Christmas in August?

Fellow makers, it is time to prepare. 

You may not be thinking about the holidays yet, but as we all know, the months between the start of the school year and the gift giving season always fly faster than the rest of the year. Before you know it, it's time to wrap presents. What better present can you give than something made with love? 

Personally, I love homemade presents. Your friends and family may forget about the nice sweater or perfume you bought them last year, but the thought and time that goes into making something unique to that person makes for an unforgettable gift that they will treasure. Plus, making is a lot more fun than shopping!

The library has tons of resources to help you get started. Here are some of my personal favorites!

 Hoopla has a wide assortment of books available to borrow. Craft some quirky stuffed animals, sew a quilt, or make some jewelry for the ones you love. 

Flipster magazines are a great resource when it comes to finding gift ideas. Not only does it feature the current issue of several popular magazines, but Flipster also includes years worth of back issues of titles such as McCall's Quilting, Popular Woodworking, Food Network Magazine, and more. You can scroll through the pages of these magazines as much as you want with no checkout required. Simply log in from home with your library card number, browse, and get inspired! You can even print some of the pages or save them as PDFs for later. 

  

 

 The newest and probably most wide ranging of resources we have for crafters is the Creativebug service, which you can now subscribe to for free with your active Terrebonne Parish library card. You can take mini classes on painting, sewing, and other fun crafty pursuits. Creativebug is always updating its catalog of easy to follow step by step videos with professional instructors. Most of the classes even include the pattern for the activity you're learning. Best of all, there's no limit to the number of classes you can take on Creativebug! There are so many varied projects, you're sure to find something to make for everyone on your list. 

Fread On!

One of the hidden gems of our ebook collection is Freading, which offers fiction, nonfiction and children's ebooks for our patrons to peruse. Each library card may borrow three books per week on Freading, and, like our other ebook services, there are never any late fees.

Each patron is allowed three downloads per week, and there are no holds required. All of Freading's items are available to library card holders in good standing at all times, and multiple users may borrow the same title. That makes Freading a great choice for your book club. 

Going on a trip? The last thing you want to do is lug around a big, heavy book that screams "tourist!"Check out Freading's extensive collection of travel guides. 

Books encouraging self care and other topics are also popular reads on Freading. Check out Curvy Yoga or The Aromatherapy Companion for new ideas to treat your mind and body right!

Freading offers more than just older or less well known books. Several bestsellers and intriguing topics are included in its collection.

Check out Freading today, and find that last good book of the summer!

Hot Topics on Salem History

Are you looking to get caught up on current events, but you find yourself hearing about people and events which with you aren't familiar? Do you want to be informed on deeply divisive issues from a non-partisan, thoroughly researched publication?

Salem History has several volumes which explore the history of today's more interesting topics. Here are a handful of the titles which are free to access 24/7 with no checkout. Just log on to MyTPL.org and click the "research" tab to search for Salem History. You can also find dozens more titles in Salem Science, Salem Health, and more.

These high quality volumes are the same as the ones on the shelves of the Reference department at the Main Library. They even offer an easy citation tool if you are using these as sources for reports or other academic projects. If you have any questions or would like to hear more about the titles we offer through Salem press, call us at the Reference desk any time the library is open!

 

Remembering D-Day

Seventy five years ago today, the Allies landed on the shores of the beach at Normandy, pushing the Nazis out and liberating France in the largest amphibious assault ever launched to date. This is widely considered the major turning point in the war, giving the Allies the advantage they needed to defeat the Nazis. Watch this short video as an introduction to D-Day, then head on over to the library's databases to learn more about the war. 

Did one of your ancestors serve in World War II? You may be able to find his draft card or other service related records on Fold3, the library's genealogical research database geared specifically to military records. Just click on the "research" tab at the top of our homepage, and select Fold3 from the list of databases by name. 

Fold3 Library Edition by Ancestry provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served. This continually-growing collection contains millions of records from world-class archives.

Mango's Bold New Look!

Mango Languages, the language learning platform offered for free to Terrebonne Parish Library cardholders, has totally updated its look and feel. Mango offers hundreds of lessons, on your computer or through its app, to help you become fluent in over 70 world languages and dialects. Catch a quick review of some of Mango's features in the brief video below!

Ebooks and Audio Books

Are you looking for a good read this Summer? There are move ebooks and audio books than you could hope to read in a lifetime, free and at your fingertips. All you need is your Terrebonne Parish library card!

To explore the options we have available, go to our website and click on the "eServices" tab at the bottom of the page. There, you will find direct links to all of our ebook and audio book services. They all work slightly differently, so let's do a bit of a refresher!

Overdrive allows users to check out ebooks and audio books, and is one of our most popular and oldest ebook services. OverDrive allows you to have 5 items checked out at once. There's no limit to the number of items you can borrow on OverDrive! OverDrive has an app, and you can choose from the traditional 'OverDrive for Libraries' app, or the brand new Libby app. Both will reach the same content. 

