Here’s what Wisconsin’s public librarians say about BadgerLink resources:
I have been running monthly scavenger hunts for the past eight months and rely on BadgerLink resources, like Britannica School and Explora [for Elementary Schools and Middle & High Schools], to create the content. Each picture kids find is accompanied with a few sentences about the topic, which enhances the game with opportunities for learning. It's reassuring to know the content on these sites is accurate!
- Jennie Fidler, Oconomowoc Public Library
As a librarian, I use BadgerLink all the time! As a Youth Services Librarian, I regularly make use of resources such as NoveList and TeachingBooks when I am suggesting books to young readers.
In Waukesha County we have our annual Kids Choice Award program, where kids read books from a nominated list and then vote for their favorites. For the past five years I have created a Beanstack reading challenge to go along with this event, and I always link to TeachingBooks so that kids can find additional information about the books they are reading.
I think that NoveList is a great unsung hero for answering two questions that we get a lot in libraries: "What should I read next?" and "What was the title of that book again?" Google is great, but it's not nearly as precise of a search engine when it comes to these questions. I love that I can search for books based on writing style, theme, subject, and more, and that a general description of a book more often than not points me to the book in question even if we don't know the title or the author.
- Sandy George, Pewaukee Public Library
BadgerLink resources provide a wide variety of resources, that intersect with citizen lives at critical moments. Just last week I had a patron that is being confronted with a medical diagnosis. They were wanting to learn more about it and didn't know where to start. BadgerLink resources like Consumer Health Complete (funded by state dollars and federal IMLS dollars) helped provide her with an up-to-date summary from a reliable medical source. This citizen left feeling more confident for their next steps in their health journey.
The DPI Library Services Team has been very helpful at conferences teaching library staff how to use the statewide resources. Their training helps us better utilize the resources for our patrons.
- Brittany Larson, Muskego Public Library
I am the Library Director of a small library with a modest budget. While our community has a population of 7,500, we also serve neighboring areas, welcoming over 80,000 in-person visits each year. Access to BadgerLink allows us to offer many of the same resources as larger nearby libraries, ensuring consistent and relevant services for our patrons.
- Stephanie Lewin-Lane, Hales Corners Public Library
BadgerLink resources are an invaluable tool for our library patrons, especially when it comes to local history research. Historic issues of our little hometown newspaper are digitized and hosted on the Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers, and we use that database on a near-daily basis!
- Erica Loeffelholtz, New Glarus Public Library
After ongoing struggles with patrons over choosing appropriate books for their teens, we are creating a middle school/young teen collection, separate from our young adult collection. NoveList, provided through BadgerLink, has been an invaluable resource in organizing this collection, helping us to prevent an acrimonious and expensive book challenge process and find a way to meet our community's needs. It's also been extremely useful in our genrefying project. I do have a subscription to SLJ, but it's difficult to search and not everything is included, so I couldn't do my job without access to NoveList.
A second way BadgerLink has positively impacted us is that we serve many homeschool and private/charter school students. BadgerLink is an important resource for them to do research and find information which we can't afford to purchase or provide on our own.
- Jennifer Wharton, Matheson Memorial Library
BadgerLink has been a critical resource in both my work as a librarian and in my personal life. Access to Wisconsin newspapers through BadgerLink has been invaluable, particularly when assisting patrons with local history and genealogy inquiries. BadgerLink allows me to efficiently help patrons uncover details about their families and local events, empowering them to connect with the past in meaningful ways.
Beyond direct benefits to our library users, I personally rely on BadgerLink to access high-quality journalism. The platform unlocks a diverse range of reputable news sources that would otherwise be inaccessible to me due to paywalls. This access is crucial for staying informed on current events and gaining a deeper understanding of various perspectives. In an era where reliable information is paramount, BadgerLink serves as an essential tool for my own continuous learning and engagement with the world around me.
- Berlin Public Library
BadgerLink has been incredibly helpful to patrons and for staff when helping find credible information on various subjects.
- Dwight Foster Public Library
So many great resources on BadgerLink! NoveList to find great books, as well as, read alikes. Also TeachingBooks for program ideas, book talks, collection development, and more. And that doesn't even start on all the database searches available!
- Hazel Mackin Community Library
BadgerLink has some of the best resources. From searching newspapers and research articles to finding my next book, I've used this platform for so many different things. What I enjoy most is that I can access the information anywhere, anytime. NoveList has helped me find a book to read for myself and for my patrons at the library I work at.
Performing readers advisory can sometimes be challenging when it's a collection I'm not familiar with. I manage the Young Adult collection, so when I get asked for readers advisory for our young children or adults, I often get flustered. Using NoveList or NoveList K-8 has helped me immensely. What's best is when I can teach our patrons how to use it, and they get the NoveList bug too!
- Horicon Public Library
BadgerLink has been a great resource for our patrons. The digital newspaper archive [Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers] is such a tremendous help! We have had patrons look up car manual, consumer reports articles and use NoveList. Homeschool families have used BadgerLink for it's many reliable research opportunities and curriculum support resources. TeachingBooks has been helpful to enhance book clubs and promote books from our collection.
We had a BadgerLink seminar to give our staff an overview of all the amazing resources offered.
- Spooner Memorial Library