Library Covid-19 Services
Library Services During Covid-19
The Putnam County Public Library has unveiled new protocols for library services during Covid-19. These protocols will more closely tie the library’s procedures to the Indiana State Health Department and Putnam County Health Department testing data for Covid-19.
Beginning on Monday, February 1, the library will tie its Covid-19 procedures to the advisory level of Putnam County. Each Monday, the library will change its service offerings to match the advisory level of the county.
The statuses that correspond to the color-coded advisory level are as follows:
BLUE. Masks & Social Distancing Required
YELLOW. Limited Public Seating
ORANGE. Grab & Go Service
RED. Lobby Only Service
For more information, call 765-653-2755 or email us. The ISDH advisory level can be found on the ISDH website, under the drop-down category “map metrics” under the County Metrics menu.
Featured Library Services
Curbside Service
The library now offers Curbside Service from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Pick up your materials from the safety and convenience of your vehicle!
Digital & Downloadable Resources
Take the library on the go with these apps and resources powered by your library card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions for answers to common questions about library services. Need more help? Call us at 765-653-2755
Visiting the Library: Lobby Service
Visiting the Library: Lobby Service
Due to new protocols related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the library is open to lobby/curbside service ONLY at this time. Read this helpful guide for information on how to use library services at this time.
Remember, the library is never REALLY closed. Our digital apps and resources bring the library to your fingertips. Click here for more information.
What this means for patrons:
The library lobby is open, but access to library stacks and public spaces are closed.
Masks MUST be worn in the library building at all times. Masks MUST cover your nose and mouth at all times while inside of the library building.
Books, DVDs, CDs, Magazines & Newspapers MUST be returned to outside drop-boxes. Library of Things items may be returned to the Circulation Desk.
Large donations may be dropped off in the library lobby. Large tote boxes are available for your convenience and safety.
Currently Available Library Services:
*NEW* Digital Lab Drop-Off. A new library service that will allow patrons to drop-off their photographs, VHS tapes, records (LPs and 45s), cassette tapes, and 8mm film to be converted into digital files by library staff, free of charge.
Contact Anthony Barger at [email protected] or (765)653-2755 for a consultation and to schedule a time to drop off materials.
Checking Out Materials. Materials can be placed on hold through Evergreen Indiana, by visiting the library lobby, calling the library at 765-653-2755, or emailing the library at [email protected]. It is NOT required that materials be placed on hold at this time. Staff is available to retrieve materials upon request.
Curbside Service. The library continues to offer and encourage curbside service. Follow instructions on the parking lot signage when you arrive to receive curbside service. Appointments are NOT required. Click here for more information.
Digital Library Card Sign-Ups. The library will continue to approve requests for library cards by phone or email. Click here for more information.
Magazines and newspapers will be available for check-out.
Reference Services. The library will continue to offer reference services. Do you need help choosing materials? We can help!
I am looking for books on swimming. Can you help me find picture books about swimmers? Yes, we can help.
I love books by Justina Ireland. Can you find something similar? Yes, we can help.
We are homeschooling and we need to plan a lesson on national parks. Can you put together materials for us? Yes, we can help.
When visiting the library, please make your request at the Circulation Desk. A librarian will be available to assist you.
We have a number of online resources and forms for finding materials. Check out our Book Bundles, Educator Kits, and Staff Picks for Kids.
Receive a curated recommendation list by filling out the My Next Read form for children, teens, or adults.
Technology Help Desk. Please call the library for details.
Print/Copy/Fax Services. These services will remain available in the library lobby. Staff will be available to print files that are emailed to [email protected].
Public computer access for essential business will be available in the library lobby. Time is limited to one-hour per visitor.
Public Wi-Fi Access. The library’s free public Wi-Fi extends to the library parking lot, expanding access to outside of the library building.
Monthly Newsletter: January 2021
Calendar
Winter Reading Club
The 2021 Winter Reading Club will run from January 1-February 28. Children and teens can pick up a Bingo challenge in the Imagination Portal or access them online. Earn a bingo to win a cool prize! Adults can pick up their reading sheet at the circulation desk on the main level of the library or access them online.
We will accept the following methods of returning your Bingo Sheet or Reading Challenge to the library:
- Return your physical copy to the Imagination Portal if you are under 18, or to the Circulation Desk if you are 18+.
- If you are an adult, please email [email protected] with your answers for the adult Reading Challenge.
- If you are a child, please email [email protected] and provide them with your information.
Prizes may be picked up during the challenge or at your convenience after the challenge has ended.
Featured Services
Curbside Service
The Putnam County Public Library is excited to offer Curbside Services @ PCPL. Simply place your items on hold and we’ll deliver them to your vehicle!
Free Public Wi-Fi
The library has free public Wi-Fi for your connectivity needs. Our Wi-Fi extends to the library parking lot, allowing access after hours.
Library of Things
We love books at the library, but sometimes books alone don’t do the job. With generous funding from the Dr. James Elrod fund at the Hendricks County Community Foundation (HCCF), the library has purchased materials for a “Library of Things”.
