Michaela’s Library Story
“I recently transitioned to being a stay-at-home mom and have been looking for new ways to get our youngest two out playing and learning. Eleanor and I pulled up the winter events booklet, and I had her help decide what events we should try!
She already enjoys the Picnic and Play programs, and Snow Science caught her attention. We weren’t totally sure what the set up would be, but when Gretchen explained all the different stations, Eleanor lit up and was eager to give each one a try. She especially enjoyed the ice water filled sensory table – finding a fox (her favorite animal) to play with was a huge bonus!
As a family, we most often head to the Central Library. It’s nearby to our home, there are SO many books to choose from, and I love the visibility within the children’s section allowing our family to spread out, play, and look for books without losing sight of anyone. Our kids also love visiting the Kress branch with their grandparents. I have really fond memories of the old De Pere branch on the west side, too!
Libraries are an incredible resource for communities, and we’re so glad to have so many branches nearby. While we mainly utilize the libraries for children’s books and cookbooks, family programming, and Libby for our e-readers, it’s wonderful to see all of the opportunities and support available for everyone. The variety of programs and resources in the seasonal brochures alone are amazing, and I know the Brown County Library offers so much more!”
Donald’s Library Story
Brown County farmer Donald has uncovered some very unique buried treasure.
On a visit to the East Branch, he asked library staff whether his card was still active. It wasn’t … because it was accidentally buried with the contents of his wallet when Donald was plowing his fields twelve years ago! Read on for the rest of the crazy-but-true story.
“My name is Donald Jossart. I am a farmer in Brown County, Wisconsin. I grew up on the farm where I live today.
I love to plow. Turning the soil over buries the dead weeds, grass, and harvest stubble, revealing the rich brown soil below and aerating it.
In September of 2013, I was plowing a field with my 100 HP International Tractor, pulling a bottom plow. The temperature was pleasant and the day was sunny. After making rounds for a couple of hours, I came home for lunch. I needed my wallet but, when I reached into the back pocket of my jeans, it was not there.
Unfortunately, there is a gap between my tractor seat and the back rest. With a sinking feeling, I realized my wallet had worked its way out of my pocket – and down into the plow paths. It had been covered up.
I have plowed my fields for many years, and I had a “sense” of where my wallet may have dropped, so I went back to the field and cultivated the acres I had plowed that morning to turn up my wallet. No luck. Friends and family helped me search. We prayed to find it.
Among other things, the wallet contained my driver’s license, library card, gift cards, and $200 in cash. Everything was lost. Finally, and regretfully, I went through the tedious and challenging process of reporting the loss and replacing what I could. I truly had faith that, in time, God would reveal my wallet again.
Several years of farming, planting, and working the field passed by with no sign of my wallet, even though I looked and hoped every day. Then, in May of 2018 as I was using my land roller, FLIP! Something came out of the ground. Immediately, I wondered if it was a stone or my wallet. I quickly stopped the tractor, jumped off, crossed to the spot, and there was my wallet, found after five years in the ground. I was joyous. God answers prayers!
Gingerly, I opened it. The $200 in cash had been reduced to dust and the gift cards had expired. My credit cards and library card were intact but, as it turns out, my library card needed updating.
When I went to replace my card, the two helpful ladies I told my story to encouraged me to write it down.”
Miriam is a recent Current Young Professionals Future 15 Recipient & Young Professional of the Year finalist. We first shared Miriam’s Library Story a few years ago when she moved to the area and was using the library as part of her job search. We just had to catch up with her! Spoiler Alert: She’s still a Library Lover 
Miriam’s Library Story Update, April 2024
“So much has changed in the last 5 years! I got my dream job and then the pandemic happened and I transitioned to another position and it was an amazing experience! I worked with students and got to be a part of their lives. I met amazing people in the community who helped develop me into the person and professional I am today. I now work for the State and get to serve this community in a whole new way!
The Main St. Library [East Branch] is closest to my house, it is so new and beautiful I love seeing people of all ages engaging in such different ways, it’s a staple for sure!
I like the study rooms or the computers so I can think clearly and work on my first book in a clean quiet area. I also attend events at the Central Library downtown such as PopCon and the Wisconsin Public Life Home is Here event.
