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November Programs for Younger Kids

November Programs for Younger Kids

Great programs for younger children take place all month long, every month, at the Library.  See our online calendar or stop in the Trove for location information. Autumn StoryWalk: Full of Fall On display on the Library Plaza through Wednesday, 11/30 Featuring Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre – a visually stunning picture book that captures the essence of Fall.  More information here. Storytime! Ages 2-6, Families Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m. – November 1, November 15, November 29 Thursdays, 11:00 a.m. – November 3, November 17 Stories, songs and fun with a Trove Librarian. Following Storytime, the children and caregivers
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November 2, 2022 9:55 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Activities for children in Westchester, activities for children in White Plains, children's events, dance, kids, live music, music, November 2022, performances, programs, storytime, The Trove, trove, and trove events.

Wanderhome: The Journey Begins

Wanderhome: The Journey Begins

Wednesday, November 9th, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Grades 7-12 Edge Media Lab No registration required! For more information click here. Have you ever been interested in playing D&D but felt too intimidated by all the rules? Ever read books like Erin Hunter's Warriors or Brian Jacques' Redwall series and wanted to have adventures like those characters? Look no further than the roleplaying game (RPG) Wanderhome! Wanderhome is a game created by Jay Dragon based on cooperative storytelling, with only a couple rules and guidelines to keep straight after character creation. The game is run either by a game master or
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November 1, 2022 2:00 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: dnd, Dungeons and Dragons, Roleplaying game, RPG, table top games, table top gaming, tabletop games, tabletop gaming, and Wanderhome.

November Middle Grade Pick of the Month

November 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! Windswept by Margi Preus Library Catalog: Print Windswept is a story within a story, regaling the reader with a story fit for a fairy tale about the journey of a young girl in search of her lost siblings. In a future of our world, when stories are banned, anyone under the age of fifteen is forbidden from going outside for fear of the wind sweeping them away.
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November 1, 2022 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: middle grade, middle grade fiction, Middle Grade Pick of the Month, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Parenting Collection

Parenting Collection

Did you know the Library has a Parenting Collection in the Trove filled with books for adults and children to help with various topics related to raising a child? Stop in and check it out! The Parenting Collection is a collection of titles to help caregivers raise children from pregnancy through teen years, as well as books written for children to help them understand themselves & the world, organized into topics including: Big Ideas! (social justice & activism, gender identity, racism & prejudice, etc.) Brain & Body COVID Family Illness Family Types Feelings Grief Maturing New Baby New Places Potty
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November 1, 2022 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: books for parents, books on parenting, caregivers, parenting, parenting books, parenting collection, parenting collections, and The Trove.

Announcing Kids Pick

Announcing Kids Pick

The Trove has a new program called Kids Pick which is for all Trove patrons to participate in! What is Kids Pick? Well, you just read a book and give us your review! Did you just read a book you can't stop talking about? Do you have a favorite book you think everyone should read? Maybe you love the illustrations in a new graphic novel! It is as easy as 1, 2, 3… Read a book! Fill out the Kids Pick form available in the Trove. Give the form to a Librarian at the Compass desk. We will put your
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October 31, 2022 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: book review, children's books, juvenile fiction, juvenile nonfiction, Kids Pick, and The Trove.

Freedom to Read Storytime

Freedom to Read Storytime

Wednesday, November 9th at 7:00 p.m. Age group: Children 3+ with their families Location: Auditorium Come celebrate Native American Heritage Month with us with the award-winning title Fry Bread; a Native American Family Story, by Kevin Noble Maillard and The People Shall Continue, by the multi-award winner author Simon J. Ortiz. Have fun with a family game and make a craft to take with you. Freedom to Read Storytime is part of the Library’s #WPFreedomToRead initiative. While the books read may not all be challenged, they represent the topics, themes, and people being censored – themes and creators representing diverse
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October 26, 2022 3:36 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: #WPFreedomtoRead, Freedom to Read Storytime, Native American Heritage Month, Observances and Celebrations, and storytime.

Westchester Breathes

Westchester Breathes

Fridays 9:30AM, October 28 – January 20. Come when you can! Register at conversations.westchesterlibraries.org/breathe Increase Your Resilience, Lower Your Stress This is a Zoom program. Participate in a program of gentle movement, breathing and relaxation exercises that reduce the experience of stress and anxiety. Come to this program to learn simple, proven exercises that can have a positive impact on your health and well-being. Get ready for the next moment from a place of calm and clarity. Sponsored by: Bedford Free Library, Bedford Hills Free Library, Harrison Public Library, Mamaroneck Public Library, New Rochelle Public Library, Ruth Keeler Memorial Library,
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October 25, 2022 2:30 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: Wellness, Wellness programs, and Westchester Breathes.

