Year: 2013

The kindergarten class was recently treated to Author Neal Proud Deer reading from his own works when they came to visit the library.  Mr. Proud Deer has a new childrens’ series called “Pickin’ Chicken” and the kids got lots of laughs hearing about the adventures of the guitar playing rooster.  The library purchased all 5 of the titles, so if you want to see what the Pickin’ Chicken is up to, come on in and check him out.

“Have Book-Will Travel!”

Kids ages 4 and up will be able to sign up for our summer reading program, “Have Book-Will Travel!” beginning June 10.  You can have your passport stamped and earn prizes for reading, plus there will be weekly games and activities.  Would you like Grizzlies and Cardinals tickets?  We’ve got ’em!  There will be a kick-off party Saturday June 15 at 11am featuring Frazzle the Clown.  So be sure to sign up and begin your summer adventures with books.

The library is updating it’s preschool activity bags and would love your donations of new or gently used puzzles, stuffed animals, dolls, action figures, etc.  These items will be paired with a book to make a themed activity bag that can be used in the library or checked out to take home.  One example might be a toy train and a book about Thomas the Tank Engine.  Or an ABC puzzle with an alphabet book.  The sky’s the limit.  We’re hoping families will use the bags to instill a love of books along with creative play.  For more information, to pick up a list of requested items or to drop off donations, please stop in the library during any regular hours.

To celebrate Earth Day, junior high students from Germantown Elementary swept through town, cleaning and beautifying the streets, yards and sidewalks of residents and businesses as they went.  We were lucky to have a hardworking group come to the library to clean windows and pull weeds.  It was a cold, damp day, but as you can see from the photos, they worked cheerfully and did a great job.  Thanks to them and all the young people who put in a lot of effort to keep Germantown looking good!

We celebrated National Library Week from April 15 through the 20th.  All classes that visited got a new bookmark and candy for each student. Lots of our littlest patrons participated in the annual coloring contest and you can see some of their entries brightening up the library in this photo.  Congratulations to the winners, Garrett Gebke, Nolan Loepker, Hailey Rolfingsmeyer, Isabella Kenow and Shelby Wesselmann.

Our new system, Polaris, is up and running.  We (and you) now have access to over 9 million items from over 400 libraries in central and southern Illinois.  Click on the Library Catalog link to the right on our homepage to access this new, easy to use catalog.  The website is gmtp.illshareit.com, if you’d like to bookmark it on your own devices.  With your library card you can place requests from it anywhere you have internet access.  Of course you can still ask a librarian and we’ll be happy to place requests for you.  We know you will enjoy this new and improved system.  We will be learning all the ins and outs over the next few weeks, so please bear with us as we strive to serve you as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Just a reminder, you can still click on the online Library Catalog, but only to search for or view items.  You won’t be able to place any requests until April 9, when migration to our new library database is complete.

As we prepare for the new library database which will go live April 9, we want to keep everyone informed of changes and important dates.

- FROM APRIL 1 THROUGH APRIL 8, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR LIBRARY CARD, OR AT LEAST KNOW YOUR CARD NUMBER, TO CHECK OUT ITEMS.  During that week only, as records are transferred from the old system to the new one, we cannot look up any patron without that number.

– The new library software will allow us to remind you by email before your items are due and before your card expires.  If you are interested in this, please let us know your email address.

The GHS has a wonderful display in our case during the months of March and April.  They’ve collected artifacts from Germantown families and businesses which you’ll find very interesting.  There are photos of Germantown doughboys who served during World War I.  Calendars, photographs and paintings from the church, hardware store, cigar factory and the Spassfest are all on display.

If you have a collection, handmade items or anything you think may be of interest to others, please consider loaning them to the library for a month or two.  We have a beautiful large glass-front, lighted and locked display case that we would love to use to showcase items from any of our patrons.  Please contact a librarian at 523-4820 to learn more.

Just a friendly reminder that we must stop taking requests to borrow items owned by other libraries (and you will not be able to place your own requests online) from March 15 through April 9.  This is so all patron and item records can be transferred to our new automated system.  Any requests not filled by March 15 will be noted by us and re-entered into the new system April 9.  Keep a list of any new items you wish to request from March 15 onward and either do it yourself on or after April 9, or give us your list and we can place the requests for you after that date.  Thanks for your patience as we move to this huge new automated system.