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Albright Memorial Library

Upcoming Social Justice Book Club Meetings

The Albright Memorial Library’s Social Justice Book Club has two more meetings scheduled for 2020.  All meetings will be held via the online meeting software Zoom.  Please RSVP and the connection information will be emailed to you.

Monday, September 14th at 6:30 pm

We will be discussing: Necessary Trouble: Americans In Revolt by Sarah Jaffe

Necessary Trouble is the definitive book on the movements that are poised to permanently remake American politics. We are witnessing a moment of unprecedented political turmoil and social activism. Over the last few years, we’ve seen the growth of the Tea Party, a twenty-first-century black freedom struggle with BlackLivesMatter, Occupy Wall Street, and the grassroots networks supporting presidential candidates in defiance of the traditional party elites.”

Click to RSVP

Monday, November 9th at 6:30 pm

We will be discussing:  Selfish, shallow, and self-absorbed : sixteen writers on the decision not to have kids by Meghan Daum

“One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed fertility crisis, and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all-a successful, demanding career and the required 2.3 children-before their biological clock stopped ticking. Now, whether it’s necessary to have it all or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life. The idea that some women and men prefer not to have children is often met with sharp criticism and incredulity by the public and mainstream media.”

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Albright Memorial Library Lackawanna County Library System

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and Mayor Robert H. McKune: Epilogue (Series: Part 11)

Mayor Robert H. McKune lead Scranton through the Great Rail Road Strike of 1877 without the aid of federal troops. It was the only instance of this happening in Pennsylvania. The importance of having a center of government close to the Scranton area was demonstrated through the strikes, and led the final push for the area to separate itself from Luzerne County. On August 13, 1878, Lackawanna County was formed.

The Scranton City Guard would be transformed into the Thirteenth Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard during the summer of 1878. Today the regiment still exists as the 109th Infantry Regiment. It has been involved in every conflict the United States has participated in since its creation in 1877, including the Spanish American War and both World Wars.

During the election of 1878, Terence V Powderly was elected mayor under the Greenback Labor Party. The strikers had used the motivation from the strikes to vote in the leader of the Knights of Labor in an effort to better their situation. The Knights of Labor’s primary demand was the creation of an eight-hour workday, but they also advocated for the end of child labor, a reformed income tax system, and companies operating under a cooperative.

Robert McKune died of Tuberculosis on October 11, 1894 while visiting his sister in Newburgh, New York. He would be transported back to the area to be buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.

Scranton Times, October 11, 1894

Stop in to the Scranton Public Library to see a selection of the documents from this series in person. They are in the display case located on the second floor entrance to the Reference Department.

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Albright Memorial Library Lackawanna County Library System

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and Mayor Robert H. McKune: Continued Troubles (Series: Part 10)

Although the events of August 1st through August 9th were the height of the activity surrounding the Railroad strike, unrest would continue. Strikers continued to threaten destruction of property, or to harm those who returned to work until their demands were met. The military presence in the city shifted from trying to calm the strikers, to actively protecting those that were working and their work places. Multiple letters found in Mayor McKune’s documents show the continued strikes and fear of violence.

Aug 15th 1877 .97₵ Paid To his excellency Gov Hartranft, The threats are deep and the least mistake may bring a conflict Col. Howard gave me twenty four men for Providence. I put them in the armory of Co. B. I need the men of Howard’s command to assist in making sound arrests and Co. B to assist and take care of their armory. Robt. H. McKune
Scranton Pa Aug 24th 1877 Hon Robt H McKune Mayor City Scranton Dear Sir The recent repetitive pulling down of the telegraphic wires and tearing up of the RR track on our Keyser Valley Track Road. The armed and murderous assault upon the residence of some of our employees engaged in pumping last night with the threats of idle men to stop the pimps at the Collieries in said Valley lead us to make application to you for protection. We think a military company stationed at a central point in such valley would insure protection of life and property peace & quieting. We had hoped no such experience would arise but the action of last night makes it necessary. W.R. Storrs
Dated: Wbarre Pa Oct 11 1877 Received: 12:25pm To: Hon R. H. McCune Sc Captain Bryson telegraph me you anticipate trouble advise me what you desire and your reason E.S. Oborne May Genl 17 Jan

During the prolonged unease of the strikes, citizens of Scranton decided to create a permanent military presence in the city. The Scranton City Guard was comprised of over one hundred men from the city that would help keep the city safe and peaceful.  To house the guard, the Scranton Watres Armory was constructed. It would not be finished until January 31, 1878.

