In these unprecedented times, I want to assure the community that your public library is continuing to serve you throughout this crisis. While our buildings may be closed, our staff have been busy behind the scenes working from home to provide you with all the resources for life-long learning that you need.
Our website, mybcpl.org, is the portal to all of the resources we offer digitally year-round. Click on Digital Library from the home page to open up the wonders of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, music, movies, and more for all ages. All you need is your library card number and PIN to get started. If you find that that you are in need of a library card, just click on the Digital Library Card Signup and get an instant digital card. On this page, you can click on the FAQ to get instructions on how to download these resources to any device- smart phone, tablet, or computer. You can also email [email protected] if you have any trouble understanding how to download to a device or have questions about any of our resources.
If you click on Explore and then Learning Resources, you will see the plethora of resources that we subscribe to on your behalf. Everything is organized by subject to make it easier to find the items you want to explore. Want to learn a new language?- click on Mango Languages. Want to work on your family tree? Click on Genealogy. Want to learn more about your investments? Click on Morningstar. Want to find reviews of products? Click on Consumer Reports. Want to learn to play the piano? Click on ArtistWorks. Want to learn a new skill? Click on Gale Courses.
For those of you with children in your life, you will want to make sure you know about the age specific links with resources tailored to each age group. Under Explore you can see each of the groups: Kids (up to second grade), tweens (third to sixth grade), teens (seventh to 12th grade). Also each grade can be reached by their own link, for example kids can be reached by visiting www.mybcpl.org/kids.
In addition to the normal digital resources we offer, our staff have been hard at work developing and producing virtual programming. Virtual story times with Ms. Kate, Ms. Kelly, and Ms. Lindsey and lots of other activities are posted on our Facebook, Instagram pages as well as the virtual children’s programs link on our website. For teens and tweens, staff are also using TikTok and Twitch to stay connected virtually.
Know that we are always here for you and want to do everything we can to keep you on the path of lifelong learning. We can’t wait until we are able to once again open up our buildings and see you face to face. Until then, we will “see” you online.
Jason Hatton is the director at the Bartholomew County Public Library and can be reached at [email protected].
