At the library: Here are some upcoming programs at Northland Public Library

Northland gearing up for annual Nerdcon

Northland Public Library is hosting its annual Northland Nerdcon from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 14.

There will be comics, anime, board games, role-playing and all things nerdy on display.

Visitors are encouraged to come in costume for the cosplay contest. There also will be a panel featuring professional cosplayers Feytaline, Trickssi and Cash.

Vendors will include Backroads Bookstore, Clotho & Frigg, The Geeky Crafter, Kirakira Karakasa and Dan Nokes. Two food trucks will be on-site: By the Wayside Coffee from 10 a.m. to noon and Mission Mahi from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Registration is required. To register, visit bit.ly/nerdcon2025. Register by June 1 to ensure a place in the gauntlet making workshop, the cosplay contest or the Mario Kart tournament.

Here is the schedule:

• 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.: Registration and check in, upper lobby.

• 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.: Cosplay Prop Workshop, lower-level meeting room. Get hands on experience making a gauntlet to use in your next cosplay.

• 10 a.m.: Kamishibai Japanese Folktale in the Learning Garden. Kamishibai, a Japanese folk art tradition, combines bicycles, storytelling, illustration and audience participation. This session will be best enjoyed by adults and children 12 and older.

• 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Learn to Play Pokémon TCG, upper library. Join a certified Pokemon Professor to learn to play the Pokémon card game.

• 11 a.m.: Cosplay Judging, lower-level meeting room. Participants must sign up for a judging time slot for the Cosplay Contest by 11 a.m.

• 1 p.m.: Kamishibai Japanese Folktale for families in the Learning Garden. This session is for all ages.

• 1:30 to 3 p.m.: Cosplay Photos, in the lower-level teen section. Have your photo taken and photoshopped onto a fun background.

• 2 to 4 p.m.: Mario Kart Tournament, upper-level Silent Study area. Test your driving skills in our bracket-style tournament. Which racer will take home the prize?

• 4 p.m.: Cosplay Contest Showcase & Awards, lower-level meeting rooms. Show off your cosplay outfit or accessories for everyone and find out who our cosplay contest winners are.

• All day: Open board gaming, upper-level Silent Study area; vendor tables, upper-level lobby; craft and coloring sheets for kids, Children’s Department.

Notice to patrons

Northland Public Library is now closed on Sundays through the end of August.

The Learning Garden will open for seasonal programming June 2. To keep the library’s youngest patrons safe, it will not serve as an entrance and exit for the library. The upper-level entrance continues to be open and provides accessible entry. The “back of the building” temporary entrance, near shipping and receiving, will remain open as a lower-level entrance option.

Handwriting workshops open to children ages 8 and 9

Putting pen or pencil to paper is the first step step in making the connection to how writing relates to literacy.

Therapists from Ivy Rehab will be on-site for three sessions to lead children — ages 8 and 9 only — through guided exercises that build hand strength, phonetic awareness and printing basics.

The sessions will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. June 10, 17 and 24.

Registration is now open and is required once for each series. You can register your child online or by stopping at the children and teens services desk.

Each session will build on the session before it.

Public invited to meet authors, illustrators of children’s books

Northland Public Library is hosting a Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators Day from 10 to noon June 27.

Patrons of all ages are invited to drop in and visit Norbert the Northland Owl, meet local children’s book authors, hear them read their stories and participate in crafts and activities that celebrate children’s literature.

No registration is required.

Programs for adults

• Preventing Lyme Disease: Tick-borne Pathogens and Ticks of PA: 6 to 7 p.m. June 12

Pennsylvania led the nation in Lyme disease cases, with 29% of the 65,135 ticks tested to date infected with Lyme or other bacteria. Knowing and avoiding tick bites is especially important in our area. Join Nicholas Baldauf, Vector Control Program coordinator for the Allegheny County Health Department, as he discusses Lyme disease and tick-borne pathogens, helps you identify ticks and tick bites, and provides materials such as tick samples and literature handouts. Registration is required.

• Craft Night: Tie-dye: 6 and 6:45 p.m. June 16

Join staff to make a tie-dyed shirt or bag or bring something of your own to dye. Do not bring blankets, towels or larger items. Registration is $5 for this hands-on craft program. Registration opens June 1 online or at the Ask a Librarian desk on the second floor of the library.

Programs for young people

• Tween and Teen Crafting Club: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. June 9, 16, 23 and 30

Tweens and teens 10 to 18 are invited to stop the library by every Monday and make a craft. Registration is required. This month’s projects are beaded keychains, homemade trinket dishes, painted flower pots and mason jar snow globes..

• Dungeons & Dragons Adventures: 4 to 7 p.m. June 18 and 24

Teens 12 to 18 are invited to gather for a oneshot Dungeons & Dragons adventure. No experience is necessary. Registration is required and opens June 1. Players must register for each session individually. You can register online or by stopping at the children and teens services desk. Players will receive an email with full adventure details no more than two business days after registration. You must reply to the email no later than one week before the game or you will forfeit their space.

• Pajama Storytime: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 25 and July 23

For families with children in preschool through third grade. Pajamas are optional — but welcome — as we listen to stories, songs and action rhymes to get the wiggles out. A simple art activity will round out the evening.

• Summer Crafting: 10 to 11 a.m. June 26 and July 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31

Children ages 7 to 12 are invited to drop in on Thursdays from June 26 through July 31 for a 15-minute art activity. There will be a different activity each week. No registration is required, but you may have to wait for your turn to create.

Visit northlandlibrary.org for a full listing of events, activities and ongoing groups, and to register for programs at Northland Public Library, 300 Cumberland Road, McCandless.