Our challenge takes the form of a “Bookopoly” game board, available at any BAPL library location – even our Bookmobile! Each space on the board features a fun activity that encourages reading, creativity, or trying something new at the library. Each space offers a fun way to connect with reading and library services. You might be challenged to read a book with a yellow cover, try a recipe from a library cookbook, or look someone up using our genealogy databases.

Complete four challenges and earn your first raffle ticket, along with a small treat bag. For every four additional challenges, you’ll receive another raffle ticket—up to a maximum of six.

Raffle prizes this year include seven themed baskets: Book Lovers, Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom, Lazy Summer Day, Local Luxury, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Tech Treasures, and World Heritage Celebration.

Participants must be 18 or older and reside within the BAPL service area. Only one challenge chart per patron, and 18-year-olds must choose to enter either the Youth Services or Adult raffle—not both.

Stop by and pick up your Bookopoly board to get started. Read, explore, and win—this summer, the library has something for everyone.

Is there a book you have been meaning to read?

Do you like to win prizes?

What if you could do all of these things at once? Sure, you might say, the library has a Summer Reading program for kids, but what can adults do? Good news! BAPL doesn’t limit the summer fun to young people. There are exciting programs, great books, and fun prizes for adults this summer.

You can pick up a Summer Reading Challenge Chart at the Main Library, Bookmobile, or Coolidge Branch, or you can print one yourself. The Summer Reading theme is “All Together Now/ Todos Juntos Ahora” and the chart suggests a variety of ways to get involved with the library, including reading suggestions, exploring library services, and participating in library programs. The more challenges you do, the more raffle tickets you can earn for our fabulous Summer Reading prizes.

The challenges are easy and diverse. When you have completed five of them, bring your chart to the Reference Desk at the Main Library. You will receive a small starter prize and your first raffle ticket! After that, you can earn a raffle ticket for every three challenges you complete.

The raffle prize baskets include:

The Get Growing Raffle Basket, which includes a $25 gift card for the Pharo Garden Center, gardening tools and gloves, and an incense holder with cones.

The Kitchen Creations Raffle Basket, which includes a $25 gift card for Azar Supermarket, a soft cooler, mugs, coasters, and several attractive cooking aides.

The On the Road Raffle Basket, which includes a $25 Wawa gift card, a BAPL tote bag, water bottles, and travel accessories such as an RFID wallet, a book light, and headrest hooks.

All raffle baskets also include a voucher for our popular BAPL Book Sale

The Summer Reading program continues until August 19. Be sure to get your raffle tickets soon!

May: Small Things Like These

June: Do Not Say We Have Nothing

July: Zorrie

August: Martin Dressler: The Tale of An American Dream

September: In the Distance

October: The Netanyahus

November: Victory City

December: Deer Season

Free. All ages welcome. No registration required.

After Consuelo’s indoor presentation, we got down and dirty(!) as we planted native varieties such as Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia ‘hummingbird’), Foam Flower (Tiarella), Woodland Phlox, and Christmas Fern along the front walkway. The plants were specially selected and provided by Edge of the Woods Nursery in Orefield and funded through Friends of the Library.

It would BEE wonderful if we could start a gardening club just for the Coolidge branch! Perhaps we could add a new section of native plants each year. If you’re interested in volunteering your time at the library in this capacity, please contact Regina Kochmaruk at rkochmaruk@bapl.org. And a BUG thank you to all who participated this year, and especially to Consuelo of Penn State’s Master Gardener’s Program!

February is Black History Month, a time to recognize the achievements of African Americans and celebrate the role they have played in our country’s history. At the Bethlehem Area Public Library, we are highlighting African American authors, literature, and movies during this month.  Visit the display by the Reference Desk for some of our staff suggestions.

You can take your learning to the next level by filling out our Black History Month Literature Challenge. Answer six questions about authors and their work and you will be entered into a raffle for an Amazon gift card. The challenge is available online or at the Main Branch Reference Desk., and it is open to high school students and adults and runs until the end of February. You might learn about a new author or library resource!

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

It is a year-long series, so there are plenty of opportunities to get involved.

The series next meets on April 29 with Song of Solomon, Morrison’s third published novel. The club will meet online from 6:30-8:00. For more information and to book a spot, visit www.bapl.org/events/toni-morrison-book-club-3

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.

