Category Archive: Uncategorized
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Take Your Child to the Library Day
Leave a CommentThe 12th Annual Take Your Child to the Library Day is coming up on Saturday, February 4th! This system-wide event will take place during open hours at all Morgantown Public Library System locations.
Morgantown Public Library: 9:00am-4:00pm
Cheat Area Public Library: 9:00am-2:00pm
Clay-Battelle Public Library: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Clinton District Public Library: 10:00am-1:00pm
Arnettsville Public Library will hold their event on Friday, Feb. 3 from 11:30am-3:30pm. **Please note: Arnettsville participants will still need to redeem their free cupcakes on Saturday, Feb. 4th.
This exciting event is an opportunity for children and families to explore the library and learn more about our collections and services. This year’s theme is “Recipes for Readers” — children will be given “recipe card” worksheets to guide them through different areas of the library where there will be fun activities to complete including decorating their own chef hat! After completing all of the stations, the recipe card can be turned in at The Cupcakerie for a free cupcake on the day of the event! There is a limit of one recipe card/coupon per child.
We can’t wait to see you there!
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Reach for the Moon
Leave a CommentOn Saturday, February 11th at 10:00am join us in Meeting Room A at the Morgantown Public Library to learn about Katherine Johnson, the African American mathematician from West Virginia who helped put some of the the first humans into space and whose story is featured in the movie Hidden Figures. We will read Katherine Johnson’s biography, hear a story written about her by Miss Elkins Outstanding Teen, create space-themed origami, and build moon phase calendars for 2023. This will be a great way to take young learners ages 7-12 on an inspirational journey. This event is a partnership with the Lila Bear Explor(her) Club & Miss Elkins Outstanding Teen.
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Local Author Spotlight: Tom Bredehoft
Leave a CommentJoin us on Saturday, February 25th at 2:00pm at the Aull Center to hear local author Tom Bredehoft read from his mystery novel, Foote. In addition to reading an excerpt from the book, Tom will discuss writing about Morgantown and West Virginia cryptids.
“In the space of one weekend in Morgantown, West Virginia, private investigator Big Jim Foote finds himself at the center of two murder investigations. Suspected of one killing at a local festival, he locates the body of a missing person immediately after. The cops are watching him, and Big Jim has a secret he dares not reveal: he is a bigfoot living in plain sight, charged with keeping his people in the surrounding hills from being discovered. To protect the bigfoot secret, he must solve both murders — and convince himself it wasn’t a bigfoot who pulled the trigger. Through the course of his investigations, Big Jim is helped by unique and well-rendered characters and friends in both his bigfoot and human communities. Readers are introduced to Appalachian mountain folk and traditional culture in new ways, even while Big Jim experiences the impact of the opioid epidemic on his own bigfoot kin. By centering a mythical creature as the unlikely protagonist in this enchanting literary murder mystery, Foote offers a winsome redefinition of a cryptid ‘monster’ and breathes new life into the PI genre” — Goodreads.com website. -
2023 Winter Reading Challenge
Leave a CommentFrom January 1st – January 31st, compete in our “All the Feels Winter Reading Challenge, Bingo.” Register at mympls.beanstack.com. We want you to explore the importance of emotions and discover fun activities to express yourself fully!
The Rules: Receive virtual badges and earn bingo by reading & completing the activities on the 3×3 bingo card to compete in your age category:
- Children (ages 5-12)
- Teens (13-17)
- Adults (18 and up)
The Prizes: We have a prize drawing for each age group — to enter you can either complete bingo or log 240 minutes (4 hours) on Beanstack for your chance to win two Launch Pad Trampoline Park passes (children’s prize), $25 gift card to Black Bear Burritos (teen’s prize), or a $25 gift card to Phoenix Bakery (adult’s prize). The more reading you log, the higher your chances to win the prize drawing! Prizes won from the prize drawings must be picked up in person. The first 140 people to bring their bingo card (with the virtual bingo badge earned) to the Morgantown Public Library will also receive a MPLS mug with hot chocolate as a participation prize. Prizes will be available for pickup February 1st – 15th.
Sign Up:
Register at mympls.beanstack.com
Reading Lists: Need inspiration? Check out our “All the Feels” reading lists! You do not have to read books relating to the theme to participate in the reading challenge — any reading counts towards bingo.
Use Beanstack to Track Your Reading Progress
Beanstack is easy to use and available both online and as a mobile app. Get started by visiting our Morgantown Public Library Beanstack website at mympls.beanstack.org to create your account. You can also register through the app (find out below under “Get the App”).
Note: An email address is required, if you do not have an email address you will need to create one first then come back to register for Beanstack.
