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Plainfield Public Library September 2021 |
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From the Desk of the Director...
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September will bring additional hours to the Library. As our summer hours end we will be going back to our regularly scheduled hours: 9am to 9pm Monday through Thursday; 9am to 5pm on Friday. A new addition will be Saturday hours from 11am to 3pm. I hope you all take advantage of the new schedule. Remember however, that masks are required in the Library.
I hope you all enjoyed the summer reading program and the outdoor event in Library Park with Zoom Balloons. Our next outdoor event will be the Harvest Festival in October. Please look for the date announcement and come join us. Our kids craft kits can be picked up in the Children’s Room for families interested in crafts.
This is the 20th anniversary of September 11th and we will have a small display of remembrance in the lobby floor case. We are also starting an oral history project about September 11th and are looking for volunteers to be interviewed about their experiences and memories. More on that project in the Local History section below.
We expect the new bathrooms on the first floor to be ready for our expanded hours. However, we are still waiting for back-ordered construction supplies. Thank you for your patience during the construction process – we know it will be worth the wait!
I look forward to seeing you all at the Library,
Mary Ellen Rogan
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NEW Library Hours from September 7th
From September 7th our general service hours will increase again 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 walk-in visiting on Mondays, alongside 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.
Our public bathrooms are
not currently available because they are being remodelled and improved. We hope to reopen them with better facilities soon!
As per the City of Plainfield's general instructions for public buildings,
everyone should still wear a mask while inside the Library, but we're getting much closer now to normal services.
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
$200 top prize!
Get your entries in now for a chance to win our $200 top prize!
This year we are celebrating the Pets of Plainfield, and inviting you to share pictures of all the important creatures in your life!
For full details, click on the image above to see the information page on our website, or copy and paste this link into your browser:
www.plainfieldlibrary.info/photoinfo2021.html
There's no charge to enter, but please note that no printed entries will be accepted.
You can also join the fun online by using #pplphotocomp21 and #petsofplainfield in your social media (but remember that the form is the only way to enter the competition itself.)
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.
Good luck! We look forward to seeing your creatures! |
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Plainfield Public Library Offers Free Computer Literacy Training
IC3 Digital Literacy Boot Camp Helps Certify Many for Rapidly Changing Workforce
This fall, the Plainfield Public Library will continue holding free courses to prepare New Jerseyans for the ever-changing digital world and to arm them with industry recognized credentials to prove to employers that they have the skills required to participate in today’s workforce.
The next nine-week long IC3 Boot Camp session will begin September 27th, with in-person classes for day participants and remote classes for evening participants. These free courses are funded by grants from the Union County Workforce Development Board and the Union County Board of County Commissioners and are open to all New Jersey residents.
Since the program’s launch in 2019, a total of 550 certifications have been earned by students. Even with the challenges faced last year due to COVID, the program was still able to help students complete over 100 IC3 certifications.
The Internet Core Competency Certification, IC3, is a global benchmark for basic computer literacy. The IC3 Boot Camp program allows participants to learn essential skills for successful usage and comprehension of things like operating systems, hardware, software, online safety and more.
The Plainfield Public Library’s award-winning Adult Literacy Department also offers GED, English as a second language, and citizenship classes free of charge to residents of the greater Plainfield area. For more information please email training@plfdpl.info, call 908-757-1111, ext. 122, or visit plfdpl.info.
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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 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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Children's Library September 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 has prepared two special displays in the Library lobby and one onine exhibit. We are also offering two Zoom programs this month.
Remembering 9/11 Case Display
2021 marks the twentieth anniversary of the day that changed us all.
In addition to the thousands of individuals who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, countless people from the United States and around the world were deeply affected by the attacks. Their experiences are also a part of the history of September 11th.
Plainfield Public Library is beginning an oral history project recording the stories of people who lived or worked in Plainfield on 9/11/2001 and would like to share their experiences with us to document and archive for historical purposes. We will conduct the interviews in the Library or via Zoom. Because September 11th is often a painful and emotional memory for people, participants will be asked to recount their day only to a level of detail with which they are most comfortable. You do not need to have been directly involved to participate in this oral history project.
