LIBRARY NEWS

WELCOME TO OUR NEW WEBSITE

As you can see, we've changed the look of our website again. We hope you like it.

COMPUTER CLASSES AND CLINICS

Our basic computer classes are back. Please contact our Serials/Automation Department for the current offerings.

We also have a "drop in" computer clinic with our experts standing by to field your computer questions. Again, please contact the library for the service hours.

THE LIBRARY IS NOW ON FACEBOOK

You can now read about our many library programs and sign up to be Fan of ours on Facebook.

FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOK SALES

Thanks to the Friends of the Library and our patrons the October Book Sale raised $4,890. The money will be used for programming expenses, refreshments, and for staff and volunteer recognition events.

At their last meeting, the Board of the Friends voted to ban the use of electronic scanning devices at their book sales. The devices are often used by for-profit dealers to mine our sale stock for the most valuable titles and our Friends want our sales to benefit as many of our regular library patrons as possible.
 

BOOK SALES - 2010

Sale Sort - April 11
The Spring Book Sale will be held April 16 - 18, 2010.

Sale Sort - October 9
The Fall Book Sale will be held October 15 - 17, 2010.

 THE HAGEMAN LIBRARY

When was the last time you visited our Hageman Library in Porter? Suzi and her staff have been working hard to make the collections and services at Hageman as useful as possible. Why not visit her today? Then there's our Museum, Audio-Visual Department, and Serials/Automation Department, all waiting to serve you too.  

Watch for gaming to be coming soon to the Hageman Library. The library used some donated funds to purchase a Wii game system for Hageman and expects it will be up and running soon.

 LEGOS

Our new Legos® club has begun with a bang, but we can still use many more blocks. We would still like to remind you that the more blocks you bring to us, the fewer blocks you might have around the house to step on at night in the dark. 

We'd like to extend a special thank you to the Lifelong Kindergarten at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for donating a collection of blocks to our club.  

 INTERNET LINKS AND NEWS FEEDS

We believe we've compiled a fairly useful collection of categorized links to sites on the Internet. You might want to visit and bookmark our Internet Links

Some of our links are still under construction , but we hope to have all of the pages available soon.

We also created some categorized News Feed Pages that will give you some of the latest headline news and reviews.

 YOUR ACCOUNT

Did you know you can log into your library account over the Internet and view the titles you have borrowed? You can see if you have any outstanding fines? You can view your reading history? You can also request a book be placed on reserve for you to pick up at the library at a later date or request a book be ordered?

These are services you can access by logging in with the bar code number on your library card combined with a unique password. Simply follow the link above to the Library Catalog and click on the tab for the Patron Account.

You don't have a password? Contact the library's circulation desk at either of our circulating branches and get a password registered.

You can't view your reading history? Again, contact circulation to have the history saving feature turned on for your account.

 ASK US

If you have a WPL library card and password you may also use our on-line reference service. Simply click on the link to Ask Us, enter your barcode and password to include your contact information, and then ask your question.

WIRELESS ACCESS

Do you have your own laptop and would like to get access to the Internet in the library? Bring your computer to our Serials Department on the second floor of the Thomas Library and connect through our WAM (Wireless Access Manager). Again, you will have to use your library card bar code number and password to acquire the service.

Wireless access is also available at the Hageman Library in Porter.

DATABASES

Have you explored our databases lately? Library Databases. The library subscribes to a variety of premium databases on behalf of our patrons that aren't accessible to the general public. You can log into our catalog and get access to the Britannica Online, Chilton Library of Repair Manuals, Learning Express Library of tutorials and tests, and Reference USA an essential directory of business information.

The library has also subscribed to a service that allows our resident patrons to select from over 2,100 audiobooks and download the files to their home computers: Download Audiobooks. It might also be possible to transfer the files to a portable player if the device is compatible. Some of the titles are now compatible with an IPOD.

Inspire databases, provided free to all Hoosiers by the State of Indiana, is a wonderful collection of resources that includes access to the full text of many newspaper and magazine articles, and scholarly papers: Inspire Databases. Inspire also has a special interface to resources just for kids: Kids Search Inspire.

MP3's

Since we mentioned audiobooks, have you borrowed one of our new MP3 players? The devices, called Playaways come preloaded with an unabridged audiobook and easily fit into a pocket. All you need are your own headphones or earbuds and you can enjoy an ever expanding selection of both fiction and nonfiction releases.

PDB
11/09