News

The Great Halloween Costume Swap Returns!

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The library is bringing back the Great Halloween Costume Swap on Saturday, October 5. Instead of purchasing new costumes each year, the library staff aims to encourage the community to swap their slightly used costumes to save resources, packaging, transportation costs, and money.

Persons interested in participating can drop off gently-used costumes for children, teens or adults on Thursday, October 3 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. or Friday, October 4 from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. at the library. Costumes should be in GREAT condition. Participants will get a token for each costume donated for the swap. Return on Saturday, October 5 from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. with your token and shop for a swap. Any costumes and accessories remaining will be donated to a local charity in the South Hills area.

A Novel November with Anna Quindlen

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Anna Quindlen will be the featured author for The Peters Township Library Foundation’s 3rd annual Novel November on Thursday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for the event will go on sale on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 12 noon online at https://www.showclix.com/event/anna-quindlen. A limited of number of tickets will be available to purchase at the Library Services Desk.

Ticket prices are $60 for VIP, $20 for Adult General Admission, and $5 for Student General Admission. General Admission tickets for adults/students will be sold at the door that evening if available. The venue for this event will be the Peters Township High School Auditorium at 264 East McMurray Road in McMurray. Doors open for General Admission at 6:15 p.m. An ASL interpreter will be provided at the event. A book signing will follow the program. Books will be sold by Riverstone Books.

VIP tickets will include:

  1. A Pre-event reception/book signing with Anna Quindlen from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m.
  2. Passed hors-d’oeuvres by Chef Garnett Livingston of La Maison
  3. VIP reserved seating
  4. Your choice of one of six Anna Quindlen titles, selected during the ticket purchase process


About Anna Quindlen
Bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and social critic Anna Quindlen has appeared in some of America’s most influential newspapers, magazines, and prominent fiction and non-fiction bestseller lists.

Even before blogs existed, she was the go-to writer for millions of readers on the joys and challenges of family, motherhood, and modern life. Bringing to the stage her ability to balance the political with the personal, Quindlen discusses every aspect of our culture from work-life balance and education to health care, philanthropy, and social justice.

Quindlen’s newest New York Times bestseller, Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting, celebrates the love and joy and many lessons learned from being a grandmother. Her latest bestselling novel, Alternate Side, is a provocative look at what it means to be a mother, a wife, and a woman at a moment of reckoning.  

Thirteen of Quindlen’s books, including seven of her novels, have appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers list. One True Thing became a feature film starring Renee Zellweger and Meryl Streep, and Black and Blue was made into a TV movie. Her book,  A Short Guide to A Happy Life, sold well over one million copies. 

Quindlen’s memoir on aging, Lots Of Candles, Plenty Of Cake debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list, while her follow-up bestseller, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, debuted at #3. 

One of the top “100 Outstanding Journalists in the United States of the Last 100 Years,” Quindlen began her career at age 18 as a copy girl. She spent three years as a reporter for The New York Post before moving to The New York Times in 1977. Working her way up The Times’ masthead, Quindlen wrote the “About New York” column, served as deputy metropolitan editor, and created the weekly “Life in the 30’s” column. 

In 1990, Quindlen became the third woman in The New York Times’ history to write for its influential Op-Ed page. Her nationally syndicated column “Public and Private” won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992, and then, Quindlen wrote the “Last Word” column for Newsweek for 10 years. 

Quindlen serves on the Board of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and is an American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow. The Child Welfare League of America established “The Anna Quindlen Award for Excellence in Journalism on Behalf of Children and Families.” She holds honorary degrees from more than 20 colleges and universities.

Still Family Storytime

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The library is once again partnering with The Still Remembered Project and WQED to offer a memorable storytime for children and families who have experienced loss. The program will offer encouraging and uplifting stories and activities to help children understand loss and grief. We will be joined by Clifford the Big Red Dog for lots of hugs and photos. This program is being facilitated by Ms. Shannon in memory of her niece Scarlett Pauley. 

