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Special Edition: May 2, 2020

Ask HCLS

Have a question? Need book recommendations? Homework help? Research assistance? Our team is here to help!

Beginning May 4, contact us Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm.

• CHAT live with a staff person. Look for this icon on any page on our website:
• EMAIL us at [email protected]
• CALL us at 410.313.5088 and leave a voice message with your question. A staff person will call you back.

New! Always Available Audiobooks

There’s something special about listening to a skilled narrator read a good book. An audiobook can bring a story to life in rich and vivid ways that text on a page sometimes can’t accomplish. If you have a loved one with low vision, dyslexia, or other print disabilities, eAudiobooks are a critical way to keep the love of reading alive. And they’re an ideal format for people on the go who are busy cooking, gardening, walking the dog, or who simply can’t sit still for long enough to pick up a hardback. 

You don’t have to pay for a membership plan in order to enjoy eAudiobooks. HCLS recently launched a FREE downloadable audiobook collection of more than 35,000 titles… all of which are available now! Borrow and listen to popular titles like An American Marriage, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and Dances with Wolves without waiting.

Get started!

• Download the free RBdigital mobile app from the App Store, Google Play, or KindleFire. (If you’ve borrowed an eMagazine from HCLS, you likely already have this app.)
• Watch this video tutorial, and have your HCLS card and PIN handy. The tutorial walks you through setting up an account and creating a username and password.

Once you download the app, create your account and sign in, look for the “Popular Always Available Audiobook” section. Happy listening!

Stream. Download. Learn. for Students

HCPSS students may continue to access eContent using their A+ student accounts.

Kindergarten readiness (ages birth to 5): Find age-appropriate eBooks, digital read-alongs, language learning lessons, streaming video, and educational activities. All this and more available for free with your library card. Get started here.

Elementary school students: Keep reading with a large selection of eBooks and audiobooks. Practice math with TumbleMath. Build skills in language arts, science, and social studies. Learn a new language. All this and more available for free with your library card. Get started here.

Middle and high school students: Find eBooks and audiobooks, online magazines and books, historical research tools, literary research and criticism tools. Practice world languages. Take an online class. Prepare for SATs and ACTs. All this and more available for free with your library card. Get started here.

Our virtual lineup includes book discussion groups, trivia gatherings, STEM labs, world language classes, stories for children, and more. 

Details and registration at hclibrary.org/classes-events. Registration for all HiTech classes opens 48 hours prior.

Some of this week's classes include:

Monday, May 4

1 – 2 pm: Films that Connect Us (Adults)
Join our film discussion series by signing up for a free Kanopy account through HCLS. Watch the film The Farewell this weekend and then join us for an online discussion on Monday.

Tuesday, May 5

2 – 3 pm: Book Talk Unlimited LIVE! (Adults)
Loved Where the Crawdads Sing? Can't get enough of The Night Circus? Did Just Mercy leave you with a craving for more about the justice system? Join us as we share these and other fan favorite titles and offer some read-alike suggestions to keep you going after the story ends.
In partnership with the Penguin Random House Library Team.

Thursday, May 7

1 – 2 pm: What is Cosplay? (Ages 11-17) 
What is cosplay? What do I need to get started? How much money will it cost? This class will answer these and other frequently asked questions, as well as the basics about becoming your favorite character.

7 – 7:20 pm: Pajama Time Live! (Families with young children) 
Stories and activities just before bedtime.

Friday, May 8

3:30 – 5 pm: Projects For/From the Home Office (Adults) 
Working from home has many challenges. Learn to organize and maintain your home and home office. Using materials and tools that you may already have at home, create a floating shelf for all that "stuff" sitting on the floor in your dining room.

4 – 5 pm: Lego™ Engineering Challenge (Ages 9+) 
Calling all Lego fans! Participate online to design and engineer specific challenges with LEGO ™ blocks. New challenges provided each week.

Ongoing

Read Together Now
Watch our instructors read selected books on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 pm on our Facebook page.

On Demand: Pen & Ink Shading Video Tutorial 
Jereme Scott, MFA and HCLS Adult Art Curriculum Specialist, provides a video tutorial of various pen and ink shading techniques.

Rube Goldberg Video Challenge
Join the Rube Goldberg Bar of Soap Video Challenge at home! Watch Jennifer George, granddaughter of Rube Goldberg, describe the challenge, and learn more at RubeGoldberg.com.

The Friends & Foundation of Howard County Library System is grateful for our donors, now more than ever. While the physical doors of our libraries may be shut, our virtual doors are open wide, providing access to an array of online resources from ebooks to classes, from learning to code to learning a language. Thank you, as always, for your support.