Marathon County Public Library

August 7, 2019

Curious about what your friends and neighbors might be reading? Or which books are trending nationally? Check out the following books from the New York Times Best Sellers list! Have you read any of these books already? Let us know what you thought in the "Comments" section below! Happy reading! Please note: These are popular items that may not be immediately available. It is likely you will need to use the "Request" option in the Library Catalog (V-Cat) to add yourself to the waiting list. Do not be discouraged by long waiting lists for books; MCPL usually has enough copies in circulation to keep wait times reasonable.  Also: All of the following books are...

August 1, 2019

Along with summer comes road construction, so our youth services staff at MCPL Wausau has designed a fun, interactive space in our Early Literacy Center for young children to learn all about construction! Throughout the month of August, children can dress up like a construction worker using goggles, a hardhat and more at our dramatic play center; build with wooden blocks; and drive model diggers and cars around the carpeted town. You can read the story Tip Tip Dig Dig (one of my personal favorites) and then re-tell the story using flannel pieces. There are plenty of construction puzzles, magnets, sorting activities and, of course, a vast array of construction books to enjoy together. The construction...

July 24, 2019

The Marathon County Public Library's Wausau Headquarters currently offers five different story times throughout the year for children of various ages and their parents/caregivers. While these story times will all continue to be offered, MCPL will begin dividing up the calendar year into three trimesters - summer, fall and winter/spring - with short story time breaks between each trimester. This new schedule will start next month. The current summer session will come to a close on Saturday, August 3. Then, from August 4 through Labor Day (September 2), we will be on a brief story time break so that library staff can prepare for the next set of sessions. The fall session will then commence on Tuesday, September...

July 15, 2019

Update: As of 7/22/19, Value Line should be back online. If you experience any difficulties accessing this resource, please contact us. At some point during this last weekend, Value Line -- our online resource for researching stocks, mutual funds, etc. -- started experiencing some technical difficulties and is currently unavailable. Value Line staff have been notified of the situation and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We will update this post once access has been restored.

July 11, 2019

If you see some orange barrels and big machinery blocking traffic in front of our Wausau Headquarters over the next week, don’t fret! Beginning July 11, a small road construction project will begin on First Street between Washington Street and Scott Street in downtown Wausau (directly in front of our Wausau Headquarters). First Street will remain open throughout the project, though traffic will be slowed and some lanes may be temporarily closed. The project is expected to last approximately one week. MCPL Wausau will remain open and fully-functional throughout this project, and patrons will still be able to access our parking lot along First Street. For those who want to access the library and avoid the...

July 3, 2019

Curious about what your friends and neighbors might be reading? Or which books are trending nationally? Check out the following books from the New York Times Best Sellers list! Have you read any of these books already? Let us know what you thought in the "Comments" section below! Happy reading! Please note: These are popular items that may not be immediately available. It is likely you will need to use the "Request" option in the Library Catalog (V-Cat) to add yourself to the waiting list. Do not be discouraged by long waiting lists for books; MCPL usually has enough copies in circulation to keep wait times reasonable.  Also: All of the following books are...

June 25, 2019

This summer, MCPL is celebrating “A Universe of Stories” with its summer library program! Adults can write short reviews of books that they read and earn rewards along the way.  Every adult will receive a reward for the first book review that they submit. Prizes they can choose from include books, water bottles, bumper stickers, USB drives, ear buds or tote bags. After their initial review, adults can claim a reward for every fifth book review they turn in. Reviews will be accepted and rewards will be given out through August 30, and rewards vary by location. For more information, contact your local MCPL, or visit www.mcpl.us/slp!   

June 8, 2019

This summer, blast off with your child in the Marathon County Public Library's Early Literacy Center (ELC)! Throughout the summer months, you can help your child build his or her pre-reading skills in a fun, interactive outer spaced-themed environment!  Early literacy is what children know about reading and writing before learning how to read and write. Early literacy skills include background knowledge (how the world works), vocabulary, phonological awareness (knowing the smaller sounds in words), letter knowledge, narrative skills (telling a story), and print awareness (knowing that print has meaning and how a book works). In the months of June and July, visit MCPL Wausau for a space-themed adventure...

June 4, 2019

Even for the most reluctant reader, true crime always seems to be a big hit. Let’s face it; nearly everyone suffers from some curiosity when it comes to crime. How could a person cut a body completely in half and pose it in a vacant lot without anyone noticing?  What happened to this person to make him into someone who seems to enjoy abducting and killing people?  Personally, I like true crime for the mystery aspect as well as the details into the investigation.  The following books highlight cases that inspired authors, such as “The Real Lolita,” where we learn that Nabokov was fascinated with the abduction of Sally Horner and that led directly to his famous novel, “Lolita.”  Gabriel Garcia...

May 30, 2019

If you've recently checked out the Marathon County Public Library’s online resources page, you may have noticed a few changes. We no longer have the Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center or the Home Improvement Reference Center available. Working with libraries from around our area, it was decided to discontinue our subscription to these two databases. With the rise of such popular websites like Etsy and Ravelry, and the increased use of YouTube for learning how to do basic (and not so basic) home repairs and improvements, we have seen a decrease in the use of these two databases. In addition, this will free up funds for Wisconsin Valley Library Service to add new databases...