WELCOMING WEEK Welcoming America is a nonprofit with a mission to foster inclusion for immigrants. Since its founding in 2012, Welcoming America has designated a week in September as Welcoming Week. This year, Welcoming Week is the third week in September.

The Mt. Lebanon Public Library began its first Welcoming Week celebration in 2016, but this year will be the first since 2021. The library has events scheduled from Monday, September 15, to Friday, September 19, culminating in the return of the library’s Global Beats program.

At 6:30 p.m., on Monday, September 15, in the library courtyard, children’s librarian Rachel Blier will share stories and folktales from around the world.

The following evening at 7, in Meeting Room A, the library will host a panel discussion on how to make communities more welcoming to new immigrants.  Panelists will include representatives from Immigrant Services and Connections (ISAC), Casa San Jose, an immigrant advocacy organization and Literacy Pittsburgh.

Appalasia, a multicultural music group, will perform in the library courtyard at 7 p.m., on Wednesday, September 17, and the library caps off Welcoming Week at 6:30 p.m., Friday, September 19 with Global Beats, featuring a performance by Hugo Cruz and the Caminos, with a range of Mexican appetizers and desserts.

BE NICE TO YOUR MUM The Friends of the Mt. Lebanon Public Library fall chrysanthemum sale is happening from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., on Saturday September 6, at the library. Price is $16 for a 9-inch pot with a flower spread of 20 inches, with four colors to choose from — white, yellow, orange and kind-of-pink, kind-of-purple.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE September is Love Your Library Month. All month, the Jack Buncher Foundation will match any donation of up to $500.

Donate online on the Library’s Love Your Library webpage, or mail a check to:

Mt. Lebanon Public Library

16 Castle Shannon Boulevard

Pittsburgh, PA 15228

LIBRARY PROGRAMS

Note: The library will be closed on September 1.

PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN

Book Babies

Wednesday, September 24, Story Room, 9:30-10 a.m., 10:30-11 a.m.

Learn early literacy skills through stories, rhymes and songs in this fun, interactive program for babies birth-2 years old with a caregiver. 

One registration per family. 

Registration opens at 9 a.m. one week in advance of the program.

Storytimes for 2s and 3s

Thursday, September 25, Story Room, 9:30-10 a.m., 10:30-11 a.m. 

Fingerplays, stories and songs are part of this participatory program created especially for 2- and 3-year-olds and their caregivers. Register for each session individually. One registration per family. Registration opens at 9 a.m. on the previous Thursday. 

After School STEAM

Thursday, September 25, Story Room, 4:30 p.m. 

Learn about circuits, coding, animal science and more. For kids entering in fourth and fifth grades. Register for each session individually. Registration opens one week in advance of program.     

Who? Was? Where?

Monday, September 22, Story Room, 6:30 p.m.

Activities and fun from the Who Was? series! Reading ahead of time not required! For those in grades 1-4. Please register individually for each session. Registration is required for this event. Registration will open at 9 a.m. on September 8.

September 22: Who Was Nellie Bly?

October 6: What Do We Know About Bigfoot?

October 20: What Was the Plague?

November 3: Who Were the Navajo Code Talkers?

Musical Moments

Friday, September 26 through November 14, Story Room, 10 a.m.

Jam and sing along to stories and songs with a new instrument each week. For ages 18 mo. – 3 1/2 with a caregiver. Individual registration required for each session.

PROGRAMS FOR TEENS

Board Game Night

Tuesday, September 2, 9, 23 and 30, Learning Lab, 7 p.m.

Strategy and competition playing Euro-style board games. This group is intended for teenagers through adults. All experience levels are welcome, and games will vary every week depending on attendees’ interests. Feel free to bring your own games or just come to learn something new. Here are some examples of what may be available:

Strategy (Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Kingdomino, Small World, Sagrada, Azul, Barenpark, Parks, Wingspan)

Group/Party (Codenames, Just One, Dixit, 6 Nimmt)

Cooperative (Pandemic, Hanabi, Forbidden Island)

Deck Builder (Valeria, Splendor)

Nate Powell Author Talk

Monday, September 29, Meeting Room A, 7 p.m. 

Nate Powell is a National Book Award-winning cartoonist who began self-publishing as an Arkansas teenager in 1992. His work includes the new graphic novel Fall Through and a new comics adaptation of James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me, as well as Save It For Later, civil rights icon John Lewis’s March trilogy, Come Again, Two Dead and more.

Powell’s work has received multiple Eisner and Ignatz awards, ALA and YALSA distinctions, the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award, CXC Transformative Work Award, and is a two-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He has discussed his work at the United Nations, on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, PBS, CNN, and NPR. Registration required. 

PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS

Dungeons and Dragons for Adults: Old-School Essentials

Wednesday, September 10, Learning Lab, 6 p.m.

Whether you’re new to Dungeons and Dragons or a seasoned adventurer, you’re welcome at the table. We’ll be using Old-School Essentials, a modern presentation of classic D&D rules. No prior experience is required, and all materials will be provided. If you’d like, feel free to bring a pencil, some paper, and your favorite set of dice.

If you have any questions, you can contact the game master, Jeff King, at Jeff@MtLeboDnD.com.

Court Records Research Without the Law Degree

Monday, September 15, Meeting Room A, 1-3 p.m.

Learn how to use court records for genealogy research with investigator-turned-genealogist Kate Townsend.
Free. Questions? Email malcolm.andrews1949@gmail.com.