Christmas Ornament Fundraiser

This year, you can buy a special, customized gift for your special someone AND help support your library at the same time! We are making special Christmas tree ornaments for an end of the year fundraiser! You can pick any of the 5 designs pictured above, and you can even customize it with a name for no extra cost! Our designs are a fun "Santa Cam", glittery unicorns (pink or purple), a cute cat, and "Let it Snow"! Each ornament is only $8.

You can place your order at the library or by calling (920) 398-3434. We can have your order ready 48 hours after you place it. Your Christmas ornament can be picked up at the library, or we can bring it out to you as a curbside pickup if you would prefer.

We'll have these fun and festive ornaments available until Wednesday, December 23.

Please consider helping the Markesan Public Library continue to provide you with programs, services, and activities in 2021!

Turkey Scavenger Hunt still running Mon. Nov. 23 - Sat. Nov. 28

Monday, Nov. 23 - Saturday, Nov. 28, during open hours

The Turkey Scavenger Hunt is still going on! Help find a flock of turkeys that have hidden themselves all over the library! Stop by anytime during library open hours and get a scavenger hunt key at the checkout desk. Find all the turkeys to get a fun Thanksgiving party pack with games and snacks to take home!

 If you have any questions, you can call the library at (920) 398-3434. 

Library closed on Thanksgiving Day

The Markesan Public Library will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 26 for Thanksgiving Day. Our normal hours will resume on Friday, Nov. 27. We hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! 

Need something to read or watch while the library is closed? You have access to music, audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels, movies, and TV shows online 24/7 with Hoopla, Libby and Overdrive! All you need is your library card! Visit our download books page to get started!

Holiday Craft Kit #6: Merry Mail Board (all kits are reserved)

If you reserved this week's holiday craft kit (Merry Mail Board), you can pick up your kit starting Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 2:00 pm! Kits will be available for pickup through Saturday Nov. 28. You can pick up your craft kit at the check out desk, or we can bring it out to you as a curbside pickup, if you would prefer!

If you have any questions, please call the library at (920) 398-3434.

UPDATE: Holiday Craft Kit Schedule *all kits are reserved*

 

 

 

 

 

****Every holiday craft kit from November to December has been reserved. We will still update our website and Facebook page every week with the day and time that those who reserved kits can start picking them up. We can't believe how quickly they were all reserved! We feel badly if anyone missed out! We hope to start doing make and take craft kits again in early 2021 Stay tuned on our website, follow us on Facebook, or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to find out when make and take craft kits start up again. 

If you have any questions, please call the library at (920) 398-3434.

This year, we are doing holiday take and make craft kits! Each week, there will be a new kit with supplies to make a fun and festive craft! A small fee covers the cost of supplies. Supplies are limited, so we welcome people to reserve craft kits at the library or by calling (920) 398-3434. Crafts are pictured above, so that you can view them ahead of time!

All craft kits can be picked up in the library, or via curbside pickup if you would prefer. Our tentative craft schedule is below, but may be subject to change. You can also follow us on Facebook to stay updated on the latest craft details! 

Holiday Craft Kit Schedule 

November 9-13: Sweater Pumpkins ($3) 

November 16-21: Plaid Christmas Tree ($3) **All kits are reserved**

November 23-28: Merry Mail Board ($8) **All kits are reserved**

Nov. 30 - Dec. 5: Gnome Pair ($3) **All kits are reserved**

December 7-12: Winter Shadow Box ($4) **All kits are reserved**

New Online Challenges for all ages

Are you looking for a fun way to expand your horizons while staying at home?  Why not start one of our online challenges? Win prizes, enter raffles, learn about useful and interesting resources. We have something for ALL ages.  This fall, we are introducing 2 new challenges: 

100 Books Before College (ages 12-19): 100 Books before College dares readers 12-19 yrs. to read 100 books before they graduate. Small prizes will be awarded as you get closer to 100 books. At every 10 books read, participants earn tickets to enter into a prize raffle of either a $25 Ted’s Piggly Wiggly Gift Card or $10 gas station cards. The raffle drawing will be on June 1, 2021. Find out more here at our online challenges page!

Digital Discoveries (ages 12 - adult): This challenge is meant to encourage exploration of the online world. You'll find out about free and helpful online tools that can be useful to you. Earn small prizes along the way, and earn raffle tickets for a $25 Family Dollar gift card! The raffle drawing will be on Dec. 1, 2020. Find out more here at our online challenges page!

