ODDBALL HOLIDAYS! Winter Community Reading Challenge

You can register NOW for our 2021 Oddball Holidays Winter Community Reading Challenge! Enroll online at riponlibrary.beanstack.org or in the Beanstack app (available on Google Play and the App Store). Log your days of reading for a chance to earn great monthly prizes and help us fill the pie-o-meter! You must be registered for our reading challenge for your logged reading activity to count toward our community goal and prize drawing eligibility.

As always, this event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Book Discussion Group

Join us on ZOOM for the Friends of the Library book discussion group on Monday, January 25th! This month's selection is "Woman 99" by Greer Macallister. 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 Amazon.com:

"Woman 99 is a gorgeous ode to the power of female courage."―Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network

A vivid historical thriller about a young woman whose quest to free her sister from an infamous insane asylum risks her sanity, her safety, and her life.

When Charlotte Smith's wealthy parents commit her beloved sister Phoebe to the infamous Goldengrove Asylum, Charlotte knows there's more to the story than madness. She commits herself to the insane asylum, surrendering her real identity as a privileged young lady of San Francisco society to become a nameless inmate, Woman 99.

The longer she stays, the more she realizes that many of the women of Goldengrove Asylum aren't insane, merely inconvenient―and her search for the truth threatens to dig up secrets that some very powerful people would do anything to keep.

Inspired by the investigative journalism of Nellie Bly, and other true accounts of 19th century insane asylums.

Rich in detail, deception, and revelation, Woman 99 is historical fiction that honors the fierce women of the past, born into a world that denied them power but underestimated their strength.

Tax Form information for Filing Year 2020

*** Please call the library for current availability of tax forms and instruction booklets.  ***

January update: we have received 2020 Wisconsin tax forms, but no instructions. We have NOT yet received any federal tax products.

All tax forms and booklets are free and available while supplies last.

The start date for the federal tax filing season has been delayed until Feb. 12.

General information:

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.

CREATIVE SNOW BUILDING

Creative Snow building COMING SOON... date and time TBD by OLD MAN WINTER!

When the perfect snow falls, area LEGO teams + Girl & Boy Scouts, will be ready to BUILD snow creations at popular winter activity locations, e.g. skating, sledding. In need of a breather after all that fresh air and activity? Relax on a snow couch! What to do when the littlest ones are underfoot? Corral them in a snow pen or give them a "ride" on Minecraft-inspired creatures! The creative possibilities are endless.
Stay tuned for updates - day, time, place - as everyone is invited to participate in these pop-up snow building events. A moderate selection of snow forms and tools will be available, but BYO too!

In the meantime, here are pics of one LEGO team's creativity on display at the library!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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