Teens

Change in library services effective Monday, Nov. 30

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Dear PT Library Community,
Based on the Pennsylvania Department of Health recent stay at home advisory, we are taking the following actions to protect our community until further notice:

The library building will be open to the public on Wednesday, Nov. 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 and Saturday, Nov. 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The library building WILL CLOSE TO THE PUBLIC beginning Monday, Nov. 30. Library Staff will continue to work in the building to provide library materials and remote services Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This change will remain in effect until further notice.

Curbside Pickup Service will be available Monday through Saturday during library staff hours with an extended 3-week loan period. Please place your requests online for all items in the WAGGIN catalog. When you receive an email/text/phone call that your items are available, drive to the library, and park in any designated Curbside Pickup space in front of the building. Call 724.941.9430 #1 when you arrive. Library staff will deliver your items in a plastic bag to the trunk of your car.

Curbside Pickup Service will be available to pick up kits for Adult/Youth Services programming. After you register for a program, you will receive an email with pick up directions when your kit is ready.

We will be accepting returns. You can place library materials in a plastic bag in the black RETURNS bins located at the library front entrance during library staff hours. The outside Book Drop will be open when library staff is not in the building. We quarantine all returns for 72 hours.

We are not accepting book donations, meeting room applications, or scheduling any library volunteers at this time.

The library computers will not be available during this time.

We will continue to offer programs virtually. We will announce these programs through our library newsletter (subscribe here), on the library Events Calendar, and the Peters Township Public Library Facebook page. Visit the library’s YouTube Channel for playlists which include all of our virtual programs. Virtual classes and programs will also be available via Zoom.

If you have questions, please email us at ptlib@ptlibrary.org.

Please check your email for further updates about reopening the library building and in-person library services. We appreciate your patience and look forward to safely serving you soon.

Lacey Love, Library Director

Meet the PTPL WAGGIN Chat Team!

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For two years, the library has participated in a free resource for all residents of Pennsylvania called Chat with a Librarian. Anyone can get accurate, unbiased information online from a real librarian 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, our staff joined with librarians and paraprofessionals from across the WAGGIN network to form a new service called WAGGIN Chat, which would offer personalized service to all residents of Washington, Fayette, and Greene Counties.

As part of the Pennsylvania Chat with a Librarian service, residents are still able to receive 24-7 reference and research help. On Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., WAGGIN staff is working online to answer your questions directly, either through live chat or via an email question form.  Whether you need help with homework, genealogy resources, or how to find a business, visit waggin.org/chat. There you can submit your question online for a quick response.

Eight PTPL staff members received training to offer this new chat service. In addition to their regular duties, they help remote library users with questions throughout the day. Coordinated by Ed Wolf, PTPL Information Technology and Reference Librarian, the group has been very successful.  They will serve as a best practices model for other libraries in the state as they set up their chat participation.

Our local staff is available to help via chat during library hours. You can use this service if our library is not open, but understand you will be communicating with a Pennsylvanian librarian who does not work locally. They will not be able to answer questions about overdue materials, renewals, or other account-specific activity. For those types of individualized questions, you can submit your question to  www.waggin.org/email-us.

Celebrate Your Right to Read!

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Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in both libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unpopular or challenging to their personal beliefs.

Banned Books Week was first launched in the 1980s and has grown to reach over 2 billion readers every year. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. Having these conversations and sharing this information is important. We hope that you will join us from September 27 through October 3 in exploring some of the diverse books that have been challenged in recent years. Please watch the video below created by PT Library staff to learn more!

Visit our Banned Books Display in the Main Lobby and take a few books with you to read! Learn more about Banned Books Week on these websites:

Banned Books Display

 

Ride the Wave with Gab Bonesso

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If you find your days full of worry about getting sick, losing your job, or making decisions about your child’s education, you are not alone. Over 53% of adults in the United States ” reported that their mental health has been negatively impacted due to worry and stress over the coronavirus” in a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

To help with coping methods to deal with anxiety, the Peters Township Public Library will host award-winning comic performer Gab Bonesso via a Zoom presentation on World Mental Health Day, Saturday, October 10 at 7:00 p.m. Bonesso will share an interactive look at her successes and struggles with mental health issues. In her “Ride the Wave” talk, she will focus on staying positive, healthy, and creative during difficult times, incorporating her famous humor throughout.

Registration is required for access to this free event suitable for adults and teens. Register online here.

Gab Bonesso is a nationally renowned performer, comedian, musician, and motivational speaker, best known for her award-winning school assembly programs and concert appearances.

Based in Pittsburgh, performer Gab Bonesso has spent the last eight years traveling the U.S. with a series of unique and interactive musical comedy programs for children, teens, and families. Over 800 school, community, church, camp, library, and festival locations across fifteen U.S. states have featured her work, and she has directly engaged an estimated 400,000 youth, educator, and adult participants in the process.

Gab has appeared on CBS and PBS television for her efforts and received regular airplay on renowned radio stations such as WXPN Kids Corner and WYEP-FM with her music. She garnered national press and awards for her live appearances and has partnered with organizations like Reading is Fundamental, American Eagle Outfitters, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and many more. Gab’s programs utilize original music, interactive comedy, and educational discussion to explore themes of tolerance,  positive expression, bullying awareness, and above all, the use of creativity as an alternative to negative expression.

Museum Experience Kits

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UPDATED: August 3, 2021

The Peters Township Public Library offers WAGGIN library cardholders access to a variety of local historical sites and museums through a “Museum Experience Kit.”

The sites in the kits include:

 

You can check out a kit for one week. Each offers complimentary admission for up to four people to each site. Kits include educational support materials and itinerary suggestions tailored to each site. Check availability at the Information Services Desk.

Budd Baer Subaru in Washington, Pa. is sponsoring the kits through a partnership with the History Center Affiliates Program (HCAP). The program includes more than 125 regional historical societies and organizations dedicated to preserving local history.

Myra R. Oleynik announces retirement plans

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Dear PT Library Community,

 

I want to thank you for the opportunity to serve as the Director of the Peters Township Public Library for the past five years. Last month, I announced my plan to retire to the Peters Township Council, PTPL Staff, PT Library Board, and The Peters Township Library Foundation. I intended to share this decision earlier in the spring. When the pandemic hit in early March, I put those plans on the back burner and chose to focus my attention on working through the PA Red, Yellow and Green Phases. I am pleased to report that we have successfully re-opened the library doors to the public, keeping the health and safety of the staff and community as our priority. The Township is in the process of receiving applications for my position. We are currently working together on a transition plan as my last official day will be July 20, 2020.

 

I began working at the library in July 2015. One month before, I had retired from 36 years of service in the Peters Township School District as an elementary classroom teacher and school librarian. It has been an honor to act as your library director for the past five years. I learned something new every day! Now the time has come to retire (for the second time) so that I can spend more time on the needs of my family. I want to thank the entire community for their support. My staff and I ventured to open books, doors, and minds with extraordinary programming, several renovations, a new website, and many fresh initiatives. I will miss my dedicated staff, our volunteers, and the hundreds of library visitors I met. It has been a joy to work in the delightful community where I was born and raised, bought a home, settled down with my husband to raise our family, and now to retire.

 

As I leave my position as library director, my wish for you is in these words from Ralph Waldo Emerson – “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”

 

Warmest regards,
Myra R. Oleynik
Library Director