First Place

Joseph W.

“Breath Like Moths Against a Window”

I wake when the moths knock against my window,

pulling back and diving in confusedly to get close to the light—

that gentle thump of something unknowingly

wrong,

like curiously tapping a fishbowl or piling grains of sand in

a shallow hourglass.

Like them, I’m drawn to the window to peer out at the coming summer pooled in

the moonlight,

and I feel the world breathing again,

with that low April breeze and the foxes snickering and tumbling in the flowers,

with the sputter of traffic stopped up and left in driveways and along streets,

with the grass blades so green and the cherry blossoms so pink,

with the magnolia tree reflecting soft light into my room,

with the moths knocking against my window.

Then why is everything so still?

Why do the cornfields sit pale and cracked like thin-worn hands from too much

washing?

Where are the faraway trains’ click-clack and blaring horns?

Where is the crackle of roaring firepits and grills?

Who’s silenced the playground screams and bus stop chatter?

Who’s taken the jangle of distant festivals and concerts?

Who’s plucked the trudging airplanes from the sky?

Have all the church bells crumbled to the ground?

Could there even be a funeral?

Where are all the gregarious gatherings not tinged with

guilt?

Where are all the goodbye hugs not wrapped in a hush?

Where are all the goodnight kisses not laced with poison?

When will my folks not look so scared and unsure?

When will my brother emerge from his bedroom?

When will my friends and I meet again?

Where is that nightly purr we listen for when we can’t sleep, that reminds us that

we and the world still breathe?

Why is it all just moths knocking against the window?

And like their vision, this window is a contrast of colors and faces begging

me to choose.

What life is in this breath becomes a mirror, an artist, another:

a happy face with bleach on its lips,

an impression with rusted bumps on its skin,

an idle image with eyes bloodshot from blue light,

a squirming, squiggling me trapped in all the air bubbles and

glassy imperfections—

what I see when I get close enough,

with the familiar moths knocking against it.

But this Earth, these countries and states, this land—I still breathe with the

passing summer:

Drumming with millions of marchers in the wake of murder;

Pulsing with the stalwart hum of doctors, nurses, scientists, firemen and

paramedics, sanitation workers and custodians, teachers, shop owners, factory

and warehouse workers;

And writhing with these bare faces, pretty speeches, and acceptable losses

looking in on me from my window on an August night cooled by the remnants of a

tropical storm,

like those moths that would knock and wake me—

too soon to go back to sleep against

these crooked raindrops,

too soon to breathe like before when

we were close enough.

Second Place

Allie E.

“Remember Covid, Remembering Me”

The world has been hushed

It’s early yet

The morning sky is about to burst

Today is no ordinary day

Today I will attempt to home school my daughter for the thirty-second day in a row

I am thirty-two years old

She is five

Most days end with both of us in tears and yelling

I tell myself that I can do hard things

I’ve been isolated long enough that I started to read again

I hold a book to my face and close my eyes

I run my thumb over the crisp pages and I inhale the fictional breeze

That smell

The smell of a new book

It takes me back to wandering shelves in Waldenbooks

I remember getting excited for book fairs at school

I can see myself sitting in my room or in the car

In a hotel or on an airplane

On the beach or in a tent

With a brand new adventure in my hands

Imagination gone wild

There are always people walking past the house now

Some wear masks

We don’t because we are walking the dog to get fresh air

To exercise and to get out from being in for so long

It is inevitable that my daughter has to come grocery shopping with me

We wear masks

She knows that there is a virus and that’s why we wear them

We have to keep ourselves safe and help keep others safe

She knows this

So when we’re in the coffee aisle and her mask slips off her ear she yells, “Oh no!”

Pure panic

Pure calm

I tell her, “It’s okay. We can fix it.”

She is so aware

She is lonely

She is sad and frustrated

She misses her teacher

She misses her friends

She wants to hug her Grandparents again

She wants to play at the park

I tell her that she can do hard things

It’s hot outside

We get ready to go into our new pool that is a mere two and half feet deep

My daughter loves it

Sunscreen

I could breathe in my daughter’s skin for hours after I put sunscreen on her

When I’m finished she closes her eyes, “Mm-mm, it smells like Summer.”

