Posts by Kathlyn, Teen Librarian

January Project LIT Book Club for Teens

January Project LIT Book Club for Teens

Calling all middle and high school students for a monthly virtual book club for teens. Each month, join librarians Kat and Lauren to discuss a Project LIT book and compete against friends in a mini trivia game. On Friday, January 8 at 6:30 p.m., we’ll discuss Dear Martin by Nic Stone. Over the summer, Dear Martin appeared on the 8th grade, 9th grade, and My Brother’s Keeper summer reading lists. We’re excited to have the chance to focus on this thought-provoking story in our book club. When we first meet main character Justyce, he’s trying to keep his ex-girlfriend from
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December 11, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: book clubs, book discussion, book group, Project Lit, Project Lit Chapter, Project Lit Community, teen book club, and teens.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: YA Books

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: YA Books

The United Nations recognizes December 3rd as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I put together a list of YA books featuring a variety of characters living with some type of disability. I read A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman, about a dancer in India who has part of one leg amputated after an accident. Since childhood, Veda has been focused entirely on dancing. The book opens just as she wins a particularly sweet victory at a dance competition. On the way home, however, her dance troupe’s van is in a serious accident, and Veda is so severely
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December 1, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Observances and Celebrations, Observances and Holidays, staff picks, staff recommendations, teen books, and YA books.

Hey Kids! It’s a Snow Day!

Hey Kids! It’s a Snow Day!

Need some ideas for making the most of your snow day? See some of our staff recommendations below. Snow Day Activities Polar Express Train! Read The Polar Express (Hoopla; OverDrive) by Chris Van Allsburg and let your child’s imagination run wild. Make decorated tickets from paper. Build a snow train outside or use furniture and blankets and more to make a train inside. All aboard! Host Your Own Winter Olympics A snow obstacle course with snow mounds to climb over, snow tunnels to crawl through. A sled race. Distance and accuracy snowball throwing competitions – setup targets, such as a
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December 1, 2020 12:01 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: activities, children's books, eBooks, fun, picture books, snow day, staff picks, staff recommendations, and STEAM.

Teen Volunteering Opportunities

Teen Volunteering Opportunities

Almost everything about the 2020-21 school year is different, and that includes earning community service hours. With library services restricted by safety concerns, we’re offering community service credit to teens who review YA books for our website. This month, I’d also like to highlight a few volunteer opportunities from Volunteer New York! that would be great for teens. I’m focusing on opportunities that can be done virtually, contact-free, or outdoors, and ideally with minimal supplies. Follow the link to the Volunteer New York! post for each opportunity to make sure you get all the relevant information. Thank You Cards for
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November 30, 2020 12:56 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: staff picks, teen volunteers, teens, and Volunteer! New York.

December Project LIT Book Club for Teens

December Project LIT Book Club for Teens

Calling all middle and high school students for a monthly virtual book club for teens. Each month, join librarians Kat and Lauren to discuss a Project LIT book and compete against friends in a mini trivia game. On Friday, December 4th at 4 p.m., we’ll discuss Scythe by Neal Shusterman. Scythe was my favorite Battle of the Books selection of all time; even my husband read the series, which is saying something. In this near-future science fiction tale, humanity has conquered death. To control population size and preserve resources, a group of public servants known as Scythes are charged with
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November 18, 2020 11:23 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: book clubs, Project Lit, Project Lit Chapter, Project Lit Community, teen book club, and teens.

Grab&Go Grades 7-12: Yarn Pumpkins

Grab&Go Grades 7-12: Yarn Pumpkins

Which Craft? Wednesday has been phased into Grab ‘n Go Craft Kits! Instead of finding materials around the house, teens in grades 7-12 can pick supplies up from the Library lobby, then follow along with the instructional video below to make the project. Or, you can find the materials around your home and follow the video to make the project. This month we're making another gourd-themed fall decor item: yarn pumpkins. The kit includes orange yarn, two pipe cleaners (yellow and green), a balloon, Elmer's glue, and a plastic fork. We'll be following the instructions from this post from the
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November 16, 2020 11:12 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News and Teens.
Tags: arts & crafts, crafts, crafts at home, fall crafts, Grab&Go Kits, The Edge, and tutorials.

Creative Writing for Middle Grades

Creative Writing for Middle Grades

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is celebrated every November and encourages writers of all ages to pledge to write 50,000 words, or a novel, in one month. In the spirit of encouraging creative writing, White Plains Public Library will present a series of virtual creative writing sessions for children grades 4-8 at 4 p.m on Wednesdays November 4th, 18th and 25th. Instead of focusing on a specific word count, or finishing an entire novel, we will dive into the structure of stories, have fun with fanfiction, discuss personal experience with NaNoWriMo and provide free writing time using fun prompts as
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November 16, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: creative writing, NaNoWriMo, trove events, virtual events, writing workshop, and youth writing workshop.

