Annual Meeting of Friends of the Eager Free Public Library

Annual Meeting of Friends of the Eager Free Public Library

The FEFPL Constitution specifies that the group hold an annual meeting within four months of the end of each fiscal year.  Our fiscal year ends on June 30th of each year.

This year our annual meeting will occur on Friday, Octoer 22nd at about 7 PM at the Eager Free Public Library.  Though the library will be closed to the public, Friends may enter the building through the First St. entrance.  The meeting is expected to conclude by 8 pm.

All current members of the FEFPL also receive this notice by mail in the Fall 2010 newsletter, which will be posted on or about October 1, 2010.

Any member of the public who wishes to join the Friends of the Eager Free Public Library is also welcome to come to this annual meeting.  Membership forms will be available.

Celebration Time.... Come On!

Celebration Time.... Come On!

Join us to Celebrate National Friends of Libraries Week with your Friends.

In Evansville, Mayor (and Friend) Sandy Decker will proclaim October 17-23, 2010 as Friends of EFPL Week.  

We'll honor a long-time Friend as our first-ever Friend of the Year.

Congratulate and thank this Friend for long-time service to EFPL.

Enjoy light snacks, beverages, & some cool jazz in the background. Meet new Friends.  Check out physical improvements the Friends have made to the library.  Try out the new language-learning program, Mango!  See the new DVD/computer projector in operation. 

Then, attend the Friends’ Annual Meeting, which will take place as the celebration winds down.  The event will conclude around 8 PM.

Great YouTube Video!

Great YouTube Video!

I suggest we all appreciate our library staff a lot more.  With the specter of tight(er) budgets for the next several years, and increasing library usage, they are doing more and more in a time of fewer resources.

Check out this video for a light-hearted but powerful take on the situation at libraries all around the US.

Mango, Mango, Mango!

Mango, Mango, Mango!

Where does the money raised from the Ice Cream Socials and Used Book Sales at the Eager Free Public Library go?    Most recently, the Friends of the Library purchased one year's access to Mango Languages, an online language-learning system now available to all EFPL library-card holders.  Mango works at the library on its public-access computers and on your home computer.  English speakers can use the program to learn 22 different languages --   for countries around the world.  Native speakers of 13 world languages can learn English as a Second Language.   

Mango provides two levels, Basic and Complete, with lessons ranging in length from 15 minutes to as long as an hour.  Each lesson begins and ends with a spoken conversation (with text on the computer screen) that includes all the vocabulary to be learned throughout the lesson, then breaking down each piece of the conversation individually until the knowledge is adequately reinforced.  Users hear native speakers conducting the conversation; you can repeat each segment as many times as you wish; you can record your own voice and compare your pronunciation with a native speaker.  There are timed memory challenges to adapt phrases and words already learned to new uses.  Repetition is the name of the game. You learn at your own pace. Advanced lessons build on knowledge gained from previous lessons.

Mango is suitable for students from about 6th grade upwards to adults. To access Mango from outside the library or this Blog, use your web browser to go to the Eager Free Public Library's website at: 

http://www.als.lib.wi.us/EFPL/

Then click on the Mango logo in the middle of the page.  If you have questions about the Mango language-learning system, contact the staff of the Eager Free Public Library.

Too Long a Hiatus

Too Long a Hiatus

I'm sorry to say that this blog has been dormant for over three months.  During that time, the Friends have been very active.  Our Ice Cream Social on July 2nd was very successful.  We raised a lot of money for the Library through both the ice cream/cake sales and the charity auction.  Our Summer Used Book Sale, which took place during Evansville's city-wide garage sale on August 7th, was well-attended.  We had to extend the sale hours, because so many people were still shopping at the epected 1 PM closing time.   Lots of used books found new homes, and more money was raised to support the library.. 

We're now beginning planning for our Friends' Annual Meeting and Party, which will take place in about 2 months, on October 22nd.  Details will follow, as will more information about and pictures of the summer's events.

Program Ideas?

Program Ideas?

The Friends' Board is always interested in new ideas for educational programs that may be put on at the Eager Free Public Library.

Right now, there seems to be an increasing local interest in the American Civil War.  The 150th anniversary of the start of that war will be upon us soon.  (South Carolina seceded from the Union in December 1860, and rebel forces fired on the US Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor in April 1861 shortly after Lincoln's inauguration.)  Any local amateur historians who would be interested in sharing some of their knowledge of the war, and especially Wisconsin's (and Evansville's!) role in it, are invited to contact the Friends to discuss the possibility of making a presentation at the library in the next year or so.  We're indebted to Friend Jennifer Ehle for suggesting this possibility to us.

Other ideas for programs are always welcome too.  Please let us know what kinds of programs you might like to either present or attend at your local public library.  Thanks!

New Secretary

New Secretary

Sonja Heiser, our Secretary for the past year or so, has found another direction for her life, and there's no space for the Friends in the immediate future.  We on the Board all wish her well.  She's been an asset to the Friends.

Following a suggestion from Friend John Willoughby,  we invited another Friend, Audrey Shomos, to take over the Secretary's responsibilities.  Audrey graciously accepted, and we are sure that she will be a great replacement for Sonja.

If you see Audrey out and about, please thank her for accepting this new responsibility.

Spring Cleaning Blitz -- blitzed!!

Spring Cleaning Blitz -- blitzed!!

Fifteen volunteers gathered at the library this gloomy and cool Saturday afternoon to wash windows, dust book bins and just about everything else, clean the kitchen, scrub floors and steps at the side entrance.  So many hands made light work; we finished all the tasks set for us within two and a half hours.  We all felt good about the results at the end.  The building, upstairs and down and the entrances,  is a whole lot shinier and sanitary-er too.

Next time you're in the building, look around for dust, or little remnants of tape on the walls, etc.  If you find any, email the Friends and let us know where we need to give more attention.

Ice Cream Social 2010

Ice Cream Social 2010

The Friends' Board Meeting tonight was pretty straightforward.  The major item of new business was to begin to think about the Ice Cream Social for this coming July 4th weekend.  It will be held on Friday July 2nd this year, to kick off the festivities that Evansville Community Partnership has planned for the entire weekend.  If you have any ideas on how to make the ICS even even better than it's been in the past, please get in touch with Fred Juergens at 882-2489.

We'll be having live entertainment and a charity auction, in addition to serving up gobs of ice-cream and cake.  Lots more news and details will come as the plans come together.

School Forest Exhibit at Library

School Forest Exhibit at Library

Nancy Kress has installed a very informative exhibit at our library concerning the Grove Campus School Forest Trail.  It's in the east front window of the library.

A major part of School Forest is on Fair Street and there's a trail that includes Wind Prairie and land on the exterior of Levi Leonard Elementary, Theodore Robinson Intermediate, and the fence line that's to the east of the high school.  The project's part of the big building project that started in 2002 with the new high school.  The Forest itself is a work in progress. So far over 1400 native Wisconsin trees and shrub have been planted.

Next time you come to Eager Free, check out the exhibit..