ELLSWORTH – Frozen February Fun is here! It is time for our annual month-long winter reading challenge and we want you to join us. Read books, complete activities and earn chances to win a prize basket. Participate on Beanstack or stop in at the library for a tracking sheet.

Mystery Quilt 2022 continues through the end of the month. It isn't too late to join in! Receive clues each Monday through February. Register by stopping in or calling the library at 715-273-3209, or online at https://bit.ly/EPLquilt2022 Clues and information can be received via email or by picking them up in person at the library.

Events Storytime – Fridays at 10 a.m. New! Monthly Saturday Story Spectacular at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 26. For all ages with a special invitation to school aged children.

Discover Together Tuesday: Live Virtual Tour in Costa Rica – 11 a.m. Feb. 8. Virtually escape the winter chill and winds of February in Wisconsin and join us for a Live Virtual Tour of Cahuita National Park in Costa Rica. Alejandro will take us on a walk through the jungle to the beach and back again. We'll learn about the flora and fauna of the area and so much more. Join us in the Senior Center to tour together or join in via Zoom from the comforts of home. A link to register to join us via Zoom will be available on our website. If you are able to join in at the Senior Center, we hope you will stay afterward for lunch sponsored by the senior center and Friends of the Library.

Doodle Club – Feb. 8, for ages 9-12. Second Tuesdays of the month at 4 p.m. We'll doodle, have snacks, discuss books and what YOU want this gathering to be.

Morning Book Club – 10:30 a.m. Feb. 10. “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro

Virtual Valentine’s Party for Teens – 67:30 p.m. Feb. 10. Link to attend is bit.ly/feb1022 Brought to you by a collaboration of Wisconsin libraries.

LEGO with the Library – Feb. 15, third Tuesdays of the month at 4 p.m.

Community Book Club & Virtual Author Visit – 6:30 p.m. Feb. 17. “The Age of Light” by Whitney Scharer

Robotics for Kids – Feb. 19. Robotics for Kids is back! Registration and masks are required. Sign up for one of two sessions 10-11 a.m. or 11 a.m. to noon.

Virtual Literary Trivia Night – 7 p.m Feb. 24. Join us on Zoom for a fun night of trivia for literary lovers. Visit our website for the link to register.

Join our Newbery Award Winners Reading Challenge to celebrate 100 years of this award for young people's literature. The challenge begins Jan. 1 and runs through Dec. 31, 2022. Participate online with Beanstack or by stopping in at the library.

The library building is currently open to the public. Please wear a mask while indoors for the protection of our community. For updates on library services and/or program details, please call 715-273-3209 or visit our website at ellsworthlibrary.org.

Submitted by Youth Services/Program Coordinator Caroline Herfindahl

In 2021, Wisconsin’s Digital Library, a collaboration of all 16 of the state’s public library systems, broke records by lending over 7.2 million digital books and audiobooks.

Since its inception in 2016, Wisconsin’s Digital Library has seen steady and occasionally explosive usage growth, demonstrating the ongoing value of public libraries lending ebooks and digital audiobooks. Even as physical library buildings reopened and collections were once again accessible, usage of the library continued to climb.

To meet last year’s growing demand from patrons, Wisconsin’s Digital Library added more copies of popular titles and collections of always- available ebooks and digital magazines for readers who want to avoid the line and start reading right away.

Of the more than 115,000 titles in the collection, the following were the most popular in 2021. The top 5 ebook titles borrowed through Wisconsin’s Digital Library in 2021: 1. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder 2. The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah 3. Bridgerton Collection by Julia Quinn 4. The Giver of Stars: A Novel by Jojo Moyes 5. Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ng The top 5 digital audiobook titles borrowed through Wisconsin’s Digital Library in 2021: 1. Cold Mourning: Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery Series, Book 1 by Brenda Chapman 2. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer 3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 4. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell 5. Becoming by Michelle Obama Readers in Wisconsin just need a valid library card to access digital books from Wisconsin’s Digital Library, powered by OverDrive, using any major device, mobile or desktop.

Visit https://wplc.overdrive.com/, download the Libby app, or call your local library to get started borrowing ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines anytime, anywhere, for free.

Submitted by Ellsworth Public Library Director Tiffany Meyer

WI library users checked out more than 7 million ebooks, audiobooks in 2021