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Plainfield Public Library October 2021 |
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From the Desk of the Director...
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Welcome back everyone!
Full hours and a Saturday schedule once again. It feels like normal.
Adding to that are our brand new 1st floor bathrooms. We are waiting a bit to put the tables back for use but that is in the plans moving forward as we monitor what is happening with Covid outbreaks in New Jersey.
Our events will remain virtual at least until the end of the year but we are ever hopeful for 2022. One spot of bad news, our Harvest Festival is cancelled as the petting zoo is not available, again due to Covid.
Local History will be hosting zoom events for October including
An Introduction to Puerto Rican Genealogy on October 2, and an interesting seasonal talk from the
NJ Ghost Hunters Society on October 23.
As you know, I sometimes write about books that I have been reading. Well, I do enjoy a good cozy mystery, and this past month one of my favorite series,
The Cat in the Stacks Mysteries by Miranda James came out with the latest book in the series,
What the Cat Dragged In. Anyone who knows me is aware that I am a cat lover and an archivist by training. This particular cozy series is about an archivist and his Maine Coon Cat, Diesel. I especially like this series and all the characters that have been introduced since its inception. Whenever there is a new book in the series I read it as soon as possible and this one didn’t disappoint as it brought in my other favorite pastime, genealogy.
If you like cozies and think you want to give it a try, I suggest starting with the first book in the series entitled
Murder Past Due. This book is available in our collection, and also through interlibrary loan.
Hope you are all enjoying the fall season. Until next month!
See you at the Library!
Mary Ellen Rogan
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Current Library Hours from September 7th
From September 7th our general service hours increased to:
Mondays through Thursdays: 9am-9pm
Fridays 9am-5pm
Saturdays: 11am-3pm
Sundays: CLOSED
The stacks are open for browsing once again, ( curbside service is still available on request if you prefer - call (908) 757-1111 ext. 111 to arrange), and the main floor Reference, Tech Desk, and Circulation desks are all now available for in-person service whenever we're open. Patrons can visit the Children's room freely once again. Local History is open by appointment only and has evening hours on Tuesday nights until 7pm. The Literacy department offers a range of ongoing services, and classes.
You're now able to come use the computers for up to 2 hours once again, and we're working hard to make sure our remaining adaptations and changes to service can be resumed safely as soon as it's practicable to do so.
The newly-refurbished and redesigned public bathrooms are now available.
As per the City of Plainfield's general instructions for public buildings,
everyone should still wear a mask while inside the Library.
For more information generally, please get in touch with the Reference Department. For department-specific information, you can contact those departments.
Our in-person services and hours pages at the Library website are also kept updated with details of service changes in more detail.
We look forward to welcoming you back to your Library and hope that you'll come visit us soon!
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Annual Photography Competition 2021
Winners to be announced 18th October
This year we'll be judging from a crop of entries celebrating the 'Pets of Plainfield', and showcasing some of your adorable creatures.
Entries will be accepted up to October 1st, and winners will be announced October 18th.
A prize of $200 will be awarded to the winning entry, with 3 additional runner-up prizes.
Look out for announcements on our social media in October (we'll also contact winners) & we'll feature many of the entries online and also create our usual online competition archive. |
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Get help Navigating Medicare: Union County NJ-SHIP Services (Zoom Webinar)
Online Presentation sponsored by Plainfield Public Library and SAGE Eldercare
Tues. Oct. 5, 6:30-8:00 pm
Ms. Tenisha Morgan, SHIP Coordinator (SAGE Eldercare) will explain the ins and outs of signing up for Medicare coverage and answer your questions. SHIP is your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program.
SHIP provides unbiased help to Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers. Whether you are new to Medicare, reviewing Medicare plan options, or have questions on how to use your Medicare, SHIP can help.
(You can register anytime, including when the program begins.)
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Online Programming for Seniors: Hope and Healing
The Library has partnered with RWJBarnabas Health Institute for Prevention and Recovery’s Hope and Healing Program to offer an ongoing series of virtual programs for Seniors over Zoom. Each month will see an ongoing sequence of talks and activities 4 days a week, on a theme.
Each session is absolutely
FREE and open to all Seniors.
While transitioning back to our lives, we
still need connection and support. Our groups offer a place to engage with others, make new friends and learn new things! No registration necessary! Come join us any or all days!