Yes

It smells like a day at the beach

It smells like building sand castles and diving into waves

It smells like a walk on the boardwalk

Water and salt

Sunscreen and sunshine

I had a dream a few weeks ago

There was this undeniable pressure on my chest

I couldn’t breathe I woke up gasping for air that could not reach my lungs quick enough

It was terrifying

Someone told me it sounded like I had a panic attack in my sleep

Awesome

Nothing is normal anymore

Maybe nothing was normal to begin with

I didn’t get much time to do a lot of soul searching during this pandemic

But as long as I have my daughter, my dog, a new book and some sunscreen

I am found

Third Place

I.F. Evans

“Apoppycockalypse”

Pundits and prognosticators, a plethora of prophecies—

pure poppycock.

The apocalypse happened.

We plodded on, pretending it didn’t.

Is it a testament to our resiliency

that we plowed right through,

or a testament to our stupidity

that we didn’t even pause to ponder

the precarious position in which we’ve been placed?

Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death.

The four horsemen arrived. We paid them no mind.

Famine was first, but nobody spoke up.

We produce so much product, but poverty’s the problem.

A preposterous percent of people in the most prosperous nations

struggle each day to put food on their plates.

When Pestilence appeared, it was more palpable—

the first wave of the virus being painfully pernicious.

What we didn’t account for, was it perhaps just the precursor?

More virulent viruses could soon come our way.

Produced, propagated, or new evolutions,

we’re at risk for more plagues as we limp along.

War popped up next, in a devious way.

The wars overseas—while appalling—were distractions

pulling perception away from the wars brewing

right under our noses.

Race. Sex. Gender. Religion. Beliefs.

Integral parts of who we all are,

and sadly, grounds for some people to hate.

That brings us to Death,

the last of the promised horsemen.

I hear the hooves of the pale horse now.

Is it too late to stop it? Are we as a whole predestined to perish?

What panacea can prevent our extinction?

Giving. Caring. Loving. Living.

The four horsemen of a new golden age.

Share what you can with poor neighbors in need.

Take care of others when they’re feeling peaked.

Love one another, as you want to be loved.

Live and help live; don’t be part of the problem.

Let’s turn the end times to party times, and pass into a new era.

______________________________

Thank you to all who participated!

This page will feature antiracist resources available in our collections, links to external resources, and information about library programs that promote antiracist conversation within our community and with our patrons.

In our collections

Antiracist reading

• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
• How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (Author), Karen Chilton
• Tears we Cannot Stop, by Michael Eric Dyson
• We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta Nehisi Coates
• Between the World and Me by Ta Nehisi Coates
• White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise
• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
• Race Matters, 25th Anniversary by Cornel West
• The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward
• Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
• Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces by Radley Balko
• Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? by Mumia Abu-Jamal
• When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
• A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History by Jeanne Theoharis
• How We Fight White Supremacy by Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin
• On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by Deray McKesson
• Slavery By Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon
• The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F Saad

Black authors, thinkers, and creators

“Reading Anti-Racist Nonfiction Is a Start. But Don’t Underestimate the Power of Black Fiction,” Jasmine Guillory, writing for Time Magazine

• How Long Til Black Future Month?  (Overdrive)
• The City We Became (Overdrive)

• Bloodchild and Other Stories
• Kindred

• The Wedding Party
• Royal Holiday (Overdrive)

• Sula
• The Source of Self Regard: selected essays, speeches, and meditations

• Negroland: A memoir

• Sag Harbor
• Zone One
• The Intuitionist (Overdrive)
• The Underground Railroad (Overdrive)

Films and documentaries

Courageous Conversations: Stamped from the Beginning

• A 5-month discussion series focused on Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
• Watch conversations from the series on BAPL’s Facebook

Dialogues on Racial Justice: An Introductory Workshop Series on Issues of Systemic Racism in the United States

• A 4-week workshop covering how racism is constructed and maintained, historical contexts of systemic oppression and police brutality, and the progress towards equitable reform for restorative justice. Taught by Linda Wiggins-Chavis; thank you, Ms. Wiggins-Chavis!
• If you are interested in hearing more about this program or contacting Linda Wiggins-Chavis, please email Janine at jcarambot@bapl.org.