Interested parties are invited to email us at localhistory@plfdpl.info or call us at 908-757-1111 ext.136.
3 Cheers for Plainfield! Exhibit
Come into the Library to view the Local History exhibit featuring school sports in Plainfield. This display will show off many historical materials from the Library's archive, including photographs, ephemera, artifacts, and more. There will be rare film footage, now digitized, from a 1977 P.H.S. football game that you must see! We will post images from the exhibit every Friday on our social media platforms, so make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The display will run through October 2021.
Constitution Week 2021
Constitution Week commemorates United States' most important document: The U.S. Constitution. It is celebrated annually during the week of September 17-23. This year's exhibit focuses on David Brearley, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey and one of the four New Jersey Framers of the United States Constitution. View the exhibit online here.
Plainfield Library Genealogy Club Presents:
Deemed a Runaway: Black Laws of the North
Saturday, September 4, 2021
10:30am via Zoom
Presented by Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist
Slavery's force was felt far north of the Mason-Dixon Line, and the Black Laws of northern states created valuable records for tracing African-American families. Learn how understanding this law and its records can be uniquely rewarding for descendants of the enslaved and the enslavers alike, and of those who were their neighbors and friends. There will be time for Q&A following the presentation.
This program is co-hosted by Plainfield Public Library and the Historical Society of Plainfield / Drake House Museum.
This is a FREE program. REGISTER HERE.
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*Saturday Morning History Chat*
A Proud Heritage: the African American Presence and Contribution
in the Sourland Mountain Region and Surrounding Area
Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 10:30am via Zoom
Presented by authors Beverly Mills and Elaine Buck
Featured in the
New York Times,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
Chicago Tribune,
Smithsonian Magazine and various other newspaper articles and publications, authors Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills are known for their pioneering work in unveiling unknown stories about slavery in New Jersey and its long ignored African American narrative.
Based on more than a decade of research, Mills and Buck wrote, ‘If These Stones Could Talk” which was published in November of 2018. This book, largely based on the African American presence and contribution in the Sourland Mountain Region and surrounding area, the book also highlights their work as trustees on the Board of the historic Stoutsburg Cemetery Association and their discovery of United States Colored Troop Veterans buried there along with a commemorative marker for William Stives, a Revolutionary War veteran placed there by his fourth great-grandson.
So that the past can meet the present, Mills and Buck have co-founded the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM) which is located just off Route 518 on Hollow Road in Skillman. SSAAM is the first African American museum in central New Jersey and focuses on educating patrons about the unique culture, experience, and contributions of the African American community, many of whom descended from those enslaved by White founding families from the region.
There will be time for Q&A following the presentation.
This special program is co-hosted by Plainfield Public Library and the Historical Society of Plainfield / Drake House Museum.
This is a FREE program. REGISTER HERE.
For more information about these or any Local History progams, please email us at localhistory@plfdpl.info or call us at 908-757-1111 ext.136.
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NEW Live Serial continues every Weekday at 2pm:
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Our new serial has only just begun! Join us for creepy moments of languid terror (at lunchtime no less!) and sink your fangs into Dracula by Bram Stoker. We'll be reading Dracula Live each weekday at 2pm. Please flit over to join us if you can, or catch up with the recorded episodes at your leisure over at our Facebook channel's Live Videos 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! |
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Library Hours
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Services for local history & genealogy research visits to the Plainfield Room are available by appointment only. Please see details at
http://www.plainfieldlibrary.info/Departments/LH/LH_main.html
Please refer to http://www.plainfieldlibrary.info/Services/InPersonService.html for full details of currently-available, in-person services and additional information.
The Library will be closed on Monday, September 6, 2021, for Labor Day, and also on Saturday, September 11, 2021.
Library Opening Hours (starting September 7th):
Monday - Thursday: 9am-9pm
Friday: 9am-5pm
Saturday: 11am-3pm
Sunday: CLOSED
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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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