Children's Books: What To Read While The Library Is Closed
by Youth Services
The library may be closed, but there is plenty to read and listen to digitally. Our Children’s staff has gathered some of their favorite, too-good-to-miss digital books.
A collection of animated, talking picture books, suited for elementary school children, TumbleBooks take existing picture books and add sound, engaging animation, music, and narration to create stories that come to life for children.
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
From the award-winning author of Little Pea, Little Hoot, and Little Oink comes a clever take on the age-old optical illusion: is it a duck or a rabbit?
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker
As the sun sets behind the big construction site, all the hardworking trucks get ready to say goodnight.
Mercy Watson To the Rescue by Kate Dicamillo.
To Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mercy is not just a pig–she’s a porcine wonder. And to the portly and good-natured Mercy, the Watsons are an excellent source of buttered toast, not to mention that buttery-toasty feeling she gets when she snuggles into bed with them. This is not, however, so good for the Watsons’ bed. BOOM! CRACK! As the bed and its occupants slowly sink through the floor, Mercy escapes in a flash “to alert the fire department,” her owners assure themselves. But could Mercy possibly have another emergency in mind–like a sudden craving for their neighbors’ sugar cookies?
If you haven’t already, download Libby through your device’s App Store to access the library’s digital collection. Libby is super easy to use; it’s designed to get you reading as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
Start Now!: You Can Make a Difference by Chelsea Clinton. Audiobook
For the youngest activists among us, a book geared just for them: full of facts, stories and tips on how to change the world read by the author, Chelsea Clinton. How can I eat healthy? What can I do to save endangered animals? Why do I need to cover my mouth when I cough? With information on problems both large and small, Chelsea breaks down the concepts of health, hunger, climate change, endangered species, and bullying, so that listeners can understand the world around them, and how they can make a difference in their own lives, as well as in their communities and the world at large.
Blended by Sharon M. Draper. E-book
Eleven-year-old Isabella’s blended family is more divided than ever in this thoughtful story about divorce and racial identity from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. Audiobook
Minli spends her days working hard in the fields and her nights listening to her father spin fantastic tales about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon. Minli’s mother, tired of their poor life, chides him for filling her head with nonsense. But Minli believes these enchanting stories and embarks on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man of the Moon and ask him how her family can change their fortune. Narrated by Janet Song.
Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls by Beth McMullen. Audiobook
A girl discovers her boarding school is actually an elite spy-training program, and she must learn the skills of the trade in order to find her mother in this action-packed middle grade debut! Narrated by Kelsey Navarro.
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds. E-book
Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life.
You need a library card to access TumbleBooks and OverDrive. If you’re having troubles accessing either with your card, contact [email protected].
If you do not have a library card (and even if you do!), check out some of our favorite books read by celebrities through Storyline Online. The books also include activity guides you can do at home together.
Snappsy The Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) by Julie Falatko, read by David Harbour, of Stranger Things
The Hula-Hoopin Queen by Thelma Godin, read by Oprah Winfrey
Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen, read by Robert Guillaume
Activities & Resources For Parents/Teachers
by Youth Services
There are all kinds of activities you can do at home while we are practicing social distancing. Here are some ideas to keep you entertained and engaged during the weeks ahead.
Art
ArtBar – activity guide for kids in quarantine
Lunch Doodles with Mo – Mo Willems is inviting kids to draw, doodle and explore with him every day for the next few weeks. New episodes are posted each weekday at 1 p.m.
Draw Every Day with JJK – Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author and illustrator, will be doing daily doodles for the next few weeks every day at 2 p.m.
Books
Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Shout, is making herself available for a virtual Q&A.
OverDrive/Libby – Check out books and audiobooks from the library while we’re closed on your device at home.
Stimola Literary Studio is hosting live streamed read alouds, craft activities, and drawing demonstrations between 9 a.m. and 4:45 p.m.
StorylineOnline – Books read by celebrities
Tumblebooks – Collection of animated, talking picture books, suited for elementary school children.
Chores
Age-Appropriate Chores for Children
Cooking
Montessori Kids in the Kitchen
Montessori Food Preparation and Cooking Inspiration
A List of Kitchen Tools for Children 1 to 4 Years
COVID-19
BrainPOP Video for Kids – This video educates kids and helps alleviate fears. This site also has lots of other resources including related reading, games, and lesson plans.