• Read about the first session, Race and Racism: The Construct of Race and How Racism is Maintained, in the Southsider

• Watch the third session, Police Brutality: A Historical Perspective, on BAPL’s YouTube channel

• Community suggested resources from Dialogues on Social Justice
  • Slavery By Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon (nonfiction)
  • The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
  • The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (nonfiction)
  • Slavery By Another Name, dir. by Samuel D. Pollard (documentary)
  • ‘The Strange Story Of The Man Behind Strange Fruit’
    by Elizabeth Blair for NPR Morning Edition (2012)
  • ‘The Philadelphia Race Riot (1918)’
    by Will Mack for Blackpast.org (2017)
  • ‘Race riots in Philadelphia during the 1919 Red Summer’
  • ‘MOVE: Or When the Philly Police Dropped a Bomb on a Residential Neighborhood’
    Stuff You Should Know podcast episode (2019)
  • ‘The Long Hot Summer’
    NPR’s Throughline podcast episode (2020)
  • Felony Disenfranchisement Laws Map
    ACLU.org (accessed July 2020)
  • Criminal Disenfranchisement Laws PDF – State by State Breakdown
    BrennanCenter.org (updated June 2020)
  • The Childhood Opportunity Gap Expanded Data Visualizations
    Diversitydatakids.org (2019)

BAPL Virtual Film Club for July 2020: The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Available to stream on Kanopy)

Read a review of The Last Black Man in San Francisco in The Southsider!

The Clearing: Movement towards Communities of Compassion

• A Dancing Mindfulness Gathering with Dr. Alisha Tatem. Thank you, Dr. Tatem, for leading this program!
• If you are interested in hearing more about this program or contacting Dr. Tatem, please email Janine at jcarambot@bapl.org.

Black Women Writers: Past and Present

• Presented in partnership with Lehigh University Dept. Of English and facilitated by Jo Grim and Shelby Carr

External links

• Movies
  • Mississippi Burning
  • Loving
  • A Dry White Season
  • Putney Swope
  • 42
  • Whose Streets?
  • White Like Me
  • Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
  • King in the Wilderness
  • Dolores
  • Motorcycle Diaries
  • Che
  • Real Women Have Curves
  • Incident at Oglala 
  • First Daughter and the Black Snake
  • Smoke Signals
  • La Haine/The Hate
  • Driving While Black: Race, Space, and Mobility in America
• Full length films and other videos from PBS
  • Racism in America
  • Reconstruction: After the Civil War
• Bookshare reading lists
  • A further list of anti-racist books
  • Books on anti-racism for kids and teens
  • Books by black authors for adults and teens
  • YA reads featuring leads that are People of Color
• Black Film history links
  • UCLA Film and Television Archive
  • Criterion Channel: Pioneers of African American Cinema
  • NPR Podcast Special Series: African Americans in Film
  • Film Quarterly
  • National Museum of African American History & Culture: Film and Television
  • The Guardian: “Black films matter – how African American cinema fought back against Hollywood”
  • Film Forum: “BLACK WOMEN: Trailblazing African American Actresses & Images, 1920 – 2001”
  • University of Maine Honors Thesis: “A Comparative Study of African American Representations in Film from Original to Remake as Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement”
• Articles & Podcasts – community suggested resources compiled during Dialogues on Social Justice
  • ‘The Strange Story Of The Man Behind Strange Fruit’
    by Elizabeth Blair for NPR Morning Edition (2012)
  • ‘The Philadelphia Race Riot (1918)’
    by Will Mack for Blackpast.org (2017)
  • ‘Race riots in Philadelphia during the 1919 Red Summer’
  • ‘MOVE: Or When the Philly Police Dropped a Bomb on a Residential Neighborhood’
    Stuff You Should Know podcast episode (2019)
  • ‘The Long Hot Summer’
    NPR’s Throughline podcast episode (2020)
  • Felony Disenfranchisement Laws Map
    ACLU.org (accessed July 2020)
  • Criminal Disenfranchisement Laws PDF – State by State Breakdown
    BrennanCenter.org (updated June 2020)
  • The Childhood Opportunity Gap Expanded Data Visualizations
    Diversitydatakids.org (2019)

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!

https://vimeo.com/430901656/646dca8b92[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Enjoy these final week submissions by Jessica, David, Matt, and Brad.

