increases of up to18 percent.
The library has become a resource destination for people looking for work. The county’s manufacturing-based economy produced job seekers who need basic computer skills training and, in many cases, access to the internet. Computer classes through the library’s Money Smart U often are filled to capacity. The same can be said for internet job-search training through AmeriCorps VISTA Job Smart U. Both are held in the library’s Mid-States Aluminum Training Room. But for the approximately 50,000 county residents who live outside city limits, attending these programs is not always possible.
With just over $16,500 in funding from the Jobs Grant, the library will create a mobile computer lab that will visit the libraries of Oakfield, Campbellsport, Brandon, Ripon and North Fond du Lac. The mobile lab will provide increased internet access as well as programs and workshops for job seekers.
As the mobile lab brings the library to outlying areas, the Vodcasting Grant will take the library to the World Wide Web.
The library long has been a focal point for community discussions, programs and activities for children, families and adults. In fact, over the last several years, the number of programs and attendance at those programs has skyrocketed. In just one year – between 2008 and 2009 – attendance for all programs rose 8.5 percent. Beginning in 2007, the library began podcasting a variety of their programs. Podcasts are audio-only online broadcasts, available 24/7 at our website.
Now, with about $4,200 from the Vodcasting Grant, the library can buy video recording equipment and go one step further – provide full video online.
“This will open doors to learning,” said library Director Ken Hall. “Many of our programs have a visual component, which was lost in the podcasts. With this equipment, people in rural areas or with busy schedules can see and hear – and learn – at any time.”
Hall said the video equipment also creates new opportunities.
“We’ll be able to let kids create their own programs and share them with the community and beyond,” Hall said. He said the equipment also will be accessible to community partners, such as United Way and the Association of Commerce, that conduct programs at the library.
Hall said he hoped to have the video equipment operational by April and the mobile computer lab ready to make its rounds starting in May.
Both grants were funded through the federal Library Services and Technology Act, which is administered through the state.
Book Collection Helps Children Of Deployed Military
The Children’s Room at the Fond du Lac Public Library has added a new collection, While We Wait, with resources for children who have been separated from loved ones due to military deployment. The bulk of the collection of 33 books was donated to the library from the Wisconsin Military Kid’s Project, a program that works to support youth of military families. Titles range from Miss You: a Military Kid’s Book about Deployment, Welcome to Iraq, Soldier Mom and Red, White and Blue Goodbye.
Well before the library received the donation from the Military Kid’s Project, Fond du Lac Children’s Librarian Lillian Nolan was moved to start a collection on her own.
“I watched on TV as children said their sad goodbyes to family members getting ready to deploy,” Nolan said. “I wanted their families to know about resources that could help children cope with the separation and challenges of the months ahead.
“Library staff often reacts to current events and local issues by pulling together materials we think will be of help.”
The collection is housed at the Children’s Room and is available to all library patrons. Click here for more information on the books included in the collection.
Library Has Tax Forms, Expert Help
Basic federal and Wisconsin income tax forms and instructions are available at no cost at the library. The forms are located on the main level near the central staircase. The library has federal forms 1040, 1040A, 1040 EZ and state forms including the Homestead Credit and Rent Certificate, as well as others. Additional tax forms are available for 10 cents per sheet at the library’s Reference Desk, also on the second level.
Tax forms also are available online from U.S. and Wisconsin departments of revenue.
Experts from the Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue will be on hand to answer the public’s tax questions, available on a first-come, first-served basis. They will answer questions in the library’s Seefeld Room, on the second level, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on February 1, February 16, March 1, March 15, March 29, April 5 and April 15. Note: The representatives will answer questions only; they will not prepare taxes. As well, the library has resources on where to get help and find additional information; ask at either the Help Desk or Reference Desk.
