There’s a lot you can do with your library card from the comfort of your home. The list below tells you all you need to know about using the library’s digital resources, how to contact us, and provides recommended links for your education, entertainment, or amusement.
Essentials
Need WiFi? You can access ours from your car in our parking lot, or from the Library’s back terrace.
Worried about overdue books? Don’t be! Our book drops are open 24/7, and we are accepting materials from other libraries. All returned materials will be quarantined for 72 hours.
Need a library card? If you live in our service area, click here and fill out a request form. We will mail you a card.
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Who to Contact
General inquiries? Email Lesley Dolinger at pflweb@patten.lib.me.us.
Questions about your account? Email circ@patten.lib.me.us.
General reference questions? Email pflreference@patten.lib.me.us.
Ideas and resources to support distance learning for your Pre-K through 5 children? Email Katy Dodge at kdodge@patten.lib.me.us. She’s compiled a huge list of links and on-line resources. Click here to access her recommendations.
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Links and Resources
We are still providing access to the resources, activities, and programs that you’ve always enjoyed through Patten Free Library, despite the current pandemic. You can visit the library for brief in-person browsing or services, or you can utilize the library’s virtual programs and services listed below from the comfort of home. If you have suggestions about other programs or ways we can help you adjust to the new normal, please email Roberta Jordan at rjordan@patten.lib.me.us.
Submission period is open, now through December 4! For contest guidelines, click here.
Hot off the (Virtual) Press!“The Best Art and Writing of Morse, Volume 4.” Click here to browse a copy.
Cloud Library Additions. We’ve added a shelf of young adult books that are exclusively for Patten Free Library patrons. For information on how to download the Cloud Library app on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, click here. If you need assistance getting started, contact pflreference@patten.lib.me.us.
RBDigital Collection of Comics and Graphic Novels. Click here to register; you gain access to a great collection of comics and graphic novels that you read online or download to your tablet or smart phone. You’ll need your library card to sign up.
Wellness Resources. We’ve created a quick guide of “go-to” local resources on wellness and well-being during the quarantine. Click here to see read Laurel’s blog entry, “Reading for Good Health.”
Digital Maine Library. An on-line library that provides access to thousands of articles and resources you may need for your school assignments. Click here to access it anywhere in Maine; if you want personalized assistance with a school project or paper, contact Roberta by email (rjordan@patten.lib.me.us).
Tumblebooks. We have a great new subscription to Tumblebooks, an online library which includes two great resources for teens. Check out the TeenBookCloud, an online library for grades 7 to 12! It includes many different genres, including graphic novels. Click here to start browsing the collection. You should also browse AudioBookCLoud, an online library of audiobooks for all ages. Click here to start looking for a great listen.
BookMatch. Patten Free Library’s very own Laurel Cox will create a personalized reading list based on the information you provide about your interests and preferences. Click here to fill out and submit a request.
Thinking about college? Ask Wendy! College Counseling FAQs. Stay on track with your college admissions work this summer! Wendy Thompson of Westport Educational Consulting has created a new resources page on her website to assist you during the pandemic. In addition to the great list of FAQs about the college admissions process, there is an “Ask Wendy” button if you can’t find the answers you need. Click here to access. We hope to have Wendy back in the fall for our common app workshop, virtually or in person!
You can also email Wendy at westporteducationalconsulting@gmail.com.
15-Minute Read-Alouds. Listen to our collection of 15-minute read-alouds! They were chosen with middle schoolers in mind, but anyone can listen and enjoy. At the end of each session, you can mark off a square on your summer reading log. It’s quick, relaxing, and engaging. Click here to access all the recordings.
Virtual Open Mic. Click here to enjoy our latest set, featuring Helen Bertlesman. Helen is a rising senior at Morse High School; in her set, she shares three poems she wrote in a poetry class with Mr. Stanton: “Walls;” “To Have (after ‘Daydreams’ by Dorothy Parker);” and “Failing to Forget a Place You Once Loved.” To go to the archive of all performances, click here.
If you’re interested in creating a “set” for our weekly open mic, we hope to start recording more in the fall. Send Roberta Jordan an email (rjordan@patten.lib.me.us) and she’ll share the details.
Music, poetry, dance . . . . we’d love to share your talents.