The Library of Things is a collection of items that are unconventional to libraries but may be of use to the community. These items can include kitchen appliances, tools, crafting supplies, outdoor games, board games, and a wide array of other items. These items are loanable to the community just like any other library material.
Featured Resource
With Cypress Resume, you can effortlessly create a professional resume in minutes! Its easy-to-use design assures you won’t spend hours trying to perfect your document — all the hard work is done for you! Simply plug in your basic information (as much or as little as you like), and we create a perfectly formatted document to help you land that dream job.
You need a library card to access this resource.
Indie Author Day: November 7, 2020
On November 7, 2020, the Putnam County Public Library will host the 5th annual Indie Author Day. Join us for the talk “Eye for the Weird” by Author Sarah Gerkensmeyer.
Eye for the Weird
How can the strange, the uncanny, and the unordinary help give us more direct access to our characters’ ordinary, human experiences? This presentation, which incorporates a series of interconnected writing exercises, will explore how some “weird” writers like myself work with a careful balance of the ordinary and the unordinary, the real and the surreal, in their fiction. We will look at overt examples of weird writing, such as magical realism, fabulism, and fairy tales. And we will also explore more subtle approaches, such as conducting creative research about unknown topics and discovering a sense of mystery about topics that you are already familiar with. Participants should be both inspired and challenged to discover how injecting a sense of the unknown and the off-kilter—whether to a large degree or only in small doses—might open up the characters in their own writing. I will also share about how growing up in the Midwest helped shape how I view the “weird” in both the landscape that surrounds me and in my own writing.
For more information:
Indie Author Day
Writer Workshop Videos
Sarah Gerkensmeyer’s story collection, What You Are Now Enjoying, was selected by Stewart O’Nan as winner of the 2012 Autumn House Press Fiction Prize, longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, and chosen as winner of Late Night Library’s Debut-litzer Prize. A Pushcart Prize nominee for both fiction and poetry and a finalist for the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction and the Italo Calvino Prize for Fabulist Fiction, Sarah has received scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Ragdale, Grub Street, SAFTA’s Firefly Farms, and the Vermont Studio Center. Her stories and poetry have appeared in American Short Fiction, Guernica, The New Guard, The Massachusetts Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, B O D Y, Hobart, and Cream City Review, among others. Her story “Ramona” was featured in a Huffington Post piece on flash fiction and also selected by Lily Hoang for the 2014 Best of the Net Anthology. Sarah was the 2012-13 Pen Parentis Fellow. She received her MFA in fiction from Cornell University and now lives and writes in her home state of Indiana, where she is a winner of the Indiana Authors Award and a Sustainable Arts Foundation Fellow.
LoT Blog Post Template
LoT: Dominion
"You are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and feodums. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner. But wait! It must be something in the air; several other monarchs have had the exact same idea. You must race to get as much of the unclaimed land as possible, fending them off along the way. To do this you will hire minions, construct buildings, spruce up your castle, and fill the coffers of your treasury. Your parents wouldn't be proud, but your grandparents, on your mother's side, would be delighted."
Discover
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Observe the Moon: October 2-3
Observe the Moon: October 2-3
by Adult Programming
This year PCPL is providing links to NASA resources for school-age to adult so that you can engage this yearly moon celebration remotely.
Moon Activities and Resources
1. Look up! The simplest way to observe the Moon is simply to look up. The Moon is the brightest object in our night sky, the second brightest in our daytime sky, and can be seen from all around the world. International Observe the Moon Night is always held near a first-quarter Moon, which means that the near side of the Moon is about half-illuminated. A first-quarter Moon is great for evening observing as it rises in the afternoon and is high above the horizon in the evening. With the naked eye, you can see dark gray seas of cooled lava called mare.
2. Review our viewing guide for more tips on lunar observing.
3. Listen to a fascinating talk by Emily Levesque, Professor of Astronomy at Washington University and author of The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers, which has received rave reviews. Fast forward about 4 minutes to begin Emily’s talk on the science and adventures of being a professional astronomer and on her work at the world’s cutting-edge observatories.
4. Plan a lunar hike with Moon Trek. Moon Trek is an interactive Moon map made using NASA data from our lunar spacecraft. Fly anywhere you’d like on the Moon, calculate the distance or the elevation of a mountain to plan your lunar hike, or layer attributes of the lunar surface and temperature. If you have a virtual reality headset, you can experience Moon Trek in 3D.
5. Start a Moon Journal. International Observe the Moon Night is the perfect time to start a Moon journal. See how the shape of the Moon seems to change over the course of a month, and keep track of where and what time it rises and sets. To check your work, visit Dial-A-Moon, where you can plug in any date of the year to see the Moon phase. Observe the Moon all year long with these tools and techniques!
6. Watch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Video Gallery. Learn about the Moon’s role in eclipses, look at the Moon’s phases from the far side, and see the latest science portrayed in super high resolution.
7. Listen to a lunar playlist.
We hope you enjoy this year’s remote Observe the Moon activities.