Marathon County Public Library

August 20, 2018

As children head back to school and the summer days begin to wane, the Marathon County Public Library will be undergoing some much-needed changes! We will be replacing the carpeting in our main library Children’s Department after having endured a sudden break in a water supply line in the dark of night. This unfortunate event was managed and mitigated admirably by the Marathon County Facilities and Capital Management Department, and they have our gratitude for helping to make a potentially bad situation little more than an inconvenience.  We also will be replacing many of the library’s 22+ years old public furnishings. Our intention is to better use our available space, as well as improve your access to...

August 15, 2018

Come visit MCPL’s new Early Literacy Center at our Wausau Headquarters!  In September, we’ll begin offering a variety of pet-themed activities, which will be the first of many rotating themes planned for the Early Literacy Center.  One of the many pet-themed activities you’ll be able to enjoy with your child includes a veterinary dramatic play set, complete with a veterinarian costume and all of the equipment needed to take care of our (stuffed) furry friends! Dramatic play is an integral part of a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. In learning to follow the rules of dramatic play, a child learns to coordinate with others, make plans, and resolve conflicts. Dramatic play also supports...

July 27, 2018

From recently published books to vintage classics, puzzles, DVDs, children’s books, and so much more, the Friends of the Marathon County book sale is back once again! Our dedicated group of Friends, who volunteer their time to sift through hundreds if not thousands of items for each new sale, has been working pretty close to feverishly to be ready for their next quarterly sale, which begins on Thursday, August 2, 2018, and continues through Sunday, August 5. If you haven’t stopped by the library’s Wausau Headquarters to check out our sale, what are you waiting for? The August sale marks the third in their newer space in the basement area of the building, which is accessible...

July 24, 2018

Organizers behind the second annual Central Wisconsin Book Festival are hard at work setting up a wide variety of free community events, and this year’s festival is already shaping up to be bigger— and hopefully as good or better — than last year’s festival! What started as a two-day book festival in 2017 with about 10 events has grown to at least 15 events (with more still to be added) over the course of four days, featuring fiction and nonfiction authors, poets, and maybe even you! The festival begins Thursday, September 27, 2018, and continues through Sunday, September 30. One of the goals of the festival — besides bringing in well-known, lesser-known, or even unknown (...

July 21, 2018

We are pleased to announce that the children’s area at the Marathon County Public Library’s Wausau Headquarters has reopened! The children’s area was closed for four days due to flooding caused by a pipe at the library. The children’s area is back to being fully-operational, meaning folks can browse for books, play, consult the children’s desk, use the self check-out, participate in our Summer Library Program and 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program, and attend kid-centric library events. We appreciate your patience over the last few days and hope to see you soon!

July 17, 2018

The children’s area at the Marathon County Public Library’s Wausau Headquarters is temporarily closed this week. It will reopen again soon, though an exact date has yet to be determined. Though the physical space itself will be closed to the public during the closure, patrons are still allowed to request and check out materials located in the children’s area by asking one of our helpful staff members to retrieve the item(s) for you. All of the upcoming events we have planned for kids and tweens – including this week’s Summer Craft Day, Teen Craft Day and our weekly story times – will be held as scheduled. We will update the public on social media when the children’s area reopens.

July 7, 2018

With plenty of holiday weekends and long, lazy days, summer is the perfect time to lose yourself in a good book. But what should you pick up first? We’ve got a few suggestions that will keep you engrossed and entertained all the way through August, including a true crime thriller that’s made the news, a coming-of-age story about a girl dealing with the after effects of Vietnam, and a contemporary tale of marriage and incarceration. 

July 7, 2018

Next weekend finds us smack dab in the middle of summer and time for Wausau’s annual “Big Weekend,” consisting of Wausau Events’ Balloon & Rib Fest and Chalkfest. This event has been held every year for the past 15 years and has become a staple of summertime in Wausau. Hundreds of artists will work tirelessly in the heat (and sometimes in some rain showers) to work on their creations, adorning downtown Wausau’s 400 Block with cartoon characters, celebrity portraits, inspiring messages and more. Registration for this year’s Chalkfest has already sold out, as it often does. But if you want to work on your skills for next year’s event (or just see what you can do on your own driveway or sidewalk), check out...

July 5, 2018

The Friends of the Marathon County Public Library are getting ready for their next book sale (August 2-5), but they need your help! The Friends are asking members of the public to donate paper grocery store bags to be used at future book sales. The bags are needed for the $6 bag sale usually held on the final day of each book sale, where folks can purchase as many books as they can fit in one bag for just $6.  The paper grocery story bags can be dropped off at MCPL’s Wausau Headquarters any time the library is open. For more information, call 715-261-7240.

July 3, 2018

Wisconsin’s first ever LENA Start sessions are complete! A wide range of Marathon County families participated in LENA Start, a program designed to measure how much verbal interaction a child hears in the first three years of his or her life. A total of 18 families graduated from the program this past May, making the first sessions of the program a success!  In order to graduate, parents had to attend nine parenting sessions where they learned how to talk with their child (as opposed to talking at them). The classes taught parents how to use more adult words, conversational turns, and less TV and electronic noise. In addition to attending classes, families also had to turn in eight audio...