Imported from some type of external calendar
Monthly meetings of the Board of Trustees https://menomonielibrary.org/about/board/ are held in the Library Meeting Room on the third Thursday of the month at 6:00 p.m. Board meetings are open to the public.
Pre-register to view https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_flua0xMMTnOdcJZByaSD-w a livestream of the meeting.
Questions? Contact Library Director, Joleen Sterk at [email protected] mailto:[email protected]
Friday, August 8, 4-8pm During Music on Main.
Jessica from Ascending Energy will be giving tarot readings. She has decks for a range of ages and comfort levels. She does shorter 3 card readings for $15 or longer 7 card readings for $25.
Tarot & Oracle Readings
Using intuition and cards' ancient meanings, tarot and oracle readings can bring light to questions you are pondering or clarity to the past.
Agenda and notes at https://eyeondunn.com/menomonie-school-board-meeting-7142025
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Join us for the quarterly meeting of The Friends of the Library.
It is held in the library basement and we welcome everybody!
Friday, October 3, 6-8pm. Spend a special evening with mystery author William Kent Krueger. He will delight us with a short talk and reading from his new Cork O'Connor mystery Apostle's Cove, with some time for questions. Then you will have a chance to meet him and get your books signed.
Thank you to the UW-Stout Literature Committee for hosting this event at Harvey Hall Theater, 721 3rd St. E. And the Menomonie Public Library for collaborating to make this happen.
We will have some books on hand at the event, but if you'd like to pre-order a copy of his latest book please email [email protected] or call 715-233-6252.
A note from Kent about Apostle's Cove.
On occasion, in the course of my series, I've given readers a glimpse into Cork O'Connor's past. Seldom have I lingered very long. But I've always enjoyed the opportunity to imagine Cork, his family, and friends as they once were.
In Apostle's Cove, the twenty-first book in my series, I take readers back in time more than two decades, to Cork's first murder investigation as sheriff of Tamarack County. The murder, a particularly brutal one, and Cork's investigation of the crime resulted in the conviction of a young Ojibwe man, sentenced to life in prison without hope of parole. As the story opens, an older and wearier Cork receives a call that makes him wonder darkly if, those many years ago, he might have been responsible for the wrongful imprisonment of an innocent man.
I've told this story in two parts. In the first section, novice Sheriff O'Connor navigates the murder, then his first criminal investigation. In the second section, present-day Cork reinvestigates the case that has never sat well on his conscience. As he struggles to understand how he got things wrong-or did he?-it becomes a battle that threatens to brutalize both his body and his soul.
This is a true whodunit. I loved creating this story, spending time with all the familiar characters I've been writing about for more than a quarter century but imagining earlier versions of them. My hope is that you'll enjoy reading Apostle's Cove every bit as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Saturday, September 27, 11am-2pm Meet author Steve Betchkal. He'll have books for sale and signing.
The Books:
Walk the Walk, Camp the Camp, Bird the Bird (The Fantastic Quest to Meet Every Species of Bird on Planet Earth, Spend a Year Outside My Comfortable Little House, & Follow the Trail to Its Logical Conclusion)
Zion. Big Bend. Yellowstone. Yosemite. Denali. The Pribilofs. The Osa. Galápagos. Do you lust after the best of wild and natural places? Do you mind sharing with Two and a Half Men, 8-inch poisonous centipedes, & Raccoons?
To know nature, one must bird the bird. To know wild places, one must walk the walk. To camp the camp, one must sleep around (no tent required).
Pull up a comfortable seat and hike a mile or two in Steve Betchkal's size elevens, as he tracks four soulful, sensual, & seductive decades of beloved destinations.
The Blessing of the Beasts or 101 Apologus Nights
Eleven-year-old Cara has to know. She is becoming a thinking, feeling human being, so she must learn how the world works, and why. And that kind of knowledge doesn't come from playing video games or watching TV. Nor does it come from human beings.
In this modern take on The Arabian Nights, Cara is Scheherazade, and Cara's summer nights serve as the setting for a collection of twenty-seven diverse spirito-environmental fables that entertain and teach.
Cat Tales (Life Two)
Can cats really talk?
Perhaps the better question is...can people really listen?
The love of a man and his cat is a beautiful thing, especially if the cat speaks its mind and there is some disagreement upon who is the pet.
This amusing assortment of daily conversations between a human and a feline is based upon impromptu tales told to my two young children and later collected in two volumes. It's perfect for reading aloud to a child...or perhaps a cat? Oh! And the art has its own story!
Make Birds Not War: Step by Step Instructions for Saving the World a Birder at a Time is Bill Bryson meets Edward Abbey meets one of Wisconsin's own naturalists. A collection of 22 poems, 19 essays, and three jokes on birding, philosophy, politics, life, fun, all that's worth living for, and everything else.
What's it like to migrate north with the birds? When is First Birding Light? Where do you land on The Saint Scale? How do birds contribute to the gross domestic product? How many birds can the average American name in a minute? How does one make birds? What's the scoop on bird feet? These and other terribly urgent questions are wrestled to earth by Steve Betchkal, lifelong artist/scientist/philosopher & author of All of This & Robins Too: A Guide to the 50 or So Best Places to Find Birds in Wisconsin
Birds are totally greeaaaat!!!
