BAPL is thrilled to offer you access to ParentTV. ParentTV offers thousands of on-demand parenting videos and courses with content designed to support those who care for children, from pregnancy through to teenage years. ParentTV works with leading psychologists, pediatricians, mental health specialists, nutritionists, occupational therapists and parenting educators across the globe.  Search and find videos on general parenting, play, behavior, child development, mental health, sleep, nutrition, technology and more. Most videos are under 10 minutes in length and can be accessed on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

To access this incredible resource all you need to do is to LOGIN with your BAPL barcode (and pin if applicable) via THIS LINK. 

Watch the video below to get a glimpse of the ParentTV experts and some of the 2000+ videos available. 

Videos are also available in Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi and Spanish languages.

Simply click the image below to log in with your (library barcode and PIN – if applicable) and you are ready to watch and learn!

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Ever wonder what it looks like for an author to sign 100 books? Check out the video below. And mark your calendar for the Book Fest on March 26 at BAPL!

Every Picture Tells a Story art workshop for grades 1-5, Saturday, January 8, 11:00-12:00
Discover the work of great artists through stories and hands-on art activities. Learn about a famous artist, their technique, and make a work of art all your own using that same method.  You don’t have to be a great artist yourself, just bring your creative spirit and have fun!  We will be looking at the work of Andy Warhol this session. This event is open to those in grades 1-5. All materials are provided.   No registration is required. All participants must wear a mask. This event is sponsored by Friends of the Library.

D&D One Shot for grades 6 – 12, Monday, January 10, 6:00-7:30pm
We provide all that you need for this Dungeons and Dragons one-shot adventure, pre-rolled characters, dice set, and mini manual printout to use at the session.  No registration is required.  Masks are a must!  Join the adventure. This event will be held in the Youth Services department on the 2nd floor of the Library.

Virtual Writing Workshop with Nocturnals series author Tracey Hecht for grades 1 and up, Wednesday, January 12, 4:30-5:30pm
Tracey Hecht is the author of the popular chapter book series The Nocturnals.  Ms. Hecht will be tuning in through Google Meet to treat kids to a special writing workshop. Learn about the creative writing process, how a book is published, and how to create your very own story!  Interact with this experienced writer.  She will give an informative Q & A session and answer your writing questions.  We will be hosting the event virtually & in -person in the Youth Services department on the 2nd floor of the library. Please register here.

World Stories for ages 3 – 8 presented by Moravian University at the Main Library   Saturday, January 15, 10:30-11:30am
Listen to a story read in both English and the featured language. Learn about a different world language and culture each session. This session will feature a story read in Greek. A fun activity will follow the dual language reading. Come explore with us. This event will be held in the Youth Services Department on the 2nd floor. No registration is required. Masks are a must.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament for grades 6 – 12, Saturday, January 15, 1:00-4:00pm
It’s tournament time! We’re playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Switch. Controllers are provided or bring your own Switch controller. Pre-register for this event by calling the Youth Department at 610-867-3761, x. 499 to reserve your space, or register at the door of the event – space allowing. All participants must wear a mask!

Family Fun Night: National Popcorn Day for all ages at the Main Library, Tuesday, January 18, 6:30-7:30pm
Celebrate popcorn, the perfect snack loved by millions. Pop on in for stories, a bit of history, and a chance to mix up some special toppings for your popcorn. We’ll be making popcorn art, too.  No registration is required.  Masks are a must. Free parking is available in the garage beneath the Library/City Hall complex.

Family Storytime – all ages of youth, Tuesdays, January 18 & 25, 10:00-10:30am
Join us for a variety of stories, songs, and fingerplays for the entire family. This story session will be held in Youth Services, 2nd floor of the library.  No registration is required. Masks are a must for ages 2+.

Toddler Storytime – ages 2 – 3 ½, Fridays, January 21 & 28, 10:00-10:45am
Join us for stories and songs just right for you and your toddler. Have fun while we discover and learn new things. No registration is required.  Masks are a must for ages 2+.  This story session will be held in the Youth Department on the 2nd floor of the Library.

