On your next visit to BAPL Coolidge in Bethlehem Township, be sure to note the addition of four beautifully illustrated panels in the children’s area. Artist Ursula Genthner loved children, literature, and painting, and for years her artwork graced the rooms of the Moravian Book Shop where she sold many of her pieces. When the […]
The Bethlehem Area Public Library is bringing a new library service to Fountain Hill. We purchased a used, no longer road-ready bookmobile and are turning it into a mini-branch to be located right next to the pool at the corner of Spiegel Street and Stanley Avenue. We are calling it Books on the Hill. Books […]
We are proud to announce a major upgrade to a one-of-a-kind local resource. Check out BAPL’s World War II database, where you can find over 12,000 entries on local service people from WWII. This collection includes the many accounts in The Bethlehem Globe-Times published during the war. Many articles are light-hearted, highlighting neighbors and friends […]
We are so excited to see Payrow Plaza come alive with color and activity and to watch its transformation into PLAY-row Plaza! Thanks to our friends at the Bethlehem Health Bureau for turning this space outside the library into a fun activity ground for kids! There’s hopscotch and learning activities and all sorts of fun […]
BAPL invites everyone to explore our newest location, BAPL Coolidge–a satellite library embedded in Bethlehem Township–for a grand opening celebration on Saturday, August 24 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Housed in the historic Coolidge Building and open three days a week, BAPL Coolidge offers a curated collection of books, DVDs, audiobooks, and other library […]
Megan Beste, District Director for Congresswoman Susan Wild, pleasantly surprised library staff at the new Coolidge satellite branch on Wednesday, July 24, when she dropped off a box of new books handpicked from the Library of Congress’s Surplus Books Program. The program’s mission is simply to help build library collections. The books and audio-books may be […]
BAPL is thrilled to announce it has awarded its portrait commission of local literary great H.D. to Angela Fraleigh, painter, professor, and chair of the Moravian College art department! The completed museum-quality portrait will hang permanently in the Main Library at West Church Street, commemorating H.D. as a citizen of Bethlehem who made a tremendous […]
There has been a lot going on at BAPL lately and we have the press clips to prove it! Here is a round up of recent write-ups (and one podcast!) on various goings on here at the library. “Turkeys and Trophies” (we’re a trophy), LehighValleyLive.com, 7/20/2019. “Bethlehem literary legend H.D. will be subject of new […]
Today, the Library Directors of the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton libraries stocked a new bookshelf in an unusual location: the airport! The initiative is cleverly called the Airport Book Exchange (or ABE) and is a collaboration with the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, operators of Lehigh Valley International Airport (also known ABE Airport). Here is an article […]
Here is the latest Annual Report from 2018! Read on to learn all about all the exciting things that happened last year.
Here is some good news: we are ready to share the exciting new project known as Studio 11 at BAPL! This is our new public recording space, a free-to-use library service where you can record a podcast, cut a demo of your metal band, record your acoustic album full of songs about your cat, really […]
If you follow the American Library Association on Twitter or religiously read American Libraries magazine, you already know this. (And if you don’t, what are you even doing with your life??) BAPL was featured in these prestigious places! The story is about the good work Rayah Levy is doing collecting stories of ‘the Black experience […]
Thanks to Prof. Elizabeth Dolan, our friends at Lehigh’s English Department and many community partners, the FrankenReads event at BAPL on October 31 was a big success! We read the entire novel aloud over the 10 hours that the library was open! We had tons of fun with costumes, Frankenstein cakes and other snacks, and […]
The South Side Branch of Bethlehem Area Public Library is a grateful recipient of a $1,000 grant from Vernon Library Supplies, which funds a new program: Vocational ESL of the Lehigh Valley. This course will be one of the few ESL (English as a Second Language) classes structured not only to help refugee and immigrant […]
BAPL’s librarians have been busy doing some traveling this past month, visiting lots of community places and participating in lots of great events. Here are some pictures from the road! Learn more about our outreach department here.