Sometimes current events can feel overwhelming. Escaping to the past through historical fiction can help distract us from an uncertain present. These eBooks are always available through Hoopla. You can link to Hoopla through our eResources page and view a Hoopla tutorial here. America's First Daughter: A Novel by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves…

Does anyone remember those AOL start up discs we got in the mail every day in the 90’s?  Well, for us, those start up discs were a symbol of what could be, in terms of connection with others.    Whether you come from a small town, the suburbs or a bustling big city, sometimes it can be difficult and even impossible to find your tribe, locally.  Even before social distancing and self-quarantines, it could be hard sometimes…

I grew up listening to my (incredibly patient) mom reading aloud to my brother and me. From early favorites, like Harold and the Purple Crayon, right up through Pippi Longstocking and even The Hobbit (did I mention she was very patient?) we shared a book or chapter every night. (Which just might be why I wound up working at the library, but that’s a different…

While we're living through an epidemic that is unprecedented in our lifetimes, CLP has closed in the past in a similar situation. The library was closed for two weeks in 1918 during the influenza pandemic that swept the state in September and October of that year. The library’s 1918 annual report makes a note of this, but doesn’t provide a lot of other details. After…

As if being a teen wasn’t hard enough, I can’t even imagine how difficult being a teen in the year 2020 is. Personally, I don’t have the fondest memories of my own teen years, but what I do remember enjoying was my growing independence. Getting out and exploring the world as an emerging adult was thrilling. I hated sitting idly at home and would take…

I have always enjoyed all the brackets the pop-up throughout March and all the different winners that people choose. Well, I realized recently that just because March ends, doesn’t mean that all the fun and competition that comes along with brackets has to end. So, we decided to have some fun on the TeenSpace Instagram page and create our own competition. We will post the blank bracket with the titles that are competing…

"Isn't everybody on the Internet?" Nobody thinks that anymore, right? The numbers support what I imagine many of us are finding in our daily conversations with family, friends, and neighbors -- when it comes to technology, access and know-how are not universal, and technology is unevenly distributed across society. A crisis as extreme as the COVID-19 Pandemic will inevitably expose some of the technology inequities…

Schools are closed and the Governor has ordered us to stay at home. So much feels unpredictable and unknowable. But one thing that I do know and want to share with you, is that Partner4Work is committed to providing job opportunities for young people ages 14-21 this summer and applications are now being accepted for Learn & Earn 2020. So even though you might not…

Creating community, collaborating and using technology to build our literacies are the core values of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Teenspace. In our Teen Time and Labs programs we find ways to incorporate those outcomes into our activities and interactions. Even though the Library is closed right now, that doesn’t mean we can’t achieve those goals together.  Creativity and interest-driven activities serve as calming experiences to…