Berne Library Notes for Thursday, March 26, 2020

The Berne Library’s mission statement is: “Meet the needs of the community for life-long learning and entertainment.” The library may be closed to the public for now, but learning and entertainment shall flourish. Please, read on.

Over the weeks to come, look for trivia challenges, entertaining morsels and snippets of developing library programs in the works.

The Word of the Month Club gave us fascinating times for March so challenge yourself to flip on your observation switch and be fascinated. Search for smilers as you navigate your day. Write it down, post it, share. Look for good and good you will discover.

One delightful surprise coming from libraryland is the automatic renewal of all checked-out library items until April 1. That’s a definite smiler.

TP

Now for the question on everyone’s mind. “Do you have enough toilet paper?”

As any library supporter knows, there are a variety of items you can borrow with your library card. Toilet paper is just not one of them. You simply can’t check out toilet paper and return it when you are done. Those are the rules. No exceptions.

All for you

So what’s a small library in the Hilltowns to do? Offer free wifi from the parking lot. Done.

How about small scale curbside pick-up for seeds from the seed library, books from the stacks, music CDs or movies hanging on the racks? Done, done, and done.

Then there is the huge selection of E-Content you can download with the free Overdrive app. Please call 518-872-1246 to place an order for library items and a cartwheeling library staff member will fill it. 

Daily activities

For a healthy dose of daily family activity ideas, check out the DayByDayNY Family Literacy Calendar link at bernepubliclibrary.org. It sits on the right-hand side under ReadSquared.

Programs mentioned recently include “Journeys on the Page” and “Express Yourself.” Two new writing groups inviting you to get writing. A couple of books for inspiration with your page journeys:

— “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamont; and

— “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity” by Julia Cameron.

Start penning those stories. Interested in joining? Send an e-mail to sandra@bernepubliclibrary.org or call 518-872-1246.

Challenge

This week’s trivia challenge:

— 1. How many James Patterson books does the Berne library have?

— 2. Where was the first library of books housed in Berne?

— 3. Name three non-book items you can check out with your library card.

Life-long learning and entertainment. Give it a go and see where it takes you. Stay safe, everyone. 

News from the library’s director

“I want you to know we are wiping all items with disinfectant wipes after which we put the items into quarantine for four days,” says Kathy Stempel. “We will fill orders for library items the best we can.

“Please leave a message on the answering machine and we will get back to you as soon as possible. There is no physical contact at all. Items will be placed on a table outside the library at a certain time.

“Reading a book or watching a movie is one of the best ways to de-stress yourself. Stay safe and healthy.”