Lackawanna County Library System

Try this fun holiday activity with your kids! https://www.instagram.com/reel/CbsUEV0A8Sj/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Hint: you can use tape instead of glue on the glove’s fingers for less mess!

Use your Lackawanna County library card to receive on demand homework for all grade levels using Brainfuse’s HelpNow online resource.

Students can communicate with live tutors using an interactive whiteboard to chat, write, draw, copy/paste text or images and graph homework problems. HelpNow™ is available to all library patrons from the public computers at their local library or from any computer with internet connection starting To access HelpNow™, please visit the library’s website at lclshome.org/find.

Live Tutoring: HelpNow offers live tutor access for homework help, skills building and test preparation where after taking a quiz, the user can connect directly to a live tutor from the test center without having to return to the main page. Because HelpNow is personalized, both the student and the tutor can access quiz questions to do an intensive test prep which may include loading lessons on the whiteboard. All live sessions are saved and can be replayed as well as shared with friends and teachers by email.  Using the CloudPack feature, students can store and upload MS Word, Excel, JPG, and other accepted file types directly onto the whiteboard.

The Writing Lab and the 24/7 Center options give students the freedom to receive assistance at any time of the day without connecting with a live tutor. Students can submit papers through the Writing Lab for detailed feedback.  24/7 Center is for non-writing assignments such as math or science.  All reviews and comments from our tutors are found and stored in the Message Center which is found on the student homepage.

Study Tools: LEAP helps patrons build academic skills through targeted lessons, quizzes, and live, online tutoring. LEAP creates a learning plan based on a skills assessment that is taken at the beginning of the course. Flashbulb is a robust, learning resource where you can find flashcards or create your own. There are many ways this can be used.

April Community Collection

With the end of a snowy winter in sight, the current COVID-19 pandemic still leaves many of our neighbors in need of food for their children and loved ones.

Because of high demand, local food banks are looking at empty shelves and it is for them and the people they serve that Library patrons are pitching in during the month of April to help restock community pantries throughout Lackawanna County.

Make a donation of non-perishable food items or a monetary donation to the local food bank of your choice. Please drop off items directly at the food bank.

A PA Forward initiative promoting Civic & Social Literacy

Research shows that reading aloud to children is the single most important thing you can do to help them prepare for reading and learning.

That’s why the Lackawanna County Library System has launched an initiative for 2020 to help families reach the goal of reading at least 1,000 books to their children before they start school.

It sounds like a big number, but it’s quite easy to reach it. If you set aside time to read to your child every day, and you read only one book each day, you will achieve the goal in less than three years. Children’s books are short, and children love to hear stories, so it’s likely that you will read more than one book in a sitting. Repetition is fine. Children love to hear their favorite stories over and over, and each reading counts.

Lackawanna County libraries have large collections of children’s books to choose from and children’s librarians to help you choose the ones that are appropriate for your child as he or she grows toward school age.

Register for “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” at any Lackawanna County Library and on Beanstack. Make library visits part of your routine to choose reading material and to attend library story times with your children. The books they hear at the library count, too.

The more books they hear, the better prepared they will be when they start school.

Check out Beanstack today and register for 1,000 Books before Kindergarten!

April is National Poetry Month! Celebrate with fun activities to do at home or at your local library.

Activities for Families

• Borrow poetry picture books from your library and create your own themed story time at home.
• Write out words on construction paper or index cards and have kids make their own poems using just these words.
• Watch and listen to kids’ poetry films on Kanopy – a streaming service provided by the Lackawanna County Library System.

Activities for Everyone

• Read a poem by a poet you have never heard about.
• Read a poem you have never read before by a popular poet.
• Read a poem by a local poet from your area.
• Borrow an eBook, eAudiobook, or print book of poetry from your local library.
• Read 2020’s most read poem, Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Kindness.”
• Attend a poetry-themed event at your library.
• Read a biography on a famous poet.

For more activities, check out Beanstack! Beanstack is the library’s online site to do fun challenges every month and earn badges.

Previous Walt Whitman Award Winning Poets

Threa Almontaser, 2020, The Wild Fox of Yemen

Leah Naomi Green, 2019, The Most Extravagant Feast

Emily Skaja, 2018, Brute

Jenny Xie, 2017, Eye Level

Mai Der Vang, 2016, Afterland

National Poetry Series 2019 Winners

Michael Torres, An Incomplete List of Names

Benjamin Garcia, Thrown in the Throat

Diane Loui, Fractal Shores

Alexandria Hall, Field Music

Heid Erdrich, Little Big Bully

Newly Added Children’s Poetry Books at the Library

Everything Comes Next: Collected & New Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye

Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Brown, Elizabeth Acevedo, and Olivia Gatwood

A Girl Like Me by Angela Johnson

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mr. Rodgers by Fred Rodgers

The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and other How-To Poems edited by Paul Janeczko

Search the library catalog for even more poetry collections.

It’s National Library Week! Celebrate all week long with fun events and giveaways at your local library.

Monday April 4^th, the American Library Association will be releasing their State of America’s Libraries report.

Tuesday, April 5^th is Library Workers Day. Thank your favorite librarians and library staff during your visit to the library.

Wednesday, April 6^th is Outreach Day. Share with us on social media your memories and favorite stories of your visit to the Lackawanna County Library System Bookmobile.

Thursday, April 7^th is Take Action for Libraries Day. This important day is dedicated to making sure funding for libraries are not cut or reduced.

The pandemic made it clear that libraries play an essential role to help our community stay socially connected, informed, and healthy. You can take action by calling your representative and tell them to keep funding for libraries, share the library’s posts on social media, or make a donation to the library of your choice.

Check out these books featuring libraries and librarians to celebrate National Library Week!

Children’s Books

Library Day by Anne Rockwell

The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara

The Library Dragon by Carmen Agra Deedy

Teens/Young Adults

Ink & Bone: The Great Library Series by Rachel Caine

The Archived by Victoria Shwab

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Adult Fiction

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith

The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James

There’s much more to explore! Search the catalog for more eBooks, audiobooks, and print books about libraries.