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Review content:
Central Library is the biggest library in Milwaukee and is the main location for all MPL activities. They have an amazing number of resources and an on line book search. Need a lot of books? No problem -- check out up to 100 titles at a time! Whoops! Can't finish them in the allotted time? Most materials (provided no one has requested it in the interim) can be renewed on-line! The downside I hear most often is the limited parking (and that it's all meters so not free) BUT the truth of the matter is that despite the fact we are there every two weeks or so, we've always gotten parking on one or the other side of the library, and $2 for 2 hours parking doesn't seem an unreasonable burden for the bounty that lies inside.
As a mum, I've come to love the wealth of family programming they offer -- there are story times and nearly every Saturday at 10:30 there is a program just for kids in the Betty Brinn Children's Room. Activities vary from special story times with guests, craft times, puppet shows, magicians, and more and it's all free! Even when there's not a special event, the room itself is just wonderful -- there's a lighthouse the kids can go into and look over the entire Childrens room, legos, puppets and a puppet theater, tables and chairs and cozy window seats for sharing a story. There are books and resources for parents and caregivers and a HUGE assortment of books for kids of all reading levels. The staff has made wonderful suggestions, although our usual problem is limiting the number of books we take home, not trying to find more.
In my role doing a bit of research for my work, I've made good use of their request a book features. If you need just a few books you can call the library and they will pull titles for you so that you don't have to run around finding them yourself (extremely handy if you aren't physically able to, or if like me a child makes it difficult to spend time browsing) and if you have more then 3 or 4 books you can request them on line and they will be pulled for you over the next couple of days and you'll get an e-mail when they're ready for pick-up. There's a drive-up window on the side of the library that you can use so that you don't even have to go inside if you don't need to. I use this for reasearch primarily, but you can request the latest thriller or romance novel just the same way.
For schools and daycares, MPL offers book drop-off -- they'll bring the books to you!
Like most librarys they offer videos, dvd's, cd's, computer programs and games to check out, but their collection is bigger then anything I've seen elsewhere -- and there are computers throughout the library are available for use. Their staff has always been more then accommodating and a sheer delight to work with -- really, I can't say enough about the wonders of this library.
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