(upbeat music) - Here's what's coming up next on, "You Oughta Know."

One of the rising stars from the Curtis Institute of Music, talks about her love for opera.

Take, leave and make, little libraries are making it easier for crafters to create.

Plus, see how Scrabble is helping to build a foundation of literacy for Philly students.

(upbeat music) Thanks for joining us, I'm Shirley Min.

Making education fun is a good way to help students learn without them knowing that's what you're doing.

And Scrabble is one way to turn learning into a fun game.

And Philly's Johnny Scrabble is just the guy you want teaching it.

(upbeat music) - Oh man, Scrabble was everything to me, like Scrabble changed my life.

Scrabble makes me feel a whole.

I was in a Juvenile Justice Center many years ago and I was going down that path before I changed my life around through Scrabble.

I've been playing Scrabble for over 40 years.

I contracted with the ASAP for about 12 years and they hired me for a full-time position as the outreach coordinator, which is awesome.

- We actually started ASAP afterschool activities partnerships in 2002 as more of a campaign to bring awareness to the dangerous afterschool hours from that three to 6:00 p.m. - What we'll try to do at ASAP is get many clubs going, where they Scrabble, chess, drama, debate so that the kids have a safe place to go to that they feel comfortable, they can have fun, they can learn something.

(upbeat music) - [Tori] Today we're here with the club, Girard Academic Music Program, the kids love it, especially Johnny Scrabble.

He is a staple to the program, he's a staple for the kids.

The kids literally think that he's famous and he really is to us for sure.

(upbeat music) - One thing Scrabble has taught me and I teach the kids, is about critical thinking.

Most of my kids know that when it's their opponents play they're looking for two spots on the board to play so that if their opponent blocks one of their spots, they don't get frustrated because all that was my spot.

You already have another spot.

It helps more to have word knowledge so that if you have the word and you can't put it down, you get frustrated.

But now you have the word and you move the letters around in that word and you have another word and bam!

You can put it on the board.

Listen, there's so many ways that you can help a kid in reading and spelling with Scrabble because there's so many different ways to incorporate it.

(upbeat music) I'm gonna give you a letter.

You would have to gimme a word that begins with a letter I give you, T. (indistinct chatters) The letter is H, go.

- Host.

- Has.

(indistinct chatters) - In 2017, I was given the Hero, a Philadelphia Mayor Award for Mayor Kelly, who's my guy.

And it was for all the accomplishment I have done since I've been participating with all the kids in Philadelphia from third grade to high school for over 10 years, whether it's mentoring, one-on-one talk, Scrabble, chess, just doing something to uplift the kids in Philadelphia.

There's nothing tops the Mayor Hero Award because the word hero is acknowledgement to myself that I changed my life and somebody else recognizes that.

I'm trying to make a difference on every single day in Philadelphia to help our kids.

(chips clicking) - From books, to tools to crafts, nowadays our libraries are offering more options beyond books.

See how you can find the right tool to finish that honey-do-list in Delaware.

But first, we check out little libraries that are fostering creativity.

(upbeat music) - Artists have just been hanging on to things that they know are valuable.

Once they found out there's a supply swap specifically for other artists where if you have stuff that you don't need you come and you bring it to donate, you have stuff that you do need, you come and you take it.

So once we started doing all those supply swaps and people brought all this stuff out, it wasn't all taken back.

It was like, okay, what happens with the rest of the stuff?

So then we have all this extra stuff, so that's where the supply library idea was born, (upbeat music) where, if we get booths all over the city, then that could sustain me dropping off these mass amounts of supplies, and people would love to have a supply swap every month.

If we had one every month then I could keep all these booths totally full, as well as doing large donation drops to schools and rec center, and artists that know what they're gonna use it for.

(paper rustling) The supply library, we have one of them in West Philly and I plans to put one in every neighborhood around Philadelphia because we now have this studio space in Cherry Street Pier which was like serving as our donation center, and also we can run workshops and things outta here.

So we will have a booth here next.

(ethereal music) The booth that we have that's in West Philly, I had it vinyl wrapped with a design that I made.

Plan was to get a bunch of those booths, have a different artist design each booth and have them vinyl wrapped.

I've been doing things that are like little kits.

So I'll gather all the donation supplies together, I'll see what's there and if there's a lot of something, then I'll create little one-off kits for people to use.

I'll usually do a workshop on it first and then we can use the kits during the workshop.

And then any kits that are left over, I'll just package them up with instructions and put 'em inside the booth.

And I'll try and put, like kind of like drops, post online that, hey, just dropped this project and there's five of 'em in there, go ahead and grab one.

