Virtual Story Times

We have a weekly interactive Zoom story time that will at least run through Tuesday, March 30. (At that time, we’ll decide whether or not we should continue.) All are welcome to attend, though the stories will be geared towards toddlers – 2nd graders.

Contact Lorraine Santaliz at santaliz.l@whitehallpl.org if you’d like to receive the Zoom links. These will be available every Thursday (i.e. 01/14/21) for the following Tuesday's story time.

At that time, we’ll also post a link to the weekly craft with instructions and/or a template. We can’t offer supplies for the story times due to budget cuts caused by the Covid pandemic. Here are some of the items you might need for crafts: colored construction paper, blunt-tip scissors, glue sticks, a ruler, white basket coffee filters, toilet paper rolls, cotton balls, paper plates, yarn, stickers, and anything else to add finishing touches to your child's art work.

We want to keep the wonderful world of songs and stories open to our patrons, and we look forward to seeing past story-timers as well as new ones!

Inside the Library:

• See our About Us page for current hours.
• Patrons can come in one hour to browse the collection, select items to check out, and use our copier (no loitering). You can come in for two hours to use one of our public computers (which you'll sign up for at the front desk).
• All patrons must wear masks or other facial coverings (unless medical reasons prevent it), use gloves or hand sanitizer (available inside the library), and maintain social distancing. We also encourage you to only touch materials that you plan to check out.
• If you pay for prints or fines with cash, we will accept exact change only, and if you pay with a credit or debit card, there's a $5.00 minimum. If you buy anything from our book sale, we can only take cash (in exact change).

Curbside Pickup: You can place holds on items by calling our front desk or using this website. To request items online, you can log into your account, search our catalog, click on the words "Place Hold" on the right side of the record, and submit your contact information. When anything arrives for you, we call you to schedule a pickup day. Then you can pick them up by coming to our side door during business hours and ringing the doorbell.

Returns: All returns go in the yellow drop boxes in our parking lot. No materials will be accepted at the front desk. After they're returned, we put everything in quarantine before we check it in (using the date you returned it as the check in date). You'll see the items listed in your account until then.

Fundraisers:

• Since we can’t have our Annual Book Sale, we’re selling brown bags full of new or gently-used books for $5.00 per bag. The exact books will be a surprise, but each bag has a card on it giving the theme of the bag (like James Patterson, Civil War, or cooking).
• Check out the flyer for our Winter Basket Raffle, which will run November 9-20, December 7-18, and January 11-22.
• When you shop on Amazon, go through Amazon Smile to generate donations for Whitehall Township Public Library. Any time you shop this way and choose us as your charity, we receive a percentage of your total purchase. In addition to shopping through this link on your desktop or mobile web browser, you can also go through the AmazonSmile Charity Lists in the Amazon Shopping app.

Events: Due to state-mandated restrictions, we won't be able to host any in-person events for at least the rest of the year (possibly longer), but we have a selection of virtual programs and activities. Find future programs on our Events Calendar. You can also check out archives of our virtual programs and at-home activities for kids, teens, and adults.

Donations:

• Books: Due to the extremely high volume of incoming donations, we ask that you limit yourself to up to three bags or boxes at a time. (We prefer them to be in bags or boxes instead of loose for ease of storage.) We take books and most other media in good condition, except for magazines, textbooks, encyclopedias, and VHS tapes. Please bring any donations to our side door during business hours and ring the doorbell.
• Other: We’ve posted our 2020-2021 Winter Wish List. Thanks to everyone who donates!

Digital Magazine Update:The library will be moving our digital magazines from RBdigital to the Libby app as part of our OverDrive collection on January 28, 2021. You'll still be able to browse, borrow, and enjoy all the same great magazines from ZINIO you loved in the RBdigital app, now available in Libby from OverDrive. If you're using RBdigital, your user history and currently checked out magazines will not transfer over to Libby, but you can continue to access RBdigital until March 31, 2021. If you've already been enjoying the Libby app, there will be no change, other than you may notice even more great titles available for you to borrow. For those who have not yet tried the Libby app, all you need to get started is your library card number and PIN. The Libby app is easy to use and will guide you through the setup process and get you connected to our library in just a few minutes. You can find in-app support, or visit the Help site or Libby Academy within the app for assistance.

Other:

• Check out our January Newsletter for more information.
• Visit our Research & Learn page for digital resources. You can access most of these from home with an Internet connection.
• We're sorry for the inconvenience, and we thank you for helping us do our part to slow the spread of disease. In the meantime, we as a library also want to slow the spread of panic and misinformation, so we encourage you to get your facts and updates on COVID-19 from authoritative sources like the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Updated January 19, 2021.