Milwaukee Bucks Reading Challenge
Children in grades 3 through 10 have a chance to become an All-Star Reader by participating in the 2010 Milwaukee Bucks Read to Achieve Challenge. Kids who read at least 500 pages by February 13 will receive a voucher for a free ticket to attend a Bucks home game at the Bradley Center on either Sunday, March 14, at noon vs. the Indiana Pacers, or Friday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. vs. the Miami Heat. Children who read more than 750 pages will have their name entered in a drawing for an official Milwaukee Bucks autographed basketball; 20 children will be randomly selected to participate in the Milwaukee Bucks Halftime High Five Tunnel for each game; 20 randomly selected children will participate in the Bucks Kourtside Kids for each game; and 10 randomly selected children will be recognized on-court at halftime for each game.
Complete details and reading scorecards can be picked up in the Children’s Room at the Fond du Lac Public Library. For more information call 929-7080, ext. 127.
Read to Achieve is a project of the Milwaukee Bucks in cooperation with the Milwaukee County Federated Library System, and Northwestern Mutual Foundation
The Value of your Library Calculator
This tool lets you enter your library usage (how many books, CDs and DVDs you check out, how many reference questions you ask, how many hours you use the computer, etc.), and see a dollar figure of how much using your library saves versus buying all these materials from a store. You can use this to estimate your savings from using the library on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis.
Opportunity Center Offers Options for Job Seekers
Job seekers are invited to visit the Fond du Lac Public Library's Opportunity Center located in the lower level computer lab.
The computers may be used to work on resumes, online applications, cover letters, thank-you notes, job searches, and basic computer skills. There are no computer time limits. The lab is staffed by community volunteers who are all proficient in using Microsoft Office and Windows. Many of the volunteers have extensive experience hiring or training workers. A special collection of print resources for job seekers will also be available in the lab.
Opportunity Center programs are coordinated by the library’s two Americorps VISTA volunteers. For more information, or to volunteer in the lab, please email Josh Cowles: cowles@fdlpl.org, or Sara Byrnes byrnes@fdlpl.org, or call the library at (920) 929-7080.
Help for the Unemployed
Two full time VISTA volunteers have joined the staff of the Fond du Lac Public Library to help connect the unemployed in Fond du Lac County to state and local programs assisting with recovery. Programs range from training and job searching to support groups. Many programs already exist in the community such as those offered by Moraine Park Technical College and the Fond du Lac Job Center. Where capacity is insufficient to meet demand, the Fond du Lac VISTA volunteers will help to set up additional programs in any of the six public libraries in Fond du Lac County.
Assistance may include classes on basic computer use, online employment resources, interview techniques, and other services that may be of help to the unemployed. One project the VISTA volunteers are currently working on is finding staff to open the Fond du Lac Public library’s Computer Training Lab on evenings and weekends to anyone needing to use a computer as part of a job search or to apply for a job. Users of the public computers in the library are currently limited to one hour because of high demand. Having a special computer room for job seekers would give them the added time they need to complete applications or perform job related training.
VISTA – Volunteers in Service to America – is often referred to as the domestic Peace Corp. Volunteers are usually recent college graduates who devote a year or more of their lives helping to improve the quality of life in communities. A prime objective of the volunteers is to ensure that any programs they help build will remain in place once their year of service is complete.
The volunteers, Sara Byrnes and Josh Cowles, are headquartered on the second floor of the Fond du Lac Public Library in the newly created Opportunity Center. During their first two weeks at the library they have been researching services in our community that may be used to help the unemployed. They have already applied for a Library Services and Technology Act grant to obtain a mobile computer lab that will bring training to the rural areas of Fond du Lac County.
For further information contact: Ken Hall, Library Director, at 929-7080, ext. 133, or email: hall@fdlpl.org.
Rosetta Stone Discontinues Service May 31, 2008
Rosetta Stone is discontinuing its service to the Fond du Lac
Public Library on May 31, 2008. A number of other
web-based language services are available.
The FDL Library does not subscribe to nor endorse any of
these services. This list is for informational purposes only.
