Beginning in the month of August, the Chester County Library and Henrietta Hankin Branch will no longer be charging rental fees for certain items in our Multimedia collection.
All of the DVDs in our collection can be checked out for free starting Sunday, August 1st, which means you can watch as many of your favorite movies and shows as you want without spending a cent! As before, movies are available for one-week loans, TV series for two-week loans. And even our most popular new releases, a three-day loan, are totally free! But it’s not just movies — this change applies to many other items in the collection as well.
Our Binge Boxes are mini movie collections, usually between 4 to 6 DVDs, set around a theme (see our list of Binge Boxes here!). These are great for vacations, parties, or cozy nights in, and will be available for free one-week loans.
Audiobooks will also be free to check out! These include all of our books on CD as well as our collection of Playaways — small, portable players that you can listen to with headphones or an AUX cord in your car. These are great for long car trips or workouts and, like all of our audiobooks, are available for three-week loans.
Our collection of Great Courses — full-length, in-depth courses taught by award-winning professors; will be free as well to checkout with your library card! They come in both audio and video formats, and can be taken out for a three-week loan. Browse our Great Courses here!
This huge selection of exciting materials will be available at no cost to you — so if there is any part of the collection you’d like to explore, August is the time to start! For any questions concerning this change, please call the Multimedia department at Chester County Library at 610-344-5667 or the Henrietta Hankin Branch at 610-334-4191.
The Chester County Library has long supported small business owners and entrepreneurs by providing access to top-notch, authoritative information needed to help them succeed. Most of the Chester County Library’s business resources can be accessed from home with a free Library card through the online Business and Career Center.
Sam Bardarik, Business and Career Librarian and SCORE Volunteer, helps her clients find targeted resources for their specific needs. She meets with clients one-on-one to explain the databases, review catalogs and other resources that are important to the clients’ research objectives. “Owners and entrepreneurs are often surprised by the breadth and usefulness of the resources we offer,” says Bardarik.
The Library offers business and technical skill-building opportunities, often in conjunction with community partners like SCORE, to support business planning, social media, marketing, financial stability and more.
The Role of Market Research Business owners want to deeply understand the competitive environment and target customers prior to making costly, significant product or service decisions. Data-based choices are key to the development of business, marketing and operational strategies before the official launch.
Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA) is the No. 1 resource used to identify demographics and spending habits of key customers, build competitive profiles, inform marketing strategies, and determine ideal neighborhoods and locations to open a new business. “It’s a massive database that can focus down to the street level,” Bardarik explains. Reference Solutions compiles all that information into easy-to-interpret charts, tables, and graphs which can be incorporated into an entrepreneur’s business plan.
Other databases, like Statista and Gale Business Insights: Essentials, provide powerful search capabilities and are easy to use. Users can spend less time hunting for answers to their questions and more time on their market analysis and action plans.
References and Training Other courses cover cybersecurity skills and related programming languages such as Python and Linux.
For nonprofit leaders, the Chester County Library provides visitors with free public access to grant maker directories and grant funders with the Funding Information Network, an international network of libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit agencies.
The Library orders books, e-books, and audiobooks on all critical small business topics. Print books and audiobooks can be placed on hold for pickup at any Chester County Library location.Print and digital magazines can be borrowed or accessed with The Flipster app. All the best titles are available: Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Inc., and Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Forbes, Kiplinger’s and Money.
Most of the Chester County Library’s business resources can be accessed from home with a free Library card through the online Business and Career Center. Stay in touch with Business Center updates on LinkedIn or by signing up for the Business Bulletin newsletter.
SCORE Chester and Delaware Counties is proud to partner with the Chester County Library system, where many local SCORE business workshops were held in-person prior to COVID and are now hosted virtually. Popular topics such as How to Start and Operate a Small Business, Customers and Competitors: Getting the Inside Data and business planning have been featured year after year.
About SCORE SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer business experts, is dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals. Since 1954, SCORE has provided education and mentorship to more than 11 million entrepreneurs nationwide. SCORE Chester and Delaware Counties has been operating since 1985, with 100 dedicated volunteers today who provide confidential mentoring at no charge and offer business seminars, workshops and webinars to benefit the community. SCORE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
The Tokyo 2020 Summer Games are officially here, starting tonight with the Opening Ceremonies and Parade of Nations – taking place just one day shy of the originally scheduled date in 2020. A few sports such as soccer, rowing, archery, and softball have already started competing, and we wish Team USA all of the best!
