A New Eye on Wisconsin Government and More

Wisconsin's own version of C-SPAN, WisconsinEye, is ambitious in its reach, and it will be interesting to see how it catches on in the state. Have a look, if you haven't already, and let us know what you think.

WisconsinEye, launched in May on the Internet and - as of last month - also available on TV to TimeWarner and Charter subscribers, bills itself as "a statewide public affairs network whose mission is to present an independent statewide view of community affairs and public policy discussion."

It was a long time coming to the state. A C-SPAN channel for Wisconsin has been discussed for years, but never really got off the ground until last spring. Cameras willl cover floor debate in both the State Senate and Assembly, as well as committee meetings, hearings and, eventually, portions of the Judicial and Executive branches. This morning the webcast link took me to a budget hearing from July 25. You can choose to watch a video of the proceedings, or simply to listen, provided you have Windows Media Player or other media software on your PC.

Recognizing that government proceedings can be ... uh ... boring, WisconsinEye's producers have added some feature-like videos, including an on-site tour of last week's EAA event in Oshkosh and the Dalai Lama's visit to Madison in May. As a librarian, I also appreciate "Wisconsin in Words," a Wisconsin version of C-Span's popular Booknotes program. About a half dozen interviews with authors have been archived so far.

Production quality so far leaves a little to be desired. Even with the audio button on my computer turned up all the way I had trouble hearing the discussions. The cameras seem to just sit there in one or two static locations; no one's making an effort to get close-ups or be visually creative at all. But the website is easy enough to navigate, and I'm impressed with the site's goals of objectively covering "local issues and civic activity that reflect the broad range of community and public life in Wisconsin."

Hey, it's a start. If you want to see state government in action, WisconsinEye may be the next best thing to sitting in a Capitol Building hearing room. At least you don't have to deal with Madison traffic.

Magazines for your health

If you're looking for a little inspiration to help you get back into an exercise or fitness regimen, we've got some quick and easy solutions that might appeal to you. I was perusing KPL's periodical section today, and counted no less than six magazines that focus almost exclusively on health. Add in our several popular culture titles that have regular health-related columns (Woman's Day, Reader's Digest, GQ, AARP, Oprah, etc.) and that makes for a pretty impressive repertoire of health magazines.

Yoga Journal is one of the newest and most popular of our health-oriented titles. It's not so much a weight-loss publication as it is a healthy living one. Our patrons really like this one.

Our other health titles are Prevention, Health, Arthritis, Fitness, and (my personal favorite) Consumer Reports On Health. Only 12-pages long, On Health offers an ad-free alternative to the over-hyped mainstream publications. It's full of useful information and on-target advice.

Like our 80+ other titles for adults, teens and youth, the above magazines (other than the current issue) can be checked out for up to three weeks. Patrons can also put specific issues on hold, or request titles from other libraries.

We're proud of our periodical collection, and we're delighted when people stop in on a regular basis, or even only occasionally, and avail ourselves of our many titles. There are worse ways to cool off on a hot summer afternoon than spending some time in the Kiel Public Library.

- Nanette

Help us create a book club

The Kiel Public Library hasn't hosted a book discussion group for several years, and we miss it. Some of our patrons contribute to online book discussion groups. There are several good ones out there. But nothing offers the fellowship, emotional invovlement, and intellectual stimulation that you get from a face-to-face conversation.

That's why several of us hope to re-launch KPL's book club. We're hosting a book Club Meet-up on Monday, Aug. 6 at 6:30 p.m. to choose some titles (or at least list some good discussion candidates), discuss possible meeting formats, and set a tentative schedule for the coming months. Maybe we can even schedule some author visits.

Please join us as we devise a plan for sharing our page-turning passions.

Last Muggle Standing

Congratulations to 7th grader Jacob Endries, the last muggle standing in the KPL Harry Potter trivia contest (otherwise known as N.E.W.T.) last month. He was one of more than a dozen local Potter fans who competed for top muggle honors. For his troubles, Jacob won a free copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final Harry Potter book. He was assisted in the contest by friend Greg Lutz.

Finalists first had to "qualify" for the contest by passing the OWLS exam, which featured the strangest and most arcane Potter details you could ever imagine. (So what IS Mr. Dursley's profession?)

The library also hosted a "divination," (prediction) contest and an art contest. Scott Vogel was the winner of the dinivation contest. He had the largest number of correct Deathly Hallows predictions. He even correctly placed six out of the seven horcrux locations. Now that's a true Potter fan!

Art contest winners were Katie Gilsdorf for the high school division; Caroline Kuske for middle school; and Alaina Foster for elementary school. Kuske's paper-mache sculpture of Fluffy (above right), the three-headed dog who guards the entrance to the Sorceror's Stone in the first Harry Potter book is still on display at the library.