Magic Treehouse series event for grades 1 and up, Saturday, January 22, 2:00-3:00pm
Travel with Jack and Annie to different times and locations. Hear a bit of the newest book, test your knowledge with trivia, and make some special Jack and Annie crafts.  No registration is required. Masks are a must! Free, limited parking is available in the garage beneath the Library/City Hall complex.

Anime Club for grades 6 – 12, Monday, January 24, 6:30-7:30pm
Learn about Japanese culture and watch an episode of anime. Share your love of anime with other fans.  Masks are a must for those who attend. No registration is required. This event will be held in the Youth Department.

Homework Help – tutoring for grades K – 12, Monday – Thursday, 4:00-6:00pm, beginning January 24
Looking for help with your schoolwork? Moravian University America Reads program provides tutors to help with questions about school assignments.  Get the help you need today! No registration is required.  We will follow social distancing guidelines and masks are a must. This session will be held in the Youth department on the 2nd floor of the Library.

Comic Club for grades 3 – 6, January 25, 6:30-7:30pm
Love reading comic books or graphic novels? Stop by tonight to meet other comic fans! We’ll talk about what’s awesome about comics and share our favorites over yummy snacks. We’ll also learn to doodle pages from our comics, supplies are provided. Stop by and get comic recommendations! Please wear a mask. This event will be held in the Youth Department.

Baby Storytime – birth through 24 months, Thursday, January 27, 10:00-10:30am
Join us for a gentle storytime for you and your little one featuring stories, bouncing rhymes, and songs.  No registration is required. This session will be held in the Youth Services department, 2nd floor of the library.

Teddy Bear Bedtime Stories for all ages of youth, Wednesday, January 27, 7:00-7:30pm
Grab your bear, wear your pj’s and join us for stories to get you ready for sleep.  We’ll have a fine selection of books and fingerplays perfect for a night of winter sleep.  No registration is required. Masks are a must for ages 2 and older. Free limited parking is available in the garage beneath the Library/City Hall complex.

National Puzzle Day event for youth of all ages, Saturday, January 29, 11:00am-12pm
Celebrate National Puzzle Day with stories, and make your own puzzle to take home. Add a special piece of happiness to your day. No registration is required.  Masks are a must for ages 2 and up. This event will be held in the Youth department on the 2nd floor of the Library. Free parking is available in the garage beneath the Library/City Hall complex.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Party for grades 2+, Saturday, January 29, 2:00-3:00pm
Join us in celebrating all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Books! We will have crafts and activities related to the series.  Stop by and celebrate all things wimpy. No registration is required.  Masks are a must! Free, limited parking is available in the garage beneath the Library/City Hall complex. This event is being held in the Youth Department on the 2nd floor of the Library.

Parents as Teachers builds strong communities, thriving families and children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn by matching parents and caregivers with trained professionals who make regular personal home visits during a child’s earliest years in life, from prenatal through kindergarten. For more information, visit Parents as Teachers. 

Make Reindeer Fly at South Side, December 13, 4pm, BAPL South Side!

Santa Comes to South Side! December 15, 4:30pm, BAPL South Side

Holiday Storytime and Cookie decorating event at the Main Library, December 18, 11am

Snowy Day Storytime for all ages at the Main Library, December 20, 10am

A Christmas Owl Story and Craft at Coolidge, December 22, all day, BAPL Coolidge

Gingerbread Man Story and Craft at the Main Library, December 27, 2pm

Makerspace: Repurpose Your Holiday Cards and Paper, December 30, all day, BAPL Coolidge

Adult DIY Craft: Literature Lover’s Ornament, all month (Dec 6-Dec 30,) BAPL South Side

At South Side, students from Lehigh are available to help students in Kindergarten through 12th grade with any subject, Monday – Thursday from 4:00-5:30 PM. No appointment is necessary. For more information, call the South Side Branch at 610-867-7852.

