The Genealogy Tools & Resources hub on our website features a whole section for military research, linking you to resources like the Veterans History Project – a venture of the Library of Congress with the goal of collecting and preserving the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans – and the venerable Wisconsin Veterans Museum, which […]
Part of our job at the library’s reference desk is helping readers find their next book – even if they don’t know what it is yet. We often get requests for book suggestions based on titles, authors, or genres the reader enjoys. In Library Speak, we call this “readers’ advisory,” and it can be one […]
These days, there are so many convenient ways to find exactly what you you’re looking for, digitally and at home. Need an item of very particular colors and dimensions? You can shop a whole world of goods online, using filters narrowed to your specific demands. Want to watch that movie you’ve thoroughly vetted through reviews […]
The season of giving begins with ‘thanks.’ In recent years, I’ve struggled with constant and increasing pain from chronic health problems, turmoil and loss in my family; the worry, labor, and costs of a house in which everything seems to break and a neighborhood where vandalism is common; and the anxiety from a job working […]
I recently visited the Minnesota State Fair and enjoyed their Eco Experience building. It featured the kind of environmentalism that I like: practical, “small” enough to accomplish at home, and the kind that makes you richer – both in terms of your wallet and in the quality of your life (and the lives around you). […]
My colleague recently wrote about the long history of our attempts to bring light, comfort, and cheer to the cold heart of winter. (Sign me up for 12 Days of Christmas!) It makes perfect sense in this season to turn to yule cheer or hygge coziness for warmth and softness to counter the harshness outside. […]
“Why, despite the blinding brightness, did everything look gray? It was as if the painfully sharp lights were helpless to dispel all the darkness the people had brought in from the night outside.” ― Georges Simenon, Three Bedrooms in Manhattan Daylight savings is depressing. It should never be dark at 4:30, it just shouldn’t. […]
The story of how the tiniest puppy from Texas found home in Eau Claire and the humans who helped him along the way. I have the world’s cutest puppy. I’m not just biased or bragging; this fact has been attested to by the stares, squeals, and testimonies of countless friends and strangers. I’ve heard the […]
I was recently searching our catalog for something that included the word ‘rain,’ and stumbled upon this book with that single-word title, which “tells the story of rain – elemental, mysterious, precious, and destructive.” Huh, well color me nerdily intrigued. Following my curiosity further, I noticed the book is included in several recommendation lists of […]
We’ve all heard that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Of course, we do, and quite literally! Publishers know this well, which is why new books compete for our attention with eye-catching dustjacket designs. These designs don’t exist solely for the ‘made-you-look’; they also signal to us what kind of story we’ll find […]
