The MCPL Blog

If you are searching for trustworthy health and medical websites, check out the 2010 list of Top Health Websites that you Can Trust.  This list is published annually by CAPHIS, the Consumer and Patient Health Information section of the Medical Library Association.  These websites have been evaluated and meet their standards for trustworthy health information.  

Some of the Top General Health Websites included are:

• Cleveland Clinic Health Information Center
• Familydoctor.org
• Healthfinder--U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• MayoClinic
• MedicineNet.com --part of WebMD network
• Medline Plus --National Library of Medicine

Check out the complete list here.

Free tax preparation help is being offered by two Marathon County organizations this year.

NorthCentral Technical College is offering help on Thursdays starting on February 4, 2010 and running through April 15, 2010. VITA staff will be available every Thursday from 12:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. except April 1, 2010 to help. Taxpayers should go to Room A165. Call 675-3331 for further details.

United Way is offering tax preparation help for low- and moderate-income taxpayers especially those 60 years and older beginning February 2, 2010. Anyone needing help with income taxes or homestead credit should call 848-2255 or 211 weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Tax help will be given Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:00 a.m. to noon at 212 River Drive. 

Tax preparation help will not be available at the Marathon County Public Library. However the Headquarters Library and all branches do offer copies of all federal and Wisconsin tax forms.

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The local office of the IRS is located at 10208 Park Plaza in Rothschild. They are typically open 8:30am-4:30pm Monday - Friday (closed noon - 1pm for lunch). Call (715) 241-7077 or click here for more information about the services provided at this location.

Interviews with 22 survivors of the Nazi Holocaust who settled in Wisconsin have just been published online by the Wisconsin Historical Society. 

Thirty years ago, Society staff interviewed 22 survivors and two American eyewitnesses, yielding 160 hours of tape recordings and more than 3,000 pages of transcripts. These have now been published in their entirety at www.wisconsinhistory.org/holocaustsurvivors

Users can stream the recordings while reading along or download the audio (mp3) and text (pdf) for later use. A search engine leads to anecdotes about specific topics, places, people, and events. Nearly 200 photographs are included. 

Dozens of short excerpts are organized under headings such as "Prewar Life in Europe," "Ghettoes," "Escapes," "Resistance," and "Postwar Life & Immigration." These compelling stories are only one or two minutes long, perfect for classroom use or casual browsing: www.wisconsinhistory.org/holocaustsurvivors/excerpts

Most of the survivors were children or teenagers at the time of the Holocaust, so their memories are a particularly effective teaching tool. A separate teachers' page links to age-appropriate stories and suggests how to use them in classes: www.wisconsinhistory.org/HolocaustSurvivors/teachers.asp

The survivors recall happy childhoods, traditional Jewish communities, the rise of the Third Reich, anti-Semitic violence such as Kristallnacht, the Warsaw and Lodz ghettoes, and conditions at Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps. They describe the fates of their families, starting new lives in postwar Europe, emigrating to the U.S., and the founding of Israel. They also discuss life in Wisconsin's Jewish communities between 1945 and 1980. The interviews were conducted not only in Milwaukee and Madison but in cities from Kenosha to Superior and towns from Monroe to Merrill. 

The collection differs from other online Holocaust resources in its depth and breadth. Although only 22 survivors give testimony, they grew up all over Europe — from Holland in the West to Ukraine in the East, Poland in the North to Greece in the South. Some came from affluent families with servants, while others were middle- or working-class families. An equal number of men and women are interviewed. Some fled their homes in the late 1930s as refugees, while others went into hiding like Anne Frank. During the Holocaust, some worked at slave labor and others survived the death camps. Unlike other Web sites devoted to the Holocaust, the Wisconsin collection provides entire interviews (some lasting up to 12 hours) and complete typed transcripts. The interviews also cover their subjects’ family histories, lives before the Holocaust, and experiences in later life as American immigrants. 

All content may be printed or downloaded to a user’s computer or mp3 player at no cost, for nonprofit educational use by teachers, students and private researchers. Commercial use is prohibited.

