Giving Tuesday Campaign - Support the Ripon Public Library

December 2020

Dear Library Friend,

Thank you for supporting the Ripon Public Library during this unique time.  Whether using the library, volunteering, or making a financial contribution, you have enabled it to make a significant difference in the community.  Because I know you value the Library and the services it provides to our community, if you are able, please consider a year-end gift to the Library.

The Library is here to serve you during the pandemic.  The Library is open and, in addition to providing its regular slate of services, staff will continue to provide curbside service plus meeting rooms are now available for small social gatherings.  For those who prefer to stay home, free digital audio and print books are available via OverDrive for most devices and computers.  For more information about any of the Library’s services, please contact staff at 920-748-6160.

The focus of the 2019 Giving Tuesday campaign was to raise funds for the redesign and renovation of the Children’s Department, and approximately $25,000 has been donated to date.  The Library is in the process of selecting an architect to develop a design plan to meet the needs of today and tomorrow.  Fundraising for the project will be an ongoing endeavor, with contributions from the 2020 Giving Tuesday campaign also directed to this incredibly meaningful venture.

Please join us in celebrating the power of libraries by visiting the library and using its resources or by making your gift today. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law and a donation form may be found on the library's website or you may donate directly to the Ripon Public Library Fund at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation. Any contribution, no matter how small, is appreciated. We need your continued support in order to maintain an excellent library and ensure that it remains an anchor to our community for many years to come.

Thank you for your generosity and your support.

Best regards,

Andrew Prellwitz, Library Board President

Library Board of Trustees:

Deanna Boone | Martin Farrell | Theodore Grant | Douglas Iverson | Travis Liptow | Sandra Scamehorn | Kim Scanlon

Library Access and Use during COVID-19

Please note the following temporary changes to our usual library policies and procedures.

Visiting the library:

  • Face coverings (nose and mouth) are required for all patrons ages 5 and up. ADA accomodations for patrons who cannot wear face masks
  • The library's main level is limited to a total of 25 patrons at a time. Patrons must check in at the front desk.
  • Distanced seating is available and face coverings are required if you are seated – no exceptions.
  • Children under age 8 must be accompanied by a caregiver at all times.
  • All patrons need to check in at the front desk.

Click "Read more" below for full details.

Book Discussion Group

Join us on ZOOM for the Friends of the Library book discussion group on Monday, January 25th! January's selection is "A Wedding In December" by Anita Shreve. Copies of the book discussion selections are available to check out at the library while supplies last. Instructions for joining the Zoom meeting will be provided when patrons check out a copy of the book or by contacting the library.

From Publishers Weekly

A Big Chill–like group reunites for a 40-something wedding in this melancholy story of missed opportunities, lingering regrets and imagined alternatives by Shreve (The Last Time They Met). Bill and Bridget were sweethearts at Maine's Kidd Academy who rediscovered one another at their 25th reunion. Bridget was already divorced; Bill left his family; the two have now gathered their Kidd coterie to witness their hasty wedding—Bridget has breast cancer—at widow Nora's western Massachusetts inn. The death of charismatic schoolmate Stephen at a drunken high school party hovers over the event. Stephen's then-roommate, Harrison, now a married literary publisher, remains particularly tormented by it, especially since he had (and still has) romantic feelings for Nora, who was Stephen's then-girlfriend. Abrasive Wall Street businessman Jerry, now-out-of-the-closet pianist Rob, single Agnes (who teaches at Kidd and has a secret of her own) and various children round things out. Tensions build as the group gets snowed in, and someone gets drunk enough to say what everyone's been thinking. Though Shreve's plot, characters and dialogue are predictable (as are her inevitable 9/11 rehashes), she sure-handedly steers everyone through their inward dramas, and the actions they take (and don't) are Hollywood satisfying. (Oct. 10)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Game Night is back... Virtually!

We're sponsoring a premium account at BoardGameArena to unlock premium games and video chat for our patrons. Create your own account there to participate, then sign up to get notified when we begin hosting events!

Let us know you'd like to participate by filling out this quick form. That way, we'll be able to let you know about upcoming game nights and invite you to our premium game tables & future tournaments.

If you don't already have a free BoardGameArena account, you can set one up here.

BoardGameArena works with just your web browser on your PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet, or other device.

Check out our YouTube channel!

This summer, library events have gone virtual. Library staff have been busy creating content for our YouTube channel, where you can find virtual StoryTime, craft and cooking videos, book talks and more. Just click the image at left or this link and start watching. Be sure to subscribe and click the notification bell to be the first to know when we post new videos!

Due to publisher restrictions, our virtual StoryTime videos are unlisted - but you can view them all here. You'll need to log in with your library card number and PIN.

And, if you're enrolled in our Beanstack-powered Summer Reading Program, many of our videos include SECRET CODEWORDS that you can use to unlock additional badges and tickets for our prize drawings!

What is Your Library Worth to You?

We know that you value the services and resources provided by your public library, but just how much are those services worth? How much would you pay out-of-pocket if the library didn't exist, or if these services and resources weren't available at no cost?

Take a moment and reflect on your library use over the past month, then visit the Library Use & Return on Investment Value Calculator. The page will calculate the total value you received related to the items you checked out and the services and resources you used.

YOUTH SERVICES BIBLIO CARE FOR THE WORLD

In the wake of George Floyd's killing, the library is seeing a remarkable uptick in requests for books about race and racism in its many forms. This quest to make sense of the incomprehensible and how it relates to our own existence is necessary; books are a perfect medium for such work. “Books are anchors during life’s biggest storms; they are escape hatches when the world is too much to take; they are springboards to new ideas and understandings. Books are warm blankets and can save readers from the feelings of loneliness and heartache.” –Katy Tessman

Still, how do we talk to children about a world seemingly gone crazy?! Through books! Books are wisdom-filled gems, embracing the complexities and ambiguities of our world in ways which a child can then engage with, relate to, and discuss. Read more to access links to organizations and books dedicated to exploring race and diversity as mainstream rather than framing it as something “other” or “extra” that we do.

FREE Books for your child with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Ripon Reads Logo

The Ripon Area United Way is pleased to present the Imagination Library to Ripon children under the age of 5.

visit Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to register

What Is It?
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a 60 volume set of books beginning with the children's classic The Little Engine that Could. Each month a new, carefully selected book will be mailed in your child's name directly to your home. Best of all it is FREE! There is no cost or obligation to your family.

Check out our Makerspace Collection!

Maker Space logoBooks, movies and... robotics? Gelli plate printing? Programmable caterpillars?

With our MakerSpace collection, you can check out amazing kits to help you invent, learn, and create! Here's some of what we have to offer:

  • Sphero programmable robots
  • LittleBits electronics kits
  • Lego Mindstorms
  • Snap Circuits electronics puzzles
  • Coding games for kids
  • Coding toys for young children
  • Bloxels video game creation system
  • Sizzix embossing machine kit
  • Rubber stamp collections
  • Circuit Maze, Gravity Maze, and Laser Maze logic games
  • Gelli Plate monoprinting kits
  • Canning tools set & rack
  • Spirograph
  • Cordless screwdriver
  • Microscope
  • Studio microphone
  • Fog machine
  • Bubble machine

Makerspace checkout policy in brief:

  • Must be 13 years of age or older
  • 14-day loan
  • Limit 1 Maker Space item out at a time
  • $1/day if overdue, max $30
  • Makerspace items are not renewable