What Can My Public Library Offer Me?

Munising School Public Library (MSPL) is the only legally established public library in Alger County and has amazing services available to all cardholders. Anyone who is a resident of Alger County is eligible for a card. With a large and diverse collection of materials and excellent access to a robust interlibrary loan system, nearly anything in print is available for checkout. The onsite collection of over 29,000 titles includes fiction and non-fiction books, videos, audiobooks, and periodicals for adults, children, and young adults.

In house there are public access computers with printing; Wi-Fi with wireless print options; genealogy resources; meeting space; digitized local newspapers; and a local history collection including the Alger County Digital Archive; and copy, fax and scanning services. There are also reference materials; the Alger County Heirloom Seed Library; A Library of Things that includes a Thermal Leak Detector, Kill-O-Watt Meter, ukeleles and puzzles; and a wealth of informational resources available from talented, State Certified library staff.

The library hosts author talks/workshops, literary and poetry readings; art shows, special collection displays, concerts, book clubs, needle arts lessons, films and after school activities. Special events for children include our children’s reading program 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, the annual summer reading program, and a weekly preschool story time. There are frequently special event historical lectures and engaging films for the public scheduled throughout the year. Truly, there is always something happening at MSPL, but that is only the start of services available to cardholders.

The MSPL website at www.msplonline.org is loaded with information for all ages and includes wonderful links for student and adult researchers alike. You can search the entire catalog of library owned materials, place holds, renew your items and much more right from the website. You can also search the holdings of all the libraries across the UP and lower Michigan, make requests and see the status of those requests with the touch of a button. With delivery to MSPL 3 times a week, requested items arrive quickly for cardholders to check out and enjoy at no cost.

No matter your location, MSPL has you in mind. If you prefer a physical book, we have you covered, but if you are a digital reader or listener, MSPL can rock your world with unbelievable free services. With your MSPL library card you can borrow and enjoy downloadable audiobooks, eBooks, comics, movies, TV, magazines, or music anywhere you have a smart device. That means, your computer, your phone, your Kindle, iPad, your car, even your TV.

With the Libby app you can borrow eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more from your local library for free. Libby is the world’s largest digital library lender, and MSPL offers you access to hundreds of thousands of titles through our membership in the Great Lakes Digital Library and Libby.

BookFlix from Scholastic offers digital online access for early readers to build their skills with fun, easy to read animated stories that have companion fiction and nonfiction. Filled with fun activities and engaging books, little readers will delight in this easy-to-use free online resource that unlocks with a library card.

Kanopy is a video streaming service that provides instant access to thousands of critically acclaimed movies, documentaries, tv shows and kid favorites. You can stream Kanopy on any of your favorite devices and on your Desktop, and Smart TV apps like Roku, Apple TV, and Fire Stick, all you need is a library card.

Hoopla, another app, offers more audiobooks and eBooks, and some streaming film, music and comics. The number of streams is limited per month, but some offerings have 7 day “Binge Passes” our patrons love to use, like 24 hour a day Hallmark Movies and 7-day unlimited access to The Great Courses.

With nearly all of the digital services, titles can be downloaded to your smart device, so you won’t need a connection to use it and it’s all FREE thanks to your public library! Please call or stop into MSPL—your public library– and find out what you have been missing.