Please register online to let us know you and your family members will be joining us.

The Still Remembered Project provides bereaved parents and families Christian-based support and encouragement for a loss due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death. Their efforts offer hope and healing throughout all stages of the grief journey. They accomplish this mission by:

– Educating local medical and bereavement communities,
– Providing remembrance keepsakes to families,
– Holding awareness events, and
– Hosting a monthly peer support group meeting for bereaved mothers.

For more information, contact Shannon Pauley at 724.941.9430 #3.

Read Local/Eat Local Returns!

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The Peters Township Public Library will host 25 local authors at its 2nd annual Read Local/Eat Local event on Saturday, June 22 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The library is encouraging the community to read books by Pennsylvania authors that represent all genres for all age groups. No registration required to attend.

Authors at the event will include:

Kicking off the event at 10:00 a.m. will be a talk by New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict followed by a book signing. Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College with a focus in History and Art History, and a cum laude graduate of the Boston University School of Law. While practicing as a lawyer, Marie dreamed of a fantastical job unearthing the hidden historical stories of women — and finally found it when she tried her hand at writing.  

She embarked on a new, narratively connected series of historical novels with The Other Einstein, which tells the tale of Albert Einstein’s first wife, a physicist herself, and the role she might have played in his theories. The following novel in this series is Carnegie’s Maid, which tells the story of one brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie’s transformation from ruthless industrialist into the world’s first true philanthropist. Marie’s 3rd installment in the series, The Only Woman in the Room, was published in January of 2019. A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of Hedy Lamarr, glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication, The Only Woman in the Room is a masterpiece. Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie also published the historical novels The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, and Brigid of Kildare. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Advance registration is requested for Ms. Benedict’s talk as seating is limited. Call 724.941.9430 #1 to register to attend. Independent bookstore Riverstone Books will be handling books sales for Marie Benedict that day. To preorder your books before Read Local/Eat Local, call Riverstone Books at 412.366.1001.

No registration is required to attend the rest of the Read Local/Eat Local event.

Concluding the event at 1:00 p.m., Robin Carroll from Riverstone Books will offer tips for authors about marketing themselves and their books, working with an independent book seller, and discuss opportunities for events at their bookstore.

Plan to Eat Local while at this free event or passing through the area. Three food trucks, Burgh Bites, Southside BBQ Company, and Udderly Fresh, will be in the library parking lot with refreshments for sale that afternoon.

For more information about Read Local/Eat Local, call the library at 724.941.9430 ext. 5771.

Hitler’s Vendetta Against the Austrian Royals

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Learn more about Hitler’s campaign to destroy the Austrian Royal family when Peters Township Public Library will host Professor James Longo to discuss his book Hitler and the Habsburgs: The Fuhrer’s Vendetta Against the Austrian Royals on Thursday, May 30 at 7:00 p.m. Register to attend this free program by calling 724.941.9430 #1. A reception will follow the event.

“My book is the result of a decade of research and interviews with Habsburg descendants exploring the roots of Hitler’s determination to destroy the family of the dead Archduke, and their courageous fight to survive,” said Longo.

James Longo is Professor of Education, and Education Department Chair at Washington & Jefferson College. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and Distinguished Chair of the Gender and Women’s Study Program at Alpen-Adrian University in Austria and has lectured throughout Europe and America. His book Isabel Orleans-Braganza: The Brazilian Princess Who Freed the Slaves was nominated for the Yale University Gilda Lehman Frederick Douglass Book Prize for the “most outstanding non-fiction book in English on the subject of slavery and abolition.” Hitler and the Habsburgs was nominated for Overdrive’s Big Library Read Program, which is their first-ever ‘global eBook club’ and will connect readers around the world by reading the same eBook at the same time.

Summer Hours for 2019

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The Peters Township Public Library will be closed on Sundays beginning May 5 through and including September 1, 2019.

Library hours during the rest of the week are Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Fridays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

For more information, visit the library’s web site at ptlibrary.org or call 724.941.9430.