HomeMy WebLinkAboutattachmentOshkosh Public Library Highlights
June 2022
1. Oshkosh readers surpassed the one-million-minute community goal for the Summer Reading
Challenge on July 19 – with 25 days remaining in the program! Plans are in the works for a
celebration in August to recognize this impressive achievement. Registration for all ages is also
up from the past several years, with 1,146 children, 271 teens and 517 adults signed up for this
year’s challenge.
2. OPL staff has been busy this summer with card clinics, outreach and programming that helps to
make important connections between the library and the community we are here to serve.
Events in local parks, senior living facilities, Pollack Community Waterpark, Oshkosh Area
Community Pantry, the Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA are just a few of the places you’ll find
OPL meeting information needs and inspiring a love of reading and learning.
3. Attendance at Family Storytime and High Hopes early literacy programs are approaching pre-
pandemic levels this summer. Families are enjoying the stories, rhymes and literacy-building
activities geared to preschoolers every Monday. And parents of infants and toddlers are learning
how to talk, sing, read, write and play with purpose, as they build the skills their children will
need to become successful readers.
4. The library’s video history series, Librarian Learns, has built an impressive following and helped
to drive subscriptions to OPL’s YouTube channel to more than 330. Local history librarian
Michael McArthur takes a topic that he wants to learn more about and presents his research in
quick, sometimes quirky videos that have great appeal for Oshkosh’s dedicated local history
buffs. At this writing the series had 1,143 views, with videos covering topics such as The Athearn
Hotel, Chief Oshkosh Monument, Wildcat Breweries of Oshkosh and What’s the Deal with KFC?
Binge watch the entire series and subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch upcoming
episodes.
5. Library services, programs and collections touch thousands of people’s lives each year. But
sometimes just offering space for community agencies to serve the public is the best way the
library can have an impact. Services such as Mindworks, Memory Café, Advocap Adult Basic
Education, Winnebago Free Legal Assistance and Job Search Assistance offer services regularly
at the library that help individuals with challenging situations and allow them to pursue personal
goals in a welcoming, stigma-free environment.
Recently the Advocap instructor shared the story of a young woman he worked with at the
library. When they first met, she had little confidence and no clear path forward, but she
worked hard to earn her GED. The instructor has seen a complete change in her outlook and
reports that she is looking into registering for classes at Fox Valley Technical College.