August 7, 2020 -- PPL @Work |
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Dear Patrons, Supporters and Friends,
First and foremost, Team PPL hopes this newsletter finds you staying safe and in good health! As you can see, we've been excited to unveil some of the final finishing touches to our library (check out our new planters!), just in time for welcoming you back into the building. It's been so wonderful to see so many smiling (behind masks!) faces since reopening our lobby in early July! We're currently looking ahead to possible expansion of hours and services in the coming weeks, but taking things slowly and in coordination with current state recommendations. Stay tuned for updates!
And, as you know, we continue to offer many of our programs and services virtually. More on that below! As always, thank you for being a member of the PPL Family. None of this would be possible without you!
Wishing you and your loved ones continued good health,
Jack Martin
PPL Executive Director
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Library Hours & Services
PPL is open with modified hours and services; limitation on the number of people allowed into the building. En Español
CURRENT HOURS
Tuesday - Friday, 9 AM - 4 PM
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Tuesdays -- Contactless pick-ups ONLY
- Wednesday to Friday -- Open to the public with limited services as outlined below
CONTINUING VIRTUAL SERVICES
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TAKE PPL's DEI Summer Learning Challenge!
We invite you to participate in reading and activity challenges that earn you prizes, expand your knowledge, and help you find great reads! Sign up at Beanstack to get started today. You can also download the Beanstack app from the app store on your device. Register an individual or family. Happy reading and learning!
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PPL Collections Team News
You may have heard about PPL's Creative Fellowship? Read all about it in this excellent article by Angela DiVeglia, our Research and Outreach Librarian for Special Collections, who oversees our Fellowship program. We're excited that this piece appears in the inaugural volume of the online journal Engaging Collections and that they wanted to highlight this project and all the great work she's done with the Fellows.
In other Collections news (Books, Digitization & Tattoos!):
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PPL Special Collections' work is featured in a book chapter by Jim McGrath -- Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Public Humanities at Brown University‘s John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage -- on the course we did with him. Check it out... Chapter 3 of Doing Public Humanities, edited by Susan Smulyan.
- Did you know we have a pretty cool tattoo collection? We've just added to it and we now have a book from 1653 that is considered to be the earliest book on tattoos.
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We've digitized thousands of pages of historic newspapers (soon to be available to the public) for our National Digital Newspaper Program project. Stay tuned for updates!
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Keep those submissions coming to our expanding RI COVID-19 Archive!
Your contributions are needed to this historic digital archive! Help us record stories, photographs, artwork, oral histories, social media and memories of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rhode Island and share this call for contributions with friends and family.
There's a great new collection in the Archive by an amateur street photographer named Alan Roseman featuring some wonderful summer shots Share your experience with us at RICovidArchive.org.
The site supports a wide variety of formats including text, image, audio and visual recordings. If you have questions, please reach out to Kate Wells, Curator of RI Collections at PPL.
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PPL Education Team News
In a project with ONE Neighborhood Builders, we are providing virtual services for the Central Providence Health Equity Zone, including a remote Learning Lounge for central Providence residents, Individual Virtual Computer Learning, Mobile App Learning, Career Coaching, and virtual Digital Literacy classes for teens in the central Providence and Olneyville area.
In another project with Core Skills Partnership and Skills for RI's Future -- beginning this month -- PPL is offering in-person ESL classes at Honeywell Corporation in Smithfield. PPL will deliver specialized work-based ESL training for individuals looking to gain employment with Honeywell to produce N95 masks. The 50 hours of training will upskill individuals for on-the-job communication tasks and vocabulary building for safety and machinery operation.
Our education services have transitioned to online sessions. These include our adult English as a Second Language (ESL), Citizenship, GED, Learning Lounge, Data Pathway (Data Analytics & Visualization), Essential Excel and Rhode Coders (Javascript) programs as well as our teen summer employment program. Visit www.provlib.org/education/ for more info.
We‘re proud to announce PPL’s new On-Ramp to Innovation project for small business and entrepreneurship, in partnership with the American Library Association and Google.org’s Libraries Build Business program. Through this project and partnership, with grant funding of $145,000, we’ll be able to greatly enhance our current programs and services and further expand our Small Business Hub offerings in support of local businesses and entrepreneurs.
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Still Time!
Coursera provides free access to online learning, including more than 3,800 courses from top universities and companies. Certificates are offered for each course completed until December 31, 2020! This program has been launched to assist displaced, unemployed, and underemployed workers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Enrollment is open through September 30, 2020 for up to 5,000 Learners. Please complete this form to request your FREE Coursera license, and contact Lina Bravo by cell phone (401) 660-3344 text/call or email lbravo@provlib.org.
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Essential Excel Classes for all Levels Continue -- Sign up NOW!
If you've always wanted to learn MS Excel, or if you need to refresh your skills, you can sign up now for our free three-week Essential Excel class (Basics, Formulas & Functions, Data Tools). The class meets Saturday mornings from 10 am to 12 Noon as live online sessions.
Registration is required for each of these classes. No prior Excel knowledge needed!
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2020 STEAM-y Summer Learning & Reading Continues!
Have you been following along with Miss Anne's STEAM-y Summer activities? If not, check them all out on PPL's YouTube!
Also, still time to read and learn virtually! Takeaway bags with books and activities are still available at the 10 PCL & PPL libraries in Providence. Virtual stories, game nights and creation stations are happening each week!
Email childrensinfo@provlib.org to sign up for a mailed bag or with questions.
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Have you picked up a Takeaway Bag? We want TO HEAR from you!
If you've picked up any of our Passport to Summer Learning Takeaway activity bags, we'd love to know how they worked for you. We'd so appreciate if you'd take a few minutes to fill out a quick survey linked below! Your feedback is essential!
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What Our Patrons Are Saying...
"The Library's open and that means a lot to me. I was looking forward to the reopening and then the pandemic hit. While the Library was closed, I bought a lot of online subscriptions to book review periodicals like NY Review of Books. I was just, like, give me some intellectual stimulation! What I missed most was being able to read about books, go into the catalog and have them sent to PPL. It's such a great boon. It gives me access to millions of dollars of books for free. It's just an incredible institution."
Ed McIlvane
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Let’s Stay Connected!
We’ve been reaching out to our community more than ever through social media to share resources, news, and information, as well as updates on new and enhanced library services, locally and beyond. Be sure to connect with us at provlib.org and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube...for our growing Virtual Archive.
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You make all of this possible.
Thank you for your support during this challenging time.
PPL <3's You!
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