(dramatic music) You will probably always find fabric and yarn.

We have gotten a lot of knitting needle donations as well.

So we recently had been able to put together little kits where you get a ball of yarn, some needles, and then just some little explanations on how to do the simple knit stitch and then making a scarf.

So those are some great kits that people will find in the booths.

We've also just had like maybe you just need a glue stick, so they are stuff that people use every single day.

(upbeat music) I know that I have a different relationship with art because it is my life.

I am an artist.

I feel really lucky that I've found a way to comfortably monetize creativity.

But I also see that at the opposite end of that you have people that are not or "are not artistic" but really just they're not paid to do art.

That doesn't mean that they get any less out of it than me.

I certainly think that having access to creative skills and supplies, it's not the only way for joy but it's a really quick way to get right to it.

So having accessibility to those supplies is something that could easily benefit the community's general mood and feel.

(upbeat music) - [Shirley] Patrons of the Newark Free Library in Delaware are already taking full advantage of its library of things.

(upbeat music) A new borrowing program where visitors can check out things they can use but don't wanna buy.

- The library of things is a collection of items that we provide that are not the normal things that you would find in a library.

So for example, a thermal leak detector, a croquet set.

- [Shirley] Better yet, a record player, a mic to record a podcast.

- [Teric] This is Fresh Air, I'm Teric Gross.

- [Shirley] Or an electrical outlet tester.

You can always use that.

(electric statics) - [Sue] Libraries try really hard to stay relevant to their communities.

And other library systems had been doing this around the country.

Some other library systems had a list so you could see some of the things that they had available to check out.

And then we just started asking each other what kind of thing would you like to have?

And then we just started making lists.

- Sometimes I just need a level to fix something and then I'm done.

I like to think of our libraries as digital learning commons.

They're innovative learning places where the community comes together completely free to walk into and obviously completely free to take out materials for a period of time, but it's far more than just books.

(upbeat music) - [Shirley] Check out for the library of things works the same as any other library materials.

- [Sue] If it's available in the library, you just pick it up and take it to the checkout desk and check it out on your library card.

- If the system goes well, if the program works, if there's demand for it, we'll increase it to other libraries.

But again, we're constantly looking in our library system for ways that we can serve you better, use our library as a community tool to bring us all together.

- [Shirley] And help us rediscover all of the other amazing programs our libraries have to offer.

(dramatic music) - I think that there was more of a drastic change in my face since I had to go from character to character on America's Got Talent versus when I'm on stage performing a role, you're really just embodying most of the time one particular character.

(crowd cheers and applauds) - You just heard an excerpt from an interview with my guest Merissa Beddows, the classically trained opera singer will be one of many talents featured on WHYY's upcoming season of Onstage at Curtis.

Merissa Beddows, thank you so much for being here.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- You trained at the Curtis Institute of Music and we have footage of you, behind the scenes footage of you training and practicing "Triple Sec," the movie opera.

And I just was wondering like, how did you know that this was something you wanted to pursue as a career?

How early did you become interested in opera?

- My mother first heard me sing when I was three-years-old in an elevator and she heard the little vibrant.

And it was a combination of my interest in seeing Jackie Evancho perform on America's Got Talent (indistinct) when I was 12.

And a combination of great mentors and teachers that really really believed me and pushed me in that direction or helped me along in that direction.

- So the talent was pretty obvious early on.

- I guess you could say-- - That you have a voice.

(Merissa and Shirley chuckles) - Thank you.

- And I like that, I didn't know that Jackie Evancho was an inspiration for you because then you appear on America's Got Talent, and what was that whole experience like for you?

- It was one of the best experiences of my entire life being around these incredible artists that I felt shared a very similar energy as me which was not even close to being competitive or anything of that nature was definitely my favorite part of it all really connecting and loving people that you've really just met, incredible incredible artists and people.

But also of course, being in California that was my first time ever being there.

The atmosphere was quite incredible and the mountains were ridiculous.

(Shirley chuckles) Just the energy overall and getting to see the actual America's Got talent stage and the ah, big exes.

It was surreal.

- So did you register to be on the show or how did that work?

How did you appear?

- So I actually was scouted on social media.

- [Shirley] Interesting.

- Yes.

- Now during your audition you did impressions of famous singers like Celine Dion.

- [Merissa] That's right.

- Stevie Nicks, which is so good.

- Thank you.

- [Shirley] Snow White was my favorite.

- Thank you.

(Shirley laughs) - Does your opportunity help you do the voices or like how are you able to do this and how did you know you could do these voices?

- Well definitely, classical training is really in my opinion, the only way to achieve the most healthy and natural technique.

