What's New at the Library
Buses to Books
Winnie the Fox joins the gang excited about the return of the Buses to Books program this summer. Kids ages 6 to 17 can ride the bus to the Fond du Lac Public Library and back for free on Thursdays June 17 to August 19. Kids use their library cards as bus passes. Kids ages 6 to 9 must be accompanied by an adult; adults must pay the full fare.
Buses to Books is a program of Fond du Lac Area Transit and the Fond du Lac Public Library. Bus routes and other transit information is available at www.ci.fond-du-lac.wi.us/transit. Library information is available by calling the Help Desk at (920) 929-7080, ext. 131.
LearningExpress Puts Knowledge Seekers in the Driver’s Seat
Hiding quietly on our website, alongside the worldwide card catalog and U.S. business directory is the LearningExpress Library, a new online database available 24/7 and totally free.
LearningExpress Library is a wide and deep collection of tests and classes to help everyone – from grade-school students to grad students, from prospective plumbers to PowerPoint builders – learn more on their own time.
LearningExpress has 12 Learning Centers, including:
- A center each for elementary, middle, high school and college students
- College prep
- GED (English and Spanish)
- Computer skills
- Job skills
Each center has practice tests, exercises and skill-building courses. Tutorials are available in reading, writing and math skills for all levels, and students have access to practice exams for ACT, SAT, GRE, LSAT and MCAT.
In the Computer Skills Center, you can take self-paced online classes in Microsoft software. At the Job Skills Center, you can take practice tests in fields such as nursing, firefighting and plumbing.
Probably the best way to explore the new service is to take yourself on the Guided Tour online. To find LearningExpress, the Guided Tour and more on our website, click on Online Databases in the left bar.
Volunteers Willing to Help Job Seekers Needed at Opportunity Center
When the Fond du Lac Public Library’s Opportunity Center opened last November, the county’s jobless rate was 8 percent, more than 4,000 people. AmeriCorps VISTA workers Josh Cowles and Sara Byrnes created the computer lab center as a resource for those who found themselves on the wrong end of the recession.
Since then, the center has helped more than 650 job seekers write resumes, letters, search online for work and research jobs and companies. Unfortunately, the jobless rate has not improved. In fact, Fond du Lac area unemployment rose to 10.1 percent in February – the fourth-highest in the state. The Opportunity Center remains relevant and needed.
Since many center users are displaced manufacturing workers, many of whom don’t have basic computer skills, having helpers on site is critical. The center is open six days a week, and Cowles and Byrnes depend on help from community volunteers to keep it staffed. Volunteers provide valuable one-on-one training, help and feedback. By the end of March, volunteers had logged more than 400 hours.
The center hopes to recruit additional volunteers. They’re looking for people who have experience with Microsoft Office Suite, have basic internet searching and emailing skills, have the ability to work with a diverse population and who are willing to commit to a regular schedule of two to four hours a week. Many current volunteers are retired supervisors or human resource professionals, but that level of expertise is not required.
“Our best volunteers are people who have patience and a willingness to help others,” said Cowles. “Computer literacy is a basic job requirement today, and so many of our users are intimidated and don’t know how to get started. Having a real person to turn to is invaluable.”
In the five months the center has been open, Cowles and Byrnes are happy to report that dozens of resumes and letters have been written and hundreds of online applications filled out. Several center users have come back to thank the VISTA workers to report success in finding work.
Persons interested in volunteering at the Opportunity Center should contact Josh Cowles or Sara Byrnes at cowles@fdlpl.org or byrnes@fdlpl.org, or by phone at (920) 929-7080, ext. 156 or 155.
The Opportunity Center is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m. to noon; and Sundays noon to 4 p.m.
Help the Library by Donating Bucks for Books
Library usage – traffic, materials lent, program attendance – jumped after the economy began to falter and continued to climb. As budgets tightened, more and more people in the community turned to the free services at the library. Programming helped spur the increases, too. Free classes offered by Job Smart U, which targets displaced workers, and Money Smart U, which offers basic financial literacy education, found ready and willing audiences.
In the mean time, however, budgets tightened. As usage grew by 10 percent and the number of cardholders rose to 40,000, the library’s ability to respond to increased demand for books and materials was strained.
So Bucks for Books is an appeal to the community to help, little by little, purchase materials the public is clamoring for. People will be able to give in a variety of ways – online, in person at the library and through special appeals to service clubs.
A new addition to our home page allows people to donate to Bucks to Books via PayPal, which is an internet account-based system that lets anyone with an email address securely send online payments using their credit card or bank account.
“We hope to tap into the good will and generosity of our community,” said library Director Ken Hall. “Bucks for Books is a way for everyone and anyone to help out.”
The library launches Bucks for Books in advance of a busy season. Four new self-checkout stations will go online in early summer, replacing the two 5-year-old stations currently in use. Along with being faster and easier to use, they’ll allow users to pay their late fees by credit card. Volunteers and staff members will be on hand to help answer questions as people get used to the new machines.
The Summer Reading Program, Make a Splash, starts June 14 and will include Monday programs, craft nights, the Lunch Bunch, preschool storytimes and the return of Buses to Books. All are free.
The library was named Wisconsin Library of the Year in 2006, and was lauded for “creating a culture of creativity, collaboration and proactive service.” The library’s mission is to serve the community by promoting literacy, lifelong learning and diversity through customer friendly access to services that inform, entertain and inspire.
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.
Lab hours are:
Monday: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., 4 - 8 p.m
Tuesday: 4 - 8 p.m.
Wednesday: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., 4 - 8 p.m
Thursday: 4 - 8 p.m.
Friday: CLOSED
Saturday: 9 a.m. – Noon
Sunday: Noon - 4 p.m.
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.
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.
Fee-based
Power-Glide http://www.power-glide.com/
Rosetta Stone http://www.rosettastone.com/
Tell Me More http://www.tellmemore.com/
Free
Babbel http://www.babbel.com/
Live Mocha http://www.livemocha.com/
Mango Languages http://www.mangolanguages.com/
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