Contributors to the project have included the Cohen Family, The Laros Foundation, Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary, Bethlehem Rotary Club Foundation, The Reidler Foundation, Northampton County Department of Community & Economic Development, and The Friends of the Library, as well as many anonymous and individual donors. We couldn’t do it without your support! (And if you’d like to contribute, you still can–donate securely online today!)

See the concept illustrations below provided by Cornerstone Consulting. Construction is expected to take approximately six months. See you in the summer, Cohen Room!

The Cohen Room—the former children’s room on the first floor of BAPL—currently shows the wear of over half a century of use. It is being refurbished into a flexible multipurpose room, where the library can host concerts, lectures, meetings, plays, art galleries, workshops and other community-driven events. The room honors the memory of late Library Board member, donor, and supporter—and dedicated Rotarian—Bob Cohen.

Bethlehem Rotary President Mark Reed presents the Bethlehem Rotary Foundation’s grant to Kate Racculia of the Bethlehem Area Public Library. Photo credit: Chris Nelson.

“On behalf of everyone at BAPL,” said Racculia, “we’re so grateful to the Bethlehem Rotary Club for this gift, and for their support of the Cohen Room. It’s a joy to celebrate our mutual dear friend Bob Cohen by creating a wonderful renovated space at the library where the community we all love can gather.”

“Knowing Bob’s passion for music, the library and Rotary, this grant award was just a perfect combination, and we are honored to pay tribute to Bob in this meaningful way,” said Reed. “It is exciting to know that his legacy will live on in a space of which he would be so very proud!”

Construction on the Cohen Room at BAPL will begin this January.

Details are below. Can’t make it to the event? You can purchase the book and read an excerpt online here.

BOB COHEN BOOK LAUNCH

Saturday, November 17, 2-4pm
Sahl Communications
1 West Broad Street Suite #904
Bethlehem, PA 18018

Refreshments and readings celebrating Bob’s book, life and legacy.

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BAPL Books is the publishing arm of the Bethlehem Area Public Library. The mission of BAPL Books is to publish, promote, and celebrate writers from Bethlehem and the surrounding area, as well as titles highlighting the history and culture of the region.

The initiative, known as BAPL Books, began to take shape over a year ago. “I heard from a local poet who had talked about publishing his books through a self-publishing company,” said BAPL Executive Director Josh Berk. “I thought the price he was being quoted seemed really high and I wondered if we could be of assistance.” That project didn’t pan out but the idea took root with Berk and his colleagues at the library. He discussed the idea with Amy Miller Cohen, who had been collecting the vast writings of her husband Bob, who passed away in 2016 and was a library board member and champion.

Miller Cohen agreed to publish Bob’s work through the library. With the help of a Moravian College intern, the many papers were typed and cataloged and a selection of Bob’s poems was collected in what became Home at My Typewriter: Selected Poems of Bob Cohen. The volume covers the span of Bob’s eventful life with thoughtful poems penned over 60 years.

The second poet publishing with BAPL Books was not hard to find — he works right downstairs from Berk. “Our own Matt Wolf is well known as a poet,” Berk said. “I like to call him the Poet Laureate of Bethlehem.”

Wolf was approached about publishing a book and happily accepted. The volume, titled A Journey, not only contains a selection of his poems, it features his own photography. The poems range from the personal to the spiritual with a strong local flavor, and include what may be the English language’s first ode to the Westgate Mall (“perhaps this Mall is as real as any place in the universe / alive and kicking with its bus stop / and brazen beating hearts yearning to hold onto the marrow / of Bethlehem, PA…”).

“BAPL Books gave me the perfect opportunity to bring my poetry to the public with this debut book,” Wolf said. “I applaud the library for taking this step to publish local authors. It means a lot to writers and their community.”

The books were printed by Allentown’s Working Dog press and bound into high-quality paperbacks. The proceeds from the sale of these books will support the library and, fittingly, help fund construction of the Bob Cohen Room at BAPL. Books are available to purchase online at www.bapl.org/bapl-books or at the front desk of the Main Library (11 W. Church St).

There are also book launches scheduled for both titles in November:

MATT WOLF BOOK LAUNCH

Tuesday, November 13, 2018, 7 PM – 9 PM
Bethlehem House Gallery
459 Main St
Bethlehem, PA 18018

Six rooms of poetry, art, and music. Audiences will walk room-to-room to experience five-minute performances from local poets and musicians, as well as readings from the book by Wolf.

BOB COHEN BOOK LAUNCH

Saturday, November 17, 2-4pm
Sahl Communications
1 West Broad Street Suite #904
Bethlehem, PA 18018

Refreshments and readings celebrating Bob’s book, life and legacy.

###

BAPL Books is the publishing arm of the Bethlehem Area Public Library. The mission of BAPL Books is to publish, promote, and celebrate writers from Bethlehem and the surrounding area, as well as titles highlighting the history and culture of the region.

The entire ensemble played together, trading art and inspiring the next artist to push on and further the improvisation.  What we ended up with was a unique artistic experience that can not be duplicated.  Listen, download here, and keep your eye out for further Experimentos!!

All proceeds benefit the creation of the Bob Cohen Room at BAPL!

Laros Foundation Trustee Laura Bennett Shelton presents BAPL Executive Director Josh Berk with a grant for renovations in the Cohen Room–and gets carded at BAPL in the process!

The Bethlehem Area Public Library is pleased to announce it has received a generous grant of $10,000 from the R.K. Laros Foundation. The funds will support the transformation of the Bob Cohen Room at BAPL, assisting with the purchase of a floor-to-ceiling glass movable wall for the renovated space, and were presented to Library Executive Director Josh Berk on Friday, January 12, by Laros Trustee Laura Bennett Shelton.

The Cohen Room—the former children’s room on the first floor of BAPL—currently shows the wear of over 50 years of use by the community. It will be refurbished and updated into a concert venue and multi-use space, hosting lectures, meetings, plays, art galleries, workshops and other community events. The room honors the memory of late Library Board member, donor, and dear friend Bob Cohen.

“We are so excited about the planned renovations to the library first floor,” said Berk. “And this significant grant from the Laros Foundation allows us to begin construction. The renovated room will be spacious and full of light. We’re grateful to the Foundation for their help bringing it closer to becoming a new space for the public to enjoy.”

The R. K. Laros Foundation provides grant support with a focus on enduring capital projects through a competitive grant application and review process.

About The R. K. Laros Foundation

Founded in 1952 by Mr. Russell K. Laros and his wife, Mrs. Helen K. Laros, The R.K. Laros Foundation, Inc, is a non-profit charitable trust established to support community non-profit organizations in the Bethlehem, Pa. area serving the arts, education, the environment, health, historical preservation and public and human services. Its goal is to provide grants to non-profit charitable organizations, where those grants will either seed or support programs that might not otherwise occur and focus on initiatives that will have a lasting and continuing benefit to the community and the people it serves. “Helping People Help People.” www.larosfoundation.org