A Crude Awakening: Sea Otter Rescue Program
Join us Wednesday, November 14th at 6:30 p.m. for "A Crude Awakening" at the Coloma Public Library. It's been 29 years since the Exxon Valdez spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil in the pristine Gulf of Alaska. Most affected were the sea otters. Concerned about these animals, Tom and Sherry Miller of Coloma volunteered to help rehabilitate them at the Sea Otter Rescue Center in Seward, Alaska. With the Keystone Pipeline making headlines, a giant spill last year that dumped 210,000 gallons of toxic tar sands oil in South Dakota, and plans to open the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to drilling and oil exploration, Tom and Sherry feel the topic is relevant even today. 
To share their experiences with you, they're reprising their 45-minute family-oriented slide presentation. See where they worked. Touch a real sea otter pelt. Learn how their plush fur helps them survive in icy water. For these dependent creatures, oil and water don't mix. Hear about any updates. Want to know more? A question and answer period will follow the program. Call 468-3431 with any questions.
Read with Spirit!
Spirit, a certified therapy dog will be at the library on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm. Children may sign-up for a 15 minute slot by stopping in at the front desk or calling the library at 468-3431. Reading to Therapy dogs is a fun way for children to build reading confidence and fluency.
Thanksgiving Hours
The Library's Thanksgiving hours will be: Wednesday, November 21st 10-5:30; Thursday, November 22nd Closed, Friday, November 23rd 10 am – 2 pm and Saturday, November 24th 10 am-2 pm. Regular hours will resume Monday, November 26th. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Story Hour
Story Hour meets on Wednesdays at 10:30 am. Join Ms. Amy for a story, song time and craft. Story Hour is designed for older toddlers and preschool aged children. It is asked that all kids be supervised by an adult. There is no sign-up required for this free program.
Book Club
The Coloma Library Book Club is meeting for a book discussion on Thursday, November 15 @ 5:30 pm. The title to read before the discussion is The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry. Generally, depending on demand there are titles available for check-out at the front desk.
The Book club regularly meets every other Thursday and is always looking for new members. If you are interested in more information please click here or stop in the library.
Michigan Activity Pass (MAP)
Did you know that your library card can be your best travel companion? Discover hundreds of Michigan's cultural destinations and natural attractions with your Michigan library card! You can "check out" FREE or discounted admission passes (or other exclusive offers) to hundreds of Michigan state parks, campgrounds, museums, trails, arts & cultural destinations, and more. Click here for more information.
Introducing Launchpads
Introducing Playaway Launchpad--‐ The kids only learning tablet that both kids and adults will love.
Every Playaway Launchpad is pre--‐loaded with high--‐quality, ad--‐free learning apps and games, providing hours of interactive learning and play.
Apps are grouped onto Launchpads by subject area, theme, grade level, and age. Featuring popular characters and brands, apps content spans subject areas from math and science to critical thinking and creativity, and theme from animals to princesses, fantasy, nature and more.
Kids will love the Launchpad experience, which lets them design a personal avatar before game play and choose an app adventure they're most interested in.
Adults will love that Launchpads are 100% secure, ensuring that will not be exposed to unintended content, and that the informational console will let them monitor how time is spent on the tablet.
Launchpad is now available at Coloma Public Library for patrons living in the library's service area. Check one out today!
Ancestry.com Library Edition
The library has a resource that uses technology to make tracing family trees easier. Ancestry® Library Edition, a Web-based reference tool distributed by ProQuest, will allow you to start exploring your roots by searching a surname. Anyone can come into the library to dig into Ancestry Library Edition's millions of records – as far back as the 1400s.
Once connected to Ancestry Library Edition, you'll find a friendly opening screen that asks for the name of the person to be searched. Key in the name, click on "Search" and Ancestry Library Edition scans its vast selection of U.S. federal and state census data, birth, marriage, and death records, military records, Social Security death records, and immigration lists. It also includes an extensive collection of information from the U.K., including images census records and civil registrations. Additionally, probate records dating back to the 1500s are included from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The information you find are pieces of a puzzle that you'll assemble. These records have "clues" to the past – places where ancestors lived, names of relatives, birth or death dates, etc – that lead to more information. Names can be added to form the "tree" or searched to find more clues.
Ancestry.com Library Edition can be used on any of the computer workstations at the library. To get on the library computers you do need to have a library card. Please call (269) 468-3431 with any questions.
Newspaper Archive
Past issues of the Coloma Courier (November 1899-1969), Watervliet Record (1890-October 1984) and Tri-City Record (1984-2010) are available for searching and browsing on this website. A special thank you to Karl Bayer at the Tri-City Record for allowing the library to make these papers available to the public. Also a special thank you to the Watervliet District Library for their support with this project.
Card Catalog
The library's catalog is available for you to search from home! Simply click "Catalog" from the menu bar on any page to visit the library's website. When you arrive at that site click "Coloma Public Library" and begin your search.
There you will find further instructions on how to search for books, renew items you have checked out and place holds. If you have any questions, please call the library at (269) 468-3431.
Checking Out E-Books
The library is glad to offer ebooks to patrons living within the library's service area. If you need assistance adding ebooks to your device, click here!
Happy Reading!