February Newsletter
The Winfield Public Library’s February Newsletter, “Branch Out” is available for your viewing. Find out about our library card policies and upcoming programs and events.
February E-Newsletter
Discover Kanopy: Your New Streaming Service
Using your Winfield Public Library card, you can access Kanopy. With an expertly curated collection of narrative and documentary films we think you’ll enjoy, we’re pleased to bring this streaming service to our community. Go to kanopy.com to get started today, or download the Kanopy app on your Smart TV or web-enabled devices.
For Families, See Kanopy Kids! This special section offers a wide range of educational and entertaining content for children, including animated storybooks, movies, and TV series that are perfect for young viewers. It’s a great way to make learning fun and engaging for kids of all ages. Plus, Kanopy Kids offers **unlimited access**, so your children can enjoy as much content as you’d like.
For the rest of Kanopy’s extensive library, Winfield Public Library cardholders are provided **20 tickets each month**. Each ticket allows you to watch one film, giving you plenty of opportunities to explore and enjoy a variety of content.
Friends of the Library Annual Book Sale
The Friends of WPL will hold their annual book sale February 21 – 23, 2025 at the Winfield Public Library. Donations of used books in good condition will be accepted through February 15. Contact Ruth Bumgarner, Adult Services Librarian, at rbumgarner@wpl.org or 620-221-4470 for more information.
Celebrate Local Authors
WPL’s Celebrate Local Authors day is back for a second year! Join us on Saturday, February 1st to meet authors from around the region, explore their books, and learn about their experiences with publication.
Fill Your Mug: 2024 Reading Challenge celebration
Celebrate a year well-read! On Sunday, December 29 from 2:00pm – 4:00pm, bring your 2024 Reading Challenge mug to the library and enjoy a variety of mug-friendly beverages. 2024 Challenge mugs can be claimed at this time, and Reading Challenge cards for 2025 will be available to kick-off the new year.
September Spotlight: The Civil War & Kansas
Throughout the month of September, Winfield Public Library is hosting several programs around the theme of the Civil War and Kansas. See the events calendar for details on these programs:
Monday, September 9 at 7:00pm – Friends of the Library meeting & program by Kent Melcher
Thursday, September 12 at 6:30pm – The Civil War: it began in Kansas! presentation by Kent Melcher
Saturday, September 28 at 10:30am – Last Stand at Rebel Creek: The Osage as Union Allies in Civil War Kansas by Humanities Kansas speaker Isaias McCaffrey
Monday, September 30 at 6:30pm – Bookn’ with Friends Book Club: The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Support WPL’s Digitization Project
Have you ever tried to use the microfilm reader here at the library to look up information in our archived newspapers? If so, you know that it can be a complicated endeavor. First, the reel must be loaded correctly onto the machine. Then, a researcher must learn how to use the software to save images. Most complicated though, is the inability to search by keyword. A searcher needs to know a general date range and then search manually, page by page, for their needed information.
One of our key priorities is to have the microfilm archive digitized so that information seekers can simply go to our webpage and search through these archives by keyword such as person, places, events, etc. To this end, we are fundraising to cover the cost of digitization and web hosting.
There is currently an opportunity to maximize support to the Digitization Project. With your help, the Winfield Public Library could secure our goal of $10,000 through Legacy’s Great Give campaign. Through this program, the Legacy Regional Community Foundation will match up to $4,545 in donations made to our endowment fund, thanks to a generous gift from Patterson Family Foundation and the Warrender Trust.
Here’s how it works:
• Make a donation to Legacy for the benefit of the Winfield Public Library by Friday, August 30th at 5:00 pm
• Place: Legacy, 1216 Main, Winfield or donate online at https://bit.ly/helpwpl
The 2024 match pool is $100,000 and will be divided among the participating nonprofit organizations up to $4,545 and possibly more per organization. Your gift to the Winfield Public Library will be set aside for the Digitization Project. Cash and checks made payable to Legacy Foundation dated and received between August 1 and August 30 are eligible for match consideration. Donations are tax deductible and can be divided among multiple organizations.
We are excited about the possibility of modernizing access to our local stories, culture, and history. We hope to make our archives accessible to upcoming generations. Thank you for considering this request and for your continued dedication to our community’s enrichment through the power of reading and learning.
TED Talk Lunch Series Scheduled for June 28
Winfield Public Library’s TED Talk Lunch Series is back with a special Friday event this summer. “The secret ingredients to great hospitality” is the selected talk topic, scheduled for Friday, June 28 at noon in the WPL Community Room. Community members are encouraged to bring a sack lunch to the program, which is free and open to the public. Coffee and dessert will be provided.
The selected talk was recorded in 2022 by restaurateur Will Guidara, a three-time James Beard Award winner and former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park. That restaurant received numerous accolades under his leadership, including three Michelin stars. Guidara shares the story of how serving a $2 hotdog in his four-star restaurant inspired his pursuit of “unreasonable hospitality.” That pursuit led Guidara to co-found an annual hospitality conference called the Welcome Conference and publish the 2022 book Unreasonable Hospitality. Guidara’s work also inspired scenes in the FX series “The Bear.”
This program is part of WPL’s adult “Adventure begins at your library” summer programming. By signing in at the event, adults will be entered into a prize drawing for a chance to win a prize at the end of the summer. For details about summer programming, visit wpl.org.
WPL Receives Grant from RISE Cowley
This spring the Winfield Public Library received a $1000 grant from the RISE Cowley coalition to help fund the installation of a water bottle filling station at the library. The remaining expense of the installation was provided by an anonymous donor.
“We are excited to provide this upgrade just in time for our busy summer reading season,” says Tabitha Hogan, Library Director. “Patrons of all ages frequently walk to the library, particularly at this time of year. This convenient and sustainable way to refill water bottles allows us to support healthy drinking and reduce our reliance on single-use plastic water bottles.”
RISE Cowley is a coalition of like-minded organizations dedicated to making Cowley County a healthier place to live, work, and play. Over the past four years, RISE Cowley has awarded mini-grants that prioritize health and safety in our communities and help advance healthy initiatives in Cowley County.
Library Crawl
A Tour for the Library Lover
The Winfield Public Library is one of the stops on the 1st Annual South Central Kansas Library Crawl.
Between June 1 – July 31 visit each of the libraries on this list for a bookish experience, free swag, and a chance to win gift cards.