Williams County Public Library with locations in Bryan, Edgerton, Edon, Pioneer, Stryker, and West Unity will be joining libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating National Library Week, a time to highlight the value of libraries, librarians and library workers. First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the
(ALA) and by libraries across the country each April.
National Library Week 2020 will run from April 19th through the 25th. As you know, WCPL is currently closed, due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. While our buildings may not be open, the WCPL staff is still working hard to make National Library Week special for our patrons and the Williams County community. We are encouraging you all to “Find the Library at Your Place”.
The library will have an amnesty period from April 19th through April 25th when fines will be forgiven on overdue materials. This year, the process to have fines forgiven will be a little different. As we are unable to accommodate you in person, please reach out to us by emailing susan@mywcpl.org. Include your full name, and library card number in your fine forgiveness request. We will give you an update once your account has been cleared.
During National Library Week, Williams County Public Library will also be holding fun events for parents and children on Facebook Live! There will be plenty of story times held throughout the week. The Make It Monday series will start at 11:30 am on Monday, April 20th. Learn how to make moon sand and a volcano out of items you most likely already have at home. Our new program, “Yoga & Mindfulness for Kids” will start on Wednesday, April 22nd. The 4 week series will be instructed by Heidi Stark, M.Ed RYT 200. Sessions will be held each Wednesday at 9:30 am for ages 3-9 years old, and at 3:00 pm for ages 10-13 years old. More Facebook Live events may be added during National Library Week.
Another fun activity to take part in is our “Fins” Fan Contest! Williams County 5th & 6th Graders can enter to win a copy of “Fins: A Sharks Incorporated Novel” written by Randy Wayne White, New York Times Best Selling Author and Williams County native.
“Fins” is the first Young Readers book Randy has written. The story follows Luke, Maribel, and Sabina who are given an important assignment by familiar character Doc Ford. They are to set out each day on their small fishing boat in hopes of tagging sharks for Doc’s research and to stay away, far away, from any possible poachers in the area. Together they form Sharks, Inc. The trio certainly isn’t looking for trouble, but when they come face to face with danger, survival requires them to rely on each of their own unique gifts, and especially on one another.
Randy generously donated 400 copies of “Fins” to Williams County. 300 copies have been distributed through each School District, and WCPL will award the final 100 copies to the 5th & 6th Grade winners of our "Fins" Fan Contest! To enter, email a short message to jeff@mywcpl.org on why you want to read "Fins". Include your name, grade, and address so a book can be mailed to you, if you win! 10 winners per town will receive a copy (70 total), and the final 30 copies will be awarded on a first come first serve basis.
While Williams County Public Library is closed, we want to remind you that the digital library is always open! You can check out digital materials such as eBooks, audio books, music, movies and more through
or the Libby App created by
.
We recently increased our hoopla borrows! Users can now checkout up to 25 digital items per month with your Williams County Public Library card. Borrows are renewed at the beginning of each month.
Along with the increased amount of hoopla borrows through WCPL, hoopla digital has also curated a Bonus Borrows Collection. This list of more than 1,000 top titles will be FREE to libraries - PLUS each patron will be debited ZERO Borrows when they borrow any of the included titles! You can view the curated collection here https://hoopla.app.link/e3MgJIOGa5.
In addition to these titles, patrons will also continue to have access to hoopla's full collection of over 750,000 eBooks, audiobooks, movies, TV shows, music, comics, and more. The Collection will be free to Libraries and Patrons through 4/30/20.
If you are wanting to join hoopla, sign up with your WCPL card at hoopladigital.com, or when you download the app to your phone or tablet. The Libby app can also be downloaded to your phone or tablet.
We realize that there are members of the community who currently do not have a Williams County Public Library card, but would still like access to free digital materials. Through the hooplaEngage program and the Instant Digital Card provided by Libby/Overdrive it is now easier than ever to checkout materials without a library card. Simply follow the below instructions:
hooplaEngage
Residents of any town with a Williams County Public Library branch (Bryan, Edgerton, Edon, Pioneer, Stryker, & West Unity), who do not have a WCPL card, can now use hooplaEngage to check out materials from hoopla digital! Sign up is simple. Just follow these 3 steps after downloading the hoopla app to your phone or tablet or after accessing hoopla at hoopladigital.com:
1. Click "Sign-up" and enter an email address & password for logging in.
2. Select Williams County Public Library for your local library
3. Select "I do not have a library card" and enter your name to complete registration.
You now are able to instantly borrow eBooks, audiobooks, comics, music, movies, and more 24/7! Those who sign up with hooplaEngage will be limited to 10 checkouts per month. This feature will be available until May 1, 2020.
Instant Digital Card with Libby
OverDrive for Libraries just made it possible for those who do not have a card to checkout materials on the Libby App! Just follow these easy steps:
1. Download the Libby app to your phone or tablet
2. When creating your account, select that you do not have a library card.
3. You will then be asked to choose a library. WCPL is under Ohio Digital Library Williams County Public Library.
4. After selecting your library, enter your phone number and you will be sent a text with a Libby verification code.
5. Enter the verification code, and you will then be able to start checking out digital materials on Libby!
If you create an account through hooplaEngage or Overdrive/Libby, we encourage you to stop in to your local Williams County Public Library branch, once we are open, to sign up for a permanent library card, which will grant you access to all of the regular services and digital services we offer!
If you have any questions on National Library Week please contact us through our Facebook page or email kylee@mywcpl.org. Don’t forget to check out our website, www.mywcpl.org to stay up to date on library news, online events, and resources. Stay strong Williams County!