Movies
TV Shows
Music
Audiobooks
March Releases
CCLS/CCL Board Meeting
The Board of Trustees of the Chester County Library System/Chester County Library are hosting their monthly board meeting as a hybrid offering. If you have always wanted to attend a meeting but haven’t had the time, this is your opportunity. Please click on this link at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 18 to join the Chester County Library System Board Meeting virtually; or attend in person at the Chester County Library, 450 Exton Square Parkway, Exton. The Chester County Library Board Meeting will immediately follow. Find the Chester County Library Board Packet here.
If you are a person with a disability and wish to attend this meeting and require an auxiliary aid, service, or other accommodation to observe or participate in the proceedings, please call Chester County Library’s Administration Office at 610-344-5600 or email ddadoly@ccls.org to discuss how we may best accommodate your needs.
Databases Series: News for You
Hello! My name’s Rebecca. For those who haven’t been following this series, I am the Information Literacy Librarian here at the Chester County Library. (You might recognize me as the librarian with the purple hair!) Welcome to this series here on our blog where every week (or thereabouts) I’ll be introducing you to one of the library’s databases. A library database, for those who are unsure, is essentially just an online resource that the library pays for so that you can access it for free with your library card!
Following in the past couple weeks’ trend of introducing you to newspapers, I would like to talk a little about News for You. News for You is a weekly news publication written at a basic adult English level for ESL (English as a Second Language) speakers and others with limited English proficiency. The articles cover a wide-range of subjects both domestic and international.
For those who prefer to read a physical newspaper, we do offer copies on a limited basis for free upon request at the CCL Reference Desk. But for those who don’t mind reading online, News for You Online includes curriculum and assignments for ESL students and teachers, vocabulary lists pulled from the week’s articles, teacher guides and voting guides, and more to support English language learning. The best feature, however, is the built-in ability to listen to the articles read out loud. You can click the play button at the top of each article to play the article out loud in full, or you can click on a single sentence to hear only that sentence.
Contact the Reference Desk at 610-344-5957 or ref@ccls.org to receive the login code.
Find News for You Online on our website by going to chescolibraries.org –> Tools and Research –> All CCLS Databases –> N –> News for You Digital Access
This post is number thirteen in this databases series! If you missed the previous installments, you can view them here.
A Women’s History Month event at Henrietta Hankin Library
Come to Henrietta Hankin Branch Library on Tuesday, March 18th from 6:30-7:30pm to meet local historian, Hallie Vaughan, and be introduced to some women from the Revolutionary War to the present who deserve their places in herstory!
Hallie worked as a teacher for over 30 years in the Muhlenberg School District, and it was during this time that she developed a keen interest in Women’s History. After retiring, she began presenting women’s history to community groups and schools and now she serves as a docent for the Berks History Center. Hallie has also taught courses at Alvernia’s Seniors College, volunteers at Berks Veterans Affairs and serves on the Berks County Daughters of the American Revolution board.
Enjoy some light refreshments and trivia questions as you celebrate Women’s History Month with our very special guest presenter. To register, click here.
Call for Local Authors: Apply Now for the Chester County Library’s Annual Local Author Showcase!
The Chester County Library is thrilled to invite local authors to apply for our Annual Local Author Showcase! This special event celebrates the vibrant literary talent in our community. Priority will be given to Chester County authors, and if space permits, we will also consider authors from across Pennsylvania.
The showcase will be held on Sunday, May 18th, from 1-4 pm, at Chester County Library located at 450 Exton Square Parkway, Exton, PA. This exciting event provides authors with a unique opportunity to engage directly with library patrons, discuss your work and publishing journey, and connect with fellow local authors. You’ll also have the chance to offer your books for sale and gain visibility within the community.
If you’re interested in participating, please complete and submit the application form before March 21, at https://bit.ly/CCLReadLocalApp2025
You will be notified of your acceptance status by March 24, 2025.
For any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to our Program Coordinator at pmarquette@ccls.org. We look forward to your application and to celebrating our local literary community together!
Databases Series: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Hello! My name’s Rebecca. For those who haven’t been following this series, I am the Information Literacy Librarian here at the Chester County Library. (You might recognize me as the librarian with the purple hair!) Welcome to this series here on our blog where every week (or thereabouts) I’ll be introducing you to one of the library’s databases. A library database, for those who are unsure, is essentially just an online resource that the library pays for so that you can access it for free with your library card!
Last week, I introduced you to how to access the New York Times online through the library, and this week I’d like to similarly introduce you to how to access and navigate The Philadelphia Inquirer online through the library. Just as with the New York Times, access to The Philadelphia Inquirer is completely free with your library card, but The Philadelphia Inquirer through us might look a little different from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s standard website. This is because our access to The Philadelphia Inquirer is through an organization called NewsBank that aggregates the current issues with historical records.