At the Main Library, Moravian University’s America Reads program provides tutors to help with questions about school assignments.  No registration is required. Program is available Monday – Thursday from 4:00 – 6:00 PM.

Natural Wanders: Stories and experiences in nature for ages 3 and up. Thursdays 2:00-2:30 April 8 – April 29. Designed for ages 3 and above, we’ll start with stories and a song and then move on to a nature-based activity. Complete this self-directed activity anywhere on the library grounds, or in your home neighborhood.

Stroller Time for babies – 24 months: Mondays 10:00 – 10:30 April 19 & April 26. We’ll share simple storybooks, songs and some movement as we relax in our strollers or on our blankets on the library grounds.

Family Storytime for all ages: Wednesdays 10:00-10:30 April 21 & April 28. Families are encouraged to bring a blanket to relax and enjoy stories, fingerplays, and songs. We’ll end the session with an action song or two that will further build early literacy and learning skills.

Be sure to check out our Window Walk posted on the porch windows facing City Hall.
Bring your cell phone and download the QR code Reader from the App Store. View the featured picture book posted on the porch side windows facing City Hall. Scan the QR code on each panel with your phone and hear one of our librarians read the story as you move along the porch. Go at your own pace and enjoy!

Spring Cherry Blossom Celebration for all ages: Saturday 1:00 – 2:00 April 24.
Welcome spring and celebrate the cherry blossoms that surround the Library and the Japanese Tea House. There will be beautiful craft take-away options, music, games, and a photo op. No registration is required.

Virtual events for all ages throughout the month found on BAPL Facebook & YouTube channel:

• Virtual Homework Help with Moravian College for grades K-12 Monday and Wednesday 4:00-6:00. Find the zoom link for each session on our events calendar at www.bapl.org/events.
• Zoellner Arts Center presents ScreenPLAY a FREE 30 minute session of non-stop interactive fun for the entire family. Register for the Zoom session here.
• Sleepy Time Stories: View selections of story sessions on Bethlehem Area Public Library’s Facebook or YouTube Channel or on Spike’s Campground on the Youth Services Home Page.
  Spike’s Campground changes every month with links to story sessions, STEM offerings and other learning options.

PLUS
Draw With Librarians
Earth Day Story and STEM with take-away for grades K – 5
Teen Caramel Popcorn tutorial with take-away kit for grades 6-12
PLUS Take-away options
Family take-away packets
Kite Flying STEM kits for grades K – 5
Dog Man Puppet take-away for grades 1 – 5

Liberty High School student, Isabella Morales (at right), won First Place for her story entitled “A Bizarre Halloween.” Andrea Girardot’s story “Hey, Yasuko” was the winner in the 10-12 year-old category, and finally “The Legend of Hope Mist,” submitted by Kai Thomas, won in the youngest category.

I was happy to work with the Bethlehem Area School District and ArtsQuest for another successful semester of “ArtSmart” this year. ArtSmart is the after-school enrichment program held at the Banana Factory that brings art programs to hundreds of middle and elementary school students each year. This year was unlike any other, of course, but the folks at the Banana Factory, our BASD school district partners, and the students adapted gamely! For my part, I hosted a weekly writing group with interested upper elementary and middle school students. For a few years now, ArtSmart has included performing arts, literary arts, and other classes in addition to the many fine visual art programs. 

Let me just say what a joy these kids were to work with! We wrote poems and stories and had fun with the written word in many different ways. You can explore their work, as well as the work of their visual art classmates, on the digital exhibition site here.  As an added treat, our Moravian College intern Lara Slabber recorded audio versions of the poems. Lara has a lovely reading voice and the kids were so thrilled to hear their words captured in moving performances. Check it out!

The students, Lara, Jody Trostle of Broughal Middle School, and I also worked together on a lengthy story. It’s a mystery story that was truly collaborative. We worked together to come up with setting and characters and dialogue and plot. It ended up being a hilarious and mysterious tale set at a Middle School (named for a certain library director?). The school pets keep going missing. It’s up to students Aadam Black, Bailey Harvey, and Social Studies teacher Mr. Torres to figure it out! The title is Heartbreak at Hamster Hotel and am thrilled to share it with you in its entirety here. 