The Scranton Republican, December 12, 1877

After weeks of unrest, the strikes in Scranton finally came to an end on October 16, 1877. The miners agreed to return to work without any victories. Their wages would continue to be the reduced rate that originally resulted in striking. By November, the city would no longer have the presence of troops from the state or federal level.

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Albright Memorial Library Nancy K. Holmes Branch Library Teens

Democracy in Action

With less than 100 days until the 2020 presidential election, Kanopy has curated a collection of films that focuses on history and disenfranchisement as it relates to voting in the United States.

Important Dates to Remember

Last day to register to vote before the General Election: October 19, 2020

Last day to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot: October 27, 2020

Last day for Lackawanna County Board of Elections to receive voted mail-in and civilian absentee ballots (must be received by 8:00 pm): November 3, 2020

Kanopy is a streaming service that is FREE to use with an LCLS library card. Create a free account by visiting http://lcls.kanopy.com/. Need a library card? Sign up for free online at https://lackawanna.sparkpa.org/eg/opac/register.

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Abington Community Library Lackawanna County Library System Teens

Virtual Tech Help and Computer Classes available

computer | History, Networking, Operating Systems, & Facts ...

The Computer Learning Lab for the Lackawanna County Library System will be providing free tech help and computer classes on Facebook Live throughout the month of August. Click HERE for the schedule or download the PDF,  Online Tech Classes.

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Abington Community Library

Homeschooling Resources

Did you miss our Homeschool Q&A Session on August 7? Never fear, we have some resources for you if you are interested in homeschooling this fall.

Our moderator for the program, Abigail Zieger, has a homeschool blog, wovenhomeschool.com. Check that out for helpful posts including a series, “How to Start Homeschooling.”

Local homeschool evaluator and panelist for our session Darlene Catlett has a thorough and informative website, ihomeed.com. Find posts like, “10 Things Every Homeschooler Should Know,” “Checklist for Beginning Homeschooling,” and “When Do I Need to File an Affadavit?”

For more on homeschool law, head to hslda.org.

For help with homeschooling with special needs, check out Homeschool Inspirational Support, SPED Homeschool, and Different by Design.

For curriculum reviews, try Rainbow Resource or Cathy Duffy Reviews.

To find local homeschool groups, go to chaponline.com.

Working and homeschooling? Try the Facebook group, Working Homeschool Mom Club.

Finally, see a list of compiled resources on our library system website at Home/Cyber School Resources.

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Abington Community Library Kids Teens

Libby App Help

Looking for help with ebooks, audiobooks, or the Libby? We’ve got you covered! Click HERE for answers to your questions and start downloading today!

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Lackawanna County Library System

Health Literacy: More Important Than Ever

Online Resources from the Library

All the attention is on COVID-19, but that is not our only health issue. Sheltering at home may have led us to ignore ailments like headaches, indigestion, seasonal allergies, arthritis, and other complaints. One of the best things we can do right now is focus on our own wellness and Lackawanna County libraries can help.

On our website, health information is vetted by professional librarians so that you can be assured that what you will find will be good for you.

Here are some of the online health resources at www.lclshome.org, the virtual library of the Lackawanna County Library System.

Gale Health & Wellness Resource Center: Access to full text medical journals, magazines and reference works.  It provides information on diseases, conditions, drugs, medical testing, therapies, treatments, surgeries and more. (LIBRARY CARD REQUIRED.)

HealthFinder.gov: A collection of tools and articles to help you stay healthy with information about nutrition, diseases, health conditions, parenting and more.

