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Library Closing due to winter storm

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Due to inclement weather, the library will close at 3:00 pm today, Friday, January 17, to allow our staff to safely reach their homes before the weather gets really bad. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. As always when we close unexpectedly, no fines will be charged on items due today that are not returned. You can also renew online, email us at fulpublib@mchsi.com, leave a message at 815-589-2045, or renew through the automated phone system by calling 888-542-7259.

Be safe, everyone and stay warm!

Children's Room, Community Connection, Pictures

1000 Books Before Kindergarten!

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  • Kiki Swanson
  • Walker Barnhart
  • Ephraim Hartman

We’d like to congratulate Kiki Swanson, Walker Barnhart, and Ephraim Hartman on reaching their goal to read 1000 Books Before Kindergarten! Each child received a Certificate of completion, sticker, and a free book upon reaching his or her goal. The parents who dedicated their time to reading to their children and giving them a boost up to Kindergarten also received a special thank you gift for building up these young readers!


Any child who lives in our service area and has not yet started kindergarten is eligible to join our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program. No child is too young! In fact, we STRONGLY encourage parents to read to their children from birth. The program is easy and self-guided. Just sign up in the Children’s Department, pick up your program materials, and start reading!

Children's Room, Community Connection, Happenings, Special Event, Uncategorized

Family Reading Night

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Thursday, November 21 is Family Reading Night! You still have time to come in and get your family’s Family Reading Night Kit. These kits are full of great books, a DVD, coloring pages, activity sheets, treats and more! All you have to return are the books and DVD…the rest of it is yours to keep! AND if you check out a kit and email us a photo of your family reading together tonight, we’ll put the photo up on our Facebook page and website AND you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a $20 Amazon gift card!

Photograph of Family Reading Night Kit
Highlight

Cozy Corner

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Photograph of Cozy Corner

School’s back in session and the weather’s getting cooler. Sounds like it’s time to immerse yourself in a good book! So, stop on in to the library and stay awhile. We’ll put a pot of coffee on and you can get comfy in our new cozy corner! These wonderful new chairs were purchased with grant funds from the D.S. Flikkema Foundation.

Summer Reading Program

Summer Reading Registration June 3-8

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Step right up, folks, it’s Showtime @ Schmaling! Summer Reading Program registration is coming up June 3-8 and the reading program runs June 10-July 6. Remember, our program is for preschoolers through adults. And, you can sign any little ones who have not yet entered Kindergarten up for 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, as well. There is truly something for everyone!


Children entering preschool through 5th Grade win prizes for each reading slip they turn in up to the 5th and then get entries into the CHILDREN’S GRAND PRIZE DRAWING for $50! Young Adults (students entering grades 6-12) are entered into the weekly prize drawing for each book they read and when they reach 6 books will be entered into the YOUNG ADULT GRAND PRIZE DRAWING for $50! Adults are entered into weekly prize drawings for each book they read and when they reach 6 books will be entered into the ADULT GRAND PRIZE DRAWING for an overnight stay at Wild Rose Casino & Resort-Clinton and a $25 gift certificate at Coach’s Corner Bar & Grill at the Casino!


To register for our free Summer Reading Program, you must have a valid Schmaling or Albany Public Library Card. No library card is necessary for 1000 Books Before Kindergarten; the child, a parent, or caregiver must reside within the boundaries of the River Bend School District.


And remember, ANY registered River Bend student is eligible to get a Schmaling Library Card at no charge, regardless of where you live. Parents must accompany any child under age 14 to get a library card. These student cards are to be used ONLY BY THE STUDENT. Parents MAY NOT use their child’s card in lieu of paying the non-resident card fee.

Uncategorized

Hours for May 24-June 1

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photo of window being renovated

Window renovations are progressing nicely, but there’s a lot of work left to do. Here are our hours for the coming days:

Friday, May 24: 1-5pm
Saturday, May 25: 8am-1pm
Sunday, May 26: Closed
Monday, May 27: Closed, Memorial Day
Tuesday, May 28: 4-7pm
Wednesday, May 29: 4-7pm
Thursday, May 30: 4-7pm
Friday, May 31: 4-7 pm
Saturday, June 1: 10am-1pm


Uncategorized

Window Restoration in progress

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  • photo of window being restored
  • photo of window being restored
  • photo of window being restored

New Hours During Window Renovations

Our interior window restoration project began May 16. This is a big job, but a lot of work has been done in just 2 days. Jay Tietjens of Tietjens Painting and Carpentry has been hard at work stripping and sanding the north window of the young adult section and even managed to get it stained today! With a new coat of stain, you can still see the beautiful woodgrain of this 110-year-old yellow pine window.

Because this is smelly work, the library cannot be open while the work is in-progress. So, we will have some different hours for the rest of the month. Here are the hours for the coming week:

Saturday, May 18: 8am – 1pm

Sunday, May 19: Closed

Monday, May 20: 4pm -7pm

Tuesday, May 21: CLOSED, Staff In-Service

Wednesday, May 22: 2pm -7pm

Thursday, May 23: 11am – 7pm

Friday, May 24: 11am -5pm

Saturday, May 25: 8am -1pm

Uncategorized

Window renovations

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decorative image

Interior Window Restoration Begins May 16

On May 16, ONLY the CHILDREN’S ROOM will be open 4:00-7:00 PM. The Upstairs will be CLOSED all day. There will be no public computer access available. Wi-Fi will still be accessible on personal devices.