Thank you to all who participated!

Thank you to Rebecca, Regina, Mary Jane, Snowflake Princess, Ayla, Robert, Janine, Kate, Brenda,  and Judy for their recent submissions!

All during the month of April, National Poetry Month, we are inviting the community to submit a favorite poem to be shared online through BAPL. Poems can be submitted in Video, Audio, or Text form and entrees will be reviewed before being put online.  Our goal is to give patrons the opportunity to share their favorite poems among the community during the month with feedback and engagement. This program is open to all ages!  We look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you to Jeff, Edana, Julia, and David for their recent submissions!

All during the month of April, National Poetry Month, we are inviting the community to submit a favorite poem to be shared online through BAPL. Poems can be submitted in Video, Audio, or Text form and entrees will be reviewed before being put online.  Our goal is to give patrons the opportunity to share their favorite poems among the community during the month with feedback and engagement. This program is open to all ages!  We look forward to hearing from you!

Enjoy these recent submissions!

 March 27, 28 & 29, 2020 

Let’s Play Books Bookstore, in partnership with the Bethlehem Area Public Library, is proud to present the Inaugural Lehigh Valley Book Festival, to be held annually, the last weekend in March, commencing in 2020. Join us as we celebrate books – their authors, illustrators, and readers! The festival will host creative and informative programs that will include daytime and evening activities for all ages in and around the Lehigh Valley.

Friday, 3/27:         LV BOOK FEST kick-off events in the afternoon & evening in a variety of locations.  Author meet & greets, unique food & drink inspired programming.

Saturday, 3/28:    LV BOOK FEST events to be held at the Bethlehem Area Public Library – Main campus. Expect a full day of authors & illustrators, panel discussions followed by author signings, family-friendly programming and activities. Includes a variety of tracks, including TEEN FEST & KIDS’ FEST. 10am – 5pm.

Sunday, 3/29:       LV BOOK FEST event(s) to be held at ArtsQuest Center, at the SteelStacks in Bethlehem.

The festival’s mission is that of inclusivity and approachability, connecting each of us with the love of story.

• Like the event on Facebook to get updates
• See Let’s Play Books’ site for more information. 

On just this past Saturday at just one library location, all of the above occurred! It was a busy December 7th, with folks lined up for the book sale to start the day when the doors opened at 10am. The mindfulness class began soon after — a session led by Dr. Kevin Siddons on Qijong — a movement-based meditation art for learners of all ages. Then there was a birthday party in the Cohen Room and there were actually two films — one for kids and one for grown-ups. The children’s film was Polar Express and we had over 100 people in attendance. Kids had hot chocolate and a high school senior from our Teen Advisory Board showed up in a big red suit as Santa Claus! The other film was Budapest Noir, a Hungarian movie that is part of our series of art-house and foreign films you don’t get to see at the cineplex.

Later in the day there was a holiday concert with KeyStone A Cappella, a local, popular vocal group who performed to a large crowd. It was a magical evening.

During the eight hours we were open that day, 1,139 people came through the door of the Main Library. That’s 142 people an hour! That’s one person every 25 seconds! For eight hours! At just one library location! Just another day in the life of the library. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need a nap…

KeyStone A Capella at BAPL

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts on October 30 at 6:30pm

Tuesday Mooney, Kate’s third novel, has received excellent advance buzz. Publishers Weekly wrote “Rarely does a novel so suffused with death radiate as much life as this spirited–in every sense of the word–genre-bending adventure.” Kirkus Reviews called the book “thrilling, romantic, and charming as all get out.”

The book tour will see Kate signing at bookstores and festivals around the country, visiting Manhattan, upstate New York, Boston, Minnesota, and more. But the opportunity to sign books at BAPL is a special spot on the tour.

“I am so excited to share this book with Bethlehem, especially at the library and with Let’s Play Books!” Kate says. “In ways large and small, BAPL, Let’s Play Books, and my local community–friends and family, artists, writers, teachers, librarians, musicians, the list could go on for days!–made writing this book possible, because you all made me feel supported and inspired. Plus, libraries and bookstores are two of my favorite places on earth. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate.”

