Towanda District Library

 301 S Taylor St
 Towanda, IL 61776
 309-728-2176
 Fax: 309-728-2139
 Email:
  towandalib@yahoo.com

     Photograph of the Towanda District Library

Hours:
 Mon: 
 Tue: 
 Wed:
 Thur:
 Fri:
 Sat:
10a - 7p
  1p - 7p
10a - 7p
  1p - 6p
  3p - 6p
  9a - noon

 Renew books online or check your Towanda library account activity.
Login using your library card number. Contact the library to obtain a password.

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  About Us
  General Info
  Newsletter
  Policies
  Library History
  Map
  Photo Album
  Volunteers
  Links
  Link to Towanda District Library page at Facebook
  Link to Towanda District Library page at YouTube
  Link to the TumbleBook Library Collection which contains great animated stories, quizzes and puzzles for children. TumbleBooks are created from existing picture books licensed from children's book publishers.
  Link to Media Mall where  you may download books to listen to or read on your computer or a compatible handheld device or MP3 player.  (This will not work with an iPod.)
  MyMediaMall Help
  Link to NoveList for descriptions of novels, information on Author Read-alikes, Discussion Guides, lists of best fiction, lists of books by genre and reader age group, and more. Login with your Towanda District Library card number.   Link to NoveList K-8 for descriptions of children's novels, information on Author Read-alikes, Discussion Guides, lists of best fiction, lists of books by genre and reader age group, and more. Login with your Towanda District Library card number.
  Link to the website of the Village of Towanda, Illinois   Link to the Towanda Area History website, which contains newspaper articles, photographs, personal stories, audio interviews, and much more about the history of the Towanda area.
  Link to Web Junction Illinois, which supports library staff through online resources, community and continuing education.    Link to the website of the Indian Creek subdivision two miles north of Towanda
 
  References
  Dictionary
  Encyclopedia
  World Atlas
  US Cities


 
    

 

   
Special Programs and Events
 

Book Sale, July 4, 8:00am - 2:00pm, at the park

Visit the FRIENDS of the Library Used Book Sale in the park on July 4th from 8:00am to 2:00pm.   Bargains are available on gently used books. All proceeds benefits library programs and services. See you there.
 

Library Volunteers Honored in July 4th Parade

Watch for library volunteers in the parade on July 4th. Wonderful people volunteer throughout the year at Towanda District Library!
 

Pandemic Preparedness at the library

The library implements these measures to assure your safety:

1. All books and DVD’s are dropped into book bins inside the front door and under the front desk. They are not handled for at least 3 hours after arriving at the library – since viruses can survive on non-human objects up to 2.5 hours.

2. Library staff wash their hands frequently.

3. Hand sanitizer is available to the public throughout the library.

4. Clorox wipes are available near the computer hub. Bleach is used regularly on the front desk, toys, and restrooms, as well.


Summer Teen Nights
, monthly on Thursdays, 7:00-9:00pm

Teens enjoy a place to relax and socialize with their peers.  The library offers teens a monthly opportunity for casual, unstructured fun in a name-your-own activities format. The library invites teens to consider the library when they say, “What is there to do around here?”  Upcoming events:

     July 9: Game Night - Guitar Hero, Wii.
     August 13:  Teen Movie Night


Family Movies Nights
, Fridays, at dusk (around 8:30pm)

July 10:   Secondhand Lions
July 24:   Escape to Witch Mountain


Summer Reading Program, Wednesdays, June 17 - July 22, 10:00am

Weekly programs at the Towanda District Library will provide engaging, interactive performances, community speakers, craft projects, games, readers’ theater, and reading challenges.  Each Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Joanna Ranninger and Karen Bersche will provide a variety of age-appropriate programs for youth - ages 3 to 6 years and 7 to 12 years.

Open enrollment allows children to join the fun anytime during the 6-week program – June 17 through July 22, 2009.  The theme for the 2009 Summer Reading Program is: Read on the Wild Side See our schedule of programs.

Thank You Summer Reading Program Sponsors:

Towanda Ladies’ Night Out, Towanda Parent Organization, FS FastStop, Towanda Senior Citizen’s Organization, Towanda HCE, R E-Z Storage, Alexander Mfg. and Meyers, Inc., Ed Anderson Trucking, First Farmers State Bank, Midwest College of Cosmetology, Towanda Lions Club and Towanda 4-H
 

Reading for the Dogs, Tuesdays, June 23 - July 28, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Youth can read one-on-one with a trained and certified canine friend - by appointment only - from June 23 - July 28 on Tuesday evenings between 6:00pm and 7:00pm.  See the R.E.A.D website for the benefits of this program.
 

Pre-School Story Hours, 11:00am weekly during the school year

Pre-school Story Hours run from first Monday after Labor Day to the Monday prior to Memorial Day.  Pre-schoolers may participate in the Summer Reading Program on Wednesday mornings during the summer.

