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Get Creative This Summer With Creativebug

It is officially summer (although this heat wave was a rude way to remind us) and you might be looking for things to do with the kids, a new craft to unwind with after work, or maybe you just want a summery project to beat the heat –well look no further the Allegheny County Libraries have you covered with crafts from Creativebug! 

There is something for everyone with Creativebug – nail art classes for you and your teens, crafts for those that like to get messy with paints and ceramics, those that like to stay tidy with yarn and sewing, and everything in between! Creativebug helpfully offers crafting level breakdowns for those working with little ones and offers beginner options for those of us not very creatively inclined (I am pointing to myself here). You can even choose a class to work on your technique or a quick class for when you just want a fast rundown on how a craft is done. All you need is your library card to login and get started!

P.S. Creativebug has some great classes up that go hand-in-hand with our Summer Reading Club this year so don’t miss out! And don’t forget to check their calendar to see if there are any fun upcoming live events. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest crafting hits! 

-Adrianne

Northland Public Library

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Improve Your Graphic Design Skills With Free Resources!

Summer reading is just around the corner, and that means new faces in the library, big exciting programs every month, and, as always, too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. 

As hard as it can be to find the time to learn a new skill or software, it’s worth it when your new skills let you get important tasks done more efficiently. With Udemy’s Design Tools courses, you can learn how to take advantage of free online resources like Canva, Fusion360, and DaVinci Resolve to make your life a little bit easier.  

Improve your marketing skills 

Most of you are probably already familiar with Canva. On its own, Canva’s already a huge help, especially if you don’t consider yourself to be the most artistically inclined – with pre-made templates and a drag-and-drop layout, you never have to start from scratch and build something totally brand new.

With UDemy’s free Canva courses, you can learn tips and tricks to easily enhance your flyers, calendars, and social media content. You can also use Canva to create resources for programs! 

Boost your social media posts 

You don’t have to become a TikTok sensation to learn how to create engaging videos for your patrons. UDemy’s courses on DaVinci Resolve help teach basic and advanced video editing skills, so you and your team can easily put together video proof of what goes on at your library. 

Strengthen STEM programming and more 

Even if you don’t have a 3D printer, learning 3D design skills can be helpful. Free programs like Blender, Tinkercad, and Fusion360 let you play around and put those skills into practice, and you can easily plan programs and scale them to suit a variety of age levels. 

And hey, you never know when 3D design will come in handy. Maybe you’ve got big plans to rearrange your Children’s room, but aren’t sure how all your furniture and shelves will fit. You can create a replica of your space in any 3D design program and play around! 

Of course, there’s a lot to learn about these subjects. Using UDemy lets you identify the specific tools and tricks that are useful to you and your role, and then you can share those necessary bits with coworkers and patrons. Pretty soon you’ll have your marketing, social media, and STEM programming down to a science! 

-Jaime, Penn Hills Library

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When to Buy a Chainsaw

Do you ever find yourself wondering, “Should I buy a chainsaw?” The answer is definitely yes! But you want to be a savvy consumer. That’s where Consumer Reports comes in. 

Founded in the middle of the Great Depression, Consumer Reports remains an authority for unbiased product information that will help you and your patrons make smart purchases.  

Besides the easy-to-use search features on its home page, Consumer Reports has some great tools that can help you make a good decision not just about which chainsaw you should buy, but also when you should purchase it. Backed up by years of sales research, Consumer Reports has a handy guide to when common items tend to go on sale.  

The home page offers a lot of options, including seasonal products and information, links to the most popular product categories, and the main search bar. To get to the sales calendar, called “Best Time to Buy,” select the “Save Money” option in the Member Benefits box the right side of the page, then “Best time to buy.” Note that some of the other options such as the Bill Negotiator are not included in the subscription. 

The current month is highlighted by default. As you can see, it’s chainsaw (and other things) season! 

Users can also select other months listed along the top, or choose a different product to see when it’s likely to be on sale. You’ll probably need some good headphones to wear when you’re using that chainsaw, and you can see that November and December are the best times to buy them.

It is easy to navigate to a product review and buying guide from the Best Time to Buy tiles by selecting the “Shop & Compare” button.  

There are lots of ways Consumer Reports can support smart and/or chainsaw buying practices. Click here to get started on the eLibrary Consumer & Business resources page.

Let me know if you find a deal!  

-Mary Phillips, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

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Need LEGIT legal forms? Don’t just “Google” it!

We’ve probably all had that reference interview that started with something simple like needing help printing, when what was REALLY needed was much more than that: a résumé re-write, mini-lesson in MS Office, or trickiest of all – legal advice. That is something we can’t dispense and most of us are not equipped to do so! However, what we CAN do is simplest of all – point to Gale Legal Forms.

Last week I had a patron very frustrated with the fact that she was told she needed a specific form, but “Googling” it just let to bad places, either non-legit or costly or both. She was having trouble accessing one such website to print out the form (which was going to cost her $30 to download). Luckily she asked for help, because I was able to help her take a U-turn out of that particular dark alley and send her straight to Gale for free, legit, and accurate access to the very form she needed.

This tax season (and really all year round), we should have this resource in our back pocket ready to pull out instead of saying, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you, I’m not a lawyer.” As a notary, I often have to say that myself, but I can at least add Gale Legal Forms as a legitimate place to start, with hopefully more ease of use and definitely fewer dark alleys than Google Country. And of course it’s always free when brought to you by your friendly neighborhood library!

Legal Forms – eResources for Allegheny County Public Libraries (einetwork.net)

– Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library

Continue ReadingNeed LEGIT legal forms? Don’t just “Google” it!