Hello Stanley community, welcome back to this month’s library report. I hope you’ve been able to enjoy the beautiful weather this week, it almost feels like spring is here early! If you are unable to attend the library board’s regular meetings on the second Tuesday of each month, read on for all the library news and updates.

The library recently received a $500 grant from the Stanley Community Endowment Fund through the Community Foundation of Chippewa County. We applied for this grant to help fund our summer learning program. A sincere thank you to the Stanley Community Endowment Fund for generously supporting the library’s efforts in the community.

Tax season is upon us and the library is here to help! We have 1040 and 1040 SR tax forms as well as instructions available for pick-up. If you need other tax forms or tax help, we are also offering to print off whatever you may need. Give us a call or send us an email and we’ll help you find the forms you are looking for and print them off for you to pick up.

We are resuming our Girls Who Code clubs this month. Get together with a fun, supportive group to learn computer science and team-work by building a project important to the community! All materials are provided for free by the library. The club will meet every last Tuesday of the month from 4-5PM for 3-5th graders and 5-6PM for 6-12th graders. We will have both in-person and remote club options. Registration is required; please contact library staff at 715-644-2004 for more details.

This month marks a year since we first closed the library in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this time we have provided as many services as possible and have pursued a phased re-opening. COVID cases in our area have been on a steady decline over the past five weeks. With the development of a vaccine and practices to mitigate the risk of infection, we are moving to another step in our re-opening plan. Starting the week of March 22nd, we will be open for patron browsing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during our regular open hours from 10AM-6PM. This means that you will be able to come into the library to look for books, as well as use the computers and printer. As Chippewa County public health officials are still recommending gathering restrictions, you will need to schedule an appointment with us for all in-library activities, and we are limiting each browsing appointment to 20 minutes. If you do not schedule an appointment, you may have to wait to enter the library. We will continue to offer curbside pick-up and delivery.

We appreciate all of the community support everyone has shown us during this difficult and tumultuous year. We are looking forward to continuing to resume normal operations in a safe and effective manner. Thanks for reading, stop by soon!