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New Books in the Edge: December 2024

New Books in the Edge: December 2024

One of the best parts of my job is ordering new books for the Edge–reading the reviews, seeing what popular authors come up with next, or finding out about an upcoming sequel to an old favorite. Read on to find out about some of the new YA fiction titles coming to our shelves this month. -Kat Carroll, Teen Services Librarian When the Mapou Sings by Nadine Pinede Grades 8 and up Library Catalog “Sixteen-year-old Lucille comes of age in 1930s Haiti. Following the death of her mother during childbirth, Lucille has been cared for by her woodworker father and maternal
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December 20, 2024 1:16 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: new books, new in the Edge, staff picks, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

Calendar of Events for Children and Teens

Calendar of Events for Children and Teens

Below please find our monthly Youth Services calendars of events – one for Up to Grade 6 and one for Grades 7-12.   Of course, be sure to check our online calendar for the most up-to-date information on programs, including any changes or cancellations.
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December 16, 2024 10:11 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: children's events in White Plains, events, and Teen events in White Plains.

What’s Next in the Edge: January 2025

What’s Next in the Edge: January 2025

Read on to find out about the activities we've planned for grades 7-12 this winter. As usual, we have a lot going on. Stop by anytime during Edge hours to say hello and find out more about the Edge. Edge Hours Monday – Thursday: 3:00-8:00 p.m. Friday: 3:00-6:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 1:00-5:00 p.m. Drop-in Activities No registration is required for these ongoing programs for grades 7-12. Video Game Time Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during Edge hours. Tech Tuesday Youth in grades 4-12 will learn about new technology topics on select Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m. Thoughtful Thursday Take time for
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December 16, 2024 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: events for teens in Westchester, events for teens in White Plains, The Edge, and what's new in the Edge.

Kids in the Kitchen 4

Kids in the Kitchen 4

Welcome to Kids in the Kitchen.  This blog series highlights great cookbooks for kids. In this entry, the spotlight is on some fun pop culture inspired cookbooks. Barbie Cooks! a Healthy Cookbook Library Catalog “In this colorful cookbook of over 50 recipes, Barbie encourages kids to make healthy choices by developing their culinary skills and kitchen creativity. Breakfast bites like Loaded Avocado Toast and Mini Frittatas; filling lunch and dinner fare such as Summery Minestrone, Rainbow Carrot Ribbon Salad, and Spaghetti Squash Pizza bowls; and sweet and savory shareables like Sweet Potato Oven Fries and No-Bake Cheesecake Jars, provide kids
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December 13, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: books for kids, cookbooks, Kids in the Kitchen, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Paws to Read

Paws to Read

Paws to Read is our popular “read to a dog” program during which children in grades K-6 can read with therapy dog Rufus. Paws for Reading takes place on Fridays – January 10 & 24 and February 7 & 28  – from 4:00-5:00 p.m. Spots are very limited.  Sign up at the Compass Desk in the Trove starting 30 minutes prior.  Reading with a therapy dog has numerous benefits for children. Reading to a dog is therapeutic, calming and very rewarding. According to American Libraries Magazines.org, “…children read aloud to animals–usually dogs–instead of their peers, and the fear of making
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December 12, 2024 12:29 pm | by | 3 Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: early literacy, Paws for Reading, Paws to Read, therapy dog, and therapy reading dog.

2024 Staff Favorites: Music and Movies

2024 Staff Favorites: Music and Movies

The White Plains Library Staff have assembled their favorite movies, music and television. It's a wonderfully wide-ranging list and should help with your holiday shopping or just some entertainment for yourself. Enjoy! Below you'll find a list with links to the catalog or resource where they're available as well as a blurb on why staff enjoyed it. On the Screen: The Booksellers  This documentary presents a lively view of New York’s antiquarian, rare-book scene and the fascinating, passionate collectors and dealers who inhabit it. The film is directed by D.W. Young and narrated by actress Parker Posey, with insightful comments
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December 10, 2024 3:08 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: 2024 staff picks, movies, music, and staff favorites.

2024 Staff Favorites for Adults

2024 Staff Favorites for Adults

The White Plains Library Staff have assembled their picks for the year, featuring literary fiction, audiobooks, fantasy, music, and more. It's a wonderfully wide-ranging list, full of lots of surprises, and should help with your holiday shopping or just some entertainment for yourself. Enjoy! Below you'll find a list with links to the catalog as well as a blurb on why staff enjoyed it. Adults AI Prompt Writing by Emma Grimberg Whether you’re creating stories, art, or music, this guide shows you how to harness the power of AI prompts to bring your ideas to life in a whole new
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December 10, 2024 3:07 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations, books for adults, staff favorites, and staff picks.