Comic for Kids from NPR – NPR education reporter, Cory Turner, asked experts what kids might want to know about the Coronavirus. You can print and fold the comic.
Germ Smart Kids: How to Wash Your Hands
Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Statistics and Research
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Symptoms, Prevention, and How to Discuss With Your Child
Indiana Department of Health – Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) information
John Hopkins Coronavirus Covid-19 Interactive Map
What does “flatten the curve” mean? Check this article out for a great visual simulation.
Emily Arrow – kidlit musician
Oliver Jeffers, children’s author and illustrator, read aloud schedule
Science Mom! – regular lessons from Science Mom!
Cincinnati Zoo is offering Home Sarari Facebook Live sessions
Learning Activities
ABDO Free Distance learning resources available free through June 2020. Also 10 free titles
Amazon Future Engineer classes – free through August 31, 2020
Duolingo – Learn a new language
Education.com is offering free worksheets for preschool through 5th grade students.
Free Online Learning Resources for Schools Affected by Coronavirus/COVID-19
Kate Messner, children’s book author, has collected a list of “learning at home” resources from authors and illustrators that include read-alouds, writing and drawing lessons, and research links.
Skype a Scientist – matches families to a scientist for a live video Q&A session.
Stuck at home? Enriching activities to do with all ages from the Indiana Young Readers Center
Typing Club is free and fun so kids can keep on top of typing skills
Miscellaneous Ideas
7 Things to Do if You Can’t Leave the House
51 Creative Ways to be Active Indoors
PBS KIDS’ new weekday newsletter with activities and tips
Resources for Families During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Virtual PLAYdates with Indy with Kids
Museum Virtual Tours
19 Immersive Museum Exhibits You Can Visit from your Couch
Children’s Museum of Indianapolis – check out their Facebook page for free Facebook Live Events
Houston Zoo Live Animal Cameras
Take a Virtual Tour of these 12 Amazing Museums
Music and Entertainment
Podcasts
15 Awesome Podcasts for Kids that You’ll Enjoy Too, Parents
Grace Lin started a new podcast Kids Ask Authors – a five to ten-minute podcast where children’s authors would answer one question from a young reader. Kids can submit a book review, poem, short story or joke to the podcast. Lin will release three episodes a week.
How To Get A Library Card When The Library Is Closed
by Library Admin
- Click Here
- Be sure to select PUTNAM COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY-MAIN as your “Home Library”.
- Fill out the form.
- Submit.
You do not need to provide us with an ID at this time. We will send your library card to you through the mail.
Thrilling Titles From Overdrive And Libby
by Adult Services
Cozy up with these thrilling reads that will keep your head spinning from beginning to end! Mystery, intrigue, and more lay ahead in these exciting novels available through Overdrive and Libby. These titles are FREE with your library card. For help using Overdrive or Libby visit pcpl21.org/services/digital.
Into the Water
Author: Paula Hawkins
Summary: A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged. Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother’s sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she’d never return.
Link: https://iddc.overdrive.com/iddc-putnam/content/media/3051224
After Anna
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Summary: Dr. Noah Alderman, a widower, and single father, has remarried a wonderful woman, Maggie Ippolitti, and for the first time in a long time, he and his young son are happy. Despite her longing for the daughter she hasn’t seen since she was a baby, Maggie is happy too, and she’s even more overjoyed when she unexpectedly gets another chance to be a mother to the child she thought she’d lost forever, her only daughter Anna.
Maggie and Noah know that having Anna around will change their lives, but they would never have guessed that everything would go wrong, and so quickly. Anna turns out to be a gorgeous seventeen-year-old who balks at living under their rules, though Maggie, ecstatic to have her daughter back, ignores the red flags that hint at the trouble brewing in a once-perfect marriage and home.
Events take a heartbreaking turn when Anna is murdered and Noah is accused and tried for the heinous crime. Maggie must face not only the devastation of losing her daughter but the realization that Anna’s murder may have been at the hands of a husband she loves. In the wake of this tragedy, new information drives Maggie to search for the truth, leading her to discover something darker than she could have ever imagined.
Riveting and disquieting, After Anna is a groundbreaking domestic thriller, as well as a novel of emotional justice and legal intrigue. And New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline will keep readers on their toes until the final shocking page
Link: https://iddc.overdrive.com/iddc-putnam/content/media/3337771
Artemis
Author: Andy Weir
Summary: Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich.
Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity’s first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich enough to pay off a debt she’s owed for a long time.
So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can’t say no. Sure, it requires her to graduate from small-time smuggler to full-on criminal mastermind. And it calls for a particular combination of cunning, technical skills, and large explosions—not to mention sheer brazen swagger. But Jazz has never run into a challenge her intellect can’t handle, and she figures she’s got the ‘swagger’ part down.
The trouble is, engineering the perfect crime is just the start of Jazz’s problems. Because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself.
Trapped between competing forces, pursued by a killer and the law alike, even Jazz has to admit she’s in way over her head. She’ll have to hatch a truly spectacular scheme to have a chance at staying alive and saving her city.
Jazz is no hero, but she is a very good criminal.
Link: https://iddc.overdrive.com/iddc-putnam/content/media/3280473
Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn
Summary: Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben.
Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.
Link: https://iddc.overdrive.com/iddc-putnam/content/media/199153
Gray Mountain
Author: John Grisham
Summary: The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track–until the recession hits and she is downsized, furloughed, and escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, all for a slim chance of getting rehired.
In a matter of days, Samantha moves from Manhattan to Brady, Virginia, population 2,200, in the heart of Appalachia, a part of the world she has only read about. Samantha’s new job takes her into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, where laws are often broken, communities are divided, and the land itself is under attack. But some of the locals aren’t so thrilled to have a big-city lawyer in town, and within weeks Samantha is engulfed in litigation that turns deadly. Because like most small towns, Brady harbors big secrets that some will kill to conceal.
Link: https://iddc.overdrive.com/iddc-putnam/content/media/1811085
Escape Your World With These Kanopy Documentaries
by Adult Services
Ever felt like you needed a vacation? Just an escape to somewhere else, a different place or a different time? Watch these Kanopy documentaries to step out of your world and into another.
Kanopy is a video-streaming platform dedicated to thoughtful and thought-provoking films. From the Great Courses to popular indie titles, to educational entertainment for children, Kanopy has the best in entertainment. Kanopy can be accessed on Android and iOS devices, Roku, Samsung SmartTV, Chromecasts, and FireTV devices. You must have a Putnam County Public Library Evergreen card to use this resource. Users may stream up to ten titles per month.
If you need a library card, contact the library at [email protected].
Rewind This!
Link: https://pcpl.kanopy.com/video/rewind
Summary: Rewind This! explores the enormous cultural and historical impact of the VHS tape. Featuring interviews with filmmakers including Atom Egoyan, Mamoru Oshii, and Jason Eisener, distributors, store owners and rabid tape collectors, the 2013 SXSW Festival hit film traces the many ways home video altered the cultural landscape. Offering a wealth of weird and wild titles, home video transformed the viewing habits and tastes of a generation of audiences. The doc’s look at the home video revolution is enlightening, funny and totally entertaining.
Code Girl
Link: https://pcpl.kanopy.com/video/code-girl
Summary: Join high school-aged girls from around the world as they try to better their community through technology and collaboration in this thrilling, heartfelt documentary. By 2017, the app market will be valued at $77 Billion. Over 80% of these developers are male. The Technovation Challenge aims to change that by empowering girls worldwide to develop apps for an international competition. From rural Moldova to urban Brazil to suburban Massachusetts, CODEGIRL follows teams who dream of holding their own in the world’s fastest-growing industry. The winning team gets $10K to complete and release their app, but every girl discovers something valuable along the way.
Killswitch
Link: https://pcpl.kanopy.com/video/killswitch
Summary: The Internet is under attack. Free speech, innovation, and democracy are all up for grabs. KILLSWITCH is about the battle for control over the Internet. This is the story of two young hacktivists, Aaron Swartz & Edward Snowden, who symbolize the disruptive and dynamic nature of the Internet. Their lives parallel one another as they free information to millions on the Internet, putting them directly in the cross-hairs of the most powerful interests in the world. Will this be a cautionary tale of what happens when you dare to take on elite power structures? Or will it be the spark that ignites a revolution that will redefine democracy in the digital age?
Rise of the Superstorms
Link: https://pcpl.kanopy.com/video/rise-superstorms
Summary: Dive into the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. How can scientists better predict these storms, and what does the 2017 season tell us about the likelihood of similar storms in the future?
