Geisinger’s Health & Wellness Department provides free public classes on a variety of health subjects. This program was a six-week course that helped individuals living with chronic conditions. Geisinger partnered with UNC of NEPA to teach the class. The course gave advice and tips on how individuals can make lifestyle choices that can help make living with chronic illnesses easier to bear. The program was free to the public to attend with a maximum of 15 registered participants. Classes were held on weekdays in the evening at the library.

Ninja Training Day – Centre County Library, Bellefonte Branch

Ninjas have long been a standard in unconventional warfare so what better way to apply unconventional learning practices than to hold a Ninja Training Day. Children are often fascinated by ninjas, which made it very easy to fill all available spots for this program

The University of Scranton approached the public library to host a public Political Dialogue as part of its Community Conversations series. The goal of this program was to encourage open-mindedness and understanding of people who think differently on hot topics facing politics today. This included social, racial, and economic issues. Program Basics: We had close to 50 people attend the political dialogue. At the beginning of the program, they all sat together to listen to the facilitators from the University of Scranton give a brief description of the rules, set up, and goals of the program

We are a very small college with only 275 students. We were delighted to work with National Voters Registration Day and receive their grant for funds to support our student involvement. We had about 50 students participate in our event, so we are very happy! We had tables outside on a beautiful sunny day, with posters, stickers, paper registration forms, balloons, snacks, and QR codes to voter registration and voter information websites. We all used masks, gloves, and physical distancing procedures, of course! Most of the students said they were already registered, but they appreciated the opportunity to talk about it and find resources to learn more about the election and the ballot. It was a huge success!

Drop in Yoga in the library offered to students, faculty, and staff at no cost. Yoga mats provided by Bucks Wellness, Bucks County Community College. Taking place in the library every Thursday at 11am. Signage was posted outside the room inviting drop ins. It proved to be a great stress reliever for students, especially during exams.

We are a member of the Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibit Service, which allows us access to their traveling poster exhibits at no charge – beyond printing and laminating material. This exhibit focuses on women’s suffrage and remaining racial struggles.

“A Summer Read” and annual program developed with York County Libraries, similar to One Book One Community. The program encourages library patrons from York County to borrow the selected book, read it, and talk about it in their community. This campaign is designed to support communities in Central Pennsylvania during and after the COVID-19 health crisis.York County Libraries joins public libraries in an 8-county region to participate in “A Summer Read.” A Summer Read is a reading initiative for adults, teens, and seniors during the summer months from June to September. Wellspan: Aligning Forces for Quality – South Central Pennsylvania (AF4Q) and WITF Transforming Health Series sponsor the program.

Dr. Larry Cook entertained and educated patrons in his historical presentation Symbols of Patriotism. His soon-to-be released book highlights the lives of the 12 First Ladies that have been or are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and includes their patriot ancestors that made them eligible to be a member. The first two registrants received a free copy of his book. We raffled off an additional copy of his book in the Zoom meeting.

This is a fun and informative class on Zoom where participants learn learn basic Japanese and about Japanese culture. The class is run for 4 weeks and is taught by a Fulbright Scholar Teaching Assistant from the University of Scranton. The facilitator volunteered her time to the library.

Quarterly, a group of patrons gets together to discuss social justice topics, specifically in regards to the selected book. At the end of the year, the group makes suggestions for topics and the library staff member chooses books for the following year. Topics have included: gun control, opiate addiction, the housing crisis, childfree living, immigration, among others.