Children’s books about the Olympics are really helpful when teaching your kids what the games are all about and how important they are when promoting unity and sportsmanship. Here are a few suggestions: G is for Gold Medal: An Olympics Alphabet by Brad Herzog How to Train with a T.Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals by Michael Phelps What Are The Summer Olympics? by Gail Herman Flying High: The Story Of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles by Michelle Meadows A Picture Book of Jesse Owens by David A. Adler Long-Armed Ludy and the First Women’s Olympics by Jean L. S. Patrick
Have you ever been on vacation and run out of reading material? Sitting on the beach not wanting to go to the bookstore? Cozy in a cabin in the woods?
Well, if you have access to WIFI and the Libby app, you are in luck. There are thousands of eBooks and Audiobooks to choose from on Libby. The best part is they are free with your library card and the titles are automatically returned after two weeks. No fines! New titles are added regularly and recent additions include early readers, juvenile bridge books, young adult and CCIU Reading Olympic titles. For more information about the Libby app, visit the downloads tab on the Chescolibraries website.
Since 1985, people in the United States have celebrated Park and Recreation Month in July to promote building strong, vibrant, and resilient communities through the power of parks and recreation, and to recognize the more than 160,000 full-time park and recreation professionals — along with hundreds of thousands of part-time and seasonal workers and volunteers — that maintain our country’s local, state and community parks.
Join us in the great outdoors to celebrate Park and Recreation Month at our StoryWalk® in Exton Park, a ½ mile paved walkway surrounding two playgrounds and a picnic area. The StoryWalk® project consists of 20 reading stations, each featuring a page in a children’s storybook, which promotes health and literacy in young children by encouraging exercise and reading. Their are even some fun interactive activities along the way that you can access with your cellphone along the way. The book currently featured is Ruby’s Birds by Mya Thompson and the StoryWalk® is changed twice a year in the spring and fall.
This summer Henrietta Hankin Branch Library is happy to host local historian, lecturer and teacher emeritus, Roger W. Arthur for Presidential Murders, a 2-part lecture series that begins with “Part 1: Abraham Lincoln” on Monday, July 26th; and finishes up with “Part 2: John F. Kennedy” on Monday, August 2nd. Both programs will be presented virtually on Zoom from 6:00 – 7:30 pm.
“These two presidential murders have been thought to have much in common,” explains Mr. Arthur. “Both victims were shot in the head. Both were attacked from behind and on a Friday. Both were killed in the presence of their wives. One was the first Republican ever elected, while the other was the first Roman Catholic ever elected. Both were elected in a ‘zero’ numbered year. The national shock of these murders stunned the country. Other comparisons between them have been offered but most of those are either false or contrived.”
“With the advance of technology the news of the killings soon spread quickly across the land. One by telegraph, the other by television. Americans craved more news in both cases. The unknown killer of Kennedy was captured within hours. While the nationally famous killer of Lincoln escaped into the night and stayed at large from nearly two weeks. Both murderers were killed before they came to indictment, trial and conviction. Lincoln’s killer was shot by a soldier on duty. Kennedy’s killer murdered him in cold blood in the presence of the police who were there to protect him.”
Mr. Arthur has been fascinated by American history all of his life. He studied it in college, taught it in school and has traveled the country learning about it first hand. He currently teaches Modern American History at Bishop Shanahan High School in Downingtown, PA. In the evenings in the Spring and Fall, he offers a variety of adult enrichment courses at the Chester County Night School, and from time to time is an instructor at Manor College and the Mainline School Night. He is also a special presenter for libraries, clubs and civic groups. Mr. was nominated to be “American History Teacher of the Year” by the Gilder-Lehrman Institute in 2012. His passion for history—and his desire to share it with others—continues to be a central motif of his life.
Register now for one or both of these thought-provoking, interactive programs that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home! To register for Part 1: Abraham Lincoln, click here. To register for Part 2: John F. Kennedy, click here.
