The library’s winter basket raffles are planned for Dec. 7-18 and Jan. 11-22, 2021. This means you’ll have a few opportunities to see new baskets each month.

If you win, you’ll have a week to pick up your basket.

You can use a sheet of raffle tickets for any of these raffles. If you buy a sheet of tickets, you can use as many of the tickets as you want that month and hold onto the rest of your tickets for the next month.

There will be different baskets every month. Some of the baskets being prepared are baby baskets; a winter cozy basket; red, white and blue; St. Patrick’s Day; Valentine’s Day; book stacks; and more.

We hope to do 20-25 baskets each month. They will be on display on the tables inside the front door.

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The library will accept new and unopened donations for Toys for Tots until Dec. 15. Toys for Tots will not distribute any gifts that look like realistic weapons or anything with food.

If you wish to donate cash, see toysfortots.org for more information.

Please drop off your donation during library hours. Thank you to all who have donated already to help the children in Lehigh County.

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We have the new 2021 magnet calendar for sale at the front desk. It measures 8 inches by 4 inches and can be placed on the refrigerator. It lists our address, phone number and website.

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Do you shop online at Amazon? If so, you can generate donations to a charity of your choice every time you shop through Amazon Smile.

Our library is one of the charities on Amazon’s list. All you have to do is sign up for Amazon Smile and choose Whitehall Township Public Library as your charity. We get a percentage of your total purchase whenever you buy anything.

You can find the link to our page on Amazon Smile through the Support Us page on our website, or you can type it in to go there directly at smile.amazon.com/ch/23-1652607.

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Want to support the library? Since we couldn’t have our usual fall book sale, we’re selling brown bags full of new or gently used books.

The exact books will be a surprise, but each bag contains five to 10 books of a specific theme, such as James Patterson, Debbie Macomber, Civil War, kids’ books, young adult, romance or cooking.

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We have a lot of patrons and students working and studying from home. You will need a purple LCLC card to use our free databases.

If you don’t have a purple LCLC library card, you may apply online. Go to our library website, whitehallpl.org, click on My Account and choose Request Library Card.

If you include your email, we will send you your library card number and information so you can start using it immediately. You can pick up the physical card next time you visit the library.

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The current library hours are 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Fridays. We will do curbside pickup only 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. The library will be closed to patrons Saturdays and Sundays.

The library is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Office of Commonwealth Libraries guidelines to protect our staff and patrons during this pandemic.

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All library items must be returned into the yellow book drops in the library parking lot. We empty the drop boxes a few times each day, but all items are placed in quarantine for a week before we can check them in.

Fines are waived until Dec. 31; however, fines will be charged on items that were due before March 12.

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We are sorry for any inconvenience, and we thank you for your support. We are doing our part to keep the staff and patrons healthy.

If you have questions or need help with a database, I can help. I check my emails daily at vahey.p@whitehallpl.org.