Financial tools and more are available at the click of a button

By Lori Belongia

Marshfield Public Library Director

Because there is nothing like “current investment information,” for decades the Marshfield Public Library has provided investment advising services such as Value Line Investment Survey, Morningstar Mutual Funds, Standard & Poor’s, Kiplinger Letter or Kiplinger Washington Letter, and a number of Standard & Poor’s publications like “The Security Owner’s Stock Guide,” “The Bond Guide,” and “The Outlook,” as well as the Wall Street Journal and Investor’s Business Daily.

For those managing investment portfolios, we have been purchasing these regularly updated and pricey resources as reference tools available in the library. However, the updated pieces are delivered via mail, sometimes arriving later than the nimble investor might desire.

Recently, we had the opportunity to improve access to two of these investment tools. Morningstar Investment Research Center and Value Line Investment Survey are now available online with your library card through the library’s website. To access these new tools or any of the library’s electronic resources, visit marshfieldlibrary.org.

At the library’s home page, locate the “Search” tab in the upper center of the page, and just beneath it is the “E-Sources” link. Clicking on the “E-Sources” link takes you to an alphabetical list of the library’s many electronic resources. Then you simply select the tool that you wish to use, in this case either Morningstar or Value Line.

When connecting to these tools through a home, school, or work internet connection, you will be asked to enter your library bar code number. That is the series of numbers below the bar coding on your library card. Enter that number without spaces, click on the enter button, and it will connect you to the correct e-source.

If you have difficulties with any of the steps in the process, please contact the library’s reference center by calling 715-387-8494, ext. 2 during open hours or emailing refdesk@marshfieldlibrary.org.

If you do not have a library card, it is pretty easy to get one. All you need to do is stop in at the library with a current photo ID with a current address, which would be on a Wisconsin State ID Card or Wisconsin driver’s license. It will take five minutes to fill out a registration card and hear about the library’s services and materials.

Due to the way the library is funded, if you live in Marathon County, outside of the Town of McMillan, an annual subscription fee is required to obtain a Marshfield Public Library card. That subscription fee is $127.33 per household, but then we apply the 70 percent reimbursement that Marathon County currently pays to help its residents use the Marshfield Public Library. This drops the total to $38.20 for everyone living at a single address to access to our materials, e-sources, and services.

To keep up with what is happening with the Library & Community Center project, visit mplcc.marshfieldlibrary.org.