HAPPY BIRTHDAY - MARATHON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

On Monday, January 22nd, some of the staff at the Marathon County Public Library put on a presentation for the Annual Meeting of the MCPL Friends Group. This was the first of a year-long series of events relating to the anniversary of the founding of the library in 1907. The presentation, done in period costumes, was very informative as well as entertaining. The program was augmented by an old-time barbershop quartet who sang before, during, and after the presentation.

We learned that after an inital practice of some community members sharing books among themselves, the City Fathers decided in 1897 that books should be shared by everyone in the community and needed a place to be stored. This location was very transient until an appeal to Andrew Carnegie was made and he agreed to furnish money to build a library if someone in the area would step forward and donate land. This was done by Walter Alexander, a member of one of the pioneering lumbering families in the Wausau area. He agreed to furnish land if the community agreed to always have a park next to the library. So in 1907 the building was completed and opened its doors on April 3rd, with a whopping total of 5,000 books in inventory.

There will be events throughout the year as part of the Centennial Celebration.

• January - April: Student Art and Essay Competition
• April 15th: Wausau Re-dedication Ceremony
• June - August: Library of the Future (Come to Wausau to see what your library might be like in the NEXT 100 years.
• Year Long: Branch Re-dedications. All the branches will celebrate their history in their own special way.

Athens - September; Edgar - November; Hatley - June; Marathon - February; Mosinee - February; Rothschild - March; Spencer - May; Stratford - October

Come and join us and help us celebrate the Past, the Present, and the Future of the Marathon County Library system.