Free Citizenship Classes

Free Citizenship Classes

The New-York Historical Society offers free online citizenship classes for green card holders preparing for the naturalization interview. The online citizenship course prepares permanent residents for the civics test portion of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalization interview. The interactive online naturalization preparation course covers all 100 questions from the USCIS Civics Test. Participants learn about American history and government using objects, paintings, and documents from the New-York Historical collections through videoconferencing. Online citizenship classes are taught in English and are accessible to English Language Learners. They also offer an online Spanish citizenship class for people who
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October 20, 2022 11:01 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: citizenship, Citizenship classes, and U.S. citizenship.

The Writer’s Law School

The Writer’s Law School

If you're a writer, you know how difficult it is to obtain information about protecting your rights in creative projects as well as how to decipher the “legalese.” That's why you should attend The Writer’s Law School: Protecting your Artistic Rights, on Wednesday. October 19th from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Click here to register. In this workshop designed for writers, you'll learn: The differences between Copyright, Trademarks, Patents and Service Marks The Copyright Registration Process and the CASE law What is the Public Domain? What is the Fair Use Doctrine? Which Business Entity is best for my writing career? What
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October 18, 2022 10:22 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, and Library News.
Tags: author event, author rights, copyright law, Jode Millman, writing, and writing law.

New in The Edge: October 2022

New in The Edge: October 2022

Nothing beats waking up to a crisp autumn breeze and the aroma of cider filling your room. There isn’t a more perfect time to curl up with a great book. Fall is officially here, and with it, a bounty of new books for you to browse! When you visit the Edge where you’ll find something for every kind of reader.–Alain Laforest Big Lies: From Socrates to Social Media by Mark Kurlansky Grades 7 and up Library Catalog “In this noteworthy guide to media literacy, Kurlansky (Bugs in Danger) details events occurring over the past 300 years to break down the
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October 1, 2022 4:39 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: book recommendations, new books, new in the Edge, staff picks, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

October Middle Grade Pick of the Month

October 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! Valentina Salazar is NOT a Monster Hunter by Zoraida Córdova Library Catalog: Print Libby: eBook As the title makes clear, the main character of this novel is not a monster hunter – she’s a monster protector! …Or at least she used to be. For all of Valentina’s life, the Salazar family has protected the “monsters” who show up in our world and sent them back where they
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October 1, 2022 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: middle grade, middle grade fiction, Middle Grade Pick of the Month, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Jump Into Halloween! with Jumpin’ Jamie

Jump Into Halloween! with Jumpin’ Jamie

Saturday, 10/29: 2:00 p.m. Children, Families. Library Auditorium. Kindie rock musician Jumpin' Jamie returns with his puppet friends to celebrate “Spooky Season” with a high-energy show filled with music and magic including the hit song “Ghost In My House” which has been ranked by Yahoo, Time Out NY, and Good Housekeeping as a “Top Halloween Song”. Jumpin' Jamie has performed thousands of shows for audiences as varied as birthday parties for 12 people to stadiums for 12,000. Jumpin' Jamie's debut album “Kookie” was released in 2018 and features appearances from members of They Might Be Giants, the late Peter Tork,
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October 1, 2022 8:30 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: events for children, events for kids, halloween, Halloween events in Westchester, Halloween events in White Plains, Jumpin' Jamie, music, Observances and Celebrations, puppets, and trove events.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. My last Peculiar Picks featured the title Yeti, Turn Out the Light! Here’s a big list featuring bigfoots (bigfeet?), sasquatch(es?), and yeti(s?). The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot by Scott Magoon Library Catalog / hoopla In this variation on the classic “Boy Who Cried Wolf” tale, young Ben regularly tells tall tales of seeing bigfoot, and when no one believes
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September 26, 2022 9:27 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Bigfoot, children's books, children's literature, Peculiar Picks, picture books, Sasquatch, staff picks, staff recommendations, and Yeti.