The Marathon County Public Library is constantly adding new job/career books, compact discs and DVDs at all locations. Here are some of the most recent additions:

*ACING THE INTERVIEW

*AMAZING RESUMES

*CAREER BUILDING

*COVER LETTERS FOR DUMMIES

*FINDING A JOB AFTER 50

*HOW TO FIND A JOB ON LINKEDLN, FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS

*INSTANT INTERVIEWS

*JOB INTERVIEW PHRASE BOOK

*150 BEST JOBS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

*150 BEST RECESSION-PROOF JOBS

*200 BEST JOBS FOR RENEWING AMERICA

Check out these and other job/career items at your MCPL branch!

As we have been going about our daily lives this week, important negotiations have been going on behind closed doors in Boston.  That is the site of this year's American Library Association Midwinter Meeting.

People everywhere have been buzzing about the decisions that will soon be announced: what were the best books published for our children in 2009?  Everyone has their favorites, and they have been blogging and Tweeting about them for the past month or more.  Children, teachers, librarians and other book lovers have been holding "Mock" elections to make their choices.  But what will the results of the real elections be?

These decisions will be kept completely secret until Monday morning, January 18, at 7:45 am (Eastern Time).  At that time, the winners of all 17 categories of Youth Media Awards will be announced, including the "Big Three" in Children's Literature:

• The John Newbery Medal, "the most distinguished American children's book";
• The Radolph Caldecott Medal, given to "the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children;"
• The Michael L Printz Award, given to "a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

Fans can follow a live webcast, or check the Youth Media Awards Press Kit after 9:30 am (Eastern Time) Monday for a list of all the winners.

 So--who do you think will win this year?  Post your "votes" here!

As for me:  My pick for the Newbery is: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.  If I'm allowed a second choice, it would be All the Broken Pieces, by Ann E. Burg.  My pick for the Caldecott is Duck, Rabbit by Amy Krouse Rosenthal--but that's really going out on the limb, because there hasn't been any "buzz" about that one.  My second pick for Caldecott: Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald--another limb-sitter, but that's ok.  Everyone can have their favorites, too. 

Looking for free electronic books but unsure of what library online resource you can use?

2009 will forever be remembered as THE year Library customers checked out 1,000,000 books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and other materials. The Public Library has always played a vital role in Marathon County life. Its value and appeal has only increased in the tough times we find ourselves in. Given the present economic picture, 2009 may just be the FIRST OF MANY 1,000,000-checkout years!

While the 'March to a Million' campaign occupied center stage in 2009, many other noteworthy events, programs and services were provided during the year.

*We had a very successful Summer Library Program; likewise, Marathon County Reads.

*Older Americans programs continued to be popular as did Children's Storytimes and the various Book Clubs held at all locations. Use of the Homebound Program increased greatly.

*Programming for Teens was expanded and proved very popular.

*A Career Connection Area was created at the Headquarters Library to aid Marathon County unemployed find jobs. Job collections were also strengthened at all branches.

Whether through the Headquarters Library, Branch Libraries or Homebound Program, the Marathon County Public Library is committed to serving the educational, informational and entertainment needs of all County residents.

From all the Library Staff, Library Board, Volunteers, Friends and Foundation, thank you for a landmark year!

 We've met and exceeded our goal to lend 1,000,000 items in 2009!

As part of our "March to a Million" celebration, we gave away many great prizes. Congratultions to the prize winners below!

Thanks again to all of our customers for making our "March to a Million" a reality! 
We could not have done it without you.

