Library Advocacy and YOU

Having an impact on Wisconsin libraries is pretty easy. Every time you walk through our front doors and visit the Chippewa Falls Public Library, you make an impact. Every time you check out a book, DVD or CD, you make an impact. Every time you log in and check your Facebook page here, you have an impact.

How so? Well, each year the libraries of the Badger State have to report statistics to the Department of Public Instruction. The level of library usage in relation to all sorts of social measures has an impact on the kinds and amounts of money—federal and otherwise-- Wisconsin libraries may be eligible to receive.

So when you come down and check out a few books and check your email (after passing through our people counter), you do yourself a favor first and foremost, but you also give back to the library with your very presence!

So now that school is out and some of the pressure is off, don’t forget about us. We need you and like to think you need us.

By the way, June 29 is Library Advocacy day, and if everyone within electronic earshot of this message took that day to write an email or make a phone call to a legislator on behalf of Wisconsin’s libraries, it could make a real difference. If you like what your local library or library system is doing, let a person with some power know it.

Wisconsin's U.S. Senators

Wisconsin's Representatives in the U.S. Congress

Contact Information for Wisconsin State Senators

Contact Information for Wisconsin State Assemblymen

Library Advocacy: It's All Yours!

Chippewa Falls History: Playing Catch-Up

Early this morning, I stood in the area of Chippewa Falls that long-time residents call "West Hill" and looked down toward the center of town. Snow covered many of the sidewalks and ice was glistening in the branches of the trees in the front yards all along the streets. The cold air seems to sit kind of heavy and muffle sound, so it's very quiet here in the early morning hours as the street lights are still flashing.

As I stood there in the frigid quiet, something in me could feel the history of the town very close at hand. Maybe it's the design of the city or the way historic buildings have been left in peace here (or maybe it's the big, old Victorian house I'm staying in), but I could feel the spirit of the history of this place, even if I have yet to delve too terribly deeply into its substance.

So, in honor of the history of Chippewa Falls and to help those who, like me, don't know enough about it to satisfy themselves, here are some links that might get us all started:

The Chippewa Falls Chamber of Commerce's History Page

The Chippewa County Genealogy Site, Debra McCann, Site Coordinator--Includes an interesting link to information about "Old Abe" the eagle who accompanied Wisconsin troops during the Civil War, becoming famous among both sides at the siege of Vicksburg.

A History of the Chippewa Falls Public Library

History of the Parks of Chippewa Falls

A History of Chippewa Falls, by the Rotary Club of Chippewa Falls

A History of Leinenkugel Brewery, With Handy Bibliography

The Tribe That Gave the Area Its Name

Wisconsin Historical Society Full-Text Book: History, Tradition and Adventure in the Chippewa Valley

Also, feel free to come by the Chippewa Falls Public Library and see what else we've got in the Wisconsin Studies section. In my office, there are several old, thick volumes that I've been trying to leaf through when I have some time, such as an illustrated history of the Chippewa Valley and several histories of the county, which appear to be very well-written and surprisingly thorough. Come by and see me if you want to take a look at some of these; they aren't in the regular collection because they seem a little old and maybe a bit fragile.