The Penn Museum’s doors are still closed, but take a look at their virtual tours and activities for kids and adults. From Galleries at Home, to Lecture Playlists, to learning to write your name in hieroglyphs, there is plenty to interest you virtually.
See all of the Penn Museum’s offerings here.
For the diction disinclined.
Is writing just not for you, or is the thought of filling a page with just words and calendar spreads too daunting? Try keeping an art journal instead.
An art journal is similar to a sketchbook, but different in its approach. With an art journal, you want it to be a visual diary, a reflection of your life, your dreams, your feelings, your fears. For example, you could include visuals of your hobbies or passions. If you like gardening or plants, you can draw little representations of your plants, give them names, decorate with stickers. Or maybe you had a really bad day, and you just want to splatter a couple of pages with some dark colors. Whatever works for you, whatever allows you to unload, to relax, to express yourself, to reflect on your feelings or your life, is perfect for an art journal.
Another key difference between a sketchbook and an art journal is that you don’t have to be particularly artistically talented to keep an art journal. While having a sketchbook means that you have to, well, sketch, an art journal can be anything you want it to be. You can fill it with photos, polaroids, printed pictures, colorful washi tapes, aesthetic quotes, drawings and paintings and watercolors and sketches and scribbles – whatever suits your artistic fancy. If you can’t draw, fill it with photos. Print out titles in pretty fonts. Line the borders of your pages with washi tape and stickers. It’s up to you. The journal is your canvas.At the end, you will have a visual record of your life. But it also doesn’t need to be only visual. If an entirely visual journal is just as daunting as an entirely written journal, combine them. Write out something in the center and then draw or decorate in the margins. Or draw and decorate the middle and then write in the margins. Or mix it up throughout the entire page, turn the page on its side, write and draw on alternate pages, write something within your artwork.
Just have fun with it. Surprise yourself, and see what you can create.
Resources & Inspiration:
“How to Combine Drawing and Writing into Deeply Personal Art Journals” from My Modern Met
“How to Start an Art Journal” from Quiddity
Have you seen the latest issue of Yoga Journal magazine on Flipster? Inside are recipes to boost your immune system and articles about the science of better balance, how to deepen your practice with Mudras and how yoga and meditation can help overcome mental blocks and enhance focus.
Also included is a special feature about authors Elizabeth Gilbert and Jennifer Pastiloff, sharing their ideas for bringing self-care to women who need it most.
Between these pages are a variety of lifestyle tips and recommended yoga positions you can do at home.
It’s easy to read Yoga Journal magazine. Go to https://chescolibraries.org/downloads and scroll to Flipster to sign in with your library card.
In case you haven’t heard, you can currently access Ancestry Library Edition remotely when you log into your Chester County Library System account. This database is a substantial resource for genealogical research that encompasses records from the U.S. as well as many other countries.
Normally, this database is only available inside of the library. ProQuest and Ancestry have extended remote access through the end of July, and will reevaluate remote access on a monthly basis.
If you would like to start researching your family tree, you can access Ancestry by logging into your library account here. You will need your library card number and PIN to access your account (instructions for creating a PIN, if you don’t already have one, are here). Once you are logged in, you will see a link that asks you to “Click here to access Ancestry.com remotely.”
Happy researching! Please contact us if you have questions about using Ancestry or conducting genealogical research.
Now that it’s officially summer, will you head outdoors and sink into a comfortable chair with a new book on your device? What will you read? Something light, like a beach read or a summer romance? Maybe a mystery or some historical fiction. If you like nonfiction, perhaps a book on mindfulness or travel.
You can browse all these genres on OverDrive:
Maybe you want to flip through a new magazine. We have more than 100 magazines ready for you on Flipster. Visit https://chescolibraries.org/downloads and scroll to Flipster to sign in with your library card.
Or if you’re ready to try our curbside pickup, search our catalog at ccls.org or look for suggestions on NovelistPlus.
Learn more about curbside pickup here.
You’re just a download or a hold away from your next great read!
By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control–relegating millions to a permanent second-class status–even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness.
Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey of how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today’s racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.
Book summaries taken from chester.overdrive.com
Get in touch with the present.
Thinking of ways to become more in touch with yourself during this quarantine? Sometimes it can be easy to get lost in the monotony of the “new normal” in quarantine, so some helpful and healthy mindfulness prompts can help bring to mind what made each day special. Mindfulness is about connecting the mind, soul, and body, so that you can be in the moment, rather than letting your thoughts drift off into anxious, dark places. By focusing on the present and bringing gratitude and gratefulness into each day, mindfulness can be extremely therapeutic.
There are tons of mindfulness prompts that can be used while journaling that can help your juices start to flow. Many of these prompts ask questions like “What things am I most grateful for in my life,” “How am I impacting other people around me daily,” “Some areas that I’d like to improve in my life are…”. Clearly, a lot of these prompts dig into some areas that may not feel super comfortable, but by addressing them and putting them out on paper, they bring a sense of awareness and understanding. The thing that I like the most about mindfulness journaling is that it grounds me and helps me to understand myself better. If I am in a bad mood, sometimes mindfulness journaling can help me realize why I am feeling cranky, and it gives me the tools I need to improve my mood.
If you are interested in diving deeper into the world of mindfulness journaling, there are many resources available online. My favorite mindfulness writer is Katie Dalebout, and I learn a lot about being mindful, grateful, and present through her podcast “Let it Out.” There are many mindfulness prompts available online as well, which can greatly help with starting the process.
Resources & Inspiration:
Katie Dalebout’s website
“Why You Need a Mindful Journal Practice and Tips to Get You Started” from YogiApproved
“10 Tips for Mindful Writing and Meditative Journaling” from DevelopGoodHabits
“Mindful Journaling: 50 Unique Technique Topics and Writing Tips for Beginners” from Your Body The Temple
VIRTUAL TRAINING: CITIZENSHIP BASICS
Empower yourself and your students with knowledge about U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
**This program will be focused on training English Tutors to assist their students.**
Join Jwana Smith, a Community Relations Officer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who will go over the basics of immigration and applying for citizenship for English tutors interested in assisting their students with these topics. We will focus on resources that USCIS provides for those wishing to pursue citizenship.
Thursday, June 25th, 6:30-8:30PM
Please register here in order to receive the Zoom link: https://bit.ly/3diA6B4
A Zoom link will be emailed to registrants 2 hours before the program starts. Make sure to check the email address you registered with to receive the link. You do not need a Zoom account to attend the virtual program.
Please also note that while we will be taking questions during the program, if you have any you’d like to submit in advance to make sure the topic is covered, you can send them to Jamie Claxton at jclaxton@ccls.org.
Now is the perfect time to make your house a haven of comfort and beauty, using your own hands. A great place to start is by getting ideas from Do It Yourself magazine, available on Flipster. The summer issue is full of ways to make that happen.
Inside this “Dream It, Do It” issue are many “how to” ideas. Here are just a few:
It’s easy to read Do It Yourself and all our Flipster magazines. Visit https://chescolibraries.org/downloads and scroll to Flipster to sign in with your library card.
What DIY project will you take on?
We are holding our existing book groups as virtual programs. Please see our July titles and dates below. These groups are all being held online via Zoom. We are requiring registration for these online book groups in order to send out the Zoom meeting information. Click on the date below to register. Information on our adult book groups can also be found on our website: http://bit.ly/chescolibs-bookgroups.
Evening Book Group
Monday, July 6, 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
There There by Tommy Orange
Comics Unbound Group
Monday, June 20, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Read a book by a Black author, Black artist, or a book that describes the Black experience. This Goodreads list may be helpful for finding titles: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/80929.African_American_Graphic_Novels
Afternoon Book Group
Wednesday, July 15, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart
Whodunits Book Group
Thursday, July 16, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Force of Nature by Jane Harper
The Page Turners Book Group will be back in September.
A Zoom link will be emailed to registrants 2 hours before the program starts. Make sure to check the email address you registered with to receive the link. You do not need a Zoom account to attend the virtual program.
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