Library offers new programs, updates for patrons

By Virginia Roberts
Rhinelander District Library Director

If you are considering making some changes in 2022, add “using the Rhinelander District Library” to your list. Your RDL has a wealth of materials to help you change your path—or start a new one.

Perhaps one of your resolutions is to read more. RDL is here to encourage with a reading challenge. People can sign up at https://rhinelanderlibrary.beanstack.org for the Read for a Better World Challenge. Everything you read, or book you hear, counts. Earn badges and write reviews! The community goal is 60,000 minutes of reading.

Because being a kid is all about reading challenges—they should be FUN! Virtual Book Club, third though sixth grade, runs Jan. 4 – Feb.4. Kids age two and up get a book to follow along and take home. Space is limited for these two programs, so please register. Storytime at the Dome takes place weekly on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. Online Storytime is Thursdays at 10 a.m. via the Rhinelander Library Facebook page. Books and Blankets

Winter Storytime is Monday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Hodag Dome. Call the library for more information.

Want to learn something new? Gale Courses are available online under Services at rhinelanderlibrary.org. More than 365 engaging, online, instructor-led courses focus on professional development, technology skills, and personal enrichment. All are free to use. Just sign up with your library card. Some classes may be available for credit, just check with school or employer.

If getting thoughts to paper is in your future, the Journaling for Self Care program may be for you. The group meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month in the RDL meeting room for no more than an hour with a virtual (not recorded) option for attendance. See the library for more information.

And the library, by way of the Wisconsin Valley Library Service (WVLS) is making a few changes as well. After over a year of offering Ancestry Library at home, Ancestry has made the decision to no longer offer this in 2022. Ancestry is still available in the library. A similar database, HeritageQuest – also offered by Ancestry – is still available from home with your library card.

Starting in January, WVLS is also making a change to the online catalog. The catalog will become a more user-friendly, visual search. We hope you will find it more helpful. Because it’s new, please don’t be afraid to ask for help. Everyone here at the library has been learning how to use it so we can help you. If we don’t know an answer to something, we will find out, and we will learn together.

Also, Overdrive is updating exclusive to its Libby app. Starting in February, it will be the only way to get materials enjoyed via OverDrive. Launched in 2017, Libby has been a downloadable app allowing library patrons to get their e-books, e-audio, e-magazines and even some films from the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC) and WVLS holdings to their electronic devices. Now, it will be the only way to get them. If you don’t have the app, download it to your reading device at libbyapp.com. If you have any trouble, let us know. We’re here to help.

And finally, if 2022 is your year to volunteer, both the Friends and the Foundation are looking for new members. The Foundation meets the first Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the library meeting room. The Friends meet the third Tuesday of the month, at 2 p.m. Or you can stop by the Re-Tale Shop, open every Tuesday and Saturday 10-2 for details. And the $5 bag sale is back, so you might find a few things you need, there, as well.

Happy New Year, everyone. Let the Rhinelander District Library help you make it a great one!