Learn To Be Healthy In The New Year!

Being healthy is always one of the top New Year’s Resolutions every year. Abbot Public Library has items in digital and physical formats that can help you become mentally and physically healthier in the New Year!

Overdrive’s Health & Fitness Collection has ebooks, e-audiobooks, and downloadable magazines for children, teens, and adults about eating healthier, exercising, and living a healthier life. 

Kids can learn about the current pandemic in Coronavirus: A Book for Children written by Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson, and Nia Roberts; and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The book explains in a way for children to understand how you can catch coronavirus, if there is a cure, and more about the disease that has spread across the world during this past year. In Megan Borgert-Spaniol’s and Lauren Kukla’s ebook Crafting Calm, exercises, quizzes, crafts, and activities help children improve their emotional intelligence, boost their self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and help them connect with the world around them. My First Cookbook is a fun way for children ages 5-8 to begin learning how to cook with fun food projects they can do with their families! 

Meik Wiking’s New York Times Bestseller, The Little Book of Hygge, is a guide that explores the Danish concept of living a happier life with a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being. Get inspired to find your reason for living in the international bestseller Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles, for which the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds. Change Your Brain, Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. is one of the Health and Fitness books on Overdrive that can help you lose weight, sharpen your memory, and do more to make your mind and body healthier.

If you want more than what Overdrive’s collection can offer, try some of the 8,000+ titles in hoopla’s Health & Fitness ebooks collection. You’ll find some of the same titles on Overdrive plus some different titles, with many sub categories to choose from, including Diet & Nutrition, Exercise, Yoga, and Tai Chi. Learn how to make medicine with herbs and plants in Marysia Miernowska’s The Witch’s Herbal Apothecary. Figure out What to Eat When in the ebook by Michael Crupain, Michael F. Roizen, M. D., and Ted Spiker. Discover different yoga poses and how to accept your body in Jessamyn Stanley’s Every Body Yoga.

And if all these ebook titles aren’t enough, check out the Health & Fitness movies on hoopla, including the Yoga for Health with Jenny Cornero series, Kung Fu for Kids, A Healthy Diet For A Healthy Brain, In Defense of Food, and more! You can also stream video lectures with The Great Courses. Learn about everything from cooking with vegetables and making healthy food taste great to yoga, how to boost your physical and mental energy, and essentials of strength training,  as well as other interesting subjects related to being healthy. 

For those who prefer physical titles, reserve exercise books, and DVDs; health magazines, books, and DVDs, and more on you NOBLE account for Curbside Pickup! If you need help finding materials on a specific subject, feel free to contact a Reference Librarian at mar@noblenet.org or by calling 781-631-1481. 

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Important Service Updates Starting Monday, December 7th

Expanded Services Scheduled to Begin December 7th

Updated Service Hours are as follows:

Curbside Pickup Service Hours

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
2:00 pm – 5:30 pm 

Saturday
9:30 – Noon & 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Browsing By Appointment Hours

Tuesday and Thursday
10:00 am – 12:30 pm & 2:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Appointments will be ½ hour long with ½ hour between appointments for sanitizing and cleaning. 

Abbot Public Library is pleased to announce the expansion of our services to include an additional way for patrons to borrow tangible materials. Based on the results of our recent Library Services Survey, we will be offering limited browsing, by appointment, two days per week, while continuing to provide our very popular Curbside Pickup Service, four days per week. 

Call the library at 781-631-1481, Ext. 201 for more information on how to register for an appointment to browse a limited area of the library. The first appointment date will be Tuesday, December 8th. Appointments will be a half hour long, and browsers will be required to wear masks (patron-provided) and gloves (library-provided). Browsing will be limited to designated areas where new and recent additions to all categories of the Library’s collections will be gathered.

Adhering to social distancing space requirements, we are able to accommodate up to four adults and/or teens, on the main level, and an additional four Children’s Room patrons – adult and/or children – on the lower level, per half-hour appointment. A half hour will be reserved, between appointments, to sanitize service desks and other public areas, for patron and staff safety.

Please watch for further details of our expanded services by following us on Facebook, visiting our website, or following our blog. 

