If you are not a person who loves the heat, these dog days of summer are tough. You step out the door and instantly wilt from the heightened humidity and temperatures, hair flattening or frizzing, sweat pooling with the least amount of exertion. And speaking of dogs, those poor things also have a hard time with heat, such as walking on the burning sidewalks and streets.
Could you use some help in coping? Never fear — the library is here to help with ten ways to beat the heat.
1. Come to one of our 15 open branches and enjoy the cool temperatures inside while you take advantage of our offerings. Check locations and hours at ccpl.org/branches.
2. Throughout our branches, you can find programs for all ages to enjoy from storytimes to book discussions, crafts to movies. Find events in our online calendar, ccpl.org/calendar.
3. Spend time in our cooled branches to browse the shelves for a book to read or listen to, or a DVD or Blu-ray to watch.
4. If your home A/C isn’t working, you can bring your devices to use our WiFi or just use one of our internet computers.
5. Try to win a cool t-shirt in our Summer Reading Program. Its soft, breathable cotton will help your body stay cool while its retro design will have you looking rad.
6. Read one of our books to fool your mind into being cold, perhaps Louise Penney’s “Bury Your Dead” in which Inspector Gamache is in Quebec for its Winter Carnival – but you may want to start with the first book in this well-loved series, “Still Life.”
7. Relax and escape by watching one of our DVDs or Blu-rays to convince yourself you’re cold. Try the Hallmark double-movie disc with “Amazing Winter Romance” and “Snowkissed,” for example, or learn about Alaska with “Wild Alaska’s National Parks.”
8. Just don’t want to leave your cool house to find things at the library? No problem! Find ebooks, online magazines, downloadable audiobooks and movies or TV shows to stream from one of our digital resources at ccpl.org/digital-collections. If you aren’t already using them, I think you’ll be happy with what’s available for use with your library card.
9. You can also stay at home and learn about Charleston’s history with Dr. Nic Butler’s podcast, Charleston Time Machine at ccpl.org/charleston-time-machine. Enjoy, for instance, “Charleston’s Third Ice Age: The Big Chill.”
10. Don’t hesitate to call and talk to a staff member for other suggestions. Here’s one from staff member Anne McDonell’s veterinarian: Freeze some ice cubes for your dog to chase around the kitchen floor, or freeze applesauce into cubes for a dog who’s not feeling quite up to par.
Take a deep breath and stay cool.
Susan Frohnsdorff is the manager of the Mount Pleasant Library, 1133 Mathis Ferry Road, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464. Reach her at 843-849-6161 or frohnsdorffs@ccpl.org. She is SO looking forward to autumn.
