The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – “Dare To Be The Best,” a new, six-session program for fathers that encourages them to be the best parent possible, will be held on consecutive Wednesdays beginning this week (Oct. 12, 2011) from 6-7:45 p.m. in the community room of Pottstown Public Library, 500 High St., Pottstown PA.

The series is being sponsored by The Pottstown Family Center of Family Services of Montgomery County, located in Sanatoga, and the library. It emphasizes father-child interaction, case management, education, and advocacy. Information about community resources, services and programs will be available. Light refreshments will be provided.

Advance registration is required. For more information or to register, call Rob Gaskill at 610-326-1610, Ext. 239, or send him an e-mail, here.

Photo from Google Images

POTTSTOWN PA – He’s a reader, he’s a library director, he’s a video star, and in his latest incarnation Michael Packard is also a bit of a pitchman.

Pottstown Regional Public Library, 500 High St., Pottstown PA, has written an application – and as part of it, produced a video – to obtain empowerment grant money being distributed by the non-profit Motorola Mobility Foundation. Packard hopes foundation cash will help the library buy electronic tablets such as the Motorola Xoom (a competitor to the iPad and similar devices) that library visitors can use within its building. The video was posted last Thursday (July 7, 2011) on YouTube.

• Watch the video, above, or see it at the YouTube user account of mkplibrary.

He calls it a “mobile patron plan.” The concept, Packard said, allows users to check out a tablet device from a front desk. The user could then find a seat in the library, and use the tablet to read periodicals, access databases, check out e-books, or surf the web within the library’s WiFi (wireless internet) zones. The tablet is then returned to the front desk. The institution is looking to “make the leap” to table technology, he explains in the video.

The foundation “focuses its funding on education, community, health and wellness, and disaster response,” according to its website. Packard’s video does not mention the amount of money being sought.

Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township annually supports library operations on behalf of its residents with a financial contribution. During 2011 it amounts to $60,000.

Photo from Google Images

Janet and Gina at the library.

POTTSTOWN PA – The public library usually is a palace of serenity, a haven of quiet activity, and a place to satisfy mankind’s thirst for knowledge. That is, of course, unless the creators of the “Hip Places To Be Scene In Pottstown” website invade the building.

Janet Flack and Gina Stango, sometimes known as Pottstown’s Scenic Girls, took their video camera to the Pottstown Regional Public Library, on High Street in Pottstown PA, to explore programs and amenities it offers. They roam the stacks and shelves of the library’s two-story public area; play Wii games in its Teen Cave; and join in the children’s story time, accompanied by guitar-strumming library Executive Director Mike Packard.

• Watch the video (above) that was posted Friday (Christmas Eve, Dec. 2, 2010), or see it at the YouTube account of user PottstownScenicGirls.

Newly named to the Pottstown Regional Public Library board are, from left, James Phillips, Hanna Hartman, Sharon Thomas, and William Yohn.

POTTSTOWN PA – Four area residents – and of them, two with ties to Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township – have been appointed as members of the board of directors of the Pottstown Regional Public Library, 500 High St., Pottstown PA, library Executive Director Mike Packard announced Tuesday (March 9, 2010).

Named to the board were James C. Phillips, a member of the township Board of Commissioners; Hanna Hartman, manager of the Sanatoga (Sunnybrook) branch of National Penn Bank; U.S. District Court Judge William H. Yohn of Pottstown; and former Pottstown borough mayor Sharon Thomas.

Phillips is a business development officer for The Victory Bank of Limerick PA, and the former president of Norco Motors Inc. in Sanatoga. He serves on the library’s Executive Committee, Finance Committee, and Visioning Task Force.

Hartman has been with National Penn Bank for 33 years. She is treasurer of Pottstown SCORE Chapter 594, an ambassador for the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce, and is active in the Visiting Nurse Association of Pottstown and Vicinity. She serves on the library’s Fundraising Committee.

Yohn is a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He previously was a partner in two Pottstown law firms for 20 years, and served as a judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. He is chairman of the library’s Visioning Task Force and is a member of its Finance Committee.

Thomas currently is vice chairwoman of the Montgomery County (PA) Republican Committee, and also a former member of the Pottstown school board. She is an ordained minister with the Victory Christian Life Center in Pottstown.

Board members are elected to serve a term of three years and three months.

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A different place to get a taste of fine wines.

POTTSTOWN PA – The third annual wine tasting fund-raiser conducted by the board of directors of the Pottstown Public Library is scheduled for Nov. 7 (2009; Saturday) from 7-9 p.m. at the library, 500 E. High St., Pottstown PA. The event benefits library operations.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Unique fine wines will be presented by wine educators and consultants Dean and Lisa Foster of Vintage Connections, and paired with foods catered by Bause-Landry Caterers of Pottstown PA.

The Fosters have been wine enthusiasts for more than 15 years. They have visited hundreds of wineries, taught wine appreciation classes at Montgomery County Community College’s  Pottstown campus, and are active members in the Perkiomen chapter of the American Wine Society. This is their second year as the wine presenters for the library tasting.

Bause-Landry Catered Events‘ artful presentation and professional staff also is expected to delight the tasting’s guests, Packard said. The evening’s atmosphere will be enhanced by live classical guitar music and wine basket raffles.

Although space is limited, tickets are still available, according to Library Director Michael Packard. Admission is $40 per person, or $350 for a group of 10. For more information, call the library at 610-970-6552.

