Thanks to a very generous donation by Gerald and Jean Forsythe, all children residing in the Marshall school district up to age five will be able to receive free books through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  Every month, until their fifth birthday, each child will receive a free book appropriate for their age.  All you have to do to enroll your child is fill out a registration form at the library or mail it to the library.  Members of the Clark County Optimist Club and Marshall Service League are working hard along with the library to make sure as many children as possible get to take advantage of this wonderful program.  Call the library if you have any questions.

Free tax assistance is again available at Marshall Public Library to taxpayers with middle and low income, with special attention to those ages 60 and older.  Volunteers have been trained through the AARP Tax-Aide program in cooperation with the IRS and will provide this confidential tax preparation service at no charge.  Assistance is by appointment only and will take place in the library.  This service will be available from Feburary 1 and continue through April 16th.   Persons interested in receiving free tax assistance should call the library to schedule an appointment on or after January 23rd. Assistance will be available during select hours each week.  Please bring last year’s income tax forms and all supporting documentation.  The volunteers will not complete business or farm returns.   A very limited supply of tax forms are available at the library.  A variety of both state and federal forms can be picked up for free while quantities last, and some are available to be photocopied.  And finally, you may visit the Internal Revenue Service’s web site, www.irs.gov/, using the library’s Internet accessible computers.  Here you can find forms to print and answers to tax questions.

We need the help of some folks with some time and some willingness. 

• Are you a history buff?  Help us record some local oral histories.  It’s just like talking to a friend.  We are losing our older residents each day, so help us record their memories.

• Are you handy and have some time to help with a few small “fix-it” jobs?  We could use your help with several small chores around the library.

• Know how to list items on E-Bay?   We have a small collection of semi-valuable books that we need someone to list for us.

• What do you collect?  We would love to borrow your collection to display for a month in our locked cases.  Just let us know when!

Thanks to the generosity of several local businesses, we have 500 tote bags to give away to our patrons.  These bags are great for carrying anything, but we know they will be especially nice for keeping your library books and other materials clean and dry as you transport them to and from the library.  Please thank our sponsors for this handy gift!  They are First Bank and Trust, Morgan Plumbing and Heating, Coale Insurance, The Medicine Shoppe, Planet Collision, and Crossroad Family Restaurant.  We love them!

Winter is a great time to read in the warmth of our homes or when vacationing.  It is also when many of us get cabin fever, so again this year Marshall Public Library is having a winter time “Cabin Fever Reading Program” for all readers ages 14 and older. It’s very simple!  Just pick up a “Cabin Fever” bookmark at the library, which you will use to record the books you read between January 16th and February 29th.  Readers can read any number of books, listing five books on each bookmark and exchanging a completed bookmark at the circulation desk for a new bookmark.  Each completed bookmark will serve as an entry in a weekly drawing for a variety of prizes.  Earn a completed book mark each time you read just one CLASSIC novel!  The reader with the highest number of bookmarks turned in by February 29th will win the grand prize—a basket filled with all sorts of wonderful treats that any reader would enjoy. The prizes are sponsored by the Friends of the Library.  Please call the library at 826-2535 for more information.  Marshall Public Library is located at 612 Archer Avenue, in Marshall.  The library is handicapped accessible.  Visit the library on the web at www.marshallillibrary.com/.

We can come to you!  For many years, the library has offered a valuable service to our  homebound patrons.  If any patron is not able to get to the library for an extended period of time because of an illness,  injury, or lack of mobility, we are happy to deliver materials to their residence.  We do this for residents at Burnsides Community Health Center,  Robert Flowers Village, and to the Villas of Hollybrook.  Please contact the library to learn more about this service for yourself or a loved one.