Rabbit Fever
Link: https://pcpl.kanopy.com/video/rabbit-fever
Summary: You’ve heard of dog and horse shows, but are you familiar with rabbit shows? Rabbit Fever is a coming-of-age story that follows six competitors as they strive to win the top title at the National American Rabbit Convention – an event that draws more than 20,000 rabbits in one building, the largest mass of rabbits in the world. While adult members of the rabbit habit compete for BEST IN SHOW, the teenage enthusiasts quest for an even more coveted honor in the rabbit community – RABBIT KING and QUEEN!
Library Coronavirus Updates
by Library Admin
*NEW*
12/30/2020
Library Patrons,
As many of you have learned by now, Putnam County has now moved to level “Red” on the state’s COVID dashboard. This is especially troubling considering that numbers are predicted to increase in the coming weeks due to a post holiday surge. In order to respond to this trend, we are going to make the following changes to our operations.
-All meeting rooms will be closed to outside groups, persons, or organizations.
-The number of public computers will be reduced to two with time limits strictly enforced. Use of these computers will be scheduled by appointment with walk-ins considered when times are available.
-We will be strictly limiting direct staff help to patrons in instances where six feet of social distance cannot be maintained.
As is the case each time we reduce our level of access or service, it is regrettable. I also expect the constant reevaluation to continue in the days and weeks ahead. I can only say that each of these changes is made with the goal of keeping our staff and our patrons as safe as possible while still providing service to our community.
Matt McClelland, Library Director
12/9/2020
6/30/2020
Putnam County Community,
Hopefully this will be my last COVID related update for some time. Our library will soon (by 7/4/2020) be shifting to Phase 3 of our reopening plan. I think all us will be excited to talk less about phases and stages and more about the services that we offer the community in coming weeks. However, that optimism does not mean that we can afford to completely let our guard down. As we have seen in other states, the threat of COVID is only controlled by our response to it. Thus far Indiana has done an admirable job in flattening the curve of the pandemic, but in order to maintain that progress we must remain vigilant. While the library will soon more closely resemble what we are all used to, certain protocols will need to remain in place for the foreseeable future. Protocols that may impact the public are the following:
-We will still be strongly recommending that you join every staff member and wear a mask or face shield in the public areas. Staff members have also been instructed to maintain proper social distancing from our patrons. Study after study shows that these are the most effective things each of us can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
–Curbside and remote services will still be offered for those who prefer it. I encourage you to do so.
-We will still be quarantining items and requiring you to place returns in the book drops instead of giving them to staff. The quarantine period on most items will be 72 hours while magazines and newspapers will be 24 hours. This represents the best practices from the research we have seen.
-The Kiwanis meeting room will be limited to smaller groups. All other confined meeting spaces (i.e. Rotary room and study rooms) will remain closed or be used to quarantine items.
-Certain areas of the library may have capacity restrictions or limited access.
-Indoor programs will be limited in size.
-The library will close for a period of at least 72 hours in the event of a positive COVID-19 test. This would be to prevent further spread in both patrons and staff (many of whom are in at-risk categories). Until research proves otherwise, we will rely on the passage of time as the most reliable way to sanitize items and the building.
While all of us would like to put the COVID outbreak behind us, we are not quite there yet. Until we are, I ask that each of you do your part and help us do our part in meeting these challenging times. Judging by the patience you have shown through all of this, I have no doubt you will.
Matt McClelland, Library Director
______________________
5/4/2020
Putnam County Community,
By now many of you have seen or are familiar with the
details of the Governor’s plan to get Indiana back on track. While this does
not mean that things are going to be back to normal any time soon, it does mean
that myself, the library board, and our great staff are excited to increase the
services that the library can offer. At our last meeting, the board voted to
implement a phased plan of library services once changes to the stay at home
order were announced by the Governor.
Pending any change in circumstances on the ground, the
library staff will be permitted back in the building on Monday, May 11th.
During that week we will be making sure the staff has adequate PPE, technology
to work remotely if they can, processing returns and mail, and putting the
finishing touches on a plan to offer curbside and remote services.
My hope is that we can offer contact-free curbside pickup on
a limited number of books and DVDs, emergency computer use for essential
business, and remote/phone access to the other library departments by Monday,
May 18th.
LIBRARY HOURS
Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday: Closed