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.

Ebooks? We Can Help!

EWML is now a member of the Overdrive Advantage program. What is that you say?

Overdrive is the service that our library shares with other Bibliomation libraries that provides ebooks and downloadable audio books. That means Monroe patrons are part of a larger pool of the 48 member libraies using this service. Free ebooks are very popular, and often there are waiting lists for new titles. The Advantage program allows EWML to purchase more copies of popular titles and add titles that can only be used by Monroe patrons. If you see this logo next to the title you are interested in, make sure you sign in as a Monroe library patron.

If you are not using Overdrive now is the time! Many people will receive new ereaders, IPods, IPads and other electronic devices this Christmas. Let our library reference librarians help you use them. Just give us a call or come in with your device and we will get you started. Don't forget, your Kindle is now compatible with Overdrive.

PrepMe is Back!

Thanks to the Friends of the Library, the SAT and ACT test preperation database, PrepMe is back! The library had to drop this popular database because of budget cuts but the Friends are using their funds to restore it.
PrepMe is a premium online SAT preparation course founded by graduates of top schools such as Caltech, the University of Chicago and Stanford. Their course will identify your strenghts and weaknesses and create a custom week-by-week schedule for you to help raise your scores.
You may access PrepMe by going to the library database webpage www.ewml.org/databases You need your library barcode number to access the site, and will then be asked to create your own ID and password to create a test program customized to you.
PrepMe is just one of the databases the libray offers. Please check us out!

What's new?

So many things have been happening in the library this summer. I am happy to welcome some new staff members: Lauren Balla is the new Children's Assistant replacing Maureen Pihonak who just retired; Michelle Turbak takes over for Joan Clark at the Reference Desk and Nicole Cignoli is replacing Karen Recine at Reference who also retired. You will see some new faces at Circulation if you come in on Sunday. Evelyn Platt and Barbara Pringle join our Sunday team. Sunday hours, 12:00 - 4:00 pm start on October 2.
As we start the Fall season I am excited about a raffle the Friends of the Library are holding starting on October 3 and running until November 14. Three quilts created by the Connecticut Piecemakers Quilt Guild are being raffled.Tickets are $1 and can be purchased in the library. The quilts will be on display near the Adult magazines. I hope you will support the library by purchasing a ticket. All proceeds will be used to purchase books for the library, and do we need the help! The library book budget was cut by $10,000 this year so buy those tickets! Thank you to the kind members of the Piecemakers Quilt Guild who made the quilts for us. They are really beautiful.