Mondays each week during the school year, preschoolers learn the “joy of reading”. Youth Services Librarian Joanna Ranniger reads to children ages 3 through 5 and leads them in educational activities. Younger brothers and sisters may listen to online, animated TumbleBooks or enjoy board books with parental supervision.  Open enrollment allows children to enter the program whenever they turn three.


Friends of the Library
, Wed, Sept 16, 6:00pm

The next meeting of the Friends of Towanda District Library is Wednesday, September 16 at 6:00pm. The meeting will be held at the home of a member.  Contact the library for location and directions.
 

TOWANDA READS Book Club, Wed, Sept 16, 7:00pm

The next book for TOWANDA READS club book to discuss is: The Girls of Ames - A Story of Women & a Forty-Year Friendship, by Jeffrey Zaslow.  TOWANDA READS welcomes new participants at any of its sessions. The meeting will be held at the home of a member.  Contact the library for location and directions.
 

Economize at the Library

  • Magazines can be checked out free-of-charge.

  • There is no charge for DVD and video rentals.

  • Summer Reading and other programs are free.

  • Books on Tape and MP3 Play-a-Ways are free.

  • Wireless access to the internet is free - on our computers or on your laptop.

  • Copier and Fax are available for a small fee.
     

National Endowment for the Humanities

The Towanda District Library is pleased to invite you to join us as we celebrate our selection as a part of the We the People national grant initiative "Picturing America" Bookshelf.

Our library is one of 4,000 libraries nationwide selected to receive a We the People Bookshelf grant including free hardcover editions of 17 classic children’s books. The grants, presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities in cooperation with the American Library Association, are provided to support the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture in our library.

Listing of book selections.
 

Buying children's books as gifts? 

You can help support the Towanda Library by purchasing your books through the Friend's of the Library online book sale at Usborne BooksA percentage of each sale will go to benefit the library.  Click on Friend's of the Towanda District Library page at Usborne Books to see and purchase books.


Towanda History

The Towanda District Library has partnered with the Towanda Area Historical Society to document and display Towanda Area History on the web at towandahistory.org.

A new feature of the Towanda District Library is a History Corner, with books, displays, and archives of Towanda area history. Following is a list of history binders contain information researched, compiled and donated to the library by Nancy J. Miller of Bloomington:

  • Census records for 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930

  • Civil War Soldiers from Money Creek Township

  • Towanda in the Black Hawk War - 6/3/1832 - 8/3/1832

  • History of Elizabeth 'Mattie' Stephenson (1853-1873) of Towanda, Proclaimed a Heroine by Citizens of Memphis, Tennessee

  • Miscellaneous Collection of Newspaper Articles on Towanda, 1850 - 2008

  • Section 33 and Landowners in Money Creek Township

  • History of the William R. Duncan Family and Descendents, 1818 to 2008


Library delivery service 
  

If you have difficulties getting to the library due to age or health issues, please call us and we can bring library materials to you.  We have two very dedicated volunteers ready to deliver books and other library materials to your home monthly.  Right now they only have one customer and they want more!  A staff member at the library will select items based on your requests.  Please  call the library at 728-2176 and ask for Karen.
 

   Book Sales

The ‘Friends of the Library’ runs a book sale at the 4th of July flea market.  There are also donated used books for sale at the library year round.  Please donate your no longer needed books, videos, CDs, DVDs and audio books in condition appropriate for resale.   Books appropriate for resale include:

  • Only books published since 1985

  • Hardcover fiction books

  • Up-to-date non-fiction items (ex., travel, medical and science items less than five years old) or non-fiction items that will never be out-of-date (ex., how-to’s, biographies, history, etc.)

  • Paperbacks in good condition (clean, bright pages, sturdy spines only)

WE DO NOT ACCEPT textbooks, magazines, Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, “book club edition” books, encyclopedia sets of any kind, musty books, yellowed books or books in poor condition because these items can’t be put in our collection nor do they sell at our book sales and we do not have the resources to pass them on or recycle them. 

   
On-line Catalogs

RSA Cat: catalogs of 190 libraries in the Alliance Library system, including the Towanda District Library. You can order books from any of the libraries in the Alliance Library system. (Place a 'Hold' on the book and it will be delivered to the Towanda District Library for you to check out.)

Bloomington: Bloomington library web site with Bloomington Library catalog (not on RSAcat)

I-Share: catalog of the Illinois State Library and of 76 academic and research libraries in Illinois.

SILC: Statewide Illinois Library Catalog;  Search all libraries in Illinois using World Cat. 

World Cat First Search: Catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide. Contact your library for an authorization and password

Other Libraries

The Internet Public Library (IPL)

IPL - Ask a Question

Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center

Illinois State Library

Ill. State Univ. Milner Library

Ill. Wesleyan Univ. Ames Library

Heartland College Library

Unit 5 IMC centers

Normal Public Library

Bloomington Public Library

The Library of Congress

New York Public Library

State Government

Find it Illinois

Associations

Alliance Library System

American Library Association

Illinois Library Association

 

 
   

 

 


 This web page was last updated on Monday June 29, 2009, by Helen Mogill.