It's the way to really, it's a revealer of your true voice produced in the healthiest way.

So yes, in that regard I'm able to do these voices without hurting myself.

How did I get into it?

It really, again, it started off with Jackie Evancho and hearing her and trying to mimic that sound realizing that I had a knack for it.

And then when I was studying with certain teachers throughout the process, they had told me that you're a mimic and don't listen to these people all the time singing, other opera singers, otherwise you'll incorporate their technique without knowing their technique.

It's not gonna sound right, it's not gonna sound like you, so stray away a little bit from that whole thing, which eventually I did.

But throughout the process, I realized, wait a second, it all started during the pandemic in 2020.

I created a TikTok and I was also wondering, okay what can I do to accumulate a following, and I had the idea of incorporating my impressions into my social media platform.

- I love it, I love it.

So what's next for you?

I mean, can we see, where can we see you and see more of you?

- Well at the moment, I mean, I am on social media quite often.

My handle is Merissaria on Instagram and TikTok.

I'm really just very much going to be putting my energy and attention towards being a lot more, I wanna produce a lot more on my social media content and I'm also writing songs at the moment too.

So I'll be putting myself out there.

- Merissa Beddows, thank you so much for being here.

- And thank you for having me.

- From libraries to the preservation of books, a Philadelphia company is helping to restore treasured heirlooms.

But first, see how a Delaware company is using old world printing presses to create projects for today.

(rock music) - [Speaker] We're here to make our diplomas that are to celebrate the graduation of our eighth grade class.

- [Ray] Letter press is a relief printing.

You're printing from a raised surface, typically type which can be made from wood or from metal.

You ink the surface of a printing plate, press paper against it, ink transfers off.

Voila, you have a poster or a book.

(upbeat music) - Years ago we had one very talented class teacher, Christina Schiffman, who got in touch with LED graffiti a little bit by chance, we sort of came upon them and during this time we learn all about different kinds of printing and we create something together that's really beautiful.

(upbeat music) - The project is built around the Nobel Prize with a piece of original artwork that each student individually starts and then it's passed around to every other student.

So we wanted to create what we call an aha moment.

Something that you remember, something that impacts you.

(upbeat music) - We're graduating from a school that I like a lot and I have a lot of friends and I'm a bit sad actually but it's a bit bittersweet 'cause we get to do awesome stuff down here.

Like we're making beautiful diplomas, they're gorgeous, and we're using a beautiful printing press and I'm having a lot of fun.

(upbeat music) - For the covers, we had wet paper and we put paint on it and then we ran different tools through it to make cool designs.

(upbeat music) It's definitely something that I can look back on and I'll remember this whole experience and I'll remember my school experience too.

(upbeat music) - [Nicole] In the Waldorf School, typically a class might stay together for first through eighth grade.

So it just doesn't really seem adequate at the end of that kind of relationship to get a normal piece of paper.

We need something that is beautifully done and that we all come and do together.

(upbeat music) - I was expecting more of a, like less doing and more just listening to how it was done and what they did here.

So I was really surprised and happy that we got to do a lot of the actual printing.

We got to paint the beautiful covers on the outside and it was just a lot more hands on.

(upbeat music) - It's really cool.

We do a lot of other stuff by hand.

We make a lot of other stuff at Waldorf and it's cool.

It kind of feels like you have kind of a connection with it.

It's definitely meaningful, and to see what you actually did yourself.

(upbeat music) - [Nicole] I'd love to watch the kids setting up their own names on it.

That's a really special thing that they learn about.

- [Ray] The names are actually printed on an iron hand press, so this is old school, this is printed on a press that was made in 1868.

That name becomes a thing.

It's not just letters.

You don't get a chance to do this very often to experience it firsthand.

(rock music) The favorite part of this is having the kids here, it's just wonderful doing this, it makes history, something you can touch, you can reach out and sort of be involved with.

(upbeat music) Yes, it's perfect.

- I think it's really cool because I won't just be handed something that has no significance to me other than it having my name on it.

But this will have been created by me and my friends so it'll just feel a bit more special.

(rock music) (ethereal music) - My name's Dave Donahue, this is my book restoration business.

(ethereal music) I've been here now close to 18 years doing book restorations.

We do a wide variety of books.

We do a lot of family Bibles, sometimes simple books that can be replaced fairly easy.

People want that connection, they want that treasure.

(ethereal music) It's a pretty rewarding business.

It's very artistic.

It's very technical at times.

It's a combination of chemistry, of hand skills, of knowledge, of certain materials, conservation methods.

