Here are great ideas and good news from around the Winnefox Library System:

⇒ Now that the DNR is requiring all hunters to register their kills electronically, Neenah Public Library is targeting the deer hunter demographic by promoting their public Internet computers and WiFi as being available to register deer that have been harvested. This kind of marketing can attract the elusive male aged 25-55 years demographic into realizing what their local library offers them.

⇒ Two weeks of events comprised "A Dickens of a Literary Festival" in November at at Caestecker Public Library in Green Lake. Programs included author Rochelle Pennington's presentation on "The Hidden History of Dickens' A Christmas Carol", and a visit by the actress and historian Jessica Michna whose portrayal of Mrs. Dickens brought to life the characters of Nancy from Oliver Twist and Miss Havisham from Great Expectations.

⇒ The Wautoma Public Library received a technology update grant to purchase E-readers and tablets for use by library patrons.  "The new devices wil be loaded with educational and entertaining apps as well as e-books." The grant was made possible by the Geraldine Hartford Waushara County Fund and the Community Foundation Of Central Wisconsin.

⇒ Plainfield Public Library's first Games Day was a success. "We had board games, card games, dice games, dexterity games and social deduction games. I was very happy to see how quickly kids picked up the rules to new games and were soon teaching each other. Two favorites were Forbidden Island and The Resistance. Both awesome games."

⇒ The Mill Pond Library in Kingston's sllent auction A Tisket A Tasket Basket Fundraiser raised $741 thanks to donations from patrons and local businesses. The library staff bagged & bowed the baskets, and even provided empty baskets to make it easy to donate.

⇒ The Brandon Times newspaper is being digitized by the Brandon Historical Society, and the Brandon Public Library has begun putting them on the library's website; currently, issues from 1867 are available.

⇒ The A+ After School students who took the ipad Animation class at Wautoma Public Library created videos using the stop-motion app, and participants in Oshkosh Public Library's Teen DIY program learned how stop-motion animation works and made their own movie shorts, too.

⇒ The Oakfield Public Library held a Computer Coding Event at which attendees grades 4 & above were invited to "learn the basics of computer coding by creating your own video games with a computer language called Scratch. Control structures, parameters, variables, graphics, and other things are common across all computer languages, but simplified in the easy-to-use MIT designed Scratch development environment. By the end of the program, you will be able to create basic computer games at home with this open-source, free software."

⇒ According to the Post-Crescent, "Paint-and-sip businesses" are one of the fastest growing entertainment industries in the country", and two WLS libraries are joining the trend. 1) Spillman Public Library in North Fond du Lac held their first Group Paint Project with art instructor, Geraldine Buteyn. 2) Neenah Public Library partnered with The Traveling Palette to host their first painting party. "Join us in a laid back environment and sip on some yummy drinks (non-alcoholic of course) as you get your paint on. Like to party, but don’t have a wit of talent? Don’t worry. An instructor will help lead the class in a fun, and casual manner.  For this free event, all necessary art supplies will be provided – you can even bring your masterpiece home with you!"

⇒ Oshkosh Public Library took part in the Whoville Holiday in Downtown Oshkosh with a Grinchmas Celebration, making hearts grow at least three times larger. :-)

⇒ Thanks to a $500 donation from the Fond du Lac Evening Optimist Club, every family who took part in Fond du Lac Public Library’s Visit with Santa event on December 9th received a free copy of the book That’s Not Santa.

Photo credit: Neenah Public Library's Facebook photos