Other Virtual Amusements. Still looking for something to do? Check out one of these on-line “events” from last spring:
Are there book groups or other interest groups that can meet online with the help of one of our reference librarians? Be in touch with one of our reference team at pflreference@patten.lib.me.us, or via one of the email addresses below.
Contact Information
If it’s easier, you can leave a voice mail at 443-5141, ext. 12.
There are so many incredible resources available to children on the internet! Please take a look at the links and feel free to email me with questions at kdodge@patten.lib.me.us
ACTIVITIES:
27 Indoor Activities for Kids Stuck at Home
Free: Online Mindfulness Class for Kids
How to Make a Cardboard Geodome
Saved You a Spot: 20 Screen-Free Things to Do
AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATORS:
The LivBits: Let’s Keep Reading
INFORMATION:
PBS: Just For Kids: An Online Comic Exploring the New Coronavirus
Time to Come In, Bear: A Children’s Story About Social Distancing
LEARNING:
ABC YA: Practice Math, Reading and Other Fun Learning Games:
Into the Book: Reading Comprehension for Elementary School Students
Into the Map: Explore Geography and Analyze Maps
KidztoPros: Online Enrichment Program
Outschool: Live Online Classes for Kids 3 – 18
Rosetta Stone: Learn a Foreign Language
Star Fall: Learning through Exploration, Reading, Language Arts and Math
STORIES READ ONLINE:
Operation ASL Storytime: Where the Wild Things Are
TumbleBookLibrary – K-6 children’s ebook database
AudioBookCloud – all ages audiobook database
SUPER STARS FROM MAINE:
Chewonki @home: Nature-based Educational Materials for You
High Touch High Tech of Maine: Science Demonstrations and Experiments
Maine State Student Book Award
Jud Caswell: Where the Wild Things Are: with music
MISCELLANEOUS
BROADWAY MUSICALS: 15 Broadway Plays and Musicals You Can Watch On Stage from Home
EDUCATION COMPANIES OFFERING FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS DUE TO SCHOOL CLOSINGS
GOOGLE DOCS VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS
Every day, people of all ages and backgrounds turn to the Patten Free Library to find jobs or go online, to get help with homework or complex research projects, to start on a business plan, connect with their kids or simply find a space to relax. For every person who visits our library, there is a story. We want to collect and share those stories. Is the library important to you? Do you have a story to tell? Share it here.
Thanks to the support of the City of Bath, Patten Free Library is open on Mondays from 12pm to 8pm. Now every week you have more opportunities to take advantage of all we have to offer.
In May, the Teen Library Council partnered with the Brunswick-based organization Manomet to launch an environmental poster contest centered on the theme “Earth Day, Everyday.” RSU 1 students in grades seven through twelve were given the opportunity to create and submit posters with a message focusing on practices and innovations that promote sustainability. Manomet awarded cash prizes for the winning entries, which were announced in June on the last day of school.
From over thirty entries, judges at Manomet recognized the following posters and artists:
Finalists (Grades 7-9)
1st place: Isabel Strelneck, Bath (“Skip the Turnpike, Take Your Bike”)
2nd place: Iris Hennin, Woolwich (“Stop Food Waste”)
3rd place (tie): Delaney Pascuzzo, West Bath (“Buy Local”)
3rd place (tie): Nola Vallade and Zoe Brush, Georgetown (“Join the Fight Against Plastic Waste”)
4th place: Emily Tetzlaff, Bath (“Earth Day Everyday”)
Finalists (Grades 10-12)
1st place: Emily Adams, Bath (“Protect Your Skin”)
Honorable mention for content and message:
Kerlin De Jesus, Bath
Miranda Burpee, Phippsburg
Aiden Shields, Bath
Honorable mention for artistic quality:
Wren Tetreault, Bath
Audrey Crews, West Bath
Isabel Strelneck, Bath
To see images of the finalists’ posters, click here.
On Saturday, January 25, the Teen Library Council is sponsoring a night of library laser tag. This is your chance to shake off the post holiday blues! Up to 20 people can play during each 20-minute slot, between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. The cost is $6 per person, or $10 for two people.
The event is open to students in grades six through twelve, faculty and staff members of R.S.U. 1 schools, and MHS alums (up to age 20) who live in the library service area.
On-line sign up will open on Friday, January 10. Sign up alone or in groups.
