Upcoming online programs offered by the Phoenixville Public Library:
Jobseekers are invited to learn — and ask questions — about the programs and services of Chester County’s CareerLink in a free virtual presentation hosted by Phoenixville Public Library on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 10:00 AM. Janet Spaulding, Community Outreach Coordinator for EDSI Solutions/Chester County CareerLink, will be the speaker. CareerLink is a state-sponsored, not-for-profit, free service that helps with resumes, job searches, training, and interview skills. Their aim is to connect the people of Chester County with the resources they may need personally, professionally and by location. They help connect people in all stages of life with job-seeking support. They also connect or clients with financial support, as well as offering access to computers, printers, and even interview appropriate clothes! Their youth employment program is particularly effective for at-risk or disadvantaged youth. This event is free and open to the public and will be held online/by phone via Zoom. Registration is required at https://ccls.libcal.com/calendar/Phoenixville/careerlink or by calling 610-933-3013 x132. E-mail [email protected] for more information.
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Phoenixville Public Library will host the next virtual presentation in the “Community Gardening around the Village” series. “Backyard Medicine Making: Meals and Medicine from the Landscape” will be presented Thursday, Feb. 18, at 7:00 PM. Environmental scientist and educator Charlene Briggs will be the speaker. Landscape “weeds” are food and medicine for us and others. Charlene will discuss the plant traditions of some common southeastern Pennsylvania “weeds” and demonstrate how to discover tonic plants that support immune function and make preparations from them. She will identify staples of the pantry and medicine chest that are growing for free in the natural landscape. Charlene Briggs teaches Sustainable Community Design at Temple University and facilitates the development of outdoor classrooms through Earth Visions Consulting. Botanical Energetics is her therapy practice where she works with flower essences to help people through anxiety, depression and trauma. Charlene has been studying herbalism for three decades under the tutelage of many elder herbalists and has a certificate in herbal foraging from the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. Charlene is launching an initiative, PXV CommuniTEA, with Phoenixville Area Transition Living Landscape’s work group. The signature project is establishing a community medical herb garden with traditional and wild plants from which herbal teabags will be made for the underserved populations in the Phoenixville area. Charlene is also the author of “Letters to Lida; WWII Told through the Eyes, Heart and Words of a B-29 Tailgunner,” her father’s WWII memoir. This event is free and open to the public and will be held online via Zoom. Registration is required at https://ccls.libcal.com/calendar/Phoenixville/meals-and-medicine or by calling 610-933-3013 x132. E-mail [email protected] for more information.
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Free dental care for uninsured children and adults; free eye care and glasses for eligible individuals; emergency assistance with prescription medications; free mammogram screenings for the uninsured; and low-cost immigration assistance. All of these programs are available to area residents through Phoenixville’s Health Care Access. Learn more in a free, virtual presentation hosted by Phoenixville Public Library on Friday, Feb. 19, at 10:00 AM. This event is free and open to the public and will be held online/by phone via Zoom. Registration is required at https://ccls.libcal.com/calendar/Phoenixville/health-care-access or by calling 610-933-3013 x132. E-mail [email protected] for more information.
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The 2021 Major League Baseball season is just around the corner. Gear up with Phoenixville’s Julian McCracken and Lou Beccaria as they lead a two-part virtual discussion for Phoenixville Public Library on Monday, Feb. 22, at 7:00 PM. Part 1 is “If I Were the General Manager…” Play General Manager of the Phillies for a night. With the team budget for paying players (without going over budget and incurring the MLB luxury tax), what would you do to improve the team to make it a playoff contender in 2021? Part 2 is “Negro League Stats: Did You Know…?” For many years, Negro League players were denied entry into the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame. Truth be told, many of the Negro League players had better stats than their White counterparts. Let’s discuss! Phoenixville’s Julian McCracken is a former General Manager of the Reading Phillies and member of the Reading Baseball Hall of Fame who later worked for ProCards in Pottstown and Fleer Trading Cards in Mt. Laurel, NJ. Phoenixville resident Lou Beccaria is the former President and CEO of the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation and has played semi-pro baseball in Philadelphia, coached youth baseball, and written about baseball. This event is free and open to the public and will take place online/by phone via Zoom. Registration is required at https://ccls.libcal.com/calendar/Phoenixville/talkin-baseball or by calling 610-933-3013 x132. E-mail [email protected] for more information.