Libraries have given me a safe clean quiet environment to let my mind wonder and my imagination run free. Libraries always have been and and continue to be a place where anything and everything is more than possible. Librarians are encouraging and helpful and surrounded by the courage of others to put their thoughts to paper, what can stop you in a library?
Libraries give people from all walks of life a space to do work for school or a business venture. Learn about other cultures and meet people through the page. Libraries offer knowledge to the community that, without preservation, could easily be lost to time. Libraries are fundamental and no matter what the future holds I will find my way to support my local libraries because no matter how old I was I have found support from the library!”
Miriam’s Library Story, October 2019
Miriam was new to the city and searched for “libraries near me”. Google sent her to our Southwest Branch and on the road to a new career.
“Well, I just moved to Green Bay I didn’t have a laptop at home so I came to the library. I liked that it was nice and small so I could really focus and get my work done. I applied for a position at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay for their Study Abroad Coordinator. I found all the librarians to be super helpful in getting all of my materials together and figuring out how to do things and adding so much more time to my computer usage. Then I got the position and they continued to be helpful getting all my documents submitted so that I could be on my way to a bright future.
I love reading. I have found librarians to always have innate wisdom into finding you good books and things that kind of make you a better person.
This is the first library card I’ve had since I was 10. Once I got into high school and college there were assigned books, I used the libraries there but not really going out into the libraries but now that I’m out of college and I’m not forced to read, I can read for leisure. I’m trying to get through The New Jim Crow by Alexander. She is so intelligent it’s like being back in college. I have to reprogram my brain because before that I did a Mary Higgins Clark, Cry in the Night.
I always read every year, the Chronicles of Narnia. My mom started reading that to me when I was about five and every year I re-read them.”
“Well, I just moved to Green Bay I didn’t have a laptop at home so I came to the library. I liked that it was nice and small so I could really focus and get my work done. I applied for a position at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay for their Study Abroad Coordinator. I found all the librarians to be super helpful in getting all of my materials together and figuring out how to do things and adding so much more time to my computer usage. Then I got the position and they continued to be helpful getting all my documents submitted so that I could be on my way to a bright future.
I love reading. I have found librarians to always have innate wisdom into finding you good books and things that kind of make you a better person.
This is the first library card I’ve had since I was 10. Once I got into high school and college there were assigned books, I used the libraries there but not really going out into the libraries but now that I’m out of college and I’m not forced to read, I can read for leisure. I’m trying to get through The New Jim Crow by Alexander. She is so intelligent it’s like being back in college. I have to reprogram my brain because before that I did a Mary Higgins Clark, Cry in the Night.
I always read every year, the Chronicles of Narnia. My mom started reading that to me when I was about five and every year I re-read them.”
Bill’s Library Story
Bill has been borrowing books from the library since he was a child, but only started using the library as a writer three years ago.
“I’m trying to write historical fiction, and I’m also doing research on history, mainly World War II. I’m also kind of a film buff and I like obscure stuff. Just even for sociological reasons for research. Like I just a while ago, I rented Triumph of the Will, the Nazi propaganda film. Not a film that you would watch over and over again, but something that I wanted to see how it was made. And stuff like Battleship Potemkin a soviet propaganda film, stuff that you don’t watch all the time.” He often uses the interlibrary loan service to get those more obscure films and books he needs for research.
In fact, the library has served as a sort of incubator as he develops as a writer. He uses the Kress Family Branch as a workspace, getting out of his small apartment and spreading out on our large tables to work on his book. He also attends programs that support his writing like a recent writing workshop presented by local author and publisher Brittiany Koren and utilizing our Tech Tutor service as he gets to know his new Chromebook,
“Everybody on staff is very nice and I’m really grateful for the help with the Tech Tutor because I am not tech savvy. I’m slowly but surely, even though i might seem to pester you guys a lot, learning how to use my Chromebook. Then I print up my stuff that I write and I send it out to a circle of friends and family who are writers and filmmakers.”
Your Brown County Library Story
What do you love about the Brown County Library? How has the Brown County Library and its staff made a difference in your life?
Libraries are for everyone in our community! By sharing your Brown County Library moments, you are helping to show how libraries strengthen our community and our future!