Have your Library Card ready and choose how you would like to register (as an individual, registering a child, registering a family or group) and then complete all required fields (marked with *) on the online form. If you do not have a library card email us at askmympls@gmail.com with your full name, current mailing address, and phone number for a temporary library card.
Once registered, you can access your account online or in the app by signing in with your username and password.
Enjoy the fun of reading and unlock achievements!
Beanstack is a website and app that serves as an interactive home for reading challenges and events. It’s your one-stop-shop to not only register for challenges, but to also track your reading habits and unlock badges!
What You Can Do
- Register as an Individual, Family, Group, or Class
- Perfect for parents and teachers
- Track Your Reading
- Keep a Reading Log
- Set/Record Session Timers
- Keeps track of what you’ve read and how long you’ve read
- Complete Reading Challenges
- Choose from Youth or Adult Reading Challenges created by the Library
- Write Book Reviews
- Now available on desktop and mobile
- Earn Badges, Incentives, and Prizes
- Digital badges and achievements as well as prizes from your Library
- View Highlights
- Features your badges, stats, and streaks based on your reading habits
- Manage a Family Member’s Reading Log & Achievements
- (If registered as a Family) Easily switch views between member profiles without having to change log-ins
Get the App
Find the free app in your Apple App or Google Play store under the name “Beanstack Tracker” and select “Get” or “Install.”
Once downloaded, open the app and follow the simple step-by-step prompts to create an account for yourself, your child, or your family/group. If you’ve already created your account through the website, you can skip this step and just sign in to your existing account with your registered username and password.
Registering on the Website vs. Through the App: Since the app does not use our direct website link, the first prompt in creating your account is selecting “Find Your School or Library” and entering “Morgantown” in the search option. Otherwise the process is the same as registering on the website. All fields are required except for phone number.
Troubleshooting
If at any time you need help with Beanstack, please visit their Helpdesk and type in your question.
For questions related to the Winter Reading Challenge, please reach out to Crystal or Emily at ask@mympls.org.
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Book Trail at Mulkeen’s Christmas Tree Farm
Leave a CommentCheck out our latest Book Trail! Join us at Mulkeen Landscaping located off of Gladesville Road. Read through an entire story as you shop for the perfect tree. You can also pick up a free activity kit to make a great Button Christmas Tree ornament, while supplies last.
You don’t need to buy a Christmas tree to experience the Book Trail.
This month’s book is Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht. Conditions permitting, the Book Trail should be up until December 25th!
Send us photos of your family at the Book Trail to communications@mympls.org!
Mulkeen Tree Farm: 743 Sleepy Hollow Road, Independence, WV 26374
They are open on weekends only – Friday, Saturday and Sundays, from 8am to 5pm.
Directions:
- Follow Rt. 119 south out of Morgantown to Gladesville Rd.
- Turn LEFT on the Gladesville Rd. and go 2 miles.
- Turn RIGHT at the sign for Mulkeen Landscaping and Tree Service on Arden Peters Road.
- Go one mile on this gravel road and turn RIGHT at the MULKEEN sign.
Thank you to Mulkeen Landscaping for having us!
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Dowtown Parking (August 4-5, 2022)
Leave a CommentThe parking lot across from downtown branch will be closed TODAY (August 4, 2022) and TOMORROW (August 5, 2022) while it is being repaved.
We apologize for the inconvenience. Parking is still available at the 1) Walnut Street parking garage, 2) Fayetteville Street Metro Parking, and the 3) parking lot by the CVS and Truist bank. -
Your Support Makes a Difference
Leave a CommentYour support makes a difference this #GivingTuesday!
#GivingTuesday is a worldwide day of giving. Celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, #GivingTuesday is about ordinary people coming together doing extraordinary things. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Morgantown Public Library System. It is easy to make a one-time or monthly recurring donation online.
Why Give to the Library?
The Morgantown Public Library has been a vital part of the community for more than half a century. We have been providing Monongalia County with free access to information, learning tools, and educational programming even during the pandemic’s most trying times. In 2021, you borrowed 310,372 library materials, up from the previous year of 288,246 (2020). More and more of you are reading our books, listening to our audiobooks, browsing our digital magazines, comics, and watching movies.
Your #GivingTuesday donations may be used for upcoming library projects that everyone can enjoy. In 2022, we plan to expand our digital collections with shorter wait periods and more titles to choose from as well as update the furniture at our downtown branch location, and renovate our branches.
Together we’ll bring about real positive change in Monongalia County. Take action and support your library this #GivingTuesday!
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Teen Summer Reading Program
Leave a CommentSign Up for the Reading Challenge
Beanstack is easy to use and available both online and as a mobile app. Get started by visiting our Morgantown Public Library Beanstack website at mympls.beanstack.org to create your account. You can also register through the app (find out below under “Get the App”).
