Located downtown near the heart of Baraboo's square is the amazing library for adults, teens &…read morechildren. They recently did a complete renovation of the building, adding on a modern addition to the historical library, which they did a fantastic job preserving the integrity of the wood shelves & classic elements. This side has turned into the adult section with multiple levels, accessible by stairs or elevator. The new addition has an incredible bright children's section on the second floor; complete with floor to ceiling windows & a modern feel. Great play area includes a lego table, lighted table for colorful tiles, puppet area, play kitchen, dolls as well as computers & tables available. Comfy seating for adults. Fantastic programs going on weekly for kids, some daytime & some evening. The staff are lovely & fun. The new building has a great, large room that has been used for community meeting & events, as well as smaller study rooms that you can reserve throughout. Nice little teen area on the first floor too. Great self checkout area or front desk staff available. The new parking lot is great & has plenty of spaces. Keep yourself up-to-date on library events for kids as young as babies, teens & adults just by visiting the website. Books can be reserved online for pickup as well. Baraboo library has knocked them all out of the park! Come see for yourself.

An outstanding small town library in an historic building. When "tear it down" is the operative in…read morethe discussion of aging historic structures in the "Frank Lloyd Wright myopic Midwest," Baraboo dodges the wrecking ball in it's commitment to preserving and expanding their neo-classical Carnegie Free Library. Keeping in step with the visionary planning of the library board is a dedicated staff that knows patrons by name, works many more hours than is asked of them, and provides an expanding breadth of uncensored circulation. Sadly, there is the passing of CFL-Baraboo as a "quiet library" due to the increased patron count. This translates to an absence of "shushing" from the pursed lips of the library director...it'll never be the same, but a great library no less.

super gorgeous and nice place to study. Definetly not the most quiet though, not always but…read moresometimes the librarians can be very loud which makes it hard to study if you don't want to use headphones.

The WHS is a beautiful and easy-to-navigate library where you can find old Wisconsin newspapers on…read moremicrofilm that aren't available on the web. The staff is friendly, the materials are very accessible and the equipment is easy to use. The building itself is gorgeous, with vaulted, stained glass ceilings and long, old fashioned wooden desks each with small green lamps. Here's how our visit played out... Growing up as a kid, it was always fun to hear my parents' stories from their childhood in La Crosse, WI. My dad has a couple that he really enjoys recounting: one story is about an epic high school football matchup between his school and my mom's (my dad's team won, which may explain his fondness for the story), and a second story is about a lone gunman who robbed a hotel where my dad worked, my dad subsequently chased into a parking lot, and he got shot at in the chase. You can tell that both of these items of family folklore may be tweeked with a bit of exagerration. My siblings and I always wondered, are my dad's memories completely accurate, or are they big fish stories? Yesterday I convinced my parents to join me on a trip to the Historical Society, where they have a vast collection of past Wisconsin newspapers on microfilm. Tucked away in a back room, you can look up La Crosse Tribune newspapers from the 1960s, organized by month in an old school card catalog or on a new school online database. The library has tons of microfilm machines that are available for open use. You retrieve the microfilm yourself from a shelving system, and you're free to start scanning it on a manual-roller or automatic-digital machine. We quickly found newspaper evidence confirming both of my dad's stories, and his reputation for veracity remains intact. He was very pleased with our findings (I think he may have started doubting his own memory). He also got swept up by all the big headlines on the newspapers' coverpages (Vietnam, Nixon, controversies over interstate construction). The library staff was very friendly and willing to help us along during our search process. The entire visit only took us about an hour, and that's pretty quick, demonstrating how organized they've got things. We tracked down exactly what we needed in a short time amidst an enormous volume of materials and with only a vagueidea of when it all had happened. We were able to make digital, emailed copies of the newspapers for free, and we made some paper printouts of the important pages for 25 cents/page. The Wisconsin Historical Society Library is an excellent resource for the state and a great place to check on family folklore. And here's an idea: You could make a scrapbook gift for a parent, comprised of newspaper clippings that confirm their favorite stories or show big events from their childhood.

Reposting my review from Google Maps…read more.. The Waunakee Library ought to be the model for all public libraries in the country. I don't live in Waunakee but spend a good amount of time here helping care for my grandparents. I've been coming to Waunakee library pretty much everyday this past week to do work and I'm in love with this place. The facilities, the warm and welcoming staff, the events programmed, the availability of study/meeting rooms-- I've never been to such fantastic library. The fact that there is also gender neutral bathrooms is also incredibly comforting for a trans person like me. Also, shout out to the folks who designed the layout of the sections. I don't think most folks realize that you can rent movies and TV shows from the library so having that section near the entrance is smart. It's all so thought out. And I discovered that the libraries also have a free streaming service you can access at home too (which has been a game changer for my grandparents). Hands down my favorite part of Waunakee!

This library is small, but quite charming. There are two levels and the children's section is my…read morefavorite. There is a really good selection of books and they do a nice display to make it easy for children to spy a book they like based on the cover. My five year old chooses based on familiar characters, princesses and pink sparkles. Mom usually throws something else new or classic in there to mix it up. There are also really cute toy stations of a barn with animals, a train track table and some Legos. There is comfortable seating spattered throughout the room that invites you to sit and read. Upstairs is more adult friendly with a good selection of fiction/non fiction/magazines/audiobooks/computers to use/a section of "popular" books. Books are organized well by genre and in alphabetical order by author. There is also a hidden gem of books that are free...a fun way to add some new books to your collection. I have met most of the staff in my visits and they have all been kind multitaskers and they hand out a lot of information. The library calendar is full of events including a book club and toddler time. This library though an older building and small(ish) had a really decent selection in books and if what you want isn't there they would assist you in finding it at another location. It is well worth a visit.