Reads Revisited: The Trumpet of the Swan

Reads Revisited: The Trumpet of the Swan

Reads Revisited is a blog series where Trove and Edge Librarians revisit some of their favorite childhood stories. In today's column, Edge Librarian Kathlyn Carroll revisits The Trumpet of the Swan (Catalog) by E. B. White. I was so excited when Ashley came up with the idea for this series of blog posts re-examining a favorite childhood book. I immediately thought of Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White, which I read over and over again in early elementary school. I was a serial re-reader; on trips to the school media center, my second grade teacher began requiring me
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November 16, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: children's books, children's literature, E. B. White, Reads Revisited, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Stamped Book Discussions for Children and Teens

Stamped Book Discussions for Children and Teens

This fall, join the Youth Services department for a series of events surrounding the Library’s city-wide reading initiative, One Book, One White Plains. We'll be reading Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. The book is available in regular print, large print, and CD audiobook from our physical collection and as a digital audiobook and eBook from OverDrive and Libby. To give teens more time to read the book, we've postponed our teen book discussion of Stamped. The book club has been rescheduled for Monday, November 9th, at 4:30 p.m. We’ll discuss the book and
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November 2, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: Antiracism, book discussion, book group, Ibram X. Kendi, Jason Reynolds, One Book One White Plains, Racism, Sachi Feris, and teen book club.

Antiracism: Next Steps

Antiracism: Next Steps

October has been a very eventful month for antiracism at the library, with the Race Consciousness workshop for parents and caregivers on October 21st, and the conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi on October 28th. While these events were enlightening and motivational, the mission of antiracism work has not been accomplished. If you attended either of these events, I hope you are now energized and ready to learn-and do-more. Don’t let your antiracism work end there. With that goal in mind, I’ve gathered a collection of further resources you can use to keep the momentum of your personal antiracism work
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October 30, 2020 10:59 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: Antiracism, books, Ibram X. Kendi, podcast, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

National Native American Heritage Month: YA Fiction

National Native American Heritage Month: YA Fiction

November is National Native American Heritage Month. I wanted to focus on a book that depicts Native people in the present day; too often, the image of Native people in popular culture is stuck in the past. In our reading, we can become more familiar with the lives and experiences of Native people today. For more books that offer insight into the many aspects of life as a Native teen, check out this blog by Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo; Reese is a noted scholar on the subject of Native peoples’ representation in children and YA books, and her blog
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October 27, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, National Native American Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, Observances and Celebrations, staff picks, staff recommendations, and teen books.

Grab&Go Grades 7-12: Pumpkin Garland Kit

Grab&Go Grades 7-12: Pumpkin Garland Kit

As Halloween approaches, I'm sad to miss the annual tradition of decorating mini pumpkins with the teens in the Edge. It's one of my favorite crafts, so I recreated the activity as a Grab&Go kit. We'll draw and color jack-o-lantern faces on construction paper pumpkins. Then we'll attach them to a string for a festive garland to hang on the wall. The kit contains 8 construction paper pumpkins and a string for the garland. You'll need to provide a pen (or markers) and tape. The kits will be available on Monday, October 19th, in the vestibule. Follow along with the
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October 20, 2020 9:10 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: arts & crafts, crafts, crafts at home, Grab&Go Kits, halloween crafts, and The Edge.

Race Consciousness: Recommended Reading, Part 4

Race Consciousness: Recommended Reading, Part 4

On Wednesday October 21st, Sachi Feris of the blog Raising Race Conscious Children will lead a workshop to help parents and caregivers learn how to talk about race with young children. Each week until the workshop, I’ll share an article or resource to help you begin thinking about some related topics. Recommended Reading, Part 1 Recommended Reading, Part 2 Recommended Reading, Part 3 For our final recommended reading piece, let’s check out a post from Sachi’s own blog: “100 Race-Conscious Things You Can Say to Your Child to Advance Racial Justice.” As you may infer from the title, this post
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October 14, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured and Library News.
Tags: Antiracism, caregiver, children, parenting, parents, raising race conscious children, The Trove, and White Plains Library Foundation.