Hoopla is the newest of Terrebonne's ebook services. You can check out seven titles each month. These titles include not only ebooks and audio books, but also comics, movies, TV shows, and even video courses from The Great Courses! Best of all, there is no waiting for Hoopla items. All of the items are available all the time. You'll never have to place a hold!

Freading is another great source for ebooks with no waiting. Freading has a wide selection of ebooks and is an ideal source for choosing your next book club pick. With a weekly limit of six items, there's plenty to keep you reading on Freading!

Finally, something for the little people in your life! TumbleBooks is an excellent platform for kids' ebooks. With fun features like Read Alongs and animated story books, kids will be entertained for hours. TumbleBooks also has math stories, videos, puzzles, games and graphic novels to keep your kids busy. I like to share it with my kids on long car trips. It's screen time, but it's also reading!

Spring into Home Improvements with Flipster!

Spring has sprung, and it's a great time for a refresh of your space. While spring cleaning is a given, why not go that extra step before the real heat hits, and complete some home improvements? 

Flipster is a great place to start getting ideas on how to redecorate your home or even add major home improvements, and the best part is, it's provided for FREE, 24/7 to you with your Terrebonne Parish Library card! There's no need to buy that magazine that's been tempting you at the checkout counter. Even after the new issue comes out, Flipster provides older issues of its magazines going back several years. So you aren't limited to the most current issue, either! 

Here are a few great picks to help out with that home improvement projects! Happy remodeling! 

Free Documenting Bayou Culture Workshop Series!

Terrebonne Parish, and the Bayou Region in general, has a rich cultural heritage like no other. Essential to keeping that culture alive is to hand down the stories and traditions that make this area unique. With the Documenting Bayou Culture Workshop Series, we are aiming to do just that.

This free series of four workshops will teach participants to observe, record, and document the culture of their own communities. Workshops are hands on and build upon one another, though attendance at all four is not required. Registration IS required, however. Please contact Brigid Laborie at blaborie@mytpl.org or (985) 876-5861, extension 242.

Want more information? A complete description of all four of the workshops, and the Artists Workshop, is included below.

Spring is Around the Corner!

Though it may not feel like it today, Spring is just around the corner. March 20th marks the first day of Spring, and with the last frost of the  year hopefully passed, many of you may be planning to get your spring gardens planted. Titles from Overdrive are a great resource for helping you decide what and when to plant so you don't miss that vital time frame. 

 Are you new to gardening? Then Gardening Basics for Dummies is an excellent choice. This book breaks down everything you need to know about starting and maintaining your first garden. Even if you've been gardening for some time, this title is worth a read. You never know what you don't know!





Are you tight on space? Try Gardening in Miniature by Janit Calvo. Just reading the book's description on OverDrive has made me want to pick up this adorable new hobby: 

 "The next garden trend combines the joy of gardening with the magic of miniatures. Gardening in Miniature is a complete guide to creating lush, living, small-scale gardens. It has everything you need to pick up this new hobby, including scaled down garden designs, techniques for creating tiny hardscapes, miniature garden care and maintenance, tips on choosing containers, how to buy the right plants, and where to find life-like accessories. Inspiring step-by-step projects feature basic skills that can be recreated in any number of designs, like a tiny patio, a trellis, a pond, and a secret garden."

If you're like me and you can't for the life of you (and your plants) keep anything green alive, try cacti and succulents! These hardy plants are beautiful and require much less watering and care than other types of plants.

 Plus, as a bonus, succulents are not too difficult to propagate for sharing with your fellow succulent enthusiasts! 

Black History @ Your Library

February is Black History Month, and Terrebonne Parish Library has a multitude of high quality, reliable resources to help you learn something new about African American history. A great place to start is with the Salem History title, Great Lives from History: African Americans. From Aaliyah to Whitney Young, this digital version of a five volume set includes short biographies of 844 notable African Americans achievers. This resource is fantastic for those who are looking for someone to research outside of well known leaders such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. and provides a broader look at Black contributions to history, science, government and culture in America. 

In addition to Great Lives From History, Salem Press also publishes the Defining Documents in American History series.  Two titles in the library's digital collection which would be especially helpful to those interested in Black history are Defining Documents in American History: Civil War and Defining Documents in American History: The 1960s. These pivotal times for African Americans are explored in depth through primary source documents and are ideal for use in the classroom. 

In addition to text resources, the Terrebonne Parish Library is featuring books by African Americans on its Facebook page daily throughout the month of February, and libraries will have their own displays of titles chosen by staff at most locations. If you have any questions about your research, don't hesitate to call the Reference desk at the Main Library at (985) 876-5861, option (2).