•  Prize #1 – GRAND PRIZE :  $50 Riiser gas card; $25 gift card to City Grill, One Night stay at the Jefferson Street Inn (Anita Koss)
• Prize #2 - $25 City Grill (Lorraine Mroczewski)
• Prize #3 - $25 Great Dane (Khue Y.)
• Prize #4 - $25 Riiser Gas Card (Melissa Omelian)
• Prize #5 - $25 Riiser Gas Card (Dana Ketchum)
• Prize #6 – daily Nine Mile ski or snowshoe pass (Josie B.)
• Prize #7 - $25 Trig’s Gift Card (Terri Lynch)
• Prize #8 - $25 New Roots Coffee Gift Card (Joshua I.)
• Prize #9 - $20 Village Inn Gift Certificate (Cindy Riedel)
• Prize #10 - $10 Red Eye Brewing Co. Gift Card (Marge Prazuch)
• Prize #11- Free Large Pizza from Polito’s (Abigail S.)
• Prize #12- Free Large Pizza from Polito’s (Jacob K.)
• Prize #13- Free Large Pizza from Polito’s (James O.)
• Prize #14- Free Large Pizza from Polito’s (Angie Bratz)
• Prize #15 - $5 Wausau Mine Co. Gift Card (Joan Zastrow)
• Prize #16 - $5 Library Coupon, Book Bag, Free Car Wash at Riiser (Sandy Jaje)
• Prize #17 - $5 Library Coupon, Book Bag, Free Car Wash at Riiser (Charlie S.)
• Prize #18 - $5 Library Coupon, Book Bag, Free Car Wash at Riiser (Bob S.)
• Prize #19 - $5 Library Coupon, Book Bag, Free Car Wash at Riiser (Eric D.)
• Prize #20 - $5 Library Coupon, Book Bag, Free Car Wash at Riiser (Doug D.) 

Our regular storytime schedule--Book Babies, Tales for Twos, Preschool Storytimes and Family Fun--will be suspended for two weeks over the holiday season. 

Storytimes will resume after the holidays, beginning with Book Babies Monday morning, January 4.

However, we will be showing "School's Out" movies on two days, in our Wausau Room Theater on the downtown library's third floor:

Tuesday, December 29 at 10:30--a movie featuring the Care Bears.
Tuesday, December 29 at 2:00--a movie featuring the Chipmunks.

Wednesday, December 30 at 10:30--a movie featuring the Muppets.
Wednesday, December 30 at 2:00--a movie featuring animals in the Ice Age.

All ages are welcome to attend!

You can now use OverDrive, the free digital media download resource, to download ebooks in two formats—Adobe PDF and EPUB format. You can download these ebooks to your computer (Windows or Mac) or to your Sony ebook reader.   Currently they cannot be downloaded to an Amazon Kindle or a Palm/Pocket PC device.

Trust the Federal and State Governments to lessen the Christmas holiday cheer. Even as Marathon County residents are enjoying the holiday season, 2009 tax forms are on their way to all MCPL locations!

As with previous years, all MCPL branches will have a variety of Federal and Wisconsin tax forms available for our customers. Federal forms will be available starting December 26th. Wisconsin forms will be available beginning in mid-January 2010.

Marathon County taxpayers will be able to take any of the 1040 series, Schedules A/ D/ EIC/ EZ/ R/ SE, Forms 2106/2441/3903/etc. or Publications 501/523/535/590/etc. Wisconsin forms and instructions will include Homestead Credit, Form 1/1A/1NPR/WI-Z and Schedule WD.

Other Federal or Wisconsin forms will be available for copying at the IRS or Wisconsin Department of Revenue websites.

Assistance in preparing your tax form will be provided at NorthCentral Technical College.

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Marathon County Public Library! 

Friday, December 4 is the night of the annual Wausau holiday parade, where Wausau really shows its stuff!  The parade starts at 6:30 pm and treks from Marathon Park east to the downtown City Square where Mayor Tipple will light the official Christmas Tree.  The gaiety then moves inside to the warm Great Hall where hot chocolate and cookies will be served while the hopeful  kiddies visit with Santa.  MCPL will provide some fun Christmas craft activities - make Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with googley eyes, or a set of jingle bells to ring in the new year!  Don't miss it and dress warm!

Finding official government information can be difficult using regular commercial search tools like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Using the official U.S. government search portal, www.usa.gov, it will not only be much easier for you to find the wealth of federal, state, and local government information,  but you can be confident that you are accessing legitimate government websites and information.