Beanstack Instructions: https://www.mympls.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Beanstack-Instructions.pdf
Attend an Event (Virtual and In-Person)
Registration is required for each event.
Summer Clean Out Book Box Club
All Month of June
Go home with a box of curated books, craft kits, and bookish surprises!
Register: https://forms.gle/p9FhPAbfvjt2q5JB6Intro to Podcasts Series (Zoom)
June 9, 16, 23 at 4:30 PM
Join Dr. Nathan Wuertenberg to learn the building blocks of creating and publishing your very own podcast!
Register: https://forms.gle/GZwedL3fXRgfAWW66Anime Club (Zoom)
June 15
We’ll talk about our favorite anime and manga summer episodes and will prepare a seashell painting craft for you to take home.
Register: https://forms.gle/6diuCvzQk6pgXaW19Writing Club (Zoom)
June 28
Share your ideas for a story, what you’re currently writing, and gather feedback from other writers!
Register: https://forms.gle/JFrFnufhVRnZ4qTt5Dystopian Book Club
Entire Month of July
Read Warcross by Marie Lu, receive weekly postcards with activities and projects, then join other teens for an online book discussion!
Register: https://forms.gle/G4LCbEqdcvByYkNAACreating Cryptids Series
July 10, 17, 24 | Outside the Aull Center
Cryptid lore with a historian, create your own cryptid tale in a workshop, and draw/paint your own cryptids. Masks and social distancing will be required.- July 10th: Cryptid lore with historian Dr. Nathan Wuetenberg
- July 17: Create your own cryptid tale: A writing workshop with John Fox
- July 24: Draw/paint your own cryptid
Register: https://forms.gle/4DZv5EPu7mhRWzHr8
Anime Club – Pokemon Terrariums
July 20 | Outside the Aull Center
Meet with other anime fans in an outdoor gathering to chat about pokemon terrariums! Masks and social distancing will be required.
Register: https://forms.gle/6diuCvzQk6pgXaW19Writing Club (Zoom)
July 26
Share your ideas for a story, what you’re currently writing, and gather feedback from other writers!
Register: https://forms.gle/JFrFnufhVRnZ4qTt5Play the Bingo Reading Challenge
Turn in and complete the Bingo worksheet beginning August 1st to receive a participation prize: a library banded water bottle and a custom sticker by Liz Pavlovic.
Any horizontal, vertical, or diagonal bingo orientation will be accepted.
Questions? Please direct all questions to Amanda at amanda.young@mympls.org
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Adult Reading Challenge
Leave a CommentRegister for our 2021 Summer Adult Reading Challenge (June 14th – July 31st). Register at mympls.beanstack.com.
The Rules:
- This challenge is open to individuals ages 18 and up.
- Participants must be a Morgantown Public Library System cardholder.
- Book titles must be logged in on Beanstack. Choose from our suggested regional book lists or choose your own.
The Prizes
All participants that read and log 4 books and complete the road trip activity challenge on Beanstack will receive a library-branded water bottle and will be automatically put into a drawing for the $100 gift card grand prize to the Appalachian Gallery.
Sign Up for the Reading Challenge
Beanstack is easy to use and available both online and as a mobile app. Get started by visiting our Morgantown Public Library Beanstack website at mympls.beanstack.org to create your account. You can also register through the app (find out below under “Get the App”).
Note: An email address is required, if you do not have an email address you will need to create one first then come back to register for Beanstack.
Have your Library Card ready and choose how you would like to register (as an individual, registering a child, registering a family or group) and then complete all required fields (marked with *) on the online form. If you do not have a library card email us at askmympls@gmail.com with your full name, current mailing address, and phone number for a temporary library card.
Once registered, you can access your account online or in the app by signing in with your username and password.
Enjoy the fun of reading and unlock achievements!
Beanstack is a website and app that serves as an interactive home for reading challenges and events. It’s your one-stop-shop to not only register for challenges, but to also track your reading habits and unlock badges!
What You Can Do
- Register as an Individual, Family, Group, or Class
- Perfect for parents and teachers
- Track Your Reading
- Keep a Reading Log
- Set/Record Session Timers
- Keeps track of what you’ve read and how long you’ve read
- Complete Reading Challenges
- Choose from Youth or Adult Reading Challenges created by the Library
- Write Book Reviews
- Now available on desktop and mobile
- Earn Badges, Incentives, and Prizes
- Digital badges and achievements as well as prizes from your Library
- View Highlights
- Features your badges, stats, and streaks based on your reading habits
- Manage a Family Member’s Reading Log & Achievements
- (If registered as a Family) Easily switch views between member profiles without having to change log-ins
Get the App
Find the free app in your Apple App or Google Play store under the name “Beanstack Tracker” and select “Get” or “Install.”