September Middle Grade Pick of the Month

September 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! Definitely Dominguita: Knight of the Cape by Terry Catasús Jennings Library Catalog: Print Libby: Digital Audiobook Knight of the Cape is the first book in the Definitely Dominguita series about a young Cuban-American girl who goes on adventures in her neighborhood, inspired by the classic books she reads and rereads to feel close with her abuela, who has moved to Florida. In the first book, Knight of
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September 25, 2022 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: middle grade, middle grade fiction, Middle Grade Pick of the Month, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Banned Books Quiz

Banned Books Quiz

Defend the first amendment and celebrate the freedom to read freely, or as Jay-Z famously said, “We change people through conversation, not through censorship.” In honor of Banned Books Week – September 18 – 24 — please join us at 7:00pm on Wednesday, September 21st via Zoom as author Christopher Finan talks about his book How Free Speech Saved Democracy: The Untold History of How the First Amendment Became an Essential Tool for Securing Liberty and Social Justice. Finan will be interviewed by Oren Teicher, former CEO of the American Bookseller's Association. This event and our banned books title quiz,
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September 18, 2022 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: #WPFreedomtoRead, banned books, Banned Books Quiz, and Banned Books Week.

September LibraryReads

September LibraryReads

Here are the books published this month that librarians across the country love. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell Library Collection: Print / Large Print Libby: eBook / Audiobook In 16th-century Italy, teen Lucrezia de Medici passes from her father's control to her husband's, with neither considering her a person with a right to her own life. O'Farrell's poetic writing pulls you into this tale based on the likely subject of Robert Browning's poem “My Last Duchess.” For fans of Geraldine Brooks, Isabel Allende, and Hillary Mantel.”—Diana Armstrong, Multnomah County Library, Portland, ORThe American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas Library
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September 12, 2022 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations, librarian recommendations, Library Reads, LibraryReads, and staff picks.

September Programs for Younger Kids

September Programs for Younger Kids

Some great regularly occurring programs for younger children take place all month long, in-person, at the Library.  Check the online calendar or ask in the Trove for specific locations for each event. Check out our Autumn StoryWalk featuring Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre on the Library Plaza from Thursday, September 1st – Wednesday, November 30th, 2022.  More information here. Storytime! Ages 2-6, Families Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m. – September 13, September 20, September 27 Thursdays, 11:00 a.m. – September 8, September 22 Saturday, 2:00 p.m. – September 10 Books, songs and fun with Trove librarians! Move & Groove with
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September 7, 2022 3:04 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: children's events, dance, kids, live music, music, performances, programs, September 2022, storytime, The Trove, trove, and trove events.

Meet Karen Jackson

Meet Karen Jackson

Most library patrons will recognize Karen Jackson, who joined the Library 18 years ago. Besides many behind-the-scenes jobs, she was responsible for our periodicals collection and helped out at the Hub desk as well. We're very pleased that Karen is starting a new phase of her career with us as an adult services librarian. You mentioned that when you were getting your undergraduate degree, you had thought about becoming an accountant. What made you decide to become a librarian instead? I realized that what I really enjoyed was helping people, and that I could do more of that as a
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September 6, 2022 2:27 pm | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, Featured, and Library News.
Tags: Karen Jackson, library staff, Meet the Staff, and staff interview.

Meet Erica Roberts

Meet Erica Roberts

Our newest librarian is Erica Roberts, a native of Maryland who recently graduated from the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science at Chapel Hill. What interested you in becoming a librarian? When I graduated college, I was sure I was going to end up working in the publishing industry. After a number of false starts, I ended up working at my local Barnes and Noble – and as much as I hated the sell-sell-sell focus of the job, I did really love interacting with customers and offering book recommendations. When a relative suggested I talk with
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September 5, 2022 5:09 pm | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Director's Corner, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Erica Roberts, library staff, Meet the Staff, and staff interview.

New Books in the Edge: September 2022

New Books in the Edge: September 2022

Fall weather is reading weather! Whether you're searching for avant-garde science-fiction, true stories of perseverance, or spooky tales, here are a few of titles coming to the Edge shelves this month.–Alain Laforest Three Kisses, One Midnight by Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, Evelyn Skye Grades 7 and up Library Catalog “The book is set during the Halloween season in Moon Ridge, a town with a mysterious legend tied to the holiday. This legend tells of a young lady who, once a century, haunts the area on Halloween night, granting romantic wishes. Familiar with the local lore, teens Onny, Ash, and True
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September 1, 2022 11:58 am | 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.