Circ's up even higher!

We broke 14,000 circulations yesterday, meaning we have checked out 14,000 items to our patrons during the month of June. Our average number of checkouts is 10,000-11,000 in a month. We are way busy and lovin' it!!! We're hoping to break 15,000 circs for the month today, June 30. Come on in and check something out!

Videos and dvds checked out tomorrow (July 1) will be good til Wed., July 5. This is because we will be closed July 4th, the normal due date. You get an extra day.

We had another group of children in this morning for a tour and special presentation from Miss Susie. Great to see the Hales Corners Lutheran Primary children here!

You never know what will happen at the Hales Corners Library! Yesterday our attempts to show the film "Memoirs of a Geisha" was filled with "technical difficulty." We're trying to perfect our sound system for our free movies. We were only getting about half the sound track for the film and watching it close captioned. After restarting it once, we switched to the old speaker part way through and finally got dialog. Our faithful patrons stayed through the end, demonstrating enormous patience. Was it worth it? We got all positive comments on the movie.

POLICE DOG PROGRAM

City of Franklin Police Officer Michael Fixel and his K-9 partner Kilo visited the Library today. The program was so interesting! Kilo demonstrated how he finds drugs and how he attacks anyone messing with his partner and best friend. Officer Turner, another Franklin police dog handler put on a "fat suit" and simulated an attack on Officer Fixel. Kilo did not like it at all! We learned what kind of work Police Dogs do, how they are trained and what happens when it is time to retire. We even got to lift Kilo's bullet proof vest! Boy, is it heavy! The kids loved the program and we are all very grateful to Officer Fixel and Kilo and Officer Turner for coming to our library and spending so much time with us. Susie Draeger-Anderson, Children's Services

Circ's Up!

Books are flying off the shelves at the Hales Corners Library. People have already checked out more than 13,000 items this month! The Summer Reading Program has children and parents looking for books to read. We also have a big selection of children's videos, CD-ROMS, puzzles, books on tape and cd, magazines, and kits with a book and the book on tape.

The Library has a convenient outside book return that is open 24/7. All items can be returned there, except music cds and books on cd. Items that are not to be returned in the book drop are clearly marked.

Remember our huge selection of books on tape and cd for your car trips. We have them for both adults and children.

Any questions? Feel free to approach our friendly staff at the Circulation Desk or at the Information Desk.

Wisconsin Reptiles

Jim Hyatt from the Schiltz Audubon Nature Center presented his reptile program, "Skins and Scales" on Wednesday, June 14. Jim did a great job answering questions and presenting lots of information about turtles, frogs and snakes. We even got to touch a real live snake. We learned what it's like to shed your skin and touched real snake skin too.

Susie Draeger-Anderson, Children's Services

GoldFish

Thanks to Corners Pets & Grooming for being our special friend this summer. They have donated coupons for a free goldfish for each child that finishes the summer reading program! They also are sponsoring a beautiful 55 gallon fish tank in our library. It is so peaceful to watch those fish circling around!

Because we know some families may not be able to keep the goldfish their kids earn, the children can present the coupon and pickup their prize goldfish at Corners Pets & Grooming and then bring it to the Library to be kept in our fish tank. That’s right; you can keep your new pet goldfish at the Library and visit it whenever you come to the library! So get busy reading and earn your goldfish!

Susie Draeger-Anderson Children's Services

Turtle!

Wow! We are having the best summer! Our new pet turtle arrived on June 8th. Thank you Friends of the Library and Corners Pets & Grooming for making it possible for us to have this wonderful new pet! Our turtle is a three toed box turtle. We had a bit of confusion at first about whether it was a boy or a girl but a recent visit to the vet enlightened us. We have a BOY!

Of course we are letting our summer readers vote for our new turtle’s name. The choices are: Booker, Dash, Myrtle, Pokey, Slugger and Yertle. There is also a place to “write-in” a suggestion. Since we found out the turtle is a boy, Myrtle is probably not a great choice. Oops! The turtle’s name will be announced at the 4th of July Parade so be sure to watch for the Library Entry. I can’t wait for him to have a name. It is hard having a pet without one.

Some of you might wonder why we had the turtle at the Veterinarian. When our turtle first arrived, Corners Pets helped us set up his habitat but he just would not eat. After one week, Corners Pets came back and helped us add more heat to his habitat. Two days later he started to eat! But then he was rubbing his left eye and keeping it closed. It was also a little weepy. After a week of this we visited the vet and found out that he has a Vitamin A deficiency. We can correct it with supplements and diet and we are working on it. So when you visit our turtle take a peek to see if his left eye is open. The vet said that turtles tend to get sick very slowly and get well very slowly too. We will just have to be patient.

Susie Draeger-Anderson, Children's Services

Plant A Children's Garden at Hales Corners Library


Hello everyone,
I'd like to welcome you to Hales Corners Library's official blog where you can get up-to-date information on what's going on at the library and much more. The best part is that you can put in your two cents worth and tell us what you like about the library and what you would like to see the library work on for the future.

Our summer reading program, "Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales" has started with a bang. Our kickoff event and ice cream social on Saturday June 11th was an overwhelming success. The kids of the community are excited for the slew of performers and programs that will be held throughout the summer and all the cool prizes they can earn for being great readers! Kudos to Ms. Susie!!!!

Wednesdays at the movies will continue throughout the summer and provide a place for the adults of the community to come in from the heat and watch a free movie. Some upcoming films are Squid and the Whale and Family Stone.

Look for more posts in the coming days and weeks to keep updated on what's happening here at the library.

Keri Miller
Adult Services Librarian