Our staff is the best!

On any normal day, about 300-400 patrons use the library.  On Wed. Oct. 31, after Hurricane Sandy, 1682 people used the library. Each day of that week saw record numbers of library users. Almost every seat in the library was taken. People were sitting on the floor next to outlets to charge their cell phones and tablets.  And through it all our staff answered questions, charged out movies and books, helped people in any way thay could, and all with a smile on their faces.  They worked longer hours keeping the library open for people to keep warm.  Some of our staff voluntered extra time to help out. Many people, appreciating this, thanked the staff.  Some patrons donated coffee and tea to help us keep our coffee bar running.  Thank you to them also.  But the real point of this post is my appreciation for the great people who work in the library who give the best service they can every day.  Thank you!

New Children's Librarian

Please join me in welcoming Michelle Turbak to the Children’s Room staff! Michelle will start as our new Children’s Services Librarian on September 4. Michelle joined the Reference Department at EWML in October, 2010, working only on Sundays. We quickly realized that her friendly smile, devotion to giving the best possible service to our patrons, and creative talents were something special so she took over more hours at the Reference Desk when we had an opening. Turns out Michelle has more to offer because she has experience in children’s programming, story hours, and summer reading programs so she is the perfect choice to lead our Children’s Department.


Michelle is a Monroe resident, raising her three boys here so she knows our community well. She is eager to meet the children and their parents and begin her new tasks in the Children’s Room. Please stop by in September to welcome her. Congratulations Michelle!

Summer Reading

Summer Reading is in full swing so come in and join the fun!  We have reading programs for kids, teens, and adults with great prizes in each program.  You can sign-up any day until August 14.  Teens and adults can register and participate online; see the library website.  Children can register and receive their reading packet at the library.The library is the place to visit this summer in Monroe.  Don't be left out. We have special programs for all age groups. See you at the library!

Police Deptartment Construction

Construction will begin on the new Police Department on Monday, May 7, 2012 and is expected to last for one year.  For the safety of our citizens and the crews performing the work, the Town Hall rear parking lot will be closed to through traffic.  Parking spaces will be limited during construction and we encourage you to carpool if possible. Please check the library program schedule for times when special programs might impact your library visit.
We apologize for any inconvience this project may cause you and thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.


Captain Michael R. Flick, Monroe Police Department
Margaret Borchers, Library Director

Library Elf

EWML is not renewing our Library Elf subscription service. All the features you love about Library Elf, holds waiting, overdue reminders, and pre-overdue notices, are available through the library's circulation system, Evergreen. All you have to do is make sure your email address is listed on your library account. Ask about this service at the Circulation Desk. It is free.

Morningstar Investment Research Center

If you invest in stocks, mutual funds or ETF’s you know that Morningstar is a trusted name in investment advice. For years EWML carried their printed newsletter and it was very popular. Now we subscribe to their online database providing comprehensive data and analysis of over 35,000 investments. Why the switch to online? The data is real time, not one month old as with the paper version and patrons can access the database from home, 24/7.
If you are new to the online format there are many tools available to help you. The Help & Education tab of the database offers a new tutorial center. Users can get a video overview of each area of the database and determine which tabs or tools they’d like to use. Not interested in a video? There are several PDF’s to read at your own pace. You can research specific investment goals from the portfolio tab such as “Find your Money Baseline” or Retirement Planning.” Use the help and education tab for specific investment topics such as socially responsible investing, exchange-traded funds, and options. The help and education tab also contains the glossary and methodologies section, where users can look up terms and understand Morningstar’s ratings. The Portfolio X-Ray is a really nice tool for users to look at their investments in-depth, and see how they are diversifying their investments.
Also available are monthly training webinars on the first Thursday of each month at 11:00 am, Central Time. You can register for the webinar and participate at home or come in and our reference librarians will help you attend by using a library computer. As always, our reference librarians can help you with this database or with one of the many others we offer, free of charge. Just call the reference desk at 203 452-2850 #6 for help.