The last thing you’d expect to find at a public library is sumac, but that is precisely what was available through the month of September at a table that offers samples of the spice, along with a recipe and a fact sheet.

At the Parkland Community Library, South Whitehall, a different spice is featured each month.

The library is no longer just a place to borrow books. Times have changed and libraries have changed with them.

“We’re trying to grow the library,” said Parkland’s reference librarian Kelly Bower, as she walked to a cabinet labeled “Our Library of Things.”

“People can rent out items from telescopes to tents, to inflatable movie screens to Karaoke machines,” she said. It’s all about “ways to engage the community.”

That is front and center for Maryellen Kanarr, director of the Parkland Community Library for the past three years.

“Museum passes have been pretty popular and so have games and jigsaw puzzles,” she said, but that’s not all.

At the Parkland Community Library, patrons can also use their library cards to borrow “Stay Sharp Kits,” that include “all things that have been curated to make learning fun.”

“We had a really generous donation [honoring] someone who worked with seniors and they agreed the kits were a good idea so now we have 16 kits.”

“The Stay Sharp Kits are geared for seniors, to engage them and bring back memories, but kids like them too, so they’re intergenerational,” Kanaar said. “The memory kits have gone over pretty well.”

“We also have STEAM kits that are geared toward children and include topics like robotics, coding and art. They’re very popular,” she added.

According to Bower, “Each bag is filled with different items contributing to a theme.”

Of course, there are books for every taste and interest.

“We’ve whittled down our reference books quite a bit but there’s been an uptick in classic literature,” Bower said, who posits that the summer blockbuster The Odyssey may be responsible for the change.

“We’ve had more interest in Greek and Roman tales and the culture, since the movie was released,” she said. “We have new verse translations so patrons could understand what they’re watching. A lot of young people were interested in Polyphemus, the cyclops [in the film].”

Books and research material remain the heart of the library.

An hour before closing, Bower found the latest edition of an SAT prep book for one father and provided materials for a mom who “needed materials for her youngster who’s missed school, to try to catch her up.”

At the Slatington Public Library, librarian Rosanne Pugh was busy assisting patrons checking out books, while other patrons searched the Internet, and yet another was seeking help with her cellphone.

Meantime, nine community members interested in genealogy sat and chatted at the back of the room.

“This is their fourth year,” Pugh said.

“[The] Book club meets the first Monday of the month,” she continued. “We have 20 members, but we also have a Zoom version.”

The library has seen a great many changes over the years.

“We don’t have a card catalog anymore,” Pugh explained, “and everything is checked out on a computer,” but remnants of the past are on clear display in the historic building that was once a Ben Franklin five and dime.

“The library is not just books anymore,” Pugh said. “It’s the center of the community. It’s a safe place for people to meet. It’s kind of like a community center.”

In the children’s room at the Allentown Library, large paper dinosaurs hover above the bookshelves while children spin in colorful plastic chairs.

The colorful creatures are leftover from Dig into Books, the theme for last summer.

“In the summertime, we get about 100 new registrations a month,” said children’s librarian Ellen Hiotis.

During COVID, the Allentown Public Library paired with local schools to issue library cards.

“In 2021 or 2022 we distributed 18,000 library cards to all the children in the Allentown School District,” Hiotis recalled.

This year’s theme is “A Library Card Hits All the Right Notes.”

Libraries sponsor book clubs, movie nights, crafting classes and more.

According to the American Library Association. “No matter what rhythm you find yourself in, there’s a seat in the front row at the library for you.”

The ALA is the oldest and largest library association in the world, founded in Philadelphia in 1876 whose mission is to support literacy and protect intellectual freedom.

When it comes to books, new books are always available.

If you can’t find a particular title, your library will search for it and within a week or so, you’ll be able to borrow that book from another library at your local library for your use.

“We have been trying to get more people to sign up for library cards. We have something for everybody,” Kanarr said.