The same Zoom link will work for all the sessions:
Zoom Link click here- or attend via phone:
1 (929) 205-6099 Meeting ID: 974 2675 9376 Passcode: 275889
Here are the topics for October-
Tuesdays at 3pm -
Self-Care
10/5 - The Art of Patience
10/12 - Anchors
10/19 - Finding Meaning
10/26 - Receiving
Wednesdays at 10am -
Great American Authors
10/6 - Mark Twain
10/13 - Joyce Carol Oates
10/20 - Tennessee Williams
10/27 - Toni Morrison
Thursdays at 10am -
Virtual Adventures
10/7 - African Safari
10/14 - Australia
10/21 - Thailand
10/28 - Alaska
Fridays at 3pm -
Brain Health
10/1 - Crosswords
10/8 - Trivia - US Presidents
10/15 - Pop Culture Trivia of the 1940s
10/22 - Pop Culture Trivia of the 1950s
10/29 - Pop Culture Trivia of the 1960s
For further information please contact:
Marisa Merrigan Robertazzi
Marisa.Merriganrobertazzi@rwjbh.org Cell: (973) 432-0875
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Reorganization on the Library's Main Floor
If you’ve been visiting the library in person recently, you may have noticed that we’ve been doing some reorganization to prepare for some building work that will shortly begin on the main floor. (We'll have more to share on that in the future).
New books - and room to grow.
You’ll find New Books for each of the library sections (e.g. Fiction, Young Adult, Non-Fiction etc) displayed alongside their respective sections.
Each section now has ample room to grow as we purchase new books, especially our Young Adult and Graphic Novels sections, which have moved away from smaller freestanding bookcases to occupy more room in sections of the main shelving.
New displays
New signage for the shelving will guide you to all sections but if you would like any assistance in locating materials, staff on the main floor will be able to help you.
We’ve also been able to create new display collections – you’ll find a section with staff recommendations, featuring hand-picked books selected by the staff here at the Library, and a new ‘Hidden Gems’ display, with a rotating collection of interesting books old and new selected from our stacks. (You can take out books from these displays just like you would from any other part of the collections).
Additional ways to access materials
As ever, if there are items you’d like to be able to access that we don’t have on-site, you can most often find them on the Library consortium catalog, so that they can be obtained for you from another site – and if you’d like to access items electronically, there’s a vast library of electronic materials available in numerous formats. Check out the different platforms available here.
If you need any guidance at all, we hope you will ask for assistance: we will be very happy to help.
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BECOME A TUTOR: CHANGE
TWO LIVES
The Plainfield Public Library is currently looking to recruit volunteer tutors to help local residents learn English, become citizens, pass the GED, and find employment.
Everyone owes some of their success to the great teachers they have had. Now you can be that someone who makes all the difference.
No Experience? No problem.
The Library provides simple, straightforward, and ongoing tutor training and support.
Tutors are never left to fend for themselves. After the initial training, support is always available from PPL’s dedicated Literacy staff and other fellow tutors. Signing up means joining a strong team of likeminded and socially-caring volunteers ready to support each other.
Training and scheduling are flexible and can be tailored to personal availability. Devoting just a few hours to this vital and worthwhile program can lead to dramatic improvements in our community.
To find out more about this meaningful volunteer opportunity, please call (908)757-1111 ext. 122 or email literacy@plfdpl.info.
Changing someone’s life will change yours
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PPL’s Adult Literacy Success Stories: Rayshawn Reed
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When Rayshawn “Ray” Reed is behind the Plainfield Public Library’s tech help desk, his friendly demeanor puts patrons at ease as he troubleshoots their information technology problems. Reed believes in the ability of public libraries to help the public, because that’s how his journey started.
Reed, a Plainfield native and resident, learned about the services offered at the public library through the Plainfield Action Services’ Summer Youth Employment Program. The IC3 Boot Camp piqued his curiosity.
“I thought it would be hard,” recalled Reed, “but it was actually not that bad. [The instructors] helped me through the entire process. They explained things really well and made me feel like I could pick it up easily.”
Franco Henriquez, an IC3 instructor who has been with the program since 2017 was Reed’s main instructor and agrees that Reed took to the program swimmingly.
After completing the IC3 Boot Camp and passing the certification exams in August 2019, Reed continued to make good use of the other resources available in the Library’s Adult Literacy department and went on to earn his state-issued high school diploma through the Library’s GED prep program.
Henriquez wasn’t the only one who saw Reed’s potential. In September 2019, he was offered the position at the tech desk because of his outgoing personality and how naturally he took to the field. Reed shakily accepted the offer.
In the beginning, Reed would often reference his class notes if he came across a question he wasn’t familiar with. “Sometimes if I got flustered and felt ‘I don’t know what I’m doing,’ I would go look and ‘oh here it is, that’s what that is,’ and it would be a lot simpler than I was making it,” Reed said with a chuckle.
He also relied on the help of his past instructor, now coworker, Henriquez. “I would go to Franco, and he’d show me like ‘you remember this?’,” said Reed. “Eventually, I found myself not having to look things up every time. Now, I got it.”
When Henriquez sees his former student helping a patron he still cheers him on.
“I’d see him go and I’ll just be like ‘yes, good job Ray,’” Henriquez says. “It’s a good feeling for me too, because you’re reminded that all of this is for something.”