Congratulations to all the participants, and a special thank you to our sponsors: First National Bank, Kwik Trip and Stardust Limousines.

We were able to take a few photos from the Harry Potter N.E.W.T. contest on July 20, the same day publishers released Deathly Hallows. Just follow this link to KPL's Flickr.com page, to see these and more than 200 other photos of library events.

Scenes from KPL's Get a Clue summer

Throughout the summer we'll be posting photos from some of our terrific summer library event programs. We use Flickr, a web-based online photo service, which enables us to download dozens of photos easily and quickly. All you have to do is follow this link, and view the images from the comfort of your own computer. Check out the slide show option for the best view.

We're also posting some images on the Community Calendar on CATV Channel 19, for those of you who get cable.

We're on the front page!

We love it when the local media notices something good about us!

Today's Sheboygan Press (Jan. 22, 2007) features a front page story about the library's digitization grant. This follows on the heels of another story on the same subject in a recent edition of the Tri-County News. We're thrilled by the exposure, especially because this is such an exciting project.

We'll be digitizing 600 historic images from the Edwin J. Majkrzak Historical Research Center and, thanks to a $3,000 grant from the U.S. government, we'll get to publish them onto a prestigious website hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The fine folks at UW-Madison's Digital Collection Center will be helping us every step of the way between now and next August, when our photos will actually be published.

We're honored to join the several other Wisconsin communities who already have portions of their local history on this site. And we're especially honored to be able to share some of the amazing photographs in our Heritage Collection, most of which were donated by Kiel historian Ed Majkrzak.

If you haven't had a chance to see the archives in the library's local history collection, please do stop in and ask us to show you around. People stop and peruse these items on a daily basis. Some make copies of family histories for their own genealogy project. Some collect information from our original documents for school projects. Others just like to go through the 80+ notebooks to satisfy their own curiosity. Whatever the reason, we're glad to be able to provide public access to so many pages of text and images. Together, they tell Kiel's story, and what a fascinating story it is!

If you can't make it into the library, well, that's what the digitization project is all about. By next fall - if you have Internet access - you'll be able to enjoy a large portion of our collection 24/7, right from the comfort of your own home.

Digitization uses cutting edge technology and is increasingly used by libraries all over the world. And Kiel is right at the forefront of the fray. Imagine that.

Guess we really are the little city that does big things.

Good-Bye Mrs. Heberlein

It was a sad day when long-time Library Assistant Ethel Heberlein (shown here at right with colleagues Terry Kuske and Joie Baldock) announced her retirement at the end of 2006.

We could understand that, after 17 years serving the library, she might want to step down and create some free time to do all the traveling that she and her husband Art love to do. Still, it was hard to say good-bye.

From a patron point of view, Ethel always had a smile for everyone who walked through the door. She had a gift for giving individuals their undivided attention (a rare quality in today's hectic world). She showed genuine interest in the stories they had to tell, the problems they were working to solve, the books they wanted to find. Watching how she treated patrons from my post behind the glass window, I always marveled at her calm patience, even during our hectic "early-release" Wednesday afternoons, when the after-school crowd piled in. Nothing seemed to fluster her. She just took things as they came.

Mostly I admired her graciousness and compassion, especially for the latchkey kids for whom the library is a safe and (we hope) pleasant alternative to an empty home. For adult patrons who were friends of hers, she appeared to take on the role often attributed to bartenders or hairdressers. She listened attentively to folks' updates about their health, loved ones, or the last book they read.

Mrs. Heberlein (nee Baumann - her father once served as Kiel mayor) was hired as a library clerk in 1992, after serving three years as a library trustee. Among her responsibilities over rthe years were maintaining our genealogy and cemetery records, processing overdues, answering reference questions, and organizing our newspaper and magazine sections. She was apparently pretty hard to say no to. Her reminder calls about overdue items usually prompted quick returns. And she was particularly adept at teaching others to use our online card catalog. Again, her compassionate, personal attention proved an asset.

All of us at the library wish her a great retirement. But she will be missed greatly.

Nanette

Books "NOT" Read, Oh My!

Does this ever happen to anyone else or does it just happen to me? I take out some great books or a great movie and I don't even get to them! Oh NO! I have very good intentions, especially when I take out 10 books. I might get to just half of them. There's just so much of life that has to come first that the books (unfortunately) have to wait for another time.

So back they go and, hopefully, I'll remember to write down the titles so I can reserve them later. Yeah, Right.

Maybe it is just that time of year. Too much to do with family and friends, and then there is not much time left in the day. Unless you are a night reader. Then you have it made. Personally, I just can't read when I am in bed. But a lot of people tell us that they love to read before going to bed. Probably because it is the quietest time of the day.

In any case, don't let your busy day get so busy that you end up too tired to pick up that book. Even a few minutes with a good book can enrich your life.

Techkpl