2024 Staff Favorites for Kids and Teens

2024 Staff Favorites for Kids and Teens

The White Plains Library Staff have assembled their picks for the year for kids and teens! It's a wonderfully wide-ranging list and should help with your holiday shopping or just some entertainment for yourself. Enjoy! Below you'll find a list with links to the catalog or resource where they're available as well as a blurb on why staff enjoyed it. Kids: Elephant and Piggie Series and more by Mo Willems My first-grade son, who recently switched from a frustrated reader to an excited reader, devours Mo Willems' books – especially the Elephant and Piggie Series. He insists nightly that he reads one Elephant and
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December 10, 2024 3:07 pm | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Homepage Kids.

New Books in the Trove: December 2024

New Books in the Trove: December 2024

We have new books coming in all the time with them on display right as you enter the Trove.  Here’s some of our recent favorite new titles! For Wee Ones Play Games With Me by Kat Chen and Lorraine Nam (Birth to 3 Years-Old) Library Catalog “Let's play! This lively board book follows Alex, a small Black child, who engages readers by asking questions like, ‘What's your name? What a great name! Would you like to play some games with us?’ This title can help children who are anxious in social situations, allowing them to practice responding to questions alongside
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December 10, 2024 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, and Kids.

‘Wicked’ at Your Fingertips

‘Wicked’ at Your Fingertips

Are you off to see the Wizard?  Or have you already seen Wicked, and now you can't stop humming Defying Gravity? Never fear, you can fully immerse yourself in all things Wicked for free with your library card on hoopla!  Listen to the film's soundtrack starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, or reminisce with the original Broadway cast recording featuring Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Read or listen to the book by Gregory Maguire that the movie is based on, and get ready for the forthcoming sequel by reading Maguire's Son of a Witch.  They even have a documentary about the stage production,
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December 5, 2024 11:53 am | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: hoopla, movie soundtrack, and wicked.

December Kid Librarian of the Month

December Kid Librarian of the Month

Each month a kid is chosen to curate a display in The Trove with some of their favorite books. Are you interested in being next month’s kid librarian? Fill out a submission form available at The Trove Desk!  Name: Josie Age: 11 Favorite type of books: Dystopian, Realistic Fiction, & Mysteries Why do you like to read? Because books are really fun! Check out Josie’s recommended reads! To Stay Alive by Skila Brown All Available Formats The journey west by wagon train promises to be long and arduous for nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Graves and her parents and eight siblings. Yet
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December 2, 2024 2:07 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, and Kids.
Tags: children's literature, Kid Librarian of the Month, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Local Food Pantries

Local Food Pantries

Below is a list of active local food pantries. Schedules vary. Alcance Latino 346 S. Lexington Ave, White Plains, NY 10606 (914) 458-5088   El Centro Hispano 295 Central Ave, White Plains, NY 10606 First and Third of the month 3:00 p.m. (914) 289-0500   Grace Episcopal Church 33 Church St, White Plains, NY 10601 (914) 949-2874   Ridgeway Alliance 465 Ridgeway, White Plains, NY 10605 (914) 949-3714 Make the Road New York 46 Waller Ave, White Plains, NY 10601 (914) 948-8466 Salvation Army 16 Sterling Ave White Plains, NY 914.949.2908   Ecumenical Food Pantry Thomas H. Slater Center 2
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November 27, 2024 2:33 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: COVID-19, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: food bank, food pantries, and food pantry.

What’s Next in the Edge: December 2024

What’s Next in the Edge: December 2024

Read on to find out about the activities we've planned for grades 7-12 this winter. As usual, we have a lot going on. Stop by anytime during Edge hours to say hello and find out more about the Edge. Edge Hours Monday – Thursday: 3:00-8:00 p.m. Friday: 3:00-6:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 1:00-5:00 p.m. Drop-in Activities No registration is required for these ongoing programs for grades 7-12. Video Game Time Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during Edge hours. Tech Tuesday Youth in grades 4-12 will learn about new technology topics on select Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m. Thoughtful Thursday Take time for
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November 20, 2024 2:30 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: December 2024, events for teens in Westchester, events for teens in White Plains, The Edge, and what's new in the Edge.