The challenges will take place completely online and readers can access them at markesanlibrary.beanstack.org. Participants can also download the Beanstack app and search for Markesan Library to play.

Click here to begin! 

Online Challenges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This project was brought to you by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant LS-00-19-0050-19.

Chairs Needed for 2021 Chair Affair

Chairs Needed: Another fundraising event we need help with is next year’s “Chair Affair.” The Markesan Public Library Chair Affair is being planned for 2021.  Please consider donating your structurally sound, wooden chairs to the library.  Check your garage, basement, and attic for old unused chairs.  Over the summer and fall chairs will be collected.  Then chairs will be given to local volunteers to paint and decorate for a silent auction – date TBD.  The money raised will help the library fund its programs and weather the COVID-19 setbacks.  We know its early, but we need your chairs now. 

Updated Online Resources

Boy with headphonesMore Online Resources to Keep You Connected! 
(Thank you Princeton Public Library for compiling and sharing many of these links with us )

We can offer you plenty of  online learning and entertainment opportunities!

You may need a library card to access some of our resources. When required to sign in to use our online resources all you need to do is enter your library card number with no spaces. Your PIN is usually the last four digits of the phone number you gave us when you aquired a card.

If you don't have a library card, go here to get one free:Click Here
If  you lost your card or don't remember your number, contact the library through emai: director@markesanlibrary.org or by phone: 920-398-3434.  You can leave a message and a librarian will get back to you shortly.

Now that the basics have been explained, onto the resources!

Overdrive is our most popular online resource-- download ebooks and audiobooks for free! If you have a smartphone or tablet, download the Libby App. Books are available for all ages, and we recently added many more titles. You may have to wait to download some books, but others are available 24/7. J.K. Rowling recently released the audio and ebook versions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for unlimited checkouts with no waiting until April 30th.

Digital Books: The library's digital book offerings have exploded with brand new content for all ages. Tumblebooks, Abdo, Audio Book Cloud, National Emergency Library and More!  Check it out.

Need financial assistance? UW Madison has put together a great list of resources.

Need help finding work?  See the Winnefox Employment Help Center page.

Do you have a young student at home? Check out Facebook Live Storytime each Wednesday at 10:30 am.  The Markesan Public Library also has started  the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program, get a jump start reading to your little ones now.  KidLit TV, Scholastic's Learn at Home, a list of 30 online "field trips" with live cameras or virtual walk-throughs, a sample daily schedule for kids, a great list of resources at Read Wonder & Learn, Live Learning videos with LivBits, Mystery Science lessons for grades K-5, and 1 Hour Coding for Kids for K-9th grades. Finally, there's a HUGE List of at-home educational entertainment resources, including live webcams, activities and more.

Do you have an older student at home?
Check out our Homework Help page.  Want to learn technology skills at your own pace by watching these video tutorials on popular software and computer basics?  Try the Winnefox Tech Skills Center .  Gale Courses is another popular resource that offers interactive, instructor led online courses available on a wide variety of topics. Explore our Research Page for more great links, including genealogy resources, automotive repair guides, Consumer Reports, language learning, and lots more.

Want more free ebooks?
Sesame Street is offering some free ebooks for kids right now.
The Internet Archive's Open Library has textbooks, classics, and even some juvenile chapter books like The Giver by Lowis Lowry, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, and Matilda by Roald Dahl.
 Open Culture has a nice list of older classics.
The National Emergency Library is a collection of mostly older non-fiction books that supports remote teaching, research activities, independent scholarship, and intellectual stimulation.
Project Gutenberg has over 60,000 titles (mostly older).

Do you miss the Book Page magazine? Sign up to get a digital copy.

Need to connect with people digitally? Here are some resources for online meetings:

Microsoft Teams: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software
Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/solutions/facebook-live
Google Hangouts: https://gsuite.google.com/products/meet/
Zoho: https://www.zoho.com/meeting/
Zoom: https://zoom.us/
Join.me: https://www.join.me/

If you have any trouble accessing any of these resources, feel free to contact the library by emai: director@markesanlibrary.org.  Or you can call us and leave a message at 920-398-3434.  A librarian will get back to you shortly.

1000 Books Before Kindergarten Head Start!

1000 Books Graphic

 

Staying indoors while the weather gets colder? Why not try our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program! Because there may be more downtime during the COVID-19 emergency, we would like to give parents the opportunity to start logging the many wonderful books they may be already reading to their children. Visit the 1000 Books tab of our website to get started today! 

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