Hello, library friends -
I hope you are all doing well while you stay safe at home!
It's a strange, almost surreal time for all of us, and for some more than others. My thoughts go out to those working on the 'front lines' of this worldwide crisis, especially our emergency services personnel and medical workers, and to those whose friends and family are directly affected by the coronavirus.
If you or someone you know is struggling with the stress of these unusual times, please take a look at the new
Resilient Wisconsin portal
. It contains information and resources for maintaining mental and behavioral health during this stressful time, including ways to get help when you need it. You don't have to be on those front lines to be affected by all of this -- the stress of isolation, uncertainty, financial difficulty, and heath worries affect all of us, and it's OK to ask for help.
The library will remain closed as long as the governor's "Safer at Home" order is in effect. To help keep your mind off things, I'm continuing to try to offer as many library services as possible from here at my dining room table. Please read on for information about some upcoming online programs and other ways you can stay connected to your library family.
Take care, wash your hands, and stay home!
Teresa Schmidt
Library director
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Seed Library by mail
It's hard to believe when I look out my window at the snow, but it really is time to start planning your garden! Thanks to our dedicated seed library volunteers, we will still be able to provide you with seeds from the Mercer Seed Library this spring.
Check out our website
for a list of the seeds we have available and how to request what you need for your garden this year.
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"Ditch the Dish" streaming media class - now online!
On
Thursday, April 9th at 1:00 p.m.
we'll run another session of our "Ditch the Dish!" streaming media class. Join us online to hear the presentation!
Check out the events page on our website
for a link to the online meeting.
This will be an encore presentation of the very popular program we held in February. We'll cover the basics of what you need to stream TV, movies, and live programs to your television. We'll talk about the requirements for your internet speed and equipment, and then review some popular streaming services to find the programming that works for you.
We'll also be giving away a door prize: one lucky attendee will win a Roku Streaming Stick+. Just watch the presentation live on Thursday, or watch the recorded version before Sunday 4/12 at 6:00 p.m. for instructions on how to enter. We'll post the recording to our website as soon as it's available.
Only those residing in the Northern Waters Library Service area (Iron, Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Sawyer, Vilas, and Washburn counties) are eligible to win.
If this goes well, we might start a weekly "Tech at Home" series. Do you have suggestions for future topics?
If so, email me
!
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Online book clubs
Tomorrow, Tuesday 4/7, would normally be "Book Club day" at the library. Our afternoon book club has been reading
Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee, and our evening book club is reading
Tender at the Bone
by Ruth Reichl. Since we can't meet in person, we're holding online book club meetings for both groups.
Check out the events page on our website
for links to the online meetings tomorrow.
If you'd rather try chatting by text instead of meeting online in real time, take a look at our
new online group at Goodreads
. It's a place to chat about our current book club titles or anything else you're reading. You'll have to set up a free Goodreads account and request membership in our group. Once you're in, just click on one of the discussions to add your own comments.
Next month our book clubs will be reading
Everything I Never Told You
by Celeste Ng, and
Death Stalks Door County
by Patricia Skalka. (Side note: Patricia is scheduled to speak at the Mercer Library this summer, so it's a good time to be introduced to her books!) You can access both titles on our
digital collection
, although you might have to place a hold.
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Online library resources
Access the Mercer Library's digital services from anywhere you have internet access, in Wisconsin and outside it.
- Wisconsin's Digital Library has ebooks and audiobooks for download. (Get the "Libby" app to use them on your smartphone or tablet, too. iOS | Android)
- Gale Courses offers hundreds of free, 6-week classes on a huge variety of topics. The next series of courses starts April 15, so sign up now.
- Badgerlink offers content databases for consumers, genealogists, student researchers, teachers, and everyone else.
- For a limited time, we're making Ancestry Library Edition available from home. You'll need to know where to find it and what password to use, so see our website for that information.
You may need your library card number to access these resources from home. If you don't know your number, email
director@mercerpubliclibrary.org
and we'll look it up for you.
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Local information during "Safer at Home"
Here are some resources to help you stay connected with what's happening in the Mercer and Iron County community:
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Visit the Mercer Library website
The
Mercer Public Library website
gives you access to library services from home, plus links to other online information and entertainment that could be useful.
- The COVID-19 Resources page includes links to reliable sources about the COVID-19 virus, financial resources, and more.
- The "Safer at Home" page has fun and educational online activities for all ages, from young children to adults. Hopefully some of these resources will help you stay entertained, educated, and connected while you are at home this month.
- The Digital Library Resources page contains links to all of our online services available anywhere, as well as brief video instructions for some services.
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Winter hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9am - 5pm; Tuesday, Thursday 9am-6pm; Saturday 9am-noon
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