Youth Poetry Workshops

Youth Poetry Workshops

Westchester’s first Youth Poet Laureate, Danielle Kohn, is leading two poetry workshops for young people in October. Danielle was named Youth Poet Laureate in January 2020, and has since been busy sharing her love of poetry with libraries and communities around Westchester. Danielle believes that poetry is for everyone. She uses approachable activities to encourage participants to give it a try. In these workshops, participants will learn about different forms of poetry, engage in fun writing games, follow stimulating prompts, and create their own masterpieces. The virtual workshop on Tuesday, October 6th at 4:30 p.m. is for children in grades
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October 13, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: Danielle Kohn, edge events, poetry, poetry workshop, trove events, and writing workshop.

Virtual Teen Volunteering

Virtual Teen Volunteering

Almost everything about the 2020-21 school year is different, and that includes earning community service hours. Usually around this time the fall sessions of the Do Gooders, the Library’s teen community service group, would be well underway. With library services restricted by safety concerns, we’re offering a different opportunity for teens to earn volunteer hours directly through us. We’re collecting book reviews written by teens, to be featured on our website. Teens can submit a book review by filling out this online form; each review is worth one hour, with a cap of 8 hours per person per month. I’d
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October 9, 2020 4:35 pm | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Do Gooders, teen book review, teen volunteers, and The Edge.

Race Consciousness: Recommended Reading, Part 3

Race Consciousness: Recommended Reading, Part 3

On Wednesday October 21st, Sachi Feris of the blog Raising Race Conscious Children will lead a workshop to help parents and caregivers learn how to talk about race with young children. Each week until the workshop, I’ll share an article or resource to help you begin thinking about some related topics. Recommended Reading, Part 1 Recommended Reading, Part 2 Recommended Reading, Part 4 This week, I’d like to share a few different resources that I’ve encountered as a librarian, but have found useful as a parent as well. These resources can help parents think through the way they use children’s
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October 7, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: Antiracism, caregiver, children, parenting, parents, raising race conscious children, The Trove, and White Plains Library Foundation.

Mindfulness Practices for Teens

Mindfulness Practices for Teens

It’s an understatement to say that 2020 has been an unusually stressful year so far. This is the perfect time to draw on Mindfulness Practices, a teen program we’ve previously done both on Zoom and in the library. But with school back in session, we thought another scheduled Zoom meeting might not be the best way to help teens relax. Instead, we’re offering a series of three recorded Mindfulness sessions with yoga and Mindfulness educator Cristina Ortiz. You might know Cristina from her previous work as a teacher in White Plains schools. In addition to her certifications as a yoga
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October 2, 2020 2:09 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: mindfulness, stress management, teens, The Edge, and Wellness.

Wellness from the Edge: Mindfulness Practices

Wellness from the Edge: Mindfulness Practices

It’s an understatement to say that 2020 has been an unusually stressful year so far. This is the perfect time to draw on Mindfulness Practices, including techniques to help teens manage stress and promote wellbeing. On this page, you'll find a series of three recorded Mindfulness sessions with yoga and Mindfulness educator Cristina Ortiz. Teens can watch at a time that’s most helpful to them, whether it’s a way to unwind in the evening, or a much-needed break during a stressful day. Cristina has thoughtfully paired each video with a printable page to help teens continue using what they’ve learned
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October 2, 2020 2:07 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: mindfulness, stress management, teens, The Edge, and Wellness.

Race Consciousness: Recommended Reading, Part 2

Race Consciousness: Recommended Reading, Part 2

On Wednesday October 21st, Sachi Feris of the blog Raising Race Conscious Children will lead a workshop to help parents and caregivers learn how to talk about race with young children. Each week until the workshop, I’ll share an article or resource to help you begin thinking about some related topics. Recommended Reading, Part 1 Recommended Reading, Part 3 Recommended Reading, Part 4 This week, I’m sharing a New York Times article: “These Books Can Help You Explain Racism and Protest to Your Kids.” While the article was written in early June, it’s still relevant. Author Jessica Grose interviewed a
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September 30, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Antiracism, caregiver, children, parenting, parents, raising race conscious children, The Trove, and White Plains Library Foundation.

Mental Illness Awareness Week: YA Fiction

Mental Illness Awareness Week: YA Fiction

The National Alliance on Mental Illness honors Mental Illness Awareness Week during the first week in October. To mark the occasion, I'm highlighting some of the many characters in YA fiction who deal with mental health challenges. I first read I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, by Erika L. Sanchez, a couple of years ago. I considered it when working on last month’s post, and decided to listen to a little bit of the audiobook to refresh my memory… and just kept listening as the story hooked me in all over again. The audiobook was excellent. The narrator really
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September 24, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: books, Dive into Diversity, Mental Illness Awareness Week, Observances and Celebrations, staff picks, staff recommendations, and teen books.