Hi All!
We are a few weeks into our “next new normal” and the library is now open. We are so happy to have people back in the building!! Below are the details for visiting in person, we are also still providing curbside delivery for people that prefer to remain outside of the building.
I have been thinking about how to provide an opportunity for teens to safely accumulate the volunteer hours they need this summer. I have decided to revive an old teen program called NEWTTs (new teen titles), teens can earn volunteer hours by reading and reviewing titles from the library’s teen collection. I will bundle 5 teen titles and 5 review forms and teens can swing by and pick up them up. I will check the titles out for 6 weeks. Each review form is 1 page long and you will earn 2 volunteer hours for each review form submitted. If you are interested, please click HERE to fill out the application. If you have any quesions call 725-1727 and ask for me or email cyndi@topshamlibrary.org.
I hope you are finding ways to enjoy the summer!
Have fun and stay safe, Cyndi
In-person visiting:
Welcome back! We are happy and excited to see you again. We are open our regular fours! Please click HERE for full details regarding in person visiting.
Parking Lot Pick Up
Parking Lot Pick Up is now available at Topsham Public Library. Parking lot pick up is available six days a week, Mondays through Fridays 9-5pm and Saturdays 9-1pm.
For instructions, please visit HERE . For the online form mentioned in the instructions, please visit HERE.
There are three ways to request materials:
If you know exactly what you want, request your items the same way you have in the past, using the online card catalog.
If you are not sure what you want, feel free to email me cyndi@topshamlibrary.org and I will gladly pull some titles for you!
You can also fill out the online form found HERE and the staff will pick the titles for you.
If you are uncomfortable online (or just want to talk to a person) feel free to call us at 725-1727 with your requests.
Summer Reading Program
This year’s reading theme is Together, we are Maine!
Here is everything you need to start this year’s teen summer reading program. If you have any questions contact me cyndi@topshamlibrary.org Have fun!!
Click here for the TEEN FLYER
Click here for the TEEN BINGO
Click here for TEEN BOOKMARKS
Teens can start exchanging their summer reading bookmarks for tickets on Monday, August 3rd. Bookmarks will be accepted until September 15th.
There are three options:
Tickets can be filled out by teens in the library (just like last year).
Teens can swap bookmarks (by coming into the library or calling from the parking lot) for tickets to take home and fill out, and then return them to the library.
Teens can drop off their bookmarks and Cyndi will fill out tickets for them.
Remember: I need a clearly written first name and telephone number on every ticket and bookmark. Keep reading! Be well!
If you need ideas for Teen titles with a Maine theme click HERE for print version and click HERE for Ebooks available on Cloud Library.
Things to do from home
Crafts
Interested in making a book hedgehog?
Click the link below for the instructions.
More craft ideas: Paper airplanes or 3d heart directions or paper flower or Tissue Flowers With Colored Tips or crinkled paper
dragon coloring sheets or teen bingo or teen book making instructions
Interested in origami? Visit this site: Origami.me
Tutorial on book folding-watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTw3I6wfPAM
Nicole’s tutorial on watercolor painting can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjsTOOAh3Ns
Nicole’s tutorial on galaxy painting can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybddv2-o8J8&t
Entertainment
Enjoy the outdoors from home with these livecams! Observe animals and their habitats all over the world with live nature cams! And check back later in the spring for puffins on Seal Island in Maine.
Aquarium Online Academy offers virtual field trip of sea life and marine-related education and fun: Aquarium Live
Try taking a virtual tour by visiting artsandculture.google.com. It can be a little awkward (at least for me) but the photos are amazing!
Sources of free Ebooks:
TEEN BOOK CLOUD: an online collection of ebooks, enhanced novels, graphic novels, videos and audio books, which offers teens all reading levels access to an amazing range of content. Just click on the link – no library card needed!
CLOUD LIBRARY: download new, popular and bestselling audiobooks and eBooks with your library card! Download the cloudLibrary app to your device for free, enter your library card number and go!
TEEN BOOKS: Here is a list of some of the teen titles available on Cloud library. If they are not available remember you can place a hold.
To filter your choices on your computer:
Click on Browse (to the right of Featured, directly under the TPL logo)
Select tab (fiction, non-fiction, teen, kids) If choosing teens or kids-selected fiction or nonfiction
Choose genres/subjects by clicking on them-they turn blue when selected
To see if titles are available now or need to be placed on hold click on the blue text “list view>” located to the right of the page
When you reach the bottom of that page there maybe be a “load more” button, the system will continue to load titles until the button changes to “all books loaded!”
Other resources
NAMI has a Teen Text Support Line at 207-515-8398. It’s staffed every day from Noon to 10 PM by people between 19- 23 years of age. You are not alone in this time of isolation and can text with a friendly social support person any day of the week. Visit www.namimaine.org/page/teentextline or text (207) 515-8398 to start a conversation (please note that this is not a crisis line; if you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text (888) 568-1112.
DIGITAL MAINE LIBRARY: a curated collection of educational and informational databases for high school students from the Maine State Library. Easy to access with your library card.
Tour hundreds of college campuses virtually at youvisit.com/collegesearch
MEDLINE PLUS FOR TEENS: presents high-quality, relevant health and wellness information that is trusted, easy to understand, and free of advertising, in both English and Spanish. A service of the National Library of Medicine.
ROSETTA STONE is offering up to 250 hours of language learning in 24 languages free to all K-12 students for three months.
DUOLINGO Learn 30+ languages online with bite-size lessons based on science.
Reading Without Walls Challenge
Former National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature, Gene Luen Yang, issued a challenge to all readers to read without walls in one of the three ways below.
1. Read a book about a character who doesn’t look like you or live like you.
2. Read a book about a topic you don’t know much about.
3. Read a book in a format that you don’t normally read for fun. This might be a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse, a picture book, or a hybrid book.