Come join our in-person, socially-distanced Outdoor Storytime for our youngest library friends, and the slightly older ones, too! We’ll be meeting each Wednesday from 10-10:30 a.m. in the Eckhart Public Library park, weather permitting, and reading the following stories.
August 12: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
August 19: The Wheels on the Bus
August 26: Mean Soup
Saturday, August 1, marks an important anniversary for the Eckhart Public Library staff and patrons – the 4 year anniversary of the library’s launch with the Evergreen Indiana Consortium, made up of over 125 other Indiana public libraries, school libraries, and more.
Started by a group of 20 collaborating libraries in 2007, Evergreen Indiana’s goal was to create an open-source library system that allowed members to share items, resources, and systems with one another. In the years that have followed, Eckhart Public Library patrons have participated in receiving just some of the consortium’s 7 million items, which includes items such as books across various ages ranges and formats, to new items in our Library of Things, such as cake pans and label makers.
During these times, Eckhart Public Library has been expanding curbside and home delivery services for patrons who feel more comfortable staying in their car or home – let us bring the benefits of Evergreen Indiana to you! If you are interested in receiving items this way, please visit the library’s website at epl.lib.in.us, and choose either curbside pick-up or home delivery on our home page for more information.
If you ever happen to be near another DeKalb County library, feel free to stop in – your Evergreen Indiana card works at all county libraries in the area.
Our library is so proud to have this wonderful system in place for our community and with our Evergreen Indiana partner libraries throughout the state. We hope to continue this wonderful partnership for years to come!
We are entering the final week of our summer programming, and your support for Eckhart Public Library’s Read. Do. Explore. program has been amazing. We are nearing 1,000 prize entries for our fun grand prizes, and we want to do something special to celebrate! Whoever submits the 1,000th prize entry will earn five extra entries to win the grand prize of their choice! To try and get the 1,000th entry, keep submitting when you participate in Read. Do. Explore., and we’ll let you know if you get that lucky prize entry. Visit epl.lib.in.us/rde to learn more and enter.
Have you taken a moment to complete the Auburn 2040 Community Survey? Your answers can help shape the future of Auburn! Click here to share your thoughts.
As part of our commitment to keep patrons safe and healthy, we are offering two exciting socially distant events next week!
Have you been enjoying our online Family Storytimes or Babies & Books Storytimes? Then we hope you’ll join us on Wednesday, July 15, for an Outdoor Storytime around our beautiful fountain! Our friends from both storytimes are invited to join us at 10 a.m. for fun stories, songs, and rhymes. Blankets for families to sit on will be laid out ahead of time and spaced apart to help us remain socially distant, but enjoy each other’s company.
We’ll also be having a special edition of our Teen Magic: The Gathering group on Thursday, July 16, beginning at 4 p.m. Teens can gather outside the main library to play this thrilling fantasy card game with friends! Never played before, or don’t have your own deck? No worries – our group can teach you how to play and will have decks to help you get started. We’ll be keeping this event safe and socially distant with extra wide table setups and limited players per table.
We hope we’ll see you at one of these fun events as we find ways to safely return to in-person programming!
Have you taken a moment to complete the Auburn 2040 Community Survey? Your answers can help shape the future of Auburn! Click here to share your thoughts.
Kelewele, dragon noodles, and so much more! Have you had a chance to watch our virtual program, Kids in the Kitchen? Each week, Karen and friends cook up a delicious meal or snack that ties in to our Imagine Your Storytime: A Family Storytime. We’ll show you how to create the recipe, including written instructions if you’d like to make it yourself at home!
Ready to watch? Click here to visit the Facebook Video Playlist for Kids in the Kitchen!
Have a safe and relaxing 4th of July!
The adventurous minds of Eckhart Public Library bring you EckhartQuest: a fantasy-themed scavenger hunt throughout Union Township! Can you find all five elements hidden in our domain? Using a map, your curiosity, hints and riddles hidden in books, and your iron will, you will seek Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Pearl, and Opal elements. What green groves, watery realms, shadowed haunts, or stoic plazas might you discover along the way?
