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.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
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
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
Monday, January 15, 2007
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
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
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