Friday, January 27, 2012

E-Reader Device Drop-Ins

Starting Friday, February 3rd, the Chippewa Falls Public Library invites you to bring in your device to the library during one of the times listed below and we'll help you download e-books. No registration required.



This is an event that will be occurring on the first Friday of the month from 9-10am. We're holding these workshops before the library is open because helping folks "tune in" their devices can be a pretty intensive endeavor.

Upcoming workshops:

February 3rd,

March 2nd,

April 6th,

May 4th


"E" there or "E" square!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Chippewa Local History Room



We're trying, bit by bit, to ready the Chippewa Falls Local History room here at the library. The idea is to make the collection easier to access. As it stands now, those wishing to use certain parts of the Chippewa Falls collection have to use a key to get into locked cases. Our idea is to have the materials moved into a secure room that will allow users a bit more freedom within. We hope to have the room done by the end of February.

In that room we plan to keep the centennial cigar box, shown above. It was found by a Mr. Lee Gisvold of Norway, Iowa at a recent auction. The date marked on it is "1937," commemorating the 100 years since the Ojibwe tribe signed the Treaty of 1837 (Pine Treaty),in which they agreed to cede their tribal lands to the United States but retain fishing rights.

Mr. Gisvold thought enough of our community to purchase it and send it to us unsolicited, and we thank him and his family. We have placed it in the locked case in the lobby.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

AARP Information

Starting February 2nd, the American Association of Retired Persons will be at the Chippewa Falls Public Library to help elderly and low-income filers with their tax returns.

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF OF THE COMPLETE SCHEDULE

This year, the AARP volunteers in our community will have a telephone number that filers can call to make appointments, BUT ONLY DURING THOSE TIMES WHEN THE VOLUNTEERS ARE ON-SITE. That number is 715-404-5414.

Should you ask them to help you with YOUR taxes, be kind enough to bring the following:

-2010 tax return

-2011 tax forms and preparation booklet

-W-2 forms

-All 1099 forms, including Social Security Statement

-All forms mentioned on the AARP intake sheet (available at library)

-Any other income, payment or tax-related documents which may apply to your tax return

-Social Security numbers for you, your spouse and your dependents

-Some form of identification

Call the Chippewa AARP representative at 715-829-2245 between 9am and 8pm for more information.

Special thanks to the following AARP Facilitators: Sandy Bowe, Kathy Cloutier

AARP Preparers: Dennis Buttke, Deb Cornett, Nancy Thornton, James Plowman, Dick Turner, Sue Wynimko, John Spaeth, Bruce Miller, Paul Nicolai.

Monday, January 16, 2012

And...Voila'

Come see the new carpet in the Young Adult section at the top of the stairs. It's lovely.





Friday, January 13, 2012

Continuing Upgrades



Here you see the intrepid workers of Independent Flooring Incorporated of Eau Claire beginning the process of tearing out old, buckling carpet in the 835 square foot Young Adult section. The new carpet tiles will be down by tomorrow evening.

Be sure to come by Monday and see the difference!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Pay a Fine Online

At the library without cash? Here's how to pay a fine online with a credit or debit card. Click the images to see them larger.

1. Go to http://www.more.lib.wi.us

2. Click "My Account."

3. Enter your name and library card number.

4. Click on "Unpaid Fines and Bills."

5. Click "Pay Online."

6. Enter name, address, email, credit card/debit card number and security code and submit.

7. Confirm that the information is correct. Submit payment.

8. Look for the confirmation message.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Winter Used Book Sale!



The Friends of the Chippewa Falls Public Library are having a book sale this month!

Books, Books on CD, DVDs and Music CDs will all be offered...

The sale will be held of Tuesday, January 17th from 12 noon until 7:30pm & Wednesday, January 18th 10am--2pm

The sale will be in the large meeting room of the Chippewa Falls Public Library at 105 W. Central St. in Chippewa Falls.

Call Friends of the Chippewa Falls Public Library President Carol Peterson at 715-723-4970 for more information.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Your MORE Responsibilities

Happy New Year! Here's hoping 2012 is a year of happiness, prosperity and regular library usage for your family.

If you don't have a card or someone in your family doesn't have a card, be sure to get one this year. If you do decide to get one, you'll notice on the back of the card you'll fill out that the following points are covered under a heading that reads "By becoming a MORE library cardholder I accept the following responsibilities:"


  • "Any library materials checked out on my card are my sole responsibility.

  • "I will promptly return all borrowed items by the due date or pay overdue charges.

  • "I will pay any replacement costs assessed for lost, unreturned or damaged materials."


In the last month or so, I have had to deal with several less-than-pleasant situations wherein I had to explain to people who had checked out items that were returned grievously damaged or after long periods of being overdue that they would be held responsible for the replacement costs or the sizable fines. With all the tact my mother taught me to use, I have had to point the above agreed-to responsibilities out to library users, reminding them of the contract they signed with us, before politely insisting that they recoup the library for damaged, destroyed or long-overdue items.

We live in an imperfect world, and it's impossible to always tell with mathematical certitude where, how or at whose hands damaged or destroyed library materials met their fate, and I am certain that some good people who frequent the library have been made to pay for damage not done by them or their children since I have been director. If this error occurs, the fault is completely mine. But one of my responsibilities as library director is to ensure the health of this library's collection (and to bear the disdain of those who pay under protest).

Let me say, however, that we of the library do not leap for joy when our books return to us with pages torn out or marker scribbles or coffee stains across half of the pages. We don't see damaged books as a chance to "get over" on the public or punish wrongdoers. It is often with heavy hearts that we tell esteemed patrons they'll have to pay for a book damaged while they had it checked out. And paying fines for books kept long past their due dates can be thought of as recouping us the cost of having to get the book from another library in the MORE system (a service which all users pay for).

I thought I'd take this first blog posting of 2012 as an opportunity to explain our thought processes and to ensure our users that, even if we get it wrong, our hearts are in the right place. We hope that's clear.