The Chester County Library Business and Career Center helps small business owners and job applicants succeed with top-notch, authoritative information. Our LinkedIn page places free tools, news, and assistance at your fingertips. Follow us for:
upcoming library programs (Resume Writing, LinkedIn, Entrepreneurship Panels, and more)
new and highlighted library resources (personalized research and resume consultations, Business Plans Handbook, consumer and industry data, current books and magazines, and more)
events and offers from local organizations (SCORE, PA CareerLink/United Way Financial Stability Center, chambers, Small Business Development Centers, and more)
timely news and articles from big names in business and careers (Harvard Business Review, Philadelphia Business Journal, The Muse, Inc, and more)
Happy Pride Month!🏳🌈 Here are some book suggestions to celebrate.
1) Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color by Gilbert Baker, memoir of the late activist who designed the original rainbow Pride flag. Baker chronicles his beginnings as a repressed child of the 1950s and closeted war veteran, and his foray into gay liberation activism, which led to the now iconic flag’s creation.
2) We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation provides a rich visual history of LGBTQ pride, from the underground communities and post-Stonewall Pride protests, to AIDS activism and the present generation of activists continuing to fight for their rights and liberties.
3) Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen takes readers across numerous, tight-knit LGBTQ communities in the American South. Allen interviews many queer Southerners about their identities and experiences, providing intersections of race, class and religious spirituality often unseen in mainstream perceptions of the community.
4) Everything You Want to Know About Trans (But Were Afraid to Ask) by Brynne Tannehill serves as a primer for anyone curious about the increasingly visible, often misunderstood transgender community. A trans woman herself, Tannehill dispels misconceptions and myths surrounding trans, non-binary and gender-nonconforming people, while also answering questions often considered uncomfortable or difficult.
5) Queer Love in Color by Jamal Jordan is a photo book that provides a rich tapestry of American LGBTQ couples and families across cultures, races, ethnicities and age groups. Jordan includes interviews with each of his subjects, showing the many forms love in the LGBTQ community can take.
6) The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Young People by Adam Mastoon is a candid photo collection illustrating the various experiences of homosexual and bisexual people in their late teens and early twenties. Each of the youth featured in Mastoon’s collection relay their own stories of coming out and self-acceptance of their sexual identities.
The Adult Summer Reading Program, Tails & Tales, is designed for adults age 18 & up to encourage life-long reading habits and runs from June 7, 2021 to August 15, 2021.
Read and/or complete as many activities as you are able using the Bingo card provided at the library Reference Desk. Enter the name of the book, magazine, music CD, or activity (program, museum, park, trail, etc.) on the corresponding numbered line. Please use book titles only once. Except for # 1 and # 22, every other “Reading” square can be completed with any format you prefer — read a print book, an eBook, or listen to an audiobook! Books should be at the adult or young adult reading level. For each square you mark off, your odds of winning a general prize will increase. Get BINGO (5 squares in a row, column, or diagonal) and you will be entered in the Grand Prize drawing. Each participant may earn only one Grand Prize entry.
Can’t come to the library right away to pick up the handouts? You can print out the Bingo card and the Book Review Form at home! You can also fill out the Book Review Form online here if you like.
Need ideas for books to read or listen to? Ask a librarian for a Personalized Reading Suggestion or check out NoveList Plus, our online Reader’s Advisory resource. Check out the Flipster e-magazine resource on your computer or mobile device to help complete your Bingo card activities.
Return your Bingo Card to the Chester County Library or Henrietta Hankin Branch between August 16th and August 28th. Library staff will stamp and count squares completed. Prize winners will be drawn on Monday, August 30th and will be notified by email or phone call.
The Adult Reading Programs are made possible by generous donations from the Friends of the Chester County Library and the Friends of the Henrietta Hankin Branch Library.
Kids, teens and adults, join us on Wednesday, June 16 at 6:00pm for a virtual Didgeridoo Down Under Show. This event is a high-energy, Australian-themed show that combines music, culture, comedy, storytelling and audience movement/participation. The didgeridoo has been played by Aboriginal Australians for at least 1,500 years and is known for its otherworldly sound. But this show is about much more than music. It’s interactive, educational, motivational and super fun! You’ll learn about Aussie culture, animals and more, all while moving & grooving to the pulsing rhythms of the didge!
Registration is required. To register for this special event, please click here. Registration will close two hours prior to the event’s scheduled start time. A Zoom link will be emailed to registrants two 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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