The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is a “free, national digital library that provides a single point of access to cultural heritage materials from more than 4,000 libraries, archives, and museums across the United States.” Explore more than 37 million images, texts, videos, and sounds!

Search the collection or browse by topic, visit online exhibitions (including “America During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic“), or read one of the more than 6,300 eBook titles available on DPLA’s Open Bookshelf (no library card required).

Working on genealogical research? Consult The Family Research Guide to DPLA to learn more about using DPLA for this purpose.

Animal Care PA is offering help for seniors who do not have money to pay for pet food or veterinary bills.

Henry’s Helping Paws program provides food to the pets of senior citizens so the pets and their owners to stay together. This program was launched in March of 2016 in a partnership with Meals on Wheels in Chester County.

This program is currently in 3 locations:

• Meals on Wheels, Chester County, PA
• Phoenixville Senior Center, Phoenixville, PA
• Coatesville Senior Center, Coatesville, PA

To apply for food for your pet, click here.

“TLC” stands for The Last Chance program, as well as “tender loving care,” because that is what we strive to offer for animals who may not get any care at all without the fund. The Pennsylvania Veterinary Foundation (PVF) established our The Last Chance (TLC) program in 2009 to help ensure a source of funding for the care of abused or neglected, owned and unowned companion animals that might otherwise be euthanized or turned over to an animal shelter that is already overburdened.

Have questions about your car’s service and repair? Use your library card to access the Auto Repair Source (a resource from PA’s Power Library) and find answers!

“Discover the most accurate, authoritative, and up-to-date service and repair information for thousands of domestic and imported vehicles. All content comes from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and includes step-by-step repair information, diagrams, maintenance schedules, parts and labor estimates, service bulletins, and recalls.” Search by year, make, model, and engine.

Access the Auto Repair Source through the library by visiting chescolibraries.org, selecting “Tools and Research” from the ribbon of choices at the top of the page, selecting “All CCLS Databases,” and then select Auto Repair Source. Enter your library card number when prompted.

“The Library of Congress National Book Festival is an annual literary event that brings together best-selling authors and thousands of book fans for author talks, panel discussions, book signings and other activities.” 

Booklovers currently staying at home can watch videos from past National Book Festivals. Check to see if your favorite author is featured, or discover new authors to explore! You can “browse and view dozens of presentations by authors, poets, storytellers and illustrators” and more from National Book Festivals from 2001 to 2019.

You can also explore videos from National Book Festival Presents, a series of National Book Festival events held throughout the year that feature “high-caliber authors, their books and related Library treasures.” National Book Festival Presents videos include “John M. Barry on ‘The Great Influenza,'” “Rosa Parks: The History and the Heart,” and much more.