Friends of ETLPL Annual Meeting

 

4-25-2025

Next Friday, May 2^nd, the Friends of the ETLPL will hold their Annual Meeting at 1:30. This is a great time to join the Friends for the following reasons.

Dues Collection – Best Bang for Your $10: Annual membership is $10 with all renewals due at the Annual Meeting. That means Friends who join in June donate $10 for eleven months of membership rather than twelve and the relative cost only increases as the year goes on. The best bargain is to become a lifetime member for $100 at the Annual Meeting.

Officer Voting: Members who are current in paying their dues will elect the next set of officers and directors. Since the slate of officers is established at least two weeks in advance, anyone not wishing to be on the ballot is relatively safe that first year. Even if they have persistent friends on the Friends.

Volunteer Opportunities: The Friends hold several fundraisers throughout the year of varying degrees of complexity. The two largest are the play and the book sales. Books and Bites is the only time each year all of the donated books are available for browsing and purchase. Held on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, this is the fundraiser currently with the most pressing need for volunteers. The sale is traditionally held on the side lawn under pop-up canopies. Volunteers (often husbands who are voluntold) set up the canopies and tables and carry the books outside. Other volunteers man the sale or bake before the event. Our Yarn & Stitch group has made several items from hat and scarves to stuffed animals and donated them to the sale. It’s usually a beautiful day and with $.50-1 prices on most books, the take down is much quicker.

Social Time: Although this year revisions to the Constitution and Bylaws are up for a vote, very little official business is conducted at the meeting. Members have time to socialize among themselves as well as hold more informal conversations about the group’s activities.

Food: Socializing is always more pleasant with a little something upon which to nibble. As a thank you for all that the Friends support and make possible, the library provides snacks. I just made out a list which will have me baking a fair amount this coming week finding inspiration in the food related programs we hosted this past year.

Support: The Friends have been open to supporting any need the library identifies thereby relieving stress on our tax supported budget and providing more opportunities for their community. They fund our Summer & Winter Reading Programs, Experience Passes which now number three, updated program space, and community outreach programs. The more Friends there are, the lighter the load and the bigger the difference they make.

 Reading Now: Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (Book 4 of the Queen's Thief series)

Listening to Now: Little Women by Louise May Alcott

Executive Order Regarding IMLS

 

4-11-2025

It’s a little late to mention, but this is National Library Week. That always catches me by surprise. First because I want it to be later in the month and second because libraries organizing their NLW celebrations seem a bit like throwing your own birthday party, which I would never do.

This year is full of changes that make this a good time to bring them up. On March 14^th, President Trump signed an Executive Order that effects the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The IMLS is a government agency that flies under most people’s radar, including mine, even when they reap the benefits. Their purpose is to support learning through access to museums and libraries which provide “trusted information, ideas, and stories they contain about our diverse natural and cultural heritage.” They do that primarily by providing grant money to libraries and museums. In 2024 Wisconsin received $3.2 million of those grant monies in addition to any grants awarded to individual libraries.

The ETLPL is primarily funded by the Village of East Troy. Our next largest funding source is Walworth County. Next is state funding passed on from DPI to the library systems such as Prairie Lakes. Those sources appear as budget items seen locally. The IMLS funds trickle down to us indirectly in the form of services that are simply there, which is why it is easy to overlook. Those funds support BadgerLink, interlibrary loans, technology upgrades, and staff training.

BadgerLink is Wisconsin’s online library. The databases it provides are available to every Wisconsin resident. It is very helpful for student research in public schools from elementary onwards. Public library patrons may use it for research as well; however, the convenience of pulling up ChiltonLibrary at home mid-repair or looking up an item in Consumer Reports before making a major purchase can’t be beat.

Interlibrary loan allows libraries across the state to share resources and offer patrons more for a lower cost. While the materials are paid for, the computer program that facilitates the loans and the delivery system that moves them around the state are not.

As of March 31, 2025, the entire staff of the IMLS, around 70 people, was placed on administrative leave and their email accounts were disabled. Ironically, the institute also funds workforce development programs.

On a happier note, you can tell the age of a whale by its circles of ear wax. They are lighter in summer and darker in winter. Now you know thanks to Lynn Brunelle’s Life After Whale.

Reading Now: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Listening to Now: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Mini Gold and Many Thanks

 

4-4-2025

This week will continue the focus on our children’s programming. Our January through May programming needs to largely be determined by November 1^st in order to make the Park & Rec Guide’s printing date. Those due dates may be the best incentive we have for thinking through possibilities, reaching out to presenters, and setting schedules early. They don’t all end up making it into the Guide, but that’s mainly because Miss Maria’s favorite phrase is, “Would it be possible . . .” and I’m not going to tell her no.

One upcoming program that didn’t make it into the guide is the bonus storytimes with Mr. Nibbles. This local bunny usually makes an appearance once a month based on his owner’s schedule. This month’s appearance will honor the Easter Bunny on Thursday, April 10^th at 2:00. I hear he’s shopping for a new outfit for the occasion.

A program that did make the guide happens the following Thursday, April 11^th at 11:30-1:00. The library’s lower level will be set up for mini golf. I don’t really know what that will look like; it isn’t my vision. However, having seen the miracle Miss Maria performed for Life-Size CandyLand this winter gives me confidence that it will be fabulous. It is for all ages. East Troy Community School District is on spring break that week, so if you’re self-conscious about coming as an adult bring a child who’s off of school. We’d like to thank Delbrook Golf Course for their help in supplying putters for the event.

Miss Maria’s extra programs were limited this winter due to her medical leave. Even before her leave was confirmed, she was making arrangements to cover her programs. Miss Anna deserves a heartfelt thanks for again stepping in to cover Storytime and Teens & Tweens. This time around we added Pokemon and Series Sampler to the workload bringing her in an additional extra day.

The community guest story readers lightened Miss Anna’s role. We thank them all. From the local school’s we had retired teacher Claudia Felske, bus driver Dave Bretz, and FFA beekeepers Aubrey Benz and Alyssa Henningfeld. Police Chief Jeremy Swendrowski volunteered his time and police car. Not that it’s a competition, but half the fire department led by Chief Joe DeGaro come the following week with a fire engine AND a rescue vehicle. Citizens Bank lent us Jennifer Christensen. Patrons Jennah Strand from Heartbeat Yogo with her friend Danielle Alger and Brandon LeGreca from East Troy Acupuncture each took a week as well. As a special thank you I will shamelessly plug Brandon’s new book Cancer, Trauma & Emotions which is available at the library.

They say it takes a Village, and we are thankful for ours.

Listening to Now: Children of Dune by Frank Herbert