You may know Stevens Point native Kathy Kinney best for her role as the flamboyant Mimi on the Drew Carey Show. 

Finding out what job openings are available can be a frustrating experience. Many openings never end up in the local newspaper Classifieds. Likewise searching the Internet for job listings can be time-consuming. Now, there's a handy new type of website that will quickly produce comprehensive listings of openings... Job Aggregators!

What is an Aggregator site? It is a website that  is narrowly focused on one subject. In this case, it is job listings. Job Aggregator sites collect job postings from other websites such as Yahoo.com, CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com, HotJobs.com...AND employer websites!

Since Aggregator sites combine information from many, many sources into one database, they save you time. Search results can also be rearranged to meet your own needs. For example, searches can be sorted by employer, posting date, part-time/full-time jobs, etc. 

The top five Job Aggregator websites are:

• indeed.com
• simplyhired.com
• topusajobs.com
• juju.com
• careerjet.com

So, check out Aggregators...They may be just what you need to land the job you are looking for! 

Looking for some deer hunting tips and techniques? If you are, you won’t want to miss Jeffrey Foytek’s free program on whitetail deer hunting at the Library in Wausau this Thursday night (10/22) at 6:30pm. Foytek, who has never missed an opening day, will share some of the wisdom that he has acquired during over 40 years experience successfully hunting deer. He will be talking about his deer hunting strategies and tracking techniques, demonstrating hunting aids, and sharing some hunting stories. 

This Saturday, October 17^th 10:00 am to 2:00pm, the Library is holding a Passport Event at the Mosinee Branch Library (Joseph Dessert Memorial Library). 

Please join us this Saturday, October 17, 10:00am-2:00pm at the Mosinee Branch Library (Joseph Dessert Memorial Library) for this Passport Event. Questions? Please visit the Library’s passport page, the U.S. Department of State’s Passport website, or call the Library’s Reference Desk at 715- 261-7235.

Marathon County jobseekers will soon have an opportunity to get some expert advice on finding a job. On October 27th Susan Guarneri, a Career Consultant, will be presenting a free program on JOB SEARCH INSIDER SECRETS at the Wausau Library.

Guarneri will be presenting information on Job Search Strategies. There are some basic keys to a successful job search and Guraneri will be sharing those keys with the audience. Likewise there are some common job search mistakes and Susan will discuss them as well. 

Guarneri will also talk about Personal Branding and Resume Strategies that maximize your job search efforts.

JOB SEARCH INSIDER SECRETS  is free to the public. No registration is needed. The program starts at 6:30 on the 27th.

So, mark your calendars...and stop in for some free, expert advice that might help you land a job!

Read for the Record is a campaign sponsored by Jumpstart and the Pearson Foundation.  Last year, 688,000 people gathered at locations around the world to read and listen to the same book on the same day.  This year, they hope to break that record--and you can help them reach their goal of one million readers and listeners by participating in programs at four libraries in Marathon County.

This year's featured book is Eric Carle's classic picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Read for the Record programs will be held Thursday, October 8 at these MCPL locations and times:

• Edgar Library: Preschool Storytime at 9:30 am and a special Family Storytime at 7:00 pm
• Spencer Library: Special readings at 4:00 & 6:00 pm
• Stratford Library: Special readings at 1:30 & 3:30 pm
• Wausau Library: Everyone invited to join the end of Preschool Storytime at 10:55 am to share the book!

Each year, one third of America's children arrive at their first day of school without the skills necessary to succeed at grade level.  Children who miss out on key cognitive, social and emotional experiences have more difficulty keeping pace with their peers.  Jumpstart sponsors Read for the Record to raise public awareness and encourage people to read aloud and introduce children to literature at an early age.  Please join us and become part of a million readers!

Marathon County Public Library is pleased to announce this year’s title for Marathon County Reads is Marley and Me by John Grogan. This touching story about a typical American family and their a-typical dog has touched millions of readers across the country. Join us in celebrating this great book by reading it along with us in October and attending some of the great events we’ve planned.