September is Love Your Library month
This summer, Frank Sarris Public Library added an Outdoor Learning Garden to its campus. The garden offers library patrons an outside space for reading, surfing the web and socializing - and sidewalk chalk-ing.
Girl Scout Troop 16106 added color to the Frank Sarris Public Library's Outdoor Learning Garden. The girl scouts planted flowers and vegetables earlier this summer.
Peggy Tseng has served for ten years as director of Frank Sarris Public Library. One of her favorite programs is 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, which encourages parents to instill a love for reading in children before kids start school.
Frank Sarris Public Library director Peggy Tseng is looking forward to hosting concerts and other programs in the new Outdoor Learning Garden. The garden was dedicated in July and made possible through a $25,000 grant from the Washington County Community Foundation.
Mt. Lebanon Public Library encourages patrons to show the library a little love during Love Your Library month. Visitors are invited to post a worksheet explaining why they love the library, for display all September long.
Last September, Mt. Lebanon Public Library gave donors t-shirts and tote bags during Love Your Library month. This year, the library will pass out buttons and lawn signs, as well.
September is Love Your Library month, and there’s lots to love about local libraries in the South Hills.
“Libraries are such community centers now,” said Lacey Love, director of Peters Township Library. “It’s the one community resource that you can still just use for free. You can come in; we have all kinds of programs and services for every age group. There’s something for everyone here, and it’s all totally free.”
Peters Township Library’s fall schedule offers a splattering of interesting and informative programs for kids of all ages. This year marks the first since before COVID-19 that the library is offering a full autumn schedule.
“We’re excited to get back to this regular slate of fall programming,” Love said. “We kind of missed a whole set of kids for the past two or three years. We’re just excited to see a new set of kids, excited to welcome new families back who maybe haven’t been to our programs … and teach them everything the library has to offer.
Fall activities begin Sept. 19, and advance registration is required. The popular Toddler Tales will be held every Monday at 10 a.m., followed by Bodies in Motion. Tiny Tunes is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesdays, with a variety of other programs throughout the week.
Adult programming centers around Health Literacy Month, also celebrated in September. Peters Township Public Library offers classes on everything from tick awareness to potty training young ones (that session is slated for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12). Literature focused on mental and physical health is available to library card holders.
Get Creative and Learn Something New workshop series are also on the fall schedule, and folks are invited to join other like minds at monthly clubs. Drop into the library on the second Wednesday of every month for evening book club, or bring your collection to stamp club on the third Tuesday.
Love said along with a myriad of in-person and Zoom programming, the library is developing its digital resources this fall.
“A lot of people don’t know that totally for free with a library card, you can access hundreds and hundreds of books,” she said, noting the library offers Hoopla audio and ebooks, TV and music. “You have access to so, so many resources right at your fingertips.”
A full list of Peters Township Public Library activities and events, along with digital resources, can be found online at ptlibrary.org.
Like Peters Township Public Library, the Frank Sarris Public Library in Canonsburg is gearing up for a fun-filled fall. Every September, staff attends elementary school open houses to promote events and invite kids to join their local library.
“We call it Library Card Sign-Up Month. We want to make it special for the children,” said library director Peggy Tseng. “When you enter kindergarten … you get your first library card.”
With that card, kids can check out books or navigate the digital world of resources. They can also attend wonderful programs at Frank Sarris Public Library, like the annual Halloween event scheduled for Oct. 29.
Adults will enjoy the fall programming at Frank Sarris Public Library, too, said Tseng. On Oct. 27, the library will open after-hours for Italian Night with author Anna Harsh, who will discuss her novel, “La Danza.”
“We will have antipasto – we have to eat,” Tseng laughed. “It’s like an Italian-style cheese and wine party. We want the community to feel like besides coming to the library during operating times … you have the opportunity, almost once a month, to come to the library for a special event after-hours.”
No matter when you visit Canonsburg’s iconic library, which Tseng noted can be seen from Interstate 79, it’s hard to miss the brand-new Outdoor Learning Garden. In July, the library dedicated the space, which affords folks the opportunity to read, search the web and socialize outdoors.
“People love it,” said Tseng, who plans to host small concerts and events in the cobblestoned space. “When the weather is nice, people … take a break there. I even had somebody doing a virtual job interview there. It’s a place where people love to gather. We are grateful that the Washington County (Community) Foundation funded (it). It’s a really great addition for us.”
For more on the Frank Sarris Public Library or upcoming events, visit franksarrislibrary.org.
Canonsburg added the Outdoor Learning Garden during its 11th year at the downtown location, and Mt. Lebanon Public Library has been celebrating a special birthday all 2022 long.
“We have been celebrating that anniversary all year with special displays in our library highlighting the art and music of 1932, books that were published in 1932, a special display highlighting Mt. Lebanon history in 1932,” Marina Nielsen, senior library assistant, said in an email. “To honor our 90th year, we are hoping to add 90 new donors to our community of supporters this year as well, beginning on Sept. 1 right up until the last day of 2022.”
Neilsen said the library was started by the community, which continues to support programming through generous donations. Donations made in September will be recognized as part of the library’s seventh-annual Love Your Library campaign.
“The celebration this year will include a variety of ways to support the library, from a donation drive; tote bags and t-shirts for our patrons to purchase; free Love Your Library buttons; free yard signs … and our usual array of wonderful programs put together by our exceptional staff,” Nielsen said.
Fall programming includes children’s story time (pajama story time for kids ages 3-6 is scheduled for the evening of Sept. 22), virtual tours, adult needlework groups and guided meditations.
The Friends of Mt. Lebanon Library will host the second-annual chrysanthemum and plant sale on Sept. 10. Pre-orders were due Aug. 31, but the Friends have a small selection of flowers, mums, mini pumpkins and decorative straw bale on-site for last-minute autumn decorators.
A full list of all the Mt. Lebanon Public Library happenings and resources is online at mtlebanonlibrary.org.
Like the Mt. Lebanon Public Library, Bethel Park Public Library is one of 46 Allegheny County libraries that receive funding through the Jack Buncher Foundation’s Love Your Library donation efforts.
To inspire donations all September long, the library will pass out Love Your Library lawn signs and buttons. Donors may also receive t-shirts.
“(The foundation) is giving the library a $200,000 match pool. All donations received in September, up to a max of $500 per donor, count toward that match pool,” said Christine McIntosh, Bethel Park Public Library director. “People that donate $100 or more get a tote bag.”
Bethel Park Public Library will host its annual golf outing on Sept. 19; those funds count toward that match pool, McIntosh said.
Fall programming begins Labor Day weekend, and library patrons have plenty to look forward to, including blockbuster movie screenings every Tuesday at 10 a.m.; weekly adult knitting and walking groups; monthly Memory Cafe support group; and children’s story times.
Learn more about Bethel Park Public Library and its fall offerings at bethelparklibrary.org/index.html.
To support your local library during Love Your Library month, simply drop in during business hours and spend time getting lost amidst book stacks or cozying up in a corner to stream your favorite show.