We are in the Dells quite often and were looking for different things to do so we decided to check…read moreout Baraboo and came across the mansion and brewery. Walking into the brewery was awesome, such a cool place and quite large. The girl at the spot were I believe you can order food wasn't too friendly but the bartender was awesome! Bartender was super friendly, I wish I could remember his name. We told him how we were looking for things to do and he was more than happy to write down some recommendations for us. I thought that was super nice because I feel like sometimes, at least in the Dells area, it seems like they get tired of us tourists and aren't always as friendly as I feel they should be considering they know they're working in a tourist area. We happened to be sitting next to the lady that does the tours so we thought, awesome, we love seeing old buildings and hearing the history so we signed up! It's $20 per person and about 50-60 mins. It was super cool to see, informative, the lady was friendly, and answered any questions we had. It was pretty amazing to hear that people actually live on the 4th floor, I wasn't expecting that for some reason. After the tour was over she played the large organ for us which was great. We sat down for another beer, listened to the awesome music the bartender was playing and set up our next tour at the Driftless Glen distillery. This was on our list plus it was one of the recommendations from the bartender. If your in the area and looking for something different to do, I highly recommend checking this place out!

I'll be honest, I didn't have high hopes. While I do like architecture, touring a house really…read moreisn't my thing. But I remained open minded. The house was built between 1905-6 and must have looked like a warehouse compared to average sized houses of the period. The history of the home is pretty extraordinary...I don't want to give away spoilers. In short, there are 24 rooms, many of which are being renovated. The basement isn't part of the tour but I hope once they complete it, that it will be, as I'd come back to see that as well. If you're hungry or in the mood for a beer, the brewery attached to the back is a nice stop. I tried a couple of beers and enjoyed them both. The tour gives the answer as to why they built the brewery as well (sorry, no spoilers here either). The tour is cash only and on specific times, so be sure to check those before coming. Cheers.

absolutely beautiful large modern library!! that actually has space for all ages!! they even have a…read morelittle store on the second? floor with very affordable books. it was actually so pretty, id def go here to do work or study

Excellent public library, a great place to find reading, listening material. Friendly helpful…read morelibrarians, there's a printing station if you're staying a downtown hotel for business or a scientific seminar. If you forgot your book at home there's a small but pleasant used bookstore here with a great selection of used classical CDs. Lots of interesting events. Comfortable and peaceful seating. Because democracy requires an informed and literate citizenry I consider this library to be part of the bulwark of American freedom.

This is a fabulous library! It's not only a beautiful building with a striking exterior and…read moreinterior, it has a grand collection for a library its size. Upstairs are meeting rooms available to the community. Can't find what you need? The Fargo Library is affiliated with several other libraries. Just ask! According to "A History of Agriculture in Wisconsin (Volume 2)" by Joseph Schafer, in an affidavit written by Mrs. Carrie Fargo Bicknell, Lorenzo Dow Fargo moved to Lake Mills from his home in Connecticut to buy a farm. Toward the end of his life, he began to reforest much of his land, stressing the importance of trees to future generations. His generous gift of $5,000.00 in 1899 planted the seeds for a library in Lake Mills. (Mrs. Carrie Fargo Bicknell was a daughter of L.D. Fargo.) The building was designed by George Ferry, a noted architect in Wisconsin and a prolific designer of libraries around the state. It was dedicated in August 1902. A fire in January, 1980 caused a great deal of damage to the structure, the children's collection, and the records collection. Great effort was made to clean up and the library reopened, on a limited basis, in April 1980. In April 1981, the fully functional library reopened. "A History of Agriculture in Wisconsin (Volume 2)" by Joseph Schafer was published by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1922.

What a gorgeous library! Lots of natural lighting with a beautiful wooden rustic feel inside…read more Outside you'll find native wildflowers and an outdoor programming space, plus a nature trail. There are also a few public art pieces, including one that's part of the town's Art Trail. Staff was very friendly! I spent some time talking to them about their building, programs and community. They have a real gem here and it's the only library in the town.

The Sun Prairie Public Library is such a beautiful place and has activities for people of all ages…read more The summer reading challenge for children (beginning at 6 months all the way high school) is amazing. They have so many cool prizes like free passes to the Milwaukee Public Museum, the state fair, a mallard's game, etc. They also have an adult summer reading challenge as well as a fall one. I participate in both each year and they have gift card raffles & small prizes for adults too which is awesome! The library also hosts lots of cool events like author events, puzzle competitions, historical events, etc. There are SO many things to do and get involved with and opportunities to learn. They also have an incredible collection of books and "book club bags" complete with multiple copies of popular books and a question guide for book clubs! They're currently doing an expansion and amphitheater as well. So grateful to have such an amazing library. Check it out if you haven't!

This place is so fun for babies! My son loved the outside story hour…read more In the children's section of the library there is a play area with a toy kitchen and activity tables. You can sit in a castle and read to your baby. My son was fascinated with the display of origami cranes hanging from the ceiling. What I think is really interesting about this library is that you can check out activity boxes full of supplies to do crafts or teach hands-on lessons to your kids. You can also check out other cool stuff such as American girl dolls.

I love the Verona Library. Excellent space for the community with many fun and engaging events…read more Beautiful, bright space. Helpful staff and of course a great selection of books, puzzles, movies, etc...