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POTTSTOWN PA – It probably is not what Zeus and other Greek gods envisioned as an ultimate athletic competition among humans. Then again, they’re not going to be the judges when the first-ever local Page Olympics get under way tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009) at 1 p.m. in Pottstown Public Library, 500 High St.

• Watch a 00m:34s video, above, hosted at the Pottstown Library user account on YouTube, created as a commercial to publicize the Page Olympics. Press the “play” button.

Library pages are behind-the-scenes people, usually teen-age students, who re-stock shelves with books, catalog and file newspapers and magazines, help with check-out and, truth be told, generally pick up after library patrons. What they do requires skill, dedication, and yes, a little bit of athleticism, library Director Mike Packard admits.

He and the Pottstown staff invited other libraries in the Montgomery County (PA) system to put themselves on the line Saturday in a competition of pages. The afternoon’s events include an extended arms book-hold, a chair push, a stair climb, book-shelving accuracy, bookshelf straightening, team back-shelving, and a holds obstacle course. The public is invited to attend and cheer the competitors on.

They produced two videos promoting the event, posted during the last two weeks on YouTube.

• Watch a second video of 00m:26s, above, hosted at the Pottstown Library user account on YouTube, that calls for Page Olympics judges. Press the “play” button.

The Page Olympics even got publicly plugged last Thursday (July 23, 2009), when Packard was a guest of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township commissioners during their second monthly meeting in the township municipal building on Buchert Road. Commissioners, who this year donated $60,000 to library operations, laughed over one video Packard screened and congratulated him for the effort.

Sadly, though, like Greek gods spurned, responses to the Pottstown page challenge have been slow in coming. As of last week, only the Indian Valley Public Library in Telford PA – 24 miles northwest of the borough – had agreed to field a team. A trophy will be awarded to the winning library.

Packard said he expected a total of just nine Olympians for the opening contest, but hoped for more at the last minute. “Some libraries probably just don’t know what to make of it yet,” he said. “But I think it’ll build over time.”

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of July 23):

• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Antiquated Files Headed For Township Shredder
• Commissioners OK Zoning Board Appointments
• No Need To Ask Them Twice
• Township Says No To Sunnybrook Grant, Citing Risks
• Commissioners Cancel Next Meeting

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POTTSTOWN PA – Besides “The book was never returned!,” maybe the worst sentence that could be uttered in a public library is, “The computer system is down!”

The library on High Street in downtown Pottstown PA.

Cover your ears. For two days in early September, the system will be down in the Pottstown Public Library, 500 High St., and all other facilities in the 15-member Montgomery County (PA) Library and Information Network Consortium (MCLINC).

Mike Packard, executive director of Pottstown’s library, reports new software is being installed Sept. 2 and 3 (2009; Wednesday and Thursday) across the MCLINC system beginning at 8 a.m. The online catalog will be unavailable. Patron account information and electronic check-out will be inaccessible too, so if you plan to borrow a book either day, bring your library card with you.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Unaffected by the upgrade, Packard said Wednesday (July 29, 2009) is library Internet access. Consequently, users can drive search engines to the limit, or scour remote databases like the AccessPennsylvania POWER Library (the acronym stands for Pennsylvania Online World of Electronic Resources) to their hearts’ content.

Despite the temporary interruption it poses to patrons, the new software will have its upside. Once installed, Packard said, it will allow MCLINC members to send initial overdue notices via e-mail to patrons who sign up for the service. Computer users will have the ability to create personal log-on accounts. Online catalog title lists will be sortable by requests, items out, and reading histories, and get several other improvements too.

In addition to Pottstown, MCLINC libraries include those in Abington, Cheltenham, Springfield, Horsham, Huntingdon Valley, Jenkintown, Lower Providence, Norristown, Narberth, Upper Dublin, Upper Merion, Upper Moreland, Wissahickon Valley, and Whitemarsh.

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Priscilla Barnes.

POTTSTOWN PA – The first of three weekly sessions designed to help prospective buyers understand the process of finding and purchasing a home will be held May 13 (2009; Monday) at 7 p.m. in the Pottstown Public Library, 500 High St. Other sessions will be held on consecutive Mondays, May 20 and 27.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The free seminar is being conducted by area real estate agent and Lower Pottsgrove resident Priscilla Barnes-Davis. No registration is required.

Participants will learn about mortgages and the government’s $8,000 home buyer tax credit on May 13; about the purchasing process on May 20; and about home inspections May 27.

Photo provided by Priscilla Barnes

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POTTSTOWN PA – “The Bible And Teaching Character,” a program presented by Kay Kulp, will be held May 4 (2009; Monday) at 7 p.m. during the monthly meeting of the Pottstown Area Homeschoolers at the Pottstown Public Library, 500 High St.

• This event has been added to The Post’s May calendar.

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Priscilla Barnes-Davis.

POTTSTOWN PA – A series of three seminars for potential home buyers, conducted by Priscilla Barnes-Davis of Brooks and Brode Realtors and Fred Troxell of Cambridge Mortgage Associates, will be held May 13, 20 and 27 (2009; Wednesdays) all from 7-8:30 p.m. in the community room of the Pottstown Public Library, 500 High St.

Topics for the seminars are “All About Mortgages,” May 13; “The Home Purchase Process,” May 20; and “Home Inspections,” May 27. Attendance is open to the public and without obligation.

• These dates have been added to The Post’s May calendar.

For more information or to reserve a seat, call Barnes at 267-923-3205.

Photo from Brooks and Brode Realtors

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