-Josh Berk

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Bethlehem’s history comes to life in this picture book brought to you by the Bethlehem Area Public Library and the National Museum of Industrial History. TUG is a tow tractor helping Bethlehem’s steelworkers to do their very best. He is always there when the workers need him, but what happens when the steel mill closes? After the last cast is poured and TUG is left alone at the steel mill, he learns that no matter how much Bethlehem might change there is always more that he can do to help. Children can read TUG’s story and then visit him at the Industrial Museum, where he is still a working artifact helping with the heavy lifting 25 years after the last cast.

The book will be released on November 14, 2020, as part of the Last Cast celebration at the National Museum of Industrial History. Members of the Steelworkers Archive will help celebrate the book with a “Storytime with a Steelworker” as part of the day’s events. Children will also be able to meet the real TUG that day, as the vehicle will be on display at NMIH.

So where did the idea for the book come from? “In late March, [library director] Josh Berk emailed me to ask if I knew of any children’s books about Bethlehem Steel,” says author Catherine McCafferty. “When I said I didn’t, he said, ‘Maybe we write one…'”

Berk had a conversation with NMIH’s historian, Mike Piersa, who had the perfect idea for a main character. Piersa says “What makes TUG such an engaging character is that, like a person setting off on their own career, he took his skills to new places, multiple times, and made a living that earned him respect and admiration.”

TUG’s commitment to hard work is something that any young readers can take with them long after turning the last page. Berk says “if a kid goes to their first day of school after reading TUG!, they can carry with them his commitment and dedication to doing a good job, and his belief that he can do anything he puts his mind to, even if they are nervous.”

McCafferty adds “from the beginning, I felt very strongly that TUG’s story was the story of the Steel: hard work and friendship, loss and abandonment, then a renewed sense of value and purpose.”[/vc_column_text]

Preschool    https://wandooreader.com/bapl/2020-summer-at-my-library-preschool

Entering grades K-2   https://wandooreader.com/bapl/2020-summer-at-my-library-grades-k-2

Entering grades 3-5   https://wandooreader.com/bapl/2020-summer-at-my-library-grades-3-5

Entering grades 6-12  https://wandooreader.com/bapl/2020-summer-at-my-library-grades-6-12

We are still offering paper record logs if you prefer to chart your progress that way.  Your choice!  Record logs, activity packets, and prizes will be offered curbside this summer.

For our 2020 Adult Summer Reading program, we’re going virtual!

• Submit your Adult Summer Reading reviews here.

• Submit your Summer Writing Challenge story here.

Kick it off with a fantastic virtual presentation by the ScienceTellers that weaves a fantasy story with science activities. See and learn the science behind the Popping Potion, the Horn of Fire, and much, much, more here!

New for July: it’s The Amazing Magi: Michael Reist, Magician!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8sFhsIgFfg&feature=emb_logo

While you’re home, let the stories come to you! Author Jennifer Hansen Rolli has recorded a few of her stories for you.

• Claudia & Moth
• Just One More
• Just For Me

She also has some fun printable worksheets and educator guides on her website here.

Jennifer is a Pennsylvania author and illustrator, who attended Kutztown University and lives in Bucks County. Her charming books encourage acceptance of change, and invite the reader to open themselves up to new ideas and possibilities.

During this unique time of learning, her publisher, Penguin Random House, has granted the rights for libraries to share these readings of their published works. We hope you find this helpful, and please feel free to share with parents and other educators.

Did you know BAPL has an Anime Club? Kelly Fitzpatrick, of the Main Library’s Youth Services department, first launched the group last year, and youth services patrons are coming together around a shared love of Japanese film and television animation.

“It’s something I’m very passionate about, and I knew there was an interest in it with the younger patrons,” Kelly says. There was enough interest to found two clubs– one for grades two to six and one for older students,  grades seven to twelve.  “All of them are very passionate about anime and they have a lot of interest in Japanese culture,” says Kelly.