(dramatic music) Most people don't realize that you can restore a book or that there are people like me and Domonique and Matilda who do this work.

- I look at every book as an art piece.

And so when I finish a book and it looks seamless and it looks like it either did when it was first created it's like a finished painting to me.

Like it's just that feeling of this is seamless, this is beautiful, this is exactly the way it's supposed to be.

(dramatic music) - If we follow certain steps and certain procedures we rarely ever devalue a book.

In fact, most times if the book comes in and it's in really bad shape, we're only going to increase value to it.

You're putting it back in a condition where it's gonna be stable and where it can be used.

Not every book is worth fixing.

So it's important for us to make sure that there's a reason why they want to have that book restored.

And most times it's because it's a special book.

I've had a woman come in, I restored approximately maybe 15 of her father's books because they were, they had our father's signature on them.

(dramatic music) Sometimes the repairs are fairly simple, most times we have to take the book apart perhaps sew it back together.

And sometimes the repairs are really extensive.

It's particularly with family Bibles, you have to replace leather, you have to repair pages, you have to replace end papers, there's a lot that goes into that.

(dramatic music) (ethereal music) The most interesting things we've had come in the shop in the last couple years was a whaling journal.

Somebody had pasted newsprint from like the 1870s and the '80s onto every page.

It took about four to five hours per page to remove newsprint on each page.

And all of a sudden I peeled one piece off and there there was this drawing of a whale which is what the whaling captains used to do.

When they would capture a whale, they would draw the picture of the whale and note the tonnage underneath of it.

But it's pretty exciting to be able to restore something that has a lot of historical significance to a portion of this country and know that it's the only one of its kind.

And that if we hadn't done that work, it probably would've been lost forever.

(ethereal music) Books are probably one of the near perfect inventions of all time.

They basically have remained unchanged for four or 500 years.

So I think for a lot of people, that tactile feel, that comfort feel that they get from books is important.

(ethereal music) Every job we do, we are either preserving knowledge or a memory.

You know at the end of the day when you go home that the work you did, because of what you did could still be here three, four, 500 years from now.

(ethereal music) - Actor Zach Braff latest directorial project tells the story of three hurt people who turned to each other for help.

Here's Patrick Stoner with Flicks - [Speaker] For the model train enthusiast, we learn over a world where the neighbors are always kind, the lovers always end up together.

- Allison, every memory I cherish as you in it, I love you.

- I love you.

(ethereal music) (car honking) - [Speaker] In life, of course, nothing is nearly as neat and tidy.

- [Patrick] Zach Braff wrote and directed "A Good Person" starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman.

She plays a woman who is in a car accident that accidentally kills two people, she survives, but becomes addicted and blames herself.

Morgan Freeman also is suffering loss, but he helps her.

But Zach is he an actor's director?

- An actor's director means they understand on a whole new level.

They understand what it's like to be in your position.

They understand what it's like to ace a scene.

They understand what it's like to feel like you've failed in a scene.

And I think it's always a luxury, especially when you tackle it like Zach does.

To have someone that understands.

- I never asked a director, who is an actor's director?

What you think that brings to the project?

- Well, first and foremost, collaboration.

No actor wants to be told this is what it is, this is what it should be.

So you don't say to Morgan Freeman and Florence Pugh, it's this and it's this and I need you, you need to be more angry in this scene.

You say, you engage in them as artists in a conversation.

I approach an actor saying, I'm wondering if because we're gonna go to this scene next-- - [Speaker] ] One of those-- - [Braff] Do you think we should do one where you're more angry because it's gonna tee up x, y, and z?

- As we sit here, unfortunately I couldn't enter Morgan 'cause he's so bit of the weather.

How much pleasure is it just to be in that guy's presence?

- He's just, I really, I'm just so lucky that he trusted me.

We had made a big studio heist movie together.

So we had had this bond and I think that that friendship really allowed me to push him as an actor.

And he trusted me.

But I think this is one of the best performances he's given in years.

And I think it came out of him really allowing me to push him to go there.

- [Patrick] Do you prefer to do a number of takes?

- For me, I find it more impactful when I get to just go from the beginning to the end.

And if we get it, let's not overdo it.

Because the worst thing about doing it again and again and again and again and again, is you lose that instinct because I've already done it so many times.

So then it's like practicing and I think when the actor is still unsure of where they're gonna go, you then feel like it's happening in real time.

So I prefer to do them as few times as possible but obviously if we don't get it then we need to keep on going.

- Thank you for willingness to go there.

= Thank you so much.

It's lovely chatting to you.

- Well, that's a wrap for us.

Thanks so much for tuning in, we'll see you next week, bye.

(rock music)