By Kara Edmonds • Dimmick Memorial Library Director
Hello Library Patrons,
I hope you have had a fun and safe summer! At the Dimmick Memorial and the Penn Kidder Libraries, we have had a busy and eventful season. We enjoyed our Summer Reading Program and found lots of new favorite books. We are instituting important new policies regarding Overdue Fines. And, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people and organizations that support our library vision to provide accessible technology and materials to patrons across Carbon County. Read on to learn about our Summer and our new plans for the Fall.
Overdue Fine Free!
I am so pleased to announce that the Dimmick Memorial Library and the Penn Kidder Library, as members of the Lehigh Carbon Library Cooperative, will soon be OVERDUE FINE FREE! As of September 1, 2021, the libraries will no longer charge overdue fines on books and other items, and all accumulated overdue fines will be waived.
We are so excited to welcome back all library patrons who were previously blocked from checking out materials because of accumulated overdue fines!
Why are we making this change? Because overdue fines may be more of a deterrent to using the library than an incentive for returning materials. Waiving them is the LCLC’s way of welcoming back patrons who could no longer fully utilize the library because they owed overdue fines.
Please be aware that Lost or Damaged items will still be charged to patron accounts. And, no, patrons can’t keep checked-out items forever! We will auto-renew all items as possible, but if your items reach their maximum renewals, the items will be marked lost and charged to your account. However, when you return the late items, they will be removed from your account.
As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out. We look forward to hearing from you!
PPL Foundation Grant
This summer, the Dimmick Memorial Library received a $2000 grant from the PPL Foundation for Outreach to Increase Access to Virtual and Physical Resources for Education and Sustainable Communities. These funds will be used to support Library Outreach and will directly help us to share our many educational and information resources which are available to patrons for free.
With the generous support of the PPL Foundation, we will be able to reach out to students and adults to educate them about the free library resources which are always available online and in person during library hours.
Through strategic partnerships, the PPL Foundation supports organizations working to create vibrant, sustainable communities: promote diversity, equity and inclusion: and empower each citizen to fulfill their potential. The PPL Foundation contributes more than $3 million annually to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. To learn more, visit pplcares.com.
We are so pleased to be the recipient of this useful grant. We are excited to be able to continue our good work in this community with the help of generous donors such as the PPL Foundation.
Carbon County Community Foundation Grant
In addition, we received a $1500 grant from the Carbon County Community Foundation for Furniture Improvements. This generous grant will allow the Penn Kidder Library to expand physical accessibility for increased patron use. We will be replacing bookshelves in our Children’s section, which must accommodate the large books so often created for our smallest patrons.
Upon completion of this project, we will be able to more easily locate any item requested by our patrons or the other libraries in the Lehigh Carbon Library Cooperative. And, more importantly, the Penn Kidder Library, as a branch of the Dimmick Memorial Library, will be able to re-shelve all our children’s materials to be more easily accessed by our little patrons. This will create more space for our books and the ability to display them in a manner more appealing to our youngest readers. And, the more appealing books are to children, the more likely they are to become lifelong readers!
STEAM Technology FUN!
We have recently added some very fun tools at the libraries. We are so excited to share these tools and technology with our patrons of all ages!
The Lehigh Carbon Community College SHINE Program, directed by Rachel Strucko, graciously donated a MakerBot Replicator+ 3D printer to the Dimmick Memorial Library. Library staff, assisted by enthusiastic and curious patrons, have been learning about this 3D printer’s capabilities, looking over new books about current 3D printing technology, and having fun while creating cool, fun, and sometimes silly objects!
In addition to the 3D printer at the Dimmick, we have also received a “Tinkering Kit” set of STEAM tools and toys. At both the Dimmick Memorial Library and the Penn Kidder Library, we will have 3D Pens, paper circuitry sets which create light-up paper crafts, an LED lighting design kit, and paintable Buddha Boards. The “Tinkering Kit” project is made possible by Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Office of Commonwealth Libraries.
We are learning about these STEAM resources as we go, and having a great time doing it! We are so appreciative of the generosity of the donating organizations, and we look forward to sharing these exciting tools with our patrons. We will be opening up the opportunity to all our patrons to use the 3D printer and the STEAM Tinkering Kits in September. Look for “STEAM September” details on our Facebook pages!
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