May 15, 2020 – As Michigan’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” orders continue to keep residents at home, the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library now offers two new digital resources that provide a creative outlet for patrons to enjoy arts and craft, music, and more.
The first service, Creativebug, offers a collection of more than 1,000 art and craft videos on topics including knitting and crocheting, quilting, sewing, paper crafts, bookbinding, needle felting, watercolor, acrylics, oil painting, drawing, sketching, and jewelry making, as well as food and home projects like canning, soap making, and party and holiday decorating. These professional, easy-to-follow videos last just a few minutes each and break projects into manageable steps with thorough instructions and beautiful visuals that are easier to understand than the traditional online how-to. Creativebug is perfect for patrons who want to learn a new skill during their free time or for those who are just looking for their next fun project.
For musicians of all ages, the Library also offers ArtistWorks for Libraries through the RBDigital platform. This resource provides world-class music instruction for most popular string and band instruments through self-paced video lessons from Grammy Award-winning music professionals. Video lessons are available for acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, and fiddle; classical string instruments such as violin and cello; wind instruments including clarinet, flute, French horn, trumpet, and harmonica; drums and percussion; and piano and vocal lessons. Instructional levels vary from beginner to advanced, giving musicians of all talents the opportunity to learn their instruments without the high cost of private lessons.
Both services are available free to Library cardholders and only require an internet-enabled device such as a desktop or laptop computer, tablet, smartphone, or SMART TV. To access these services, as well as other free digital content available through the Library such as eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, foreign language learning, and educational databases for both children and adults, visit www.gadml.org and click on “eBooks and more”. Step-by-step guides and video tutorials are also available to help patrons set up these services on their devices.
In accordance with Executive Order 2020-69 issued by Governor Gretchen Whitmer on April 30, the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library is closed to the public through Friday, May 29. For assistance with Creativebug and ArtistWorks or other resources and services offered by the Library, please email askgadml@gmail.com or visit www.gadml.org. The Grace A. Dow Memorial Library is located at 1710 W. St. Andrews Rd and is a service of the City of Midland.
