From our Director, Joleen Sterk:
We are celebrating 150 YEARS OF LIBRARY SERVICE IN DUNN COUNTY this year.
From our beginnings as a project of the local Women’s Club in the First National Bank building, to the traveling libraries of James Huff Stout, the many years of partnership with the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts and to our current architectural gem on Wolske Bay, our community has benefitted from strong, responsive library service.
Look for ways that we will celebrate this milestone in the months to come, and help us to deliver even more meaningful services in the future. We’re looking for makers, collaborators, and dreamers with skills and ideas to share. It is in this gathering and exchange of knowledge that we will make our community a better place to live, work, and play.
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES:
-trivia (with a prize each month of 2024!) See below.
-history facts – on facebook and instagram (all year long)
-150 Years bookmarks to all Menomonie elementary students in March
–Let’s Move, Menomonie! (150 Hours of moving challenge)
-April 10th – William Kent Krueger visit
-April 20th – Michael Perry visit
-May 9th – Stuart Stotts author visit
-May 9th – Stuart Stotts family concert
-May 14th – Writing What We Don’t Say Aloud: Grief on the Page with BJ Hollars and Dr. Lopa Basu
-Aug 1 – 150 Year Party hosted by the Foundation
-Sept 25 – James Huff Stout: Educator Extraordinaire
-Nov 2-Dec 7 – (on Saturdays) Music In the Library
Thank you to the Library Foundation for their generous contribution to the 150 Year celebration events and programs!
TRIVIA
Every month in 2024 we’ll post a different trivia question on the library bulletin board about the last 150 years of library service in Dunn County.
Come on in every month & learn some fun history. Enter your guess & have a chance to win a beautiful mug (handcrafted right here in WI) or one of our other neat library merch items.
*1entry/person/month. Must go in to the library and put your guess in the box. No online submissions accepted.
JANUARY’S QUESTION: The first library in Dunn County was established by women after saloon licenses were voted down. Where was it located? ANSWER: First Bank and Trust or First National Bank
FEBRUARY’S QUESTION: Who was at one time the richest man in the world, and donated $40,000,000 for the construction of over 1,600 public library buildings in the United States in the early 1900’s? ANSWER: Andrew Carnegie
MARCH’S QUESTION: What historic building was constructed in Menomonie in 1889? ANSWER: The Mabel Tainter
APRIL’S QUESTION: Who was the first librarian at The Mabel Tainter Memorial Library? ANSWER: Cora Farnum
MAY’S QUESTION: When did the Menomonie Public Library move to the Mabel Tainter building? ANSWER: I891
JUNE’S QUESTION: What did James Huff Stout do to increase educational opportunities in the rural areas of Dunn County? ANSWER: He started a system of traveling libraries.
JULY’S QUESTION: How many books did James Huff Stout purchase for the traveling libraries? ANSWER: 500
AUGUST’S QUESTION: How did traveling libraries travel? ANSWER: By horse and buggy.
SEPTEMBER’S QUESTION: When was the present Menomonie Public Library built and dedicated AND what famous person attended & spoke at the dedication? ANSWER: 1986, Barbara Bush
OCTOBER’S QUESTION: Who was the longest serving director of the Menomonie Public Library? ANSWER: Essie Nickerson Rock
NOVEMBER’S QUESTION: You know the location of the Menomonie Public Library. Do you know WHAT OTHER communities in Dunn County have public libraries?
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