Thank you for your patience and your continued support, as we navigate through these unprecedented times!

Abbot Public Library is Always Open Online!

Until the building reopens for staff so we can continue Curbside Service and resume accepting returns in our library return bins, you can peruse through ebooks, e-audiobooks, magazines, movies, television, and more from our digital collections! 

Overdrive and its Libby app, as well as hoopla, have many selections of ebooks and e-audiobooks which can be checked out online. Any items on hoopla can be checked out with no wait – although there is a limit of 5 items per month. Many titles are available on Overdrive, and those that aren’t can be reserved while you check out other available titles. If you didn’t want to bother with waiting, there’s a selection of always available ebooks and e-audiobooks you can browse through on Overdrive. 

With Halloween coming up, you may want to read or listen to some spooky stories to get into the spooky spirit. You’ll find ghost stories in ebook format for all ages, including these children and teen collections, all available on hoopla to read right away. Or you can listen to these hoopla e-audiobooks. There’s also a selection of ghost stories on Overdrive, as well as a collection of Halloween Books for All Ages on Overdrive and Halloween selections and supernatural stories on hoopla, the latter of which includes not only ebooks and e-audiobooks, but also streamable movies and television series, music, and more! Plan a movie marathon on hoopla with their various collections, including their featured Thrilling Series for Fall or October Movies of the Month, You don’t want to miss the Leaving hoopla in October movie collection.

If you want more than the 8,000 + movies offered on hoopla, check out IndieFlix and Acorn TV on RB Digital, along with RB Digital Magazines, which offers back issues of popular magazine titles with no return date!,  and The Great Courses, video lectures from some of the top professors about various health, economics, professional and personal development, and more!

Books, Movies, Magazines, and More for National Yoga Month!

Did you know September is National Yoga Month? Even though today’s the last day, you can continue this healthy routine all year round. Abbot Public Library has hundreds of yoga items to reserve for Curbside Pickup or check out online via our various services, which can help teach poses and routines you can use every day. Starting last month, we even resumed our monthly children’s program Story Time Yoga with Lindsey Kravitz on our new YouTube Channel, which you may have read about on our previous blog post. Watch last month’s video below!

Kids have plenty of yoga-related items to choose from through the library catalog, Overdrive/the Libby app, and hoopla. Back in April, we discussed a few children’s selections in our Continuing Yoga for Kids at Home post from before we continued our yoga story time program online. Some physical books on the way to the shelves which you can reserve in advance for Curbside Pickup include:

The Three Little Yogis and the Wolf Who Lost His Breath: a Fairy Tale to Help You Feel Better by Susan Verde, art by Jay Fleck (available now on hoopla)

Dinos Don’t Do Yoga: A Tale of the New Dinosaur on the Block by Catherine Bailey; illustrations by Alex Willmore 

Teach Your Child Yoga: Fun & Easy Yoga Poses for Happier, Healthier Kids by Lisa Roberts

Yoga for Kids written by Susannah Hoffman; foreword by Patricia Arquette (available now on hoopla)

While you’re waiting for these to come in, there are plenty of other titles to choose from which will be available sooner. Doreen Cronin’s and Scott Menchin’s Stretch is a rhyming book that describes different ways of stretching. Kids will be mimicking plants, animals, and objects with the poses in Thia Luby’s Children’s Book of Yoga. These children’s yoga DVDs currently don’t have a checkout fee. Get a whole family workout from Yoga for Families, a dinosaur-themed routine from Yoga for Kids: Dino-Mite Adventure, and learn stellar practices from Yoga for Kids: Outer Space Blast-Off. Don’t want to wait? Everything on hoopla can be checked out right away! Stretch in the shape of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet with Alef-Bet Yoga For Kids by Bill and Ruth Goldeen or get a magical workout with Unicorn Yoga. You can even watch movies and Read-alongs!

Kids aren’t the only ones who can enjoy borrowing yoga books, movies, and more from the library. Yoga For Everyone: 50 Poses For Every Type of Body by Dianne Bondy has customized routines based on body type. Learn to sleep better and longer with Yoga for Better Sleep: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science–Postures, Breathing Exercises, and Mindfulness Practices For All Ages by Mark Stephens. Wake up with Waking Energy: 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential by Jennifer Kries.