We’re having some work done! Our interior window renovation work is beginning on May 16th. As this is the first day of the project, we will be getting a feel for how smelly it is. We are planning on opening the CHILDREN’S ROOM ONLY at 4 PM on the 16th. We will try our best to provide some new and popular adult and young adult materials downstairs, as well. However, there will be NO public computer access on this day! After the project gets under way, we will know more about which hours and departments can be open when. This project is estimated to last about one month. Throughout the course of the project we will do our best to be open as much as we can and due to our odd hours, we will be lenient with fines. Please visit our website, Facebook page, or give us a call to find out what our hours are going to be for the day. 

Happenings

Landscaping face lift

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  • Photo of Kyle Kopf Presenting Face Gardens Grant to Library Director, Britni Hartman
  • Photo of River Bend Middle School Students

This week the Library’s landscaping underwent a face lift. The Library received a 2019 FACE Gardens Grant for new mulch and plants in the library’s flower beds and around our new little free library (to be installed sometime this summer). The FACE Gardens Grant was created in memory of Gerry Kopf, the man responsible for establishing many of the roadside gardens that make Fulton so beautiful in the spring. Kyle Kopf represented the Kopf Family to present the Gardens Grant to the Library (pictured left).

Students (pictured right) and staff members from River Bend Middle School spent Wednesday morning and early afternoon at the Library raking out the beds and putting down new landscape fabric and mulch.

We’d like to thank the Kopf Family and FACE for giving the Library this wonderful grant. We’d also like to thank the River Bend Middle School students and staff members who worked so hard to bring new life to our landscaping. And, finally, we’d like to thank Ken Huizenga for hauling the mulch and helping out on Wednesday, as well. THANK YOU, ALL!

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Expanded Large Print Section

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Photo of new Large Print Bookshelf

Large Print readers rejoice! Due to popular demand (and the fact that we’ve completely run out of room) we’ve expanded the Large Print Collection with this beautiful (made-to-look like our old) new shelf built by local craftsman, Mark Pruis, and stained and varnished by our very own multi-talented librarian, LeAnn Smith! We’ve got lots of new large print books to help fill it as well!

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Thank You!

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Schmaling’s Summer Reading Program has now drawn to a close. Every year this program is made possible by donations from area businesses and individuals who are dedicated to bringing summer reading into our community. The Library would like to heartily thank this year’s sponsors:
Agri-King
Bosma-Renkes Funeral Home
Central Bank
Citizen’s First Bank
Community State Bank
Country Orchids
First Gateway Credit Union
Fulton Dental Associates
Horizon Group
Huizenga & Wierenga Insurance
Jo-Carroll Energy
Kiwanis Club of Fulton
Lockhart & Law Insurance
McDonald’s Clinton
Merema Bros.
Parochetti Enterprises -Taco Bell of Clinton
Peterson Plumbing
Wild Rose Casino and Resort
Windmill Realty

Uncategorized

Reading Takes You Everywhere!

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This summer let Reading Take you Everywhere @ Schmaling. Registration for the children’s (preschool-5th grade), young adult (6th-12th grade), and adult summer reading program runs through Saturday, June 9. The Reading Program kicks off on Monday, June 11 and runs through Saturday, July 7. Check out our Events Calendar to see a listing of all our fun summer reading activities!

Community Connection, eRead Illinois, Highlight, Online Library Resources, The Catalog, Website

PrairieCat Now Offers Personalized Schmaling Homepage and New Digital Media Service

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PrairieCat is new and improved!
Now when you arrive at the login page which has been personalized for Schmaling, you will see many scroll bar menus featuring national bestsellers and new items from various genres at Schmaling.
Toward the bottom of the page, you will find links to eRead Illinois and a new ebook service: biblioboard.
Biblioboard differs from eRead IL in that you are able to actually download most books that they offer (public domain stuff), as opposed to limited borrowing time or waiting for availability. Furthermore, ANYONE in IL can access this for free – you don’t need a library card! You just must physically be in Illinois when you first create your account due to their geolocation-based authentication system.
To describe biblioboard in their own words: they boast of “a growing assortment of rich historical and locally curated multimedia content–available to all with the ease of unlimited, multi-user access.”  Upon visiting the site a few times, I have noticed a large and changing variety of subject groupings that they refer to as curations.  Some have included British Children’s Literature, Scholarly Works on Film and Media, Shakespeare, Historical Primary Source Documents, Exhibits from National Libraries and Archives, Mathematics, Business and Law, Comic Books and Graphic Novels, Community History … there are seriously to many to name.  There are also video and audio selections, including music.  And while it isn’t necessary in order to utilize biblioboard, they do offer a Kindle app.