Mayo Clinic: A website produced by one of the nation’s leading health care facilities with articles about health conditions, diseases, medical procedures, treatment and research.

Medline Plus: the National Institutes of Health’s Web site produced by the National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library. It provides information about diseases, conditions, and wellness in language you can understand.

Merck Manual: Long considered the bible of health care, the Merck Manual has been an important resource for both health professionals and lay people since 1899. Topics range from symptoms to drug information, news, resources and general medical topics.

National Institute of Health: An essential website if you want to learn about the latest in nationally funded health research and news on health conditions, diseases, wellness and more.

Physicians’ Desk Reference: Yes, you can use the same resource that doctors have long relied on to find up-to-date information on drugs, treatments, dosage and side effects.

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Lackawanna County Library System

eBooks to the Rescue

Downloads Free from the Library

During the past five months, a lot of library patrons isolating at home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 discovered the joys and benefits of eBooks and audiobooks from the library. You can, too, if you have a mobile phone or tablet, you carry a library in your purse or pocket – and a Library Card.

And you get to discover the pleasure of listening to someone read a good book to you.

OverDrive, and RB Digital are the Lackawanna County Library System’s suppliers of eBooks and audiobooks. Together they have millions of titles including best sellers, fiction, non-fiction, classics and children’s literature.

Visit OverDrive, and RB Digital to find the kinds of books you like, the authors you read, and sample new titles that you might enjoy.

Like everything at the Library, OverDrive, and RB Digital are free. You can use them on any device. All you need is a Library Card.

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Albright Memorial Library Lackawanna County Library System

Virtual Tech Help & Computer Classes in August

The Computer Learning Lab for the Lackawanna County Library System will be providing free tech help and computer classes on Facebook Live throughout the month of August. No registration is necessary to view these programs.

Virtual Tech Help

Bring your questions about Windows, iOS, or Android and we will do our best to assist you. To attend this event, go to https://www.facebook.com/ScrantonLibrary/ and view our live broadcast.

Dates: August 3 from 1-3 pm | August 5 from 1-3 pm | August 6 from 6-8 pm | August 10 from 1-3 pm | August 12 from 1-3 pm | August 13 from 6-8 pm | August 17 from 1-3 pm | August 19 from 1-3 pm | August 20 from 6-8 pm | August 24 from 1-3 pm | August 25 from 6-8 pm | August 26 from 1-3 pm | August 27 from 6-8 pm | August 31 from 1-3 pm.


Virtual eBay Class

Bring your questions about eBay and we will do our best to assist you. To attend this event, go to https://www.facebook.com/ScrantonLibrary/ and view our live broadcast.

Dates: August 5 from 7-8 pm | August 19 from 7-8 pm


Virtual Resume Class

Bring your questions about resumes and we will do our best to assist you. To attend this event, go to https://www.facebook.com/ScrantonLibrary/ and view our live broadcast.

Dates: August 12 from 7-8 pm | August 26 from 7-8 pm


Virtual Microsoft Excel Class

Bring your questions about Excel and we will do our best to assist you. To attend this event, go to https://www.facebook.com/ScrantonLibrary/ and view our live broadcast.

Date: August 4 from 6-8 pm


Virtual Microsoft Word Class

Bring your questions about Word and we will do our best to assist you. To attend this event, go to https://www.facebook.com/ScrantonLibrary/ and view our live broadcast.

Date: August 11 from 6-8 pm


Virtual Microsoft PowerPoint Class

Bring your questions about PowerPoint and we will do our best to assist you. To attend this event, go to https://www.facebook.com/ScrantonLibrary/ and view our live broadcast.

Date: August 18 from 6-8 pm


Virtual Game Night

Join us on Twitch.com for virtual game night. Games will include selections from Jackbox games that allow viewers to play along and submit custom answers. Due to the random nature of player answers, this is an adult-only event that children should not attend. To attend this event, go to https://www.twitch.tv/scranton_libraries and view our live broadcast.

Dates: Mondays in August from 7-8 pm