Germantown Public Library

Thanks to those who visited on January 17 and enjoyed the delicious cake.  Come by the library any time this month to see lots of pictures from the past 20 years on display.  Thanks for the memories!

We hope you can stop in the library this month to see the colorful works of art on loan to us from Anita Brandmeyer.  She has filled our display case with lots of her framed photographs, some blue-ribbon award winners, plus some of the pictures she has had published.

If you have a collection or handiwork you’d like to display in our locked and lighted display case, please call us at 523-4820 or come in and tell us about it.  We’d love to share what you love with the rest of the community!

Come help us celebrate this milestone.  There will be cake available all morning Sat., January 17 to share with all those who stop in.  The Germantown Public Library opened on Jan. 23 1995 with a little over 5,000 books, no movies and no computers.  That first year we loaned 3,410 items.  We now house more than 12,000 books, 350 movies and 400 audiobooks.  Last year we loaned nearly 11,000 items.  In addition, patrons can download eBooks and eAudios without setting foot inside the library!  We have 5 computers and 2 laser printers available for public use.  As you can see, we’re busier than ever and want to share this special day with all our supporters.  We hope to see you on the 17th!

Our Polaris circulation system upgrade is complete and working online again.  You should be able to get into your account, renew and request items and download eBooks and eAudiobooks.  So far everything looks fine from our end, but please let us know if you run into any difficulties or things don’t work for you the way they used to.

HAVE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2015!

Is one of your New Year’s Resolutions to get the kids reading more in 2015?  Have we got a club for you!  The 4-H will be leading a Book Worm Reading Spin Club on each of the Saturdays in January here at the library.  It runs from 10am – 11am each Saturday morning and is geared for children ages 5 and up.  There will be stories and prizes and the cost is only $10 for the entire 5 week program. In case of bad weather, call the library to see if the club will meet that day.

Friday, Dec. 26, our cataloging and circulation system will be offline for most of the day due to a scheduled upgrade.  The library will still be open and we will handle business by hand until the system is back online.  However, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RENEW YOUR OWN ITEMS OR PLACE REQUESTS FOR ITEMS OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY ON DEC. 26.  YOU MAY ALSO NOT BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD 3M EBOOKS WHILE THE SYSTEM IS OFFLINE.  You will still be able to read any 3M eBooks you’ve downloaded prior to Dec. 26.  We anticipate the system will be back up and running on Sat. Dec. 27, but will advise as soon as it’s available.  Thanks for your patience!

As the holidays approach, we wanted to let our patrons know about special holiday hours.  The library will close at 1pm on Christmas Eve, Wed. Dec. 24 and will reopen at our regular time of 1pm on Fri. Dec. 26.  Then on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31 the library will again close at 1pm and will reopen at 1pm on Fri., Jan. 2.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful, healthy Happy New Year!

Currently, the library has on loan 3 large displays from the Illinois Society of the War of 1812.  This group has as part of its mission to locate and place markers on graves of veterans of the War of 1812.  The panels show photos of society members, newly found and marked graves and the descendants of some of the veterans of that long ago and sometimes forgotten war.  If you know of an unmarked grave of a veteran of the War of 1812, you are asked to email the information to rwridenour@wildblue.net.  No veteran should ever be forgotten!

Thursday Nov. 20 about 20 youngsters, their parents and grandparents enjoyed “Build-A-Book” at the library.  The event was led by 4-H junior leaders Jeana and Valerie.  They helped the kids decorate notebooks to take home and write their own stories in later.  Then the ladies shared some of their favorite stories by reading to the children.  Finally, kids were able to check out books to bring home to read to their families.  All who attended received a goody bag of drinks, snacks and good ideas for enjoying many more family reading nights in their own homes.

Tuesday, November 18 at 6:30 pm Fr. Jack Frerker will be here to read from his latest book, “Colors”.  This is his first children’s book.  He’ll answer readers’ questions and have books for sale.

Thursday, November 20 is Family Reading Night.  Join us at 7pm to build your own book.  Materials will be provided for decorating and beginning to write your very own book.  We’ll also have stories and snacks.  If you can’t be with us on the 20th, at least try to spend a short while as a family reading together some time that day and every day!