A list of instruction, your special badge, and a handy map can be found at any public service desk or at epl.lib.in.us/eckhartquest
Best of all, you’ll be rewarded along the way for each step you take! Finding a new element allows you to enter in for one grand prize for Eckhart Public Library’s Read. Do. Explore program. If you’re able to find all 5 elements and bring in your completed badge to the library, you’ll be allowed to enter 10 more prize entries. And for our most savvy adventurers, the very first quest undertaker to bring in a completed badge gets 20 prize entries!
EckhartQuest brings together community partners to challenge your determination, knowledge, exploration, and skill!
Ready to accept your quest? Stop by the Eckhart Temple (Public Library) or visit epl.lib.in.us/eckhartquest to begin!
Eckhart Public Library’s summer program, Read. Do. Explore, is in full swing with their fun theme, Imagine Your Story! Each day through July 25, participants can join us for fun virtual programs, hunts around Union Township, and chances at awesome grand prizes! To learn more or get started, visit epl.lib.in.us/rde
Events this week:
EckhartQuest – The adventurous minds of EPL bring you EckhartQuest: a fantasy-themed scavenger hunt throughout Union Township! Can you find all five elements hidden in our domain? Using a map, your curiosity, hints and riddles hidden in books, and your iron will, you will seek Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Pearl, and Opal elements hidden. What green groves, watery realms, shadowed haunts, or stoic plazas might you discover along the way? EckhartQuest brings together community partners to challenge your determination, knowledge, exploration, and skill! Visit epl.lib.in.us/eckhartquest to get started! All Summer Long, Union Township.
Babies & Books Storytime to Go Bags – This fun bag will contain manipulatives for our youngest library friends that will correspond with the folk tale storytime from last week This bag will feature an item from The Three Little Pigs story! Monday, June 8, Pick up begins at 9 a.m., Main Library.
Imagination to Go Bags – Imagination to Go bags for our youngest library friends will have all the necessary supplies for an activity or two tied to the fairytale or folk tale shared last week. Even if you can’t catch the video online, this is a fun way to get involved! This bag will feature an item from our Stone Soup story! Monday, June 8, Pick up begins at 9 a.m., Main Library.
Babies & Books Storytime – These storytime sessions are geared toward babies and toddlers 0-2 years and their caregivers. We will be retelling some familiar folk tales using the felt board and adding songs, rhymes, and movement activities to complete the storytime sessions. Today we’ll be telling the story of Jack and the Beanstalk! Wednesday, June 10, 10 a.m., Eckhart Public Library Facebook Page.
Learning STEAM, Wherever You Are – Explore the concepts of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics with Emma and Zach! We’ll meet each week to discuss a different aspect of STEAM, as well as an activity for you to do from home. This week’s theme is exploring the definition of technology (which isn’t just computers)! Wednesday, June 10, 4 p.m., Eckhart Public Library Facebook Page.
Imagine Your Storytime: a Family Storytime – Virtual storytimes for families, aimed at preschool and younger elementary children. Each week we will explore a new folk tale. Today, we’ll discuss the story of Little Red Hen! Wednesday, June 10, 7 p.m., Eckhart Public Library Facebook Page.
Kids in the Kitchen Online – An online activity kids and their families can do at home, with recipes provided in each video post. Today we’ll be making Fruit Piroshki from Russia. Thursday, June 11, 11 a.m., Eckhart Public Library Facebook Page.
Brews+Books Book Club – Love an interesting read, great company, and a refreshing beer? Be sure to join us at brews+books book club the second Thursday of each month from 6-7 p.m.. We’ll be discussing “The Year We Left Home” by Jean Thompson. Eckhart Public Library was chosen as a recipient for the One State/One Story Community Read program, which invites Hoosiers to read this book as part of the Indiana Humanities’ INseperable initiative. We’ll be discussing the real and perceived differences between rural, suburban, and urban areas, as well as what “home” really is. Thursday, June 11, 6 p.m., Eckhart Public Library Zoom Meeting (more information on Brews+Books Facebook Event Page).