About the Author:
Steve Betchkal is the author of eight books including his latest; 101 Apologus Nights. In his 38 years as a journalist he's produced 11,000 stories, while winning 6 Emmys, and an Edward R. Murrow award for news writing.
Steve walks the walk, camps the camp, and birds the bird. He's not afraid of spiders, bees, or bats, but is mortified by Republican politics. He believes that human-caused climate crisis is a serious threat to life on Earth and wonders aloud why we aren't working harder to do something about it.
In 2017 he worked for Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic in the Galápagos Islands. In 2019 he worked as a tour guide for Crystal Cave in Spring Valley.
Wednesday, July 30, 2-3pm. We're proud to present Gary Eldred, Mr. Prairie Enthusiast. He will share stories of his life and healing, along with excerpts from his new book. There will be books available for sale and signing.
In person or via Zoom
Healing Wounds: Giving Back to Nature
By Gary Eldred with Mark K. Leach
Eldred's memoirs enthrall as he tells how he learned to heal himself and nature with the help of loving, caring people.
Gary Eldred
Mr. Prairie Enthusiast was an unlikely leader, with little formal training but with an intense determination to give back to nature. In 1987, he founded the Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Enthusiasts. At the time, the idea of local people organizing themselves to purchase, restore, and educate about native fire-adapted ecosystems was a novelty. Building on success, the organization expanded and rebranded as The Prairie Enthusiasts, which has enabled thousands of activists to work together to heal nature's wounds.
Mark Leach
For decades, Dr. Leach has volunteered and worked professionally as a conservation researcher, land manager, author, and educator. Now retired, he continues to volunteer as Senior Scientist for the Chippewa Savannas Chapter of the Prairie Enthusiasts. In 2025, he started Leaky Canoe Books to publish Healing Wounds. He's been friends with Gary Eldred since 1988.
Advanced Praise for Healing Wounds
This is a brutally honest account of one man's struggle to rise from the depths of inexplicable depression to a liberating self-awareness, unleashing a relentless drive to 'harness his furies' to help save our prairies. This amazing story of courage, dedication, and resilience is a cathartic gem. My understanding, admiration, and love for 'Mr. Prairie Enthusiast' has multiplied many times over after reading his life saga.
-Neil Diboll, President of Prairie Nursery and co-author of The Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants
This is the story of a remarkable man who overcame his wounded beginnings to give back and help us heal wounds in our natural world.
-Patty Dreier, author of Empowered: One Planet at a Time
His unwavering dedication has not only protected precious remnants of the Midwest's vanishing ecosystems but has also kindled a new generation of landscape visionaries to continue his impactful work preserving these vital ecological treasures.
-Joe Maurer, Artist and Landscape Architect.
Our Learning Together Storytime is for children of all ages attending with a caregiver. There will be stories and learning fun for everyone!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 9:30-10am
We'll see you there!
Is your child 3-6 years old and ready for a storytime learning experience all by themselves? Then our On My Own Storytime at the library is just for them!
There will be songs, stories, movement and puppets and of course, all kinds of fun!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 10:15-10:45am
Our Learning Together Storytime is for children of all ages attending with a caregiver. There will be stories and learning fun for everyone!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 9:30-10am
We'll see you there!
Is your child 3-6 years old and ready for a storytime learning experience all by themselves? Then our On My Own Storytime at the library is just for them!
There will be songs, stories, movement and puppets and of course, all kinds of fun!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 10:15-10:45am
Our Learning Together Storytime is for children of all ages attending with a caregiver. There will be stories and learning fun for everyone!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 9:30-10am
We'll see you there!
Is your child 3-6 years old and ready for a storytime learning experience all by themselves? Then our On My Own Storytime at the library is just for them!
There will be songs, stories, movement and puppets and of course, all kinds of fun!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 10:15-10:45am
Our Learning Together Storytime is for children of all ages attending with a caregiver. There will be stories and learning fun for everyone!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 9:30-10am
We'll see you there!
Is your child 3-6 years old and ready for a storytime learning experience all by themselves? Then our On My Own Storytime at the library is just for them!
There will be songs, stories, movement and puppets and of course, all kinds of fun!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 10:15-10:45am
Our Learning Together Storytime is for children of all ages attending with a caregiver. There will be stories and learning fun for everyone!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 9:30-10am
We'll see you there!
Is your child 3-6 years old and ready for a storytime learning experience all by themselves? Then our On My Own Storytime at the library is just for them!
There will be songs, stories, movement and puppets and of course, all kinds of fun!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 10:15-10:45am
Our Learning Together Storytime is for children of all ages attending with a caregiver. There will be stories and learning fun for everyone!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 9:30-10am
We'll see you there!
Is your child 3-6 years old and ready for a storytime learning experience all by themselves? Then our On My Own Storytime at the library is just for them!
There will be songs, stories, movement and puppets and of course, all kinds of fun!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 10:15-10:45am
Our Learning Together Storytime is for children of all ages attending with a caregiver. There will be stories and learning fun for everyone!
* September 16-November 20
* Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
* 9:30-10am
We'll see you there!
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