CLPL joins BEACON
Public Library is now a BEACON library! Our library has joined a consortia of sixty North Iowa school and public libraries in order to strengthen the services we offer to our community. Our online catalog is now more visual and easier to browse, and a catalog especially designed for younger children even has a mascot, Scout, to guide youngsters in their searching.
The library’s new web site here at http://www.cllibrary.org/ offers plentiful information about the library and easy access to contact library staff. Use your library card number to establish an online account. Databases and information resources available on the website have also increased. Through our local library website users can also browse the catalogs of other BEACON member libraries. Clear Lake Public Library card holders may use their library cards to check out items from BEACON member libraries at no cost.
Learn a language online with BYKI (Before You Know It)
The Clear Lake Public Library is now offering the BYKI (Before You Know It) online language learning system. BYKI offers interactive language learning activities in over 85 languages. The system functions in short online lessons that are self-paced. These activities train a user in recognizing a foreign language by sight and sound. To access go to BYKI Online Learning. Among the 85 languages currently offered by BYKI are Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Norwegian, Danish, Russian, and Greek.
Heard any good books lately?
Library users now have anytime, anywhere access to a dynamic collection of digital audio
books through the new library service NEIBORS, the North Eastern Iowa Bridge to Online Resource Sharing, http://neibors.lib.overdrive.com. The NEIBORS project involves a consortium of 94 member public libraries.
With a valid library card, members of participating libraries can log onto the digital library website, install the free software, check out and download popular and classic titles to their PC, and then transfer to a portable MP3 player, or even burn some titles to CD and listen in the car.
Among the growing collection are romance, mystery, and classic literature audio books. Non-fiction titles include biography, humor, business, careers, and more. The 24/7 free access includes audio books from best selling authors like Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, and James Patterson, in addition to classic titles from authors such as Leo Tolstoy and Edgar Allen Poe. There is also a selection of titles for teen readers.
Registered library card holders can check out up to two titles at a ttime, and at the end of a 7 or 14 day lending period, the audio books will expire from their PC and are automatically returned into the NEIBORS digital collection. With the digital titles, there are no late fees. The service is free, easy-to-use, and best of all, available anytime from anywhere.
DearReader.Com
It's free, fun, easy to access, and perfect for time pressed people. DearReader.com is an on-line book club sponsored by the Friends of the Clear Lake Public Library that delivers 
daily five minute excerpts from new book releases via email. By the end of the week, you will have read the first two or three chapters, and if you wish to continue with the book, you can reserve a copy through the Clear Lake Library. DearReader.com is actually eleven different book clubs: Fiction; Nonfiction; Mystery; Romance; Teen; Business; Horror; Good News; Audio Books; Pre-Publication; and Science Fiction. You may sign up for as many clubs as are of interest to you. This is a great way to discover new authors and expand your reading horizons.
LearningExpressLibrary.com
Life has just become a little easier for Clear Lake Public Library card holders who are enrolled in school at any level, pursuing a career, or job hunting. The Clear Lake Public Library Foundation has purchased access to the interactive test and tutoring site - LearningExpressLibrary.com. This website offers online practice tests and tutorials for students and adult learners to aid them in successfully passing academic and professional exams.
Online practice tests are available for GED, ACT, SAT, GRE, GMAT, advanced placement and college entrance exams. Skill improvement tutorial tests are provided for elementary, middle and high school levels. Professional exams cover a wide range of careers including armed services, corrections, cosmetology, medical fields, business and education. Practice for the U.S. Citizenship exam is also available. The site provides immediate scoring of practice exams, with complete answer explanations.
Information is also provided on resume preparation, job searching, and interviewing. Clear Lake Public Library cardholders are able to access this site for free. For information on how to obtain a free library card, or for more about LearingExpressLibrary.com, contact the library at 357-6133.
Wireless Internet Access available at the Clear Lake Public Library
The Clear Lake Public Library offers free wireless "WiFi" access to the internet for users with properly equipped laptop computers. Wireless service is available in locations on the upper level of the library during the hours that the library is open to the public. The library is open 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday thru Thursday, and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
To connect to the library's wireless netork, the user must provide a laptop conforming to the "WiFi" standard. This is often standard on new laptops. Older laptops may need to be fitted with a wireless network interface card to access the system. All wireless access users should have up-to-date virus protection on their computers.
Most "WiFi" equipment will be compatible. However, the library cannot guarantee the compatibility of your equipment with the library's netowrk. When persons use wireless Internet in the library, they are accepting the library's policy on Internet access. In addition to the wireless internet access, the library also offers public access to the internet through the library computers for free. For more information, contact the library at 357-6133.