“[The IC3 Boot Camp] gave me a sense of direction,” says Reed. “At first I was lost, like ‘I really don’t know if I want to work in this field or this job,’ then learning all this [material] helped me build towards my goal.”
Reed hopes to continue a career in software development and wants more people in the community to take advantage of the opportunities offered to them through the Library.
“As far as the world is, technology is always advancing, eventually everything is going to be online. It’s better to get this knowledge now, than to try to pick it up a few years later,” says Reed. “If you’ve got the time, it’s free, why not?”
For more information about the Plainfield Public Library IC3 and GED programs, or any of the other training programs offered, go to our website or contact training@plfdpl.info
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Children's Library October Calendar
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage with Us!
(Click on the calendar to go to the Children's webpage to find out more.)
For more information on Children's activities, please get in touch with us at (908) 757-1111 ext.129 or email yp@plfdpl.info |
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Local History, Genealogy & Special Collections
The Local History Department is offering two Zoom programs this month and the
3 Cheers for Plainfield! display will run through October.
3 Cheers for Plainfield!
Come into the Library to view the Local History exhibit featuring school sports in Plainfield. This display features a variety of historical materials from the Library's archive, including photographs, ephemera, artifacts, and more. There is rare film footage, now digitized, from a 1977 P.H.S. football game that you must see! We post images from the archive every Friday on our social media platforms, so make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Plainfield Library Genealogy Club Presents:
Saturday, October 2, 2021
10:30am via Zoom
Presented by Luis Ariel Rivera, genealogist
Throughout this presentation you will learn how to use your personal family stories in conjunction with both records from the United States and Puerto Rico to begin building your family tree. The presenter will use personal stories, photos, and family documents to walk you through this process and teach you tips and tricks to unlocking your Puerto Rican genealogy.
Luis Ariel Rivera began researching his Puerto Rican roots in 2004 and his research revolves around various towns in Puerto Rico, the French territorial islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, and Spain (mainly Andalucía and Mallorca). He is a member of the SPG (Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Genealogía), the NGS (National Genealogical Society), and completed Boston University’s 15-week Genealogical Research Certificate Program. He is currently studying with ProGen Study Groups and hopes to become a Certified Genealogist in the near future. You can follow his research at: www.boricuagenes.com.
This program is co-hosted by Plainfield Public Library and the Historical Society of Plainfield / Drake House Museum.
This is a FREE program.
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Teen Curbside Crafts: Salt Painting
October 19, 2021
Pick up the kits at the library: 2 pm to 6 pm
Using Salt, Watercolors and glue, paint cards with special textures.
Instructions will be provided for raised painting with salt and using salt to add texture to artistic watercolor painting.
Check out the Painting with Watercolor videos on our Creative Bug subscription: https://www.creativebug.com/classseries/single/playing-with-watercolor
Questions? Email ref@plfdpl.info, call (908) 757 1111 ext.112 or chat with us at plainfieldlibrary.info
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Live Daily Serial continues every Weekday at 2pm:
Dracula by Bram Stoker- to be followed mid-month by
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.
Plus- new playlist feature for our back episodes.
Our live daily serial continues into October. We'll be reading Dracula, live each weekday* at 2pm, wrapping up the story sometime in the first couple of weeks of October (depending on how quickly your narrator can do justice to the fantastical gothic romance of the text).
(*The Live Daily Serial will be taking a short break October 6th-11th)
Next- The Woman in White
We'll follow up Dracula with a change of tone, and embark upon Wilkie Collins'
The Woman in White, a classic mystery. We'll post a trailer ad for The Woman in White as soon as it's clear when we'll begin, so look out for it on our Facebook page
Most of the books we've read/will read are available as e-books from eLibrary NJ or at the library. Grab your copy and read along for free!
The stream goes live on our Facebook page at the same time each weekday from 2pm to 2:30pm. Please head on over to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PlainfieldPublicLibrary to join us!
Previous episodes - now as playlists!
We've been doing live serialization for numerous months now and have amassed a fair number of 'back issues' (we're now on something like our 300th episode!) To facilitate viewers' perusal of previous series, you can now browse various of our public-domain-based serials as playlists at https://www.facebook.com/PlainfieldPublicLibrary/videos
So far, you can choose from live serializations of:
(Sadly, we can't retain recordings of the copyright materials we were able to serialize live during lockdown, but we're digging in to assorted juicy works in the public domain and hamming up the olde-timey descriptions. Will your narrator stumble over elaborate Victorian and Edwardian sentence constructions in the forthcoming episodes? Tune in and find out!) |
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Donate to the Plainfield Public Library
The Library needs your help!
To make a donation online via Paypal, please click on the "Donate" button below. For more information or to contact the Administration office, call 908-757-2305.
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