Yoga At Home: Inspiration for Creating Your Own Home Practice by Linda Sparrowe will teach you yoga practices from leading experts of Yoga Journal, accompanied by Sarah Keough’s photography. You can reserve print copies of Yoga Journal magazine through your online account, or check them out online through Overdrive/Libby. For a little humor, check out Dan Borris’s Yoga Dogs which teaches poses through the hilarious imagery of canines posing.  

Peruse through more yoga items for all ages in the library catalog or online through Overdrive/Libby and hoopla. There’s even a How To Do Yoga Great Course video series which you can stream through our RB Digital service. 

Curbside Magazines

“Free Money,” “Best Cars of 2020,” “Say Cheesecake!,” “Build a Deck in a Weekend.” These are some of the cover articles of a few of our most popular magazines. In the age of curbside pickup, you can still read our extensive collection of print magazines.

Back when the library was open, you may have noticed a small box in the Reading Room, where our magazines are shelved, in which you could submit suggestions for new magazine titles to add to our shelves. It’s a small nod to the commitment we put into our magazine collection. We currently have 174 unique titles, as well as over 3,500 back issues of these titles. This year, we have added 4 new titles, including the popular The Magnolia Journal, by the author of bestselling cookbook, Magnolia Table. 

Recently, we have made an adjustment which allows our patrons to check out our newest magazine issues, instead of having the typical one month wait before the item can circulate. This allows you to get your hands on some of our most popular magazines like The Atlantic, The New Yorker, People, and Sports Illustrated, oftentimes within days of our receiving the issue.

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This all sounds nice, but how can you get your hands on our print magazines? And how can you browse our magazine titles right from your computer or mobile device? We promise, it couldn’t be simpler to add magazines to your next curbside pickup order. Here’s how to do it:

How to browse and search our print magazine titles:

1. Go to the library catalog at evergreen.noblenet.org
2. Leave the search bar blank
3. From the second drop-down box labeled “All Formats”, select “Magazine/Journal”
4. From the third drop-down box labeled “NOBLE (All Libraries)”, select “Marblehead”
5. Click “Search”

This will bring up a list of all of our magazine records, organized by most popular, first. Under the “Sort By” drop-down box, you’ll have the option to organize the list alphabetically, or by publication date.

How to order magazines for curbside pickup:

The process of ordering magazines for curbside pickup is identical to ordering any other library item for pickup! For curbside pickup instructions, visit the main page of this blog.

As with all of our items, each returned item is quarantined, and the utmost care is taken in retrieving and packaging your items for pickup. So you can rest assured that your request has been handled in the safest way possible.

So the next time you put in an order for Curbside Pickup, why not throw in a couple of print magazines? Maybe, just maybe, you’ll learn how to build a deck in a weekend.

If you have any suggestions for new magazine titles we should add to our collections, please comment below!  

Updates to Curbside Pickup!

For the convenience of patrons, we are shifting our Saturday Curbside Pickup times to include morning hours, 9:00 am – Noon, and afternoon appointments will be scheduled from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Monday through Friday Curbside Service Hours will remain the same, from 2:00 pm – 5:30 pm.

We hope these revised Saturday hours will better fit with everyone’s busy weekend schedules. We are also planning to start offering online registration for pickup appointments, to make setting up a time to pick up your items faster and easier! 

Below are the full instructions for the Curbside Pickup Service. Please read them carefully, and if you have any questions, let us know at mar@noblenet.org or by calling 781-631-1481, Ext. 201 (Main Desk) or 217 (Children’s Room) during our service hours! 

CURBSIDE PICKUP HOURS

Mondays through Fridays

2:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Saturdays

9:30 am – Noon
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Abbot Public Library staff will be available to help patrons online at mar@noblenet.org or via phone during Curbside Pickup Hours at 781-631-1481. 

Please note: the preferred method of communication is via email at mar@noblenet.org. The library will be working with a limited staff, due to social distancing protocols.