Once downloaded, open the app and follow the simple step-by-step prompts to create an account for yourself, your child, or your family/group. If you’ve already created your account through the website, you can skip this step and just sign in to your existing account with your registered username and password.
Registering on the Website vs. Through the App: Since the app does not use our direct website link, the first prompt in creating your account is selecting “Find Your School or Library” and entering “Morgantown” in the search option. Otherwise the process is the same as registering on the website. All fields are required except for phone number.
Troubleshooting
If at any time you need help with Beanstack, please visit their Helpdesk and type in your question.
For questions related to the 15-Day Reading Challenge, please reach out to Crystal at ask@mympls.org.
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Recommended Titles to Commemorate Juneteenth
Leave a CommentCrystal, reference supervisor at the Morgantown Public Library downtown branch, compiled these recommended titles to commemorate Juneteenth.
On Juneteenth/ Annette Gordon-Reed
326.8 GOR
Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing
episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a
historian’s view of the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its
origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have
endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and
beyond.The Long Emancipation: The Demise of Slavery in the United States / Ira Berlin
326.8 Ber
In The Long Emancipation, Ira Berlin draws upon decades of study to offer a
framework for understanding slavery’s demise in the United States. Freedom
was not achieved in a moment, and emancipation was not an occasion but a
near-century-long process–a shifting but persistent struggle that involved
thousands of men and women.Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 / edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
973.0496 Fou
Four Hundred Souls is a unique one-volume “community” history of African
Americans. The editors, Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, have
assembled ninety brilliant writers, each of whom takes on a five-year
period of that four-hundred-year span. The writers explore their periods
through a variety of techniques: historical essays, short stories, personal
vignettes, and fiery polemics. They approach history from various
perspectives: through the eyes of towering historical icons or the untold
stories of ordinary people; through places, laws, and objects. While themes
of resistance and struggle, of hope and reinvention, course through the
book, this collection of diverse pieces from ninety different minds,
reflecting ninety different perspectives, fundamentally deconstructs the
idea that Africans in America are a monolith–instead it unlocks the
startling range of experiences and ideas that have always existed within
the community of Blackness.A Black Women’s History of the United States: Revisioning American history / Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross
305.488 BER
A Black Women’s History of the United States is a critical survey of black
women’s complicated legacy in America, as it takes into account their
exploitation and victimization as well as their undeniable and substantial
contributions to the country since its inceptionShe Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman / Erica Armstrong Dunbar.
YA B Tubman
She Came to Slay reveals the many complexities and varied accomplishments of
one of our nation’s true heroes and offers an accessible and modern
interpretation of Tubman’s life that is both informative and engaging.The Fire This Time/ James Baldwin
305.896 Bal
At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing
examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal
and provocative document from the iconic author. It consists of two “letters,” written
on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort
Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by
The New York Times Book Review as “sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition,
testament, and chronicle…all presented in searing, brilliant prose,” The Fire Next Time
stands as a classic of literature.Juneteenth / Ralph Ellison; ed. by John F. Callahan
F Ell
The story of a black man who passes for white and becomes a race-baiting U.S.
senator. When he is shot on the Senate floor, the first visitor in hospital is a
black musician-turned-preacher who raised him. As the two men talk, their
respective stories come out.Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man / Emmanuel Acho
305.8 Ach
In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the
questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are
afraid to ask–yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than
ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a
phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white
privilege, cultural appropriation, and “reverse racism.” In his own words, he
provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack
both. Heasks only for the reader’s curiosity–but along the way, he will
galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.Who Will Pay Reparations on My Soul?: Essays / Jesse McCarthy
814 McC
Jesse McCarthy’s bracing essays investigate with virtuosic intensity the art,
music, literature, and political stances that have defined the twenty-first
century. Even as our world has suffered through successful upheavals,
McCarthy contends,”something was happening in the world of culture: a
surging and unprecedented visibility at every level of black art making.” Who
Will Pay Reparations on My Soul? Reckons with this resurgence, arguing for the
central role of art and intellectual culture in an age of widening inequality and
moral crisis. McCarthy reinvigorates the essay form as a space not only for
argument but for experimental writing that mixes and chops the old ways into
new ones.Stamped from the Beginning / Ibram X. Kendi
305.8 Ken
In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the
entire story of anti-black racist ideas and their staggering power over the
course of American history. He uses the life stories of five major American
intellectuals to drive this history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas
Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary
activist Angela Davis.As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance
or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched
discriminatory policies and the nation’s racial inequities.In shedding light on
this history, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose
racist thinking. In the process, he gives us reason to hope.
