Posts by Joshua, Manager of Youth Services

RPGs at Home

RPGs at Home

By Joshua Carlson, Manager of Youth Services. Role Playing Games are a fantastic way to work on creative, shared storytelling. Allowing all players to build their characters, help to direct the story, and use their imaginations, RPGs are not only fun, but a wonderful way to engage each other while stuck at home. And, you don’t have to even be stuck at home together! Apps such as Discord provide an easy-to-use system with text and chat to allow the game to take place virtually, as if you players were in the room together. No dice? There are apps for that,
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March 25, 2020 2:38 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: RPGs and tabletop games.

Stuck at Home: Teens Edition

Stuck at Home: Teens Edition

Some of the sites listed here may be offering some content free of charge or may be offering free access currently in response to the virus, but will move to a charge model again in the future. Please take care when using these sites to avoid unwanted charges. Online Reading from the Library These resources require a library card to access. Libby: Access an abundance of digital materials, including eBooks for teens from the Library’s catalog. Comics Plus: Do your teens like comics? A great selection of e-comics, including many popular titles, available online. Freading: Another resource for accessing YA
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March 20, 2020 5:02 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Family CV, Homepage Teens, and Teens.
Tags: online learning, resources, safe at home, stuck at home, and teens.

Storytimes at Home

Storytimes at Home

Just because you’re stuck at home (and can’t get physical books from the Library) doesn’t mean storytime can’t take place. While screen time has always been a concern, perhaps that concern could be let slide to get great books read-aloud to your child. Check out these resources for online storytimes. Some are from the Library’s resources and others are hand-selected by Trove librarians. From the Library Daddy-Daughter Storytime with White Plains Public Library’s Youth Services Manager, Josh Carlson. Morning and Evening Storytimes from Trove Librarians on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting April 7. Bedtime Stories for Teens and Adults with Edge
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March 17, 2020 2:21 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Family CV, Homepage Kids, and Kids.
Tags: eBooks and storytime.

Peculiar Picks: Narwhal and Jellyfish Series

Peculiar Picks: Narwhal and Jellyfish Series

Peculiar picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Picture books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Many of the books in this column are ones that my wife and I have read with our daughter. Our experiences of trying to find books to keep up with her insatiable love of books, while also keeping us interested in reading them, lead to a lot of the choices in this column. The Narwhal and Jellyfish books by Ben Clanton
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February 27, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Ben Clanton, book recommendations, Peculiar Picks, and picture books.

Changes to Trove Time and Mother Goose

Changes to Trove Time and Mother Goose

Mother Goose Play Time, the Trove’s early literacy program for little ones up to 24 months with a caregiver, and Trove Time, our storytime and socialization/play program for ages 2-4 with their caregivers, are two of our most popular programs. The demand for the Mother Goose program has far exceeded its current once per week scheduling, so in February some changes will be taking place. Mother Goose Play Time is now Trove Time: Tiny Tots and will take place on both Monday and Friday mornings at 10:30 a.m. It will be the same early literacy rich program with songs, finger
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January 27, 2020 5:06 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Mother Goose, Trove Time, and Trove Time: Tiny Tots.

Peculiar Picks: Peter McCarty

Peculiar Picks: Peter McCarty

Peculiar picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Picture books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Jeremy Draws a Monster // The Monster Returns by Peter McCarty I’m starting off this series with “one” of my favorite books, the Jeremy and the Monster duology by Peter McCarty. McCarty is best known for Caldecott Honor Books, Hondo & Fabian, and New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year Henry in Love. But his Jeremy Draws a Monster
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January 24, 2020 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations, children's books, Peculiar Picks, Peter McCarty, picture books, and staff picks.

Makers Wanted!

Makers Wanted!

Become a Maker Corps Member and lead a summer of making in The Edge at the Library!  The White Plains Public Library, in partnership with Argus Information and Advisory Services, has been accepted to be a Maker Corps site this summer, which means that all summer long we will be holding STEM-related workshops and mini-camps. Are you a maker, a DIY enthusiast, an artist, or interested in new and emerging technologies?  The Library needs to hire two people as Maker Corps Members that are interested in the Maker movement, want to work with teens, and build an innovative and exciting
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March 31, 2017 4:31 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News, Technology, and Teens.
Tags: DIY, education, Maker, Maker Corps, STEM, summer, teens, and The Edge.

Safe Driving PSA 2016

Safe Driving PSA 2016

The number one cause of death to teenagers is car accidents. With this in mind, teens at the White Plains Public Library worked together to create a video about the dangers of distracted driving. Using animation and audio talents, the result was this year's Safe Driving Public Service Announcement (PSA) on YouTube. The project was made possible by the efforts and contributions from the Allstate Foundation, dedicated to the important mission of teaching youngsters not to text and drive and to be knowledgeable of the law. The teens are proud of their work, as they should be.  
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December 14, 2016 5:00 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Technology and Teens.