New Books in the Trove: November 2024

New Books in the Trove: November 2024

We have new books coming in all the time with them on display right as you enter the Trove.  Here’s some of our recent favorite new titles! For Wee Ones Awake , Asleep by Kyle Lukoff and Nadia Alam (Birth to 3 Years-Old) Library Catalog “From dawn to bedtime, loving glimpses of children living through an ordinary day. Writing almost entirely in rhyming, sonorous sequences of simple nouns, Lukoff begins with sunrise—’A kiss, a blink, a dawn, / a break. // A yawn, / a peep, / a stretch, / awake!’—and goes on to caption cozy digital paintings of three
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November 19, 2024 4:15 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, and Kids.
Tags: children's literature, new books, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Author Visit Storytime: Laura Bower

Author Visit Storytime: Laura Bower

Author Visit Storytime: Emily Snook: The World’s Smallest Cook by Laura Bower Saturday, December 14th at 11 am For: Families Location: Galaxy Hall Come enjoy a Special Author Storytime with Laura Bower who will be reading her book, Emily Snook: The World’s Smallest Cook. Kids are also invited to make a craft! About the Book: Emily Snook is a whiz in the kitchen. But when she enters an international cooking contest and meets the competition, her hopes of winning deflate like a botched soufflé. Everyone is older, taller and in serious doubt of her cooking capabilities! A classic underdog story,
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November 19, 2024 12:08 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, and Kids.
Tags: author storytime, author visits, children's literature, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

December Middle Grade Pick of the Month

December Middle Grade Pick of the Month

Middle grade is a term that refers to books written for readers between the ages of eight and twelve. In this column, Erica will recommend great books for children in this age group! Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfrid All available formats here In the wake of a terrifying encounter that prompted the family move, everything in Lizzie’s life is beginning to change – except her (or at least that’s how it feels). Unlike her best friend Sarah Nan – unlike pretty much everyone in her middle school – Lizzie doesn’t care about dating, and she feels isolated and confused. But
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November 19, 2024 12:00 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, and Kids.
Tags: middle grade, middle grade fiction, Middle Grade Pick of the Month, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

December K-6 Programs

December K-6 Programs

For our elementary schoolers, please join us for our programs at The Trove! We have an array of activities for different age groups throughout the month.  Make Your Own Snow!- Families/All Ages The Castle December 4th 3:30-5:00 PM Whether or not the weather outside is frightful, come to the library for a delightful sensory craft! Make and play with your own snow that you can take home! LEGO Club! – Grades 1-6 Galaxy Hall December 9th 3:30-5:30PM December 23rd 3:30-5:30PM Drop in and build with the Library's LEGOs. Each session we'll provide a building theme or challenge, but also feel
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November 19, 2024 11:11 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, and Kids.
Tags: children's programs, December 2024, December programs, K-2 Hour, K-6 Hour, and storytime for grades K-2.

New Books in the Edge: November 2024

New Books in the Edge: November 2024

One of the best parts of my job is ordering new books for the Edge–reading the reviews, seeing what popular authors come up with next, or finding out about an upcoming sequel to an old favorite. Read on to find out about some of the new YA fiction titles coming to our shelves this month. Lady of Steel and Straw by Erica Ivy Rodgers Grades 8 and up Library Catalog “Two hundred years after the wraith wars, Parson Rainier Worthington, an infamous member of the Order of Guardians, awakens from his scarecrow form to help an 18-year-old girl save the
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November 19, 2024 11:03 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, and Teens.
Tags: new books, new in the Edge, staff picks, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

December Is…

December Is…

Each month a variety of observances and celebrations take place, from well-known holidays to much lesser known fun (and downright funny or strange!) observances.  Here are some great younger reads to go with some of them. December is National Pear Month Too Many Pears by Jackie French All Available Formats Pamela the cow loves pears, and will do just about anything to get them. But will anyone else ever get to eat a pear again? Certainly not until Pamela has had her fill . . . and chooses something else to eat! Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears by
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November 19, 2024 11:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, and Teens.
Tags: books for children, books for kids, children's books, December 2024, December festivities, and Observances and Celebrations.

Westchester Women: A Window into their Worlds Fiber Art by Heather G. Stoltz

Westchester Women: A Window into their Worlds Fiber Art by Heather G. Stoltz

Women often live multiple lives at once, trying to be the perfect mother, daughter, employee, boss, friend, and community member all while hiding challenges in one realm from those in another. Those carefully constructed walls came crashing down in 2020 when the pandemic forced everyone inside where those walls became windows and the different aspects of their lives began to merge together. This exhibition gives a glimpse of what was happening in some women’s lives during those tumultuous times. See how a women ranging from a priest to a doctor to a small business owner juggled the various aspects of
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November 19, 2024 10:46 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Gallery, Homepage, and Library News.