PROCESS FOR CURBSIDE PICKUP

Step One

Request items by placing holds through your online account through your online account. If you cannot access your account, call 781-631-1481 during the service hours listed above. If you do not have an account, you can register online here. 

Step Two

Staff will collect books available in Marblehead within 48 hours of request. Items from other libraries may take longer due to delays in the interlibrary delivery service.

Step Three

You will be notified when your holds come in, via text, email, or phone call, according to your preference. 

To change your notification setting, go to Account Preferences > Notification Preferences on your online account.

Step Four

Once you receive a notification that your requested items have come in, please call the library at (781) 631-1481 during service hours to schedule a pickup time. Soon, we will be offering online registration to make it easier to set up an appointment. 

Appointments can be scheduled Mondays through Fridays from 2:00 pm and 5:45 pm, and Saturdays from 9:30 am – Noon and 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. 

Please do not schedule a pickup until you have been notified that your items have come in. 

Step Five

At your appointment time, come to the back entrance, through the parking lot off of Maverick Street, to pick up your items.

Please wear a mask and follow social distancing protocols during pickup, as a safety measure to benefit all.

Items will be checked out in advance and placed in paper bags labelled with your last name. Please feel free to grab your bag and go! 

If you don’t see your bag, please wait until your appointment time. If it still isn’t there, call the library at 781-631-1481.

PLEASE NOTE: if you have any returns when you come to pick up your materials, we now have a black Library Return Bin located near the read entrance where you can place your returns. 

***Please return library materials only  – we are currently unable to accept donations.***

RETURNS

Returns will be collected on Mondays through Saturdays from the outside book returns located in front of the library, on Pleasant Street, as well as by the rear entrance. There will be no fines on late items!

If you have any items that do not fit in the library return, please call 781-631-1481 during service hours to schedule a return.

Please do not leave returns on the pickup cart.

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We appreciate your understanding and patience during this unprecedented time. With these safety measures, we hope to prevent the spread of the virus while offering appropriate services to our patrons!

What You Need To Know For Curbside Pickup!

Abbot Public Library’s Curbside Pickup Service starts today, Monday, July 6th! Here is what you need to know. 

HOURS

Abbot Public Library staff will be available to help patrons online or via phone, Mondays through Saturdays, from 2:00 – 5:45 pm (except holidays).

Please note: the preferred method of communication is via email at mar@noblenet.org. The library will be working with a limited staff, due to social distancing protocols.

PROCESS FOR CURBSIDE PICKUP

Step One

Request items by placing holds through your online account through your online account. If you cannot access your account, call 781-631-1481 during the service hours listed above. If you do not have an account, you can register online here. 

Step Two

Staff will collect books available in Marblehead within 48 hours of request. Items from other libraries may take longer due to delays in the interlibrary delivery service.

Step Three

You will be notified when your holds come in, via text, email, or phone call, according to your preference. 

To change your notification setting, go to Account Preferences > Notification Preferences on your online account.

Step Four

Once you receive a notification that your requested items have come in, please call the library at (781) 631-1481 during service hours to schedule a pickup time.

Appointments can be scheduled between 2:00 pm and 5:45 pm, Mondays through Saturdays.

Please do not schedule a pickup until you have been notified that your items have come in. 

Step Five

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At your appointment time, come to the back entrance, through the parking lot off of Maverick Street, to pick up your items. 

Please wear a mask and follow social distancing protocols during pickup, as a safety measure to benefit all.

Items will be checked out in advance and placed in paper bags labelled with your last name. Please feel free to grab your bag and go! 

If you don’t see your bag, please wait until your appointment time. If it still isn’t there, call the library at 781-631-1481.

RETURNS

Returns will be collected on Mondays through Saturdays from the outside book returns in front of the library, on Pleasant Street. There will be no fines on late items!

If you have any items that do not fit in the library return, please call 781-631-1481 during service hours to schedule a return.

Please do not leave returns on the pickup cart. 

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To read an extended version of our service updates, click here. 

We appreciate your understanding and patience during this unprecedented time. With these safety measures, we hope to prevent the spread of the virus while offering appropriate services to our patrons!

