News

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.

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.

Michael Haritan, a Peters Township resident and professional photographer, went to the Ukraine in 2016 and 2018 to produce a photodocumentation of the abandoned city of Pripyat and the last remaining persons living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – the scene of the nuclear disaster in 1986.

Haritan will share his story and photos at Chernobyl: The World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster on Thursday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. at the Peters Township Public Library. Register to attend this program by calling 724.941.9430 #1.

This timeline presentation is a view of the catastrophe from its origins in the plant’s primitive design, careless management, and safety protocols, to the economic and political crisis the accident precipitated. Haritan recognized that the censored and forgotten stories had to be told. His personal photographs and video gives a haunting documentation of the nuclear reactor disaster site, the abandoned city of Pripyat, a psychiatric institution and orphanage. His talk will enlighten the audience with a rare view of not just a calamitous event, but a place and the people who once worked, lived and died.

Escape the snow and cold at the Peters Township Public Library by visiting a free Backyard Wilderness display during library hours now through mid-April. The family-friendly, interactive exhibit features:

• a scavenger hunt for 15 hidden plants and animals
• “telescopes” that provide more information about the creatures they are pointing at
• tips on how to become an outdoor explorer
• inspiring quotes hidden in the tree roots

The library was awarded a grant from HHMI Tangled Back Studios to host the display. It is part of a campaign designed to get kids excited about exploring the outdoors and observing the ecosystems around them. Beginning in March, the Youth Services Department will offer programming for families that want to spend more time studying nature together like Backyard Birdies on Saturday, March 2, 10 to 10:45 a.m., Are You a Citizen Scientist? on Tuesday, March 12, 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. and World Water Day Celebration on Thursday, March 21, 10 to 10:45 a.m.

Plans are underway for additional programs that will be offered in partnership with the Peters Township Parks and Recreation Department later in the spring.

For more information about the Backyard Wilderness display or to register for one of the March programs, call the Youth Services Department at 724.941. 9430 #3.

Finding the right preschool for your child can be an exciting yet stressful task. To help area parents gather the information they need to make the best choice, the Peters Township Public Library will offer a Preschool-A-Palooza on Saturday, January 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

While parents ask questions of representatives from area preschools, Children’s Librarian Linda Esposito will offer activities for children including games, crafts, and a basket raffle.  Preschools and other organizations participating in the event include:

• Bowers School House Preschool
• Center Church Christian Preschool
• The Goddard School
• Justabout Pediatric Therapy
• Macaroni Kid
• Namaste Montessori of Peters
• Noah’s Ark Preschool
• St. Ben’s Catholic Preschool
• St. David’s Christian Early Learning Center
• St. Louise de Marillac Catholic Preschool
• Sunshine Kids
• Tender Shepherd Preschool

Register online to attend this family-friendly event. Walk-ins welcome too!