On Thursday, April 11, local artists and art enthusiasts will gather for the artist reception of Wisconsin ArtsWest, the fortieth annual juried art exhibit sponsored by the library. The first ArtsWest show opened in September 1979. With ArtsWest Two in April 1981, it became a spring show and has been held annually since then. Since […]
I admit it, I wasn’t a huge fan of Harry Potter when the series first debuted in America 20 years ago on September 1, 1998. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t even aware it existed until around the time the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released. I was “too grown up” […]
Photo caption: Former Eau Claire Poet Laureate, Bruce Taylor, reads at a Chippewa Valley Writers Guild event. Photo by Justin Patchin. Eau Claire is a pretty great place to live if you’re a writer…we have a ton of local talent and many of those folks have dedicated themselves to ensuring there are plenty of […]
As my daughter Cate approaches her very first birthday, I’ve had a slight internal struggle over what to gift her for the occasion. The sensible side of me says to stick with a couple essentials since she most likely won’t remember the presents. But the other side of me, the one who goes a little […]
I only read Harry Potter because I was “supposed” to. As a library science student, I took the required Children’s Literature course in which I was asked to read several books from a selected list of prize-winning chapter books and evaluate them. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was on the list; I’d had put […]
Earlier this year the library unveiled the Dabble Box, a “do-it-yourself” multi-purpose programming space where customers can explore technology, arts, and crafts. It’s been such a wild success that we wanted to take it to the streets . . . Eau Claire Street, that is! Community members are invited to “Play — Make — Share” […]
My husband and I recently welcomed our first baby, Catherine Margaret Small, into the world in early March. We call her “Cate.” I spent a lot of time researching pregnancy and childbirth and preparing the nursery and stocking up on essentials like diapers. Also read and saved a lot of resources on parenting. I thought […]
On Thursday, February 23, local artists and art enthusiasts gathered for the artist reception of Wisconsin ArtsWest, the thirty-eighth annual juried art exhibit sponsored by the library. The first ArtsWest show opened in September 1979. With ArtsWest Two in April 1981, it became a spring show and has been held annually since then. Since its […]
Back in 2007 the library, along with several local sponsors, hosted a Big Read event for Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. The program was well received and repeated the following year featuring The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. As a new desk clerk, and also a library science student, I was thrilled to see the community […]
The 17th annual Chippewa Valley Book Festival starts today, Monday, October 10! I am embarrassed to admit that, although I am an Eau Claire native, and an English major, and the festival has been in existence for more than half of my lifetime (okay, only by a teeny bit) I was completely unaware of the […]