In addition to watching their favorite shows together and doing their own anime-inspired drawings, patrons at the meetings enjoy lots of great Japanese food. They have had the chance to try mochi, pocky, Japanese Christmas cake, and lots of flavors of Japanese Kit-Kat (there are hundreds!). Participants also learned about Japanese culture, tradition, and more, and Professor Kyoko Taniguchi of Lehigh University gave a presentation on Japanese mythology.

2019 was a successful year for the new club so they’re back with more activities for 2020. Kelly plans to host a ramen bar, a sushi-making class, a language lesson, and a special event at Bethlehem’s Cherry Blossom Festival. More information on the BAPL Anime Club’s meeting schedule is below–or contact Kelly at the Main Library for more information.

Youth Program: Toddlers through teens can sign up with their library cards. At signup, they get a reading/activity log that lets them track their progress and earn prizes as they go. If a child would rather just read, there’s a read-only option. No matter how they complete the activities, kids also earn chances for bigger prizes. Past drawing prizes have included tickets to SkyZone, the DaVinci Center, and the IronPigs; gift cards and free pizza; and—for the littlest readers—fun toy packs and sets.

Adult Program: SummerQuest isn’t just for kids: Adults can join in by reading or listening to books and writing short reviews. When they submit the reviews, they’re entered for weekly prizes from local restaurants, shops, museums and performance centers.

Special events: Before you hear the first “I’m bored!” of Summer, check out our youth events. Family Fun Nights feature outside performers or activities for the whole family. For a doggone good time, the Read to Dogs program lets kids read a story to trained therapy dogs. Other Summer highlights include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) activities, book-themed activities, and programs for teens by teens.

Sign up at the Main Library, the South Side Branch, or the Bookmobile any time between June 8 and August 17. To participate, we ask that you have a current, valid library card. (Children entering kindergarten and above should have their own cards; parents reading to toddlers can use their adult cards.) If you don’t have a card, just stop in  to set one up. Bring ID with your current address, fill out a short form, and we’ll set up a card on the spot.

IT’S ALL FREE! SummerQuest is just one part of what you can find at the library. There are computers for games and internet access; books, movies, video games, music CDs, and toys to check out and take home — plus downloadable items for remote access. And it’s all free. All you need is a library card.

For more information

• Stop in!
• Call us   610-867-3761 Main Library  610-867-7852 South Side Branch

Learn more about Pennsylvania Youth Ballet here.

Freedom’s LifeSkills students will be coming at the end of May for a similar session and a general ExploraStory for special-needs adults is scheduled for Wednesday, May 8 at 2:30. Please share this flyer with anyone you know who might be interested!

For more information on how to identify potential child abuse or neglect, visit www.KeepKidsSafe.pa.gov.

To learn more about the #ProtectPAKids campaign, visit www.pablueribbonchampion.org.

Discover how Rube Goldberg followed his dreams to become an award-winning cartoonist, inventor, and even an adjective in JUST LIKE RUBE GOLDBERG.

And meet the author in person at BAPL!

After the two lizards were introduced and hit it off, the students in Puff’s classroom decided to write Spike some letters and well, it’s just about the cutest thing ever.

The kids of BAPL returned the favor and have been sending letters to Puff. What a story to warm your heart (even if you’re cold-blooded like Spike).

BAPL and BASD were thrilled to accept this generous offer. The school Trinity chose is Thomas Jefferson Elementary, a soon-to-be community school located less than a mile from them. Through a grant from their Wilma Lewis Endowment Fund, money was contributed to both causes to absolve a portion of Thomas Jefferson students’ lunch debts and the entirety of their library fines. At the Sunday service on February 17th, checks were presented to Josh Berk, Executive Director of BAPL and also to Emma Schwarz, Community School Coordinator Volunteer of Thomas Jefferson.

Thank you Jeanne, Gloria, and everyone at Trinity!