Eckhart Public Library is proud to announce the beginning of our Read. Do. Explore summer programming, called Imagine Your Story! This 8-week program will be full of fun programs, chances to win amazing prizes, and finally enjoying our Main Library once again. Read. Do. Explore is open to all ages, and a library card is not required to participate in the summer fun!
In years past, the library has kept busy by hosting a large variety of programs, including over 100 programs during last summer. However, to keep patrons and staff safe and healthy, Eckhart Public Library will be approaching this summer in a virtual way. Almost all programs for Imagine Your Story will take place through the library’s Facebook Page, through virtual Zoom meetings, or by submitting drawings or art online. Some of these programs will include usual favorites like Babies & Books, Family Storytime, and STEAM for Kids and Teens, as well as some new adventurous events like EckhartQuest, a fun hunt around Union Township all summer long. A full list of events can be found on the Read. Do. Explore website, epl.lib.in.us/rde, or a copy of the virtual booklet can be printed on-demand at any Eckhart Public Library Public Service Desk. Please note that all summer programming is subject to change based on circumstances, and we will do our best to make changes and inform the public as quickly as possible on our social media accounts. If you need assistance or information on a program, please call the library at (260) 925-2414 ext. 120.
Each summer, Eckhart Public Library also allows participants to enter in for chances at awesome grand prizes. This year, you can earn chances to win grand prizes by doing any of the following: fulfilling a personal reading goal; fulfilling a personal research goal; doing a random act of kindness or helpfulness; each time you attend a library program; and through each item you check out digitally through any streaming app. Participants can enter for prizes as often as they fulfill goals. In order to help those who may be going through a difficult time, some of our prizes are aimed at assisting our community, with some fun and exciting prizes as well. These prizes include: a Kindle Fire tablet; LEGO & DUPLO sets; Outdoor Fun Set; Eat Around Auburn Prize Pack; Drink Around Auburn Prize Pack; a $50 Gas Card; a Grocery Gift Card to Fresh Food Hub; a Walmart Gift Card; and A Day Out in Auburn Prize Pack. All prizes are open for any age to enter for, and the entry form can be found at epl.lib.in.us/rde. For patrons who would prefer not to use the internet to participate, a paper option will be available at Public Service Desks very soon, and patrons can call (260) 925-2414 ext. 508 and leave a message with their name, phone number, goal fulfilled, and prize they would like to enter in for.
Lastly, weekly prize books will still be available to all participants of Read. Do. Explore, but we are exploring ways to share a form of prize books to avoid necessary sanitization and cleaning of all prize books daily. We ask for your patience as we figure out this system in the coming weeks.
We hope you are as excited about this summer as we are! As always, if you have any questions about Read. Do. Explore or anything else, please contact us at (260) 925-2414 ext. 120 or by email at info@epl.lib.in.us
Eckhart Public Library was excited to announce earlier this week that our Main Library and Teen Library will be reopen to the public on Tuesday, May 26, with limited hours and services. Social distancing rules will be enforced and some services will be unavailable for the safety of our community. During this time, we’ll also continue to offer our curbside services. For more detailed information, click here.
If you need assistance with digital services, setting up home delivery, curbside services, and more, please reach out to us – we’re happy to help! Give us a call at (260) 925-2414 ext. 120 or email us at info@epl.lib.in.us
Eckhart Public Library wants to thank you for your enthusiasm and a very successful first week of curbside services, including pickup, drop off, and document services. We appreciate your kindness and patience as we continue to fine-tune this service to make it even better! Need more information on curbside pickup? Click here to learn more.
As always, Eckhart Public Library’s digital resources like Libby, Overdrive, Hoopla, and Kanopy are available with your library card 24/7. Kanopy is also extending their free viewing of Kanopy Kids programming through May 31, so if you haven’t checked it out, now is a great time! If you have any questions, the Eckhart Public Library is available at epl.lib.in.us, through email at info@epl.lib.in.us, by phone at (260) 925-2414 ext. 120, or through our Facebook page.
