2023 Be More Awards Recognize Library Volunteers

2023 Be More Awards Recognize Library Volunteers Ann Bunger and Sylvia McNair. Photos of the two women are shown in circles on an orange background.

We are so fortunate to have volunteers who contribute their time, talent, and energy to the Library! Today, we celebrate two volunteers who go above and beyond—Ann Bunger and Sylvia McNair, 2023 recipients of the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network Be More Awards! 

Each year, the Be More Awards honor eight exceptional community volunteers and volunteer groups and promote volunteerism and civic engagement in our community.

Indiana Room Helps Rediscover Lost Treasures

Black and white scan of an illustration of an open book with stars, a butterfly, balloons, and a rainbow. Illustrated text reads "Discover a great book at the MCPL!" by Amy Heeter, Binford 5th

After rediscovering pieces of writing from her daughter, Ariel, during her time as a student at University Elementary School in Bloomington, Amanda Ray shipped a box of various childhood gems—including an award winning piece that had been published locally in the The Herald-Times in 1995—all the way to Ariel’s new home in Maryland. She was hoping that Ariel would be able to share the pieces with her young children to inspire them to write stories of their own, “because readers inspire reading and writers inspire writing,” said Amanda.

Slash Subscriptions in 2024

Slash Subscriptions in 2024

With so many entertainment platforms, it’s easy to stack subscriptions and blow your budget. We’re here to help you save your hard earned cash! Put away your credit card, pull out your library card, and try some of our Library services.

Instead of Netflix, plan your movie nights with Kanopy, a high-quality video streaming service with over 30,000 films. Don’t miss Kanopy’s selection of brand-new titles from BBC Film!

MCPL Digital Collection Launches

Text says "MCPL Digital" on a peach colored background with illustrations of an open yearbook and an owl with a graduation cap. MCPL Digital is a growing repository of high-resolution digital photograph collections of Monroe County Yearbooks and other local historical records. Our mission is to bring digital versions of the community's historical records to a broader audience!   Library Director, Grier Carson, says the digitization program has been in full force since early 2020. The first items to be digit

MCPL Digital is a growing repository of high-resolution digital photograph collections of Monroe County Yearbooks and other local historical records. Our mission is to bring digital versions of the community's historical records to a broader audience!

Library Director, Grier Carson, says the digitization program has been in full force since early 2020. The first items to be digitized were the Library’s collection of area school yearbooks.

Ellettsville Branch Awarded Gardening Grant

A photo of four raised garden beds outside of the Ellettsville Branch.

The Ellettsville Branch was recently awarded a Growing Together mini grant of $1,500 in association with Purdue Extension–Monroe County!

 

Ellettsville Branch Garden

The garden was created as part of the Branch’s 2019 renovation. The garden was funded in part by a grant from the Smithville Charitable Foundation to install raised garden beds and a bench and provide resources to begin gardening programming.

The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read

Mary, born into slavery in 1868, loved watching the birds fly free in the sky while she worked in the fields. She wanted to be free too! But she had to keep working. No time for rest. No time to learn. Even when Mary and her family were freed from slavery she still had to work hard.

New Digital Creativity Services

Level Up

There are now more ways to get creative in Level Up, our digital creativity space! 3D printing and memory preservation have joined our existing services, which include video and audio recording, Adobe Creative Cloud-equipped workstations, and more!

April 17–23 is Volunteer Week

National Volunteer Week with photos of two volunteers.

This week, we’re celebrating the volunteers that support the Library’s mission, lending their time and talent to make a difference in our community! Dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers are essential to the success of the Library!

 

2021 Accomplishments

2021 Accomplishments

2021 was a big year for us! While we continued to increase access to our services through virtual options, we also resumed all of the in-person services and events you love. Here are some of the accomplishments that made our 2021 great!

Events and Services

11,706 people participated in 984 Library-sponsored in-person and virtual events. Summer reading continued virtually, with its participants nearly doubling the initial goal of reading one-million minutes!

Black Friday Deals at Your Library

Black Friday Deals

Black Friday only comes around once a year, but our deals are available every day! There’s no need to shop around––eBooks, movies, music, it's all free. Every day. All year long with your library card!

Stream Adele’s brand new album 30 on Freegal Music! Freegal offers unlimited streaming of over 16 million songs, including Sony Music's entire catalog of legendary artists. You can also download five free songs a week!

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