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Books on Tap, Phoenixville Public Library’s book discussion group for adults in their 20s and 30s, will meet virtually on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 PM. The group will discuss “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson. The book is a true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us and a clarion call to end mass incarceration in America. Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit law office in Montgomery, AL, dedicated to defending the poor, the incarcerated, and the wrongly condemned. One of EJI’s first clients was Walter McMillian, a young black man who was sentenced to die for the murder, he did not commit, of a young white woman. The case exemplifies how the death penalty in America is a direct descendent of lynching–a system that treats the rich and guilty better than the poor and innocent. A copy of the book may be reserved at www.ccls.org. An eBook and an eAudiobook copy may be reserved at chester.overdrive.com. This event is free and open to the public and will be held online/by phone via Zoom. E-mail Christine Shaffer at [email protected] to receive an invitation to this event and for more information.
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Phoenixville Public Library will host a free virtual presentation, “Downsizing: How to Reduce Your Stress and Get Started!”, on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 10:00 AM. John Hall, President of Caring Transitions of Chester County, will be the presenter. This presentation will help you answer the following questions: How do I get in the right mindset? What’s holding me back? What do I do with my excess stuff? How much is my stuff worth? Who can help me? How long will it take? Why not stay where I am? This event is free and open to the public and will be held online/by phone via Zoom. Registration is required at https://ccls.libcal.com/calendar/Phoenixville/downsizing or by calling 610-933-3013 x132. E-mail [email protected].
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Phoenixville Public Library will host a free, virtual, Black History Month presentation, “Hinsonville’s Heroes: Recovering Our Shared American History”, on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 7:00 PM. Dr. Cheryl Renée Gooch, author of Hinsonville’s Heroes: Black Civil War Soldiers of Chester County, Pennsylvania (The History Press, February 2018), will discuss her book tracing the stories of residents of Hinsonville, a free black community in southeast Pennsylvania, who fought for the Union. The former 19th century village of Hinsonville attracted both free — and determined to be free — people who championed religious freedom, higher education, land ownership and equal rights. Residents organized a Black Protestant church, supported the founding of Ashmun Institute (now Lincoln University), vigilantly opposed slavery and, in some cases, emigrated to Liberia as part of the colonization movement. The community’s tradition of self-determination compelled 18 of its men to enlist to advance the freedom cause. Some of the men are buried at Hosanna Church Cemetery next to the entrance to Lincoln University’s campus. “These men and their families anticipated that history would overlook them and their role in transforming America, so they placed headstones, monuments to their lives, next to our country’s oldest degree-granting, historically Black University,” says Dr. Gooch. “By placing their personal monuments there, they placed themselves into historical memory. Yet, having fought to reunify our country, most of these veterans struggled to secure equitable pensions and lived in or near abject poverty.” Dr. Cheryl Renée Gooch is an academic leader, published scholar and active historical researcher. She served as historian and primary writer for the Delaware History Museum’s permanent exhibition, “Journey to Freedom”, chronicling the Black Delawarean experience from 1629 to the present. A life member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), she is a member of the organization’s committees which advise the National Park Service on ways to ensure inclusive interpretive themes at battlefields, parks and historic sites. Dr. Gooch has been a featured author on PCN-TV’s PA Books. This event is free and open to the public and will be held online via Zoom. Registration is required at https://ccls.libcal.com/calendar/Phoenixville/hinsonville-heroes or by calling 610-933-3013 x132. E-mail [email protected] for more information.
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Phoenixville Public Library now offers free remote tech help by phone and internet via Zoom. One-on-one assistance with your laptop, tablet or smartphone is available from Library volunteers during selected hours on Thursday afternoons and Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. To schedule a one-hour appointment, or for more information, call 610-933-3013 x132 or e-mail [email protected].