So when you click our link to access The Philadelphia Inquirer, you will notice that you have three options to choose from. The Philadelphia Inquirer 1829-1922 in image format, The Philadelphia Inquirer 1981-current in text format, and The Philadelphia Inquirer 2018-current in image format. The difference between image format and text format is that image format is essentially just a scanned copy of the physical newspaper whereas the text format is just the text of the articles. Text format articles will show up in a list of links to each article individually categorized by section of the newspaper. Image format will show the entire issue at once with clickable thumbnail images down the side of the screen that you can click through similar to how you would flip through the pages of a physical newspaper. You can use the viewer pane to zoom in and out of the page to make articles easier to read. So all you have to do to read The Philadelphia Inquirer is choose between image and text format, choose your issue date, and start reading!
Find our links to The Philadelphia Inquirer on our website by going to chescolibraries.org –> Tools and Research –> All CCLS Databases –> P –> Philadelphia Inquirer
This post is number twelve in this databases series! If you missed the previous installments, you can view them here.
2025 Reading Challenge! March
Welcome to the third month of the Chester County and Henrietta Hankin Branch Libraries’ 2025 Reading Challenge! The challenge is open to all readers reading at a Young Adult or Adult level in any format.
Each month, there will be a new reading prompt to follow. The reading challenge prompt for March is “A book with a woman protagonist.”
Need inspiration for what to read? Check out a few suggested reads below! See the full list on our catalog here. Make sure to also visit the library to explore our interactive book display.
If you need even more inspiration for books to read or listen to, feel free to request Personalized Reading Suggestions or check out the NoveList Plus database.
No registration is necessary to participate in the challenge. To get started, simply pick up a physical tracking log at the Reference Desk or print one out at home using the link provided in the Resources section of the Reading Challenge page at https://bit.ly/CCLReadingChallenge2025.
Happy reading!
February Releases
Movies
TV Shows
Music
Audiobooks
Databases Series: New York Times
Hello! It’s Rebecca again! I hope you enjoyed or learned something new from last week’s post by Mikaila, our Business and Career Librarian. For those who haven’t been following this series, I am the Information Literacy Librarian here at the Chester County Library. (You might recognize me as the librarian with the purple hair!) Welcome to this series here on our blog where every week (or thereabouts) I’ll be introducing you to one of the library’s databases. A library database, for those who are unsure, is essentially just an online resource that the library pays for so that you can access it for free with your library card!
Today, I’m going to introduce you to the New York Times. That might sound a bit silly, because I’m sure all of you know what the New York Times is, but I’d bet some of you didn’t know that you could access the online version of this newspaper for free through the Chester County Library System!
Access from home is provided in the form of a 24-hour day pass that can be renewed every day. To get this day pass, first you’ll want to create an account with the New York Times website. All you’ll need to do is input your email address and create a password. Once you have an account with the website, go back to our databases page and click the Remote Access link to bring you to the page that will allow you to connect your library card to your account for the day. You will then have full access to the New York Times online for 24 hours. To gain access again the next day, just click on that same Remote Access link, log in to your account if you aren’t already, and connect your library card.
Access from within the library is one step easier! If you are on the library’s wifi network, all you need to do is create or log in to your account to get full access. No need to link your library card and no 24-hour access limitation.
Find our links to the New York Times on our website by going to chescolibraries.org –> Tools and Research –> All CCLS Databases –> N –> New York Times
This post is number eleven in this databases series! If you missed the previous installments, you can view them here.
Databases Series: Reference Solutions
Hello! My name is Mikaila. I am the Business and Career Librarian here at Chester County Library, and I’m excited to be the first guest star on this series! In line with the former posts, I’ll be introducing you to one of the library’s databases. A library database, for those who are unsure, is essentially just an online resource that the library pays for so that you can access it for free with your library card!
This week, I’ll be discussing Reference Solutions (formerly known as Reference USA). Reference Solutions is a multi-database resource that focuses on U.S. and Canadian data. I usually describe it as an in-depth white pages/yellow pages in which you can research information on over 104 million U.S. businesses and 322 million consumers. This tool is invaluable to small businesses who are looking to do the following: research your competition, so you can see where your competition is located as well as a snapshot of their business to get an idea of their day-to-day operating; create mailing lists for vendors, B2B, and B2C; record data and download heat maps for your reference or to input in a business plan; and generally better understand how you and your market fit in your service area. Reference Solutions is updated regularly to ensure your research is verified.
Find Reference Solutions on our website by going to chescolibraries.org –> Tools and Research –> All CCLS Databases –> R –> Reference Solutions
This post is number ten in this databases series! If you missed the previous installments, you can view them here.
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