This is also an exciting time for us with the addition of some new, key library staff. We are pleased to add to our dedicated crew our new Program and Marketing Assistant, Carol Witt-Smith, who has joined us to help us make sure we’re keeping you informed, increasing our programming opportunities and most importantly, listening to what you have to say.
I am also pleased to welcome our new Youth Services Coordinator, Dawn Lippman. Dawn has most recently served as one of our Youth Services Assistants, but we are excited for her to take on this new role with us and look forward to her creativity and enthusiasm for services to children and their families. Check out the Q & A with her below.
Other recent additions to our staff include Alexandra Veglahn, whom you will find substituting throughout our five locations as a Library Clerk. Also recently joining us are Riley Lund and Christine Sebranek, who add to our hard-working shelving Pages in Onalaska.
This fall promises to be a fabulous time of year with not only the amazing landscape we are all fortunate to enjoy during the change in seasons, but also some new initiatives at your La Crosse County Library locations. Browse our newsletter and we hope you will find something for everyone to enjoy.
-Chris McArdle-Rojo
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SENIOR MOMENTS ADULT PROGRAM
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Onalaska Public Library
741 Oak Ave. South, Onalaska
Select Wednesdays
August 28 - December 4, 10 a.m.
Learning and entertainment for adults over age 50. Generously funded by the Ben and Floyde Sias Foundation.
Our October programs are highlighted below.
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October 9: Musical Memories
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Hans Mayer and Sue Hauser
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October 16: The Lost Art and Symbolism of the Cemetery
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October 23: Norwegian Silver
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October 30: “We Were Here” Enduring Families: Early African American Residents
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- The Friends of the Onalaska Library are holding their Fall Book Sale on Friday, Oct. 25th, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 26th, 9:00 a.m. to noon. Donations are accepted up to Oct. 24th.
- Join a Book Club at all our locations. Ask the library staff for details about the group in your neighborhood.
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Come see a free movie! Onalaska, West Salem & Holmen libraries show movies on the big screen every month. Free popcorn!
Coming soon: Plus One, Rocketman, and Late Night.
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Donut Fridays are back for teens to socialize and participate in fun activities and great reading on the last Friday of the school quarter.
Next meeting is
Nov. 1st at the Holmen and Onalaska locations.
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Coloring isn't just for kids! Come to the coloring night for adults at the Onalaska Public Library—supplies provided! The next event is
October 21 at 6:30pm.
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LET'S STICK TOGETHER
Join us this fall as we create a community sticker mosaic at each library location! Stickers will be given to anyone 18 and under for all materials checked out. Come in often to add more stickers and watch the picture emerge!
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SIAS SATURDAY
THE PUMPKIN PATCH REVIEW WITH DAVE HERZOG'S MARIONETTES
Saturday, October 19
Onalaska Public Library
10am and 12:30pm
It's the most musical pumpkin patch you'll ever visit! Join Papa Pumpkin, Oinkarella the Dancing Pig, and many other handcrafted marionettes in this fantastic fall-themed puppet show!
Funding provided by the Ben and Floyde Sias Library Trust in partnership with the La Crosse County Library.
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LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE WITH MANGO
Introductory class offered this month
Have you ever wanted to learn a new language or need to converse in a local language when traveling? This computer-based introduction to the FREE Mango language database will help you get started!
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JACK O'LIBRARY MINI READING PROGRAM
Read to earn prizes
Children in grades 8 and under may pick up a Jack O'Library Reading Record at any of our five locations and read books to earn free custard and a kid's meal.
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MEET OUR STAFF: Q & A WITH DAWN LIPPMAN, YOUTH SERVICES COORDINATOR
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What is the role of a Youth Services Coordinator?
As Youth Services Coordinator my goal is to understand the heart of a community, and with La Crosse County Library’s five locations, that is a rich and rewarding experience! In being attentive and responsive to the places we serve, we help ensure that all of our offerings to children, teens, and families—whether through our collection, reader’s advisory services, or programming—are as vibrant, diverse, and growth-filled as they are. The Youth Services team works daily to create a space that is safe and welcoming and to nurture the connections and freedoms that make the public library a vital part of our collective cultural and intellectual life.
What trends in libraries are you excited about?
I’m looking forward to more fully embracing the ways that multiple literacies can intersect and engage one another at the public library—from reading and writing to digital, environmental, and health literacies and more. We’ll be initiating more opportunities for families to interact with our space through diversified and expanded programming—like pop-up maker spaces for creating with art and technology, as well as Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) and outdoor story times, and teen-led and intergenerational endeavors. We’re continuing to invest in new community collaborations and outreach to help improve access to all those we serve. And, as always, we’re excited about the book itself! From picture books to graphic novels to expanded digital offerings, the world of the book is reimagining the boundaries of genre and form and including more voices all the time. That means more worlds for our patrons to find within our libraries—and more ways for them to discover themselves!
What is one of your favorite children’s books?
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Wishtree
by Katherine Applegate. Told from the perspective of a wonderfully experienced oak tree, this story explores the changing nature of community and its power to write its own story through healing, connection, and hope.
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Think books in the youth area are only for kids? Well, think again! Grownups can take advantage of the wonderful resources available in the youth areas of the library. Here are a few recommendations.
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Hold lists can be a mile long for those hot new bestsellers. But don’t leave the library empty-handed. Grab a “read alike“ title to tide you over until your bestseller shows up. Youth Services staff are always happy to suggest age-appropriate reading ideas for adults.
For example: Dying to read
The Institute
by Stephen King? Try
The Monstumologist
by Rick Yancey while you wait. It’s an award-winning teen horror story with a young protagonist, creepy (and I mean CREEPY) monsters and scares galore.
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Waiting on
Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens? Check out
Wolf Hollow
by Lauren Wolk until your hold comes in. This heartbreaking children’s novel tells the coming-of-age story of a child’s bravery and struggle in the face of bigotry and prejudice in a small town. Just reading the opening line (“The year I turned twelve, I learned how to lie.”) gives a taste of the painfully beautiful story to come.
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Anxiously waiting for
The Water Dancer
by Ta-Nehisi Coates? Give his
Black Panther
teen graphic novel series a look. The compelling prose and unique format will open a new window into Coates’ imagination and talent in the world of fiction.
-Katherine Sandy
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Love adult nonfiction but get tired of all that little print? Put away your cheaters and pick up some children’s nonfiction instead. They’re designed to be organized, engaging, and concise. Toss in larger text and more white space on the page and you’ve got a winning “quicker-and-easier-on-the-eyes” combination.
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And wow, are there a multitude of topics to choose from. Interested in education?
Schools of Hope: How Julius Rosenwald Helped Change African American Education by Norman Finkelstein tells how the founder of Sears, Roebuck, and Co. used his fortune to fund over 5300 African American schools in the south in the early 1900s.
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Science more to your taste?
How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg gives a fun (and slightly morbid) explanation of how famous names from history “gave up the ghost.”
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Looking for a little refresher course in American Civics?
Americapedia: Taking the Dumb Out of Freedom by Jodi Lynn Anderson, Daniel Ehrenhaft, and Andisheh Nouraee mixes information with humor to explain the mechanics of our country’s government. And again, Youth Services staff love to offer nonfiction suggestions for any topic you find interesting.
-KS
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NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
by Brandon Boisvert, West Salem Library
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THE PUBLIC [DVD]
by Susanne Stranc, Holmen Public Library
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A SON OF THE MIDDLE BORDER by Hamlin Garland
by Leslie Duesenberg, Onalaska Public Library
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Have an idea for a new program? We're listening!
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Email your ideas to our new Program & Marketing Assistant,
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