It is hard to believe that Fall has arrived! Some things are the same; the nights are cooler and acorns are falling, and some things like school and sports are back in session, but not as familiar. Despite the challenges we face today, time is moving along and we are all finding ways to adapt to each “next new normal”. What better time to escape into a good book?
I have tried to think of ways to make your experience at the library as easy and stress free as possible. Be prepared though, the teen room looks a little different. The chairs are stacked and the table is pushed to the side to make room for safe browsing. There is a display of teen titles with bookmarks identifying them as a mystery, fantasy, realistic fiction, etc.
You will find a binder under the whiteboard collage that lists all of the newer teen titles by subject and next to the binder is a basket full of Fun on the Fly craft kits to take home and make.
If you can suggest anything else the library can do for teens, please email me cyndi@topshamlibrary.org!
Thinking of you! Cyndi
October’s Fun on the Fly Kit
How many dogs can you find in the YA room collage? Fill out a ticket every time you visit! Closest guess wins a mystery prize basket!
Looking for a chilling read? Follow the red balloons in the Teen room…
In-person visiting:
Welcome back! We are happy and excited to see you again. We are open our regular hours! 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.
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!
If you are uncomfortable online (or just want to talk to a person) feel free to call us at 725-1727 with your requests.
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.