Come join in the celebration, get inspired, talk to Kate – and maybe to some ghosts – at BAPL.

WHAT: Open House & Book Signing: Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts, author Kate Racculia
WHEN: 10/30/2019 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
WHERE: BAPL Main Library, 11 W. Church St., Bethlehem
TICKETS: Not required

The concert is arranged so that the volume increases from each performer to the next. It starts with a mellow set of poetry/classical guitar and gradually cranks it up to the ear-splitting noise punk of TILE as the eleventh act. So what’s with all the elevens?

“When we were trying to think up a name for our in-library recording studio earlier this year, our address of 11 West Church came to mind,” said BAPL Executive Director Josh Berk. “I’m a big fan of the movie This is Spinal Tap and the famous amp that ‘goes to eleven.'” The 1984 comedy about a hard-luck heavy metal band has become a cult classic and guitarist Nigel Tufnel’s line about his extra-loud amp has become synonymous with rock excess, or really any time you want to turn anything up past normal boundaries.

And at first glance it might not seem “normal” for a library to have a recording studio that anyone in the community can use–to record a podcast, a demo, or an entire album–for free. But BAPL has always been about creatively serving its patrons, growing and changing with the times–and Bethlehem’s community is nothing if not musical! Studio 11 opened in February of this year, and was generously funded by Lehigh’s Lehigh University’s South Side Initiative and the Mellon Digital Humanities Initiative.

“So once we had Studio 11 and we wanted to have a fundraising concert to get some new equipment and soundproofing, I thought, why not have it on November 11?” Berk said. From there the idea kept growing. Berk decided to have eleven bands, and why not have each one get a little louder? He plans to hang a big volume knob (made out of cardboard) that can be cranked up after each set, all the way up to eleven. The early ones are scheduled for when the library is still open, with the ear-splitting saved for after hours. 

Berk reached out to Lehigh Valley Girls Rock to help book the bands and was happy to note that a young newly formed band of LVGR teens was available to make their debut at the festival (No Nukes). Other performers include: Cleveland and Michael Wall, C’est La Vie, Crepehanger, Becca Maye, William H. Travis, Fictional Name, VoirVoir, and Catatonic Suns.

“It actually wasn’t hard to find eleven bands to donate their time and talent to help the library,” Berk said. “The hard part was capping it at eleven! There are so many fantastic bands in Bethlehem and so many generous people who want to see the studio thrive.”

Tickets to the show are, of course, $11 (suggested donation).

WHAT: 11FEST, 11 performers to benefit Studio 11 at BAPL

WHEN: November 11, 5:30-

WHERE: Bethlehem Area Public Library, 11 W. Church St.

TICKETS: $11 suggested donation  

“It is my intention to share with my viewer not only the essence of a physical space as experience, but also the story of light and materials and how all components arrive together,” Gloria says.

The exhibit is on display at the Main Library (11 W. Church St.) from July 8 to August 31. An “artist talk” will be held on August 26 at 6:30 with the opportunity to view the works and hear about the process. Gloria will discuss the materials and methods he uses to paint “en plein air” directly from nature. He’ll also describe how using traditional oil paints and hand-made materials has affected his work. Questions and discussion will be encouraged.

Register to attend here.

“When I select a subject to paint, I say to it, ‘Hold on a moment; let me see what you represent.  Let me put you to the test.'”

What: Artist Talk, “Delaware River, en plein air” with painter James Gloria
When: August 26, 6:30PM
Where: Bethlehem Area Public Library, 11 W. Church St.
Tickets: Free to attend, advance registration here

Main Branch Week Four prize recipient, Ruth G., won a $25 gift card to Bethlehem Dairy Store (AKA The Cup).

South Side Branch Week Four prize recipient, Bonnie S., won a $20.00 gift card to Domaci Home Store. 

Our Adult Summer Reading Program continues this week with a $25 gift card to the Backdoor Bakeshop at Main Branch and a $15.00 Gift Card for Carlos’ Bakery at the South Side Branch. To enter at the Main Branch, simply write a book or audiobook review and submit it to the reference desk at the Main Branch. To enter at South Side Branch write a book review and submit it to the front desk, complete one of our universe-themed activities, or come to any of our programs for adults at the South Side Branch.

Hope to see you soon!