As we all stick closer to home these days and with so many ‘normal’ activities limited until further notice, many people are taking the time to brush up on old skills, or learn new things. Cooking is now a must-have skill, exercise routines take more imagination and gardening is experiencing an uptick in interest as something the entire family can learn and do. Let your Abilene Public Library help you with these, and many more with a number of wonderful resources you can access 24/7, 365 with your free library card!
“Access Video on Demand” in our E-Resources section of our webpage (www.abilenetx.gov/apl) under DIY: Do It Yourself has a wealth of films, TV shows and other wonderful visual content to help you try some new things. For instance, in the cooking area, the inclusion of “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home” with Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, will give you basic techniques as well as good recipes to try under the tutoring of these two master chefs. There are videos on everything from world cuisine to slow cooker recipes that will help you broaden your repertoire for yourself or your family.
Access Video’s “Home and Family Collection” focuses on home and how-to content, teen issues, family and life issues, and education, and covers a wide range of topics. Subjects include cooking, home improvement, nutrition and diet, painting, gardening, senior living, crafts and antiques, driver’s education, financial literacy, first aid, parenting, sports and fitness, and more. Access Video also has a “Just for Kids Collection” which gives children—and their parents—a thoroughly kid-safe, advertisement-free media platform they can freely explore and enjoy.
The next resource in our DIY section is “Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center” which has how-to instructions for virtually every hobby enthusiast with full-text for more than 1,500 leading hobby books and craft magazines. Magazines for cooking abound, as do sections for arts & crafts, home projects & gardening, kids crafts, needlecraft, indoor recreation and more. The model building section has a sub-section for LEGOS™ as well as radio controlled models, and will provide many hours of learning and fun.
Perhaps you’ve decided that your time at home can be profitably used with home improvement projects and repairs. If so, your library offers “Home Improvement Reference Center”, with user-friendly "how-to" information covering a range of home improvement and repair projects. Sections cover areas such as electrical and plumbing repairs, outdoor projects, maintenance around the house, woodworking and even home decorating.
In the ‘Outdoor’ section, you can find plans and how-to’s on building everything from chicken coops to rabbit hutches, dog houses and ramps for older animals to bird houses - great family projects during this stay-at-home time. This section also includes “Fix-it 101” which has a wealth of information on all sorts of projects to make your home safer, more energy efficient and more attractive. Whether you need to know how to fix a sliding screen door or a window screen, or tune up your garage door or lawn mower, you’ll find the information in “Home Improvement Reference Center”.
Please remember that during this time that our physical locations are closed, we can issue or renew library cards so you can access our databases and digital resources from your home or office. While we can’t wait for you to be able to come back to all three locations to meet your information needs, we also want you to remain safe and healthy - and we will do our best to help you from afar whether you call 325-676-6025 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or email us at infodesk@abilenetx.gov anytime. Remember, we ARE in this together!
Article Contributed by Janis C. Test, Information Services Manager, Main Library