Looking for something to quickly pull together for dinner with what you have in your pantry or fridge? Here are some quick and easy ideas where there’s some flexibility with items that can be substituted.
Also check out these eBooks:
Category: Adult Resources
Free Personal Finance Workshops
In partnership with the United Way Financial Stability Center, Open Hearth, Inc. is making a number of FREE Personal Financial Workshop Offerings available to consumers through ZOOM during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Home Buying Basics
- Good Credit – How to Get It!
- Finances for a Lifetime
- Car Buying: Put Yourself in the Driver’s Seat
- Financing Your First Home
- Save Like a Millionaire!
- Paying for College/Vocational Training
Virtual Program: The Death of Privacy
Lawrence Husick, a technology attorney and terrorism expert, will discuss modern privacy issues from multiple perspectives. We are surrounded by surveillance cameras, smart phones, facial recognition systems, and other technologies that seem to know more about us than we know about ourselves. What should we think about the erosion of our privacy? Lawrence will discuss legal, social, technological and economic viewpoints. Is it possible to live privately, “off the grid,” in modern American society?
Join us for a Zoom lecture on April 21 at 6:30 p.m. Please register here.
All registrants will receive an email with the Zoom connection information on Tuesday morning, April 21.
National Poetry Month – brush up on your knowledge with these library resources
Did you know that in 1862, Emily Dickinson is thought to have composed over three hundred poems? Or that Robert Frost, who wrote in formal meter, compared his contemporaries’ experimentation with free verse to “playing tennis with the net down”? Maybe you’d like to know more about the works of beloved poet Mary Oliver who passed away in 2019. These facts plus literature and information about poets and their works are available through our library databases.
LitFinder (POWER Library) – discover literature content from more than 150,000 full-text poems, 840,000 poem citations and excerpts, 7,100 full-text short stories and novels, 3,800 full-text essays published in the 16th-20th centuries, 2,400 full-text speeches, and 1,250 full-text plays. It also includes biographies, work summaries, photographs, and a glossary. Within LitFinder’s collection, users can access works from over 80,000 authors from 660 nationalities.
MasterFile Premier – provides subject overviews, full text for magazine articles, an image collection and AP clips. Excellent resource for student research and classroom instruction. Information is rich, reliable, and easy-to-use.
ONEFILE: High School Edition (POWER Library) – offers access to age-appropriate content from magazines, journals, newspapers, reference books, and engaging multi-media covering a wide range of subjects, from science, history, and literature to political science, sports, and environmental studies.
Contemporary Authors (POWER Library) – provides a guide to current authors in popular fields, based on the print set Contemporary Authors
Click here to search our catalog for downloadable eBooks and eAudiobooks about poets and poetry:
And on the web, here are three links about poets and poetry:
- 9 Modern and Contemporary Poets Everyone Can (And Should) Read – from superscholar.org
- The 32 Most Iconic Poems in the English Language – from lithub.com
- Contemporary American Poets – from poets.org
Join the celebration of National Poetry Month
and take advantage of these great poetry resources!
Backyard bird watching
As the temperatures warm and you spend more time outdoors in your yard or
walking the neighborhood, you may be more acutely aware of the birdsongs in the air as spring gets into full swing. If you have the time, this may be a great opportunity to begin identifying some of the birds creating these beautiful (or possibly annoying) sounds.
There are several free apps available for either iOS or Android phones that can help you in this endeavor. Two of the more reputable ones are the Merlin Bird ID app (created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) and the Audubon Bird Guide app (from the National Audubon Society). Learn which birds are most common in your neighborhood at this time of year, look at their photos, listen to their different songs and cries, and find out more about their migration and nesting habits.
Slowing down our pace of life can certainly open up whole new worlds to explore in nature, and free apps like these can help you take the first steps. Happy Birding!
PennDOT COVID-19 Info
Is your vehicle inspection, registration, driver’s license, or other PennDOT-related item scheduled to expire? Visit PennDOT‘s COVID-19 info page to learn about extended expiration dates, 24/7 online services, service updates, and more.
Scroll down PennDOT‘s COVID-19 info page to the Driver and Vehicle Services section to find a list of questions and answers related to Driver and Vehicle Services.
Help Support Local Businesses
Currently our local restaurants are not open for dining-in but many are open for take-out meals. Why not support your local eatery by getting take out? Many have safe curbside pick-up, free delivery or services like Ubereats, Doordash, and even Postmates are still operating during this time. You are practicing social distancing, taking a break from cooking or leftovers, and providing some revenue to a local eatery who needs it.
“Curtis is Here”: Enjoy musical performances from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music
“Join the Curtis Institute of Music weekdays at noon EDT for a new YouTube video series. Curated around themes that change weekly, the ‘Curtis Is Here‘ initiative features videos of favorite or rarely seen Curtis performances accompanied by welcoming commentary from members of the Curtis community. There’s a new release each weekday, Monday through Friday, and all releases remain online for viewers to explore anytime.”
Visit Curtis’ Watch Online page to sign up to receive “Curtis is Here” weekly schedules via email, and to learn about additional online viewing opportunities.
Curtis also welcomes you to explore “recordings from our extensive archive, from highlights to full concerts,” shared via their YouTube channel.
Tips for Avoiding Stimulus Check Scams
United Way of Chester County has provided some tips for avoiding stimulus check scams.
For more information about avoiding COVID-19 scams, click here.
Collaborative music for you to enjoy, virtually!
Local musicians and musicians around the world are coming together virtually to create some beautiful music. Here are three collaborative performances for you to enjoy.
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