Curbside Pickup Starts Monday!

Starting Monday, July 6th, the library will offer a no-contact curbside pickup service, by appointment only. Here’s how it will work:

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1. You will be able to place holds through your online account at evergreen.noblenet.org. If you are having difficulty placing holds online, please contact the library at (781) 631-1481 from 2:00 pm – 5:45 pm or email us at mar@noblenet.org. If you need to register for a library card, please fill out the online form at the bottom left corner at marblehead.noblenet.org.
   
2. Items that are available in Marblehead will be pulled within 48 hours of their request. Due to delays in interlibrary delivery service, some items will take longer to become available.
   
3. When your holds are ready, you will receive a notification, via text, email, or phone call, according to your preference, from the library. To change your notification settings go to Account Preferences > Notification Preferences on your online account.
   
4. Once you have received a notice that your items are available, please call the library at (781) 631-1481 during service hours to schedule a pickup time. Appointments can be scheduled between 2:00 pm and 5:45 pm, Monday through Saturday. We ask that you wait until the library has notified you that your requested items are available, before scheduling a pickup appointment.
   
5. Please come to the library at your appointment time, to receive your items. Please wear a mask and follow social distancing protocols during pickup, as a safety measure to benefit all. Items will be in paper bags labelled with your last name, on a cart by the rear entrance, through the parking lot. Since this is a no-contact service, staff will not be outside. Items will already be checked out to you and have their due date slips, so feel free to grab your bag and go! Please only return items to a book returns. 

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We are delighted to be able to offer curbside pickup service, as a way for patrons to borrow tangible items again! Please continue to check our website at www.abbotlibrary.org, Facebook page @AbbotLibraryMarblehead, and library blog at abbotpubliclibrary.wordpress.com for updates to curbside pickup or returns procedures and hours. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate this unprecedented time for library services, and we look forward to serving you!

Libby vs. Overdrive: Which App To Use?

For months, we’ve been urging our patrons to download and read books using Libby and Overdrive while the doors of our library are closed. While many users are familiar with using the apps, many of you may not know WHY there are two separate apps for the same reading purposes. Today we are here to explain the basics!

What is the difference between Libby and the OverDrive app?

Libby is a new app released by OverDrive. It has the same collection of titles as the OverDrive app – it’s just a different way to access the same digital library collection. Libby is a fast and attractive digital browsing experience. Here are some features unique to Libby:

• Simple, step-by-step on-boarding the first time you open the app
• Loans and holds are automatically added to your Shelf (from all your libraries), so you can easily find all your books in one place
• Start reading immediately after you borrow; no need to choose a file format
• See your at-a-glance progress through each book on your Shelf

• Navigate easily between your Shelf and your library’s catalog
• Add, remove, and rename cards from all your libraries in one place
• Use tags to categorize books however you’d like
• Set browsing and list preferences to show only the content you’re interested in

OverDrive is the “classic” app, and is compatible with more devices, including Kindle Fire, Macs, PCs, and Windows mobile devices. It also allows for transfer to MP3 players from computers. 

Which app should I use? 

If you use one iOS or Android device to browse, download, and read or listen to digital books, we recommend trying Libby. It’s a great one-device experience.

If you like to read books on many devices, or prefer to browse for new titles on your computer, stick with the OverDrive app for now. Also, if you make use of accessibility features in the OverDrive app, you’ll need to stick with that until more accessibility features get added to Libby.

“Find Your Place” on the Abbot App Map

April 19-25 is National Library Week! This year’s theme is “Find Your Place at the Library,” which was chosen before COVID-19 forced us all to close the doors of our physical spaces. But, you can still find your place in the library! Libraries across the country have been dedicated to providing more online resources—ebooks, movies, music, virtual story times, programs, and more. Help us celebrate by diving into our virtual world!

This “app map” shows the ways you can enjoy the Abbot Public Library’s e-collections! You can access all of these by downloading the Libby, RB Digital, and hoopla apps here or in your device’s app store, or by clicking the buttons on the eBooks, Movies, and More! page to read, watch, or listen from your computer!