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Coronavirus [COVID-19] Facts

Coronavirus [COVID-19] Facts

The Library has gathered a list of trusted sources to provide factual information on the virus and steps to protect yourself. Bookmark these sites and return to them regularly for information you can trust: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] will provide updated information as it becomes available, in addition to updated guidance. Local information from the Weschester County Department of Health. Information from the New York State Department of Heath. World Health Organization‘s continuous updates with helpful information for individuals and the workplace. Information from the National Library of Medicine. Go to “Statistics and Research” for numbers
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March 5, 2020 2:18 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, and Library News.

Board Book Bonanza: Women’s History Month

Board Book Bonanza: Women’s History Month

“Board Book Bonanza” highlights the wealth of excellent board books being published for babies and young preschoolers for parents and caregivers to share with their little-ones. It's never too early to have fun and learn about science, art, history, and so much more! Recently, authors and illustrators have created a variety of collective biographies and biographies for babies with age-appropriate content. Here are some notable board book biographies of women to celebrate Women’s History Month: Dream Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison “Harrison offers an uplifting celebration of black leaders from the past and present. The subjects include scientists, artists
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March 2, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: board book bonanza, board books, and womens history month.

African Folktales

African Folktales

The African continent is home to many peoples and cultures. This sample covers only 6 diverse peoples from Africa, leaving many more to explore. Whet your appetite with these stories and visit the Trove to find many more. Enjoy! Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile, by Won-Ldy Paye “A clever chicken outwits a hungry crocodile by convincing the reptile that she is her sister. This trickster tale is smart and funny. It comes from the Dan people of Liberia and this illustrated version is perfect for a younger audience.”—School Library Journal Beautiful Blackbird, by Ashley Bryan “Because they don't have
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February 28, 2020 2:06 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

African American Tradition

African American Tradition

The African American tradition of storytelling helps bring together collective experiences and wisdom through well-known characters and stories as in the ones selected here. Enjoy these stories of hope, humor, kindness, cleverness, and more. Jump! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, by Joel Chandler Harris “The folktales collected by Harris from former slaves at the end-of-the-century constitute a valuable contribution to African American folklore. The illustrations, full-page portraits of the character and their antics, are in pen-and-ink and watercolors. They match the text in humor and vigor.”—School Library Journal The Headless Haunt and Other African-American Ghost Stories, by James Haskins “A
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February 27, 2020 4:24 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: african american tradition, black history month, children's books, folk tales, ghost stories, Observances and Celebrations, and storytelling.

Girl Power in Picture Books

Girl Power in Picture Books

White Plains is a wonderfully diverse community! Parents, children and teens have expressed an interest in titles that reflect the diversity in the community, and Ashley, Kathlyn, and Raquel's “Dive Into Diversity” column will spotlight noteworthy children's and teen titles that are inclusive, diverse and multicultural to fulfill that interest. Raquel's portion is aimed at readers up to Grade 3. A good web resource for book ideas to celebrate Women’s History Month is the A Mighty Girl website, which “features over 3,000 girl-empowering books.” Here are a few of the great picture books for young readers to celebrate Women’s History
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February 27, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: picture books and womens history month.

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.

Pointers 4 Parents: The Breaking News

Pointers 4 Parents: The Breaking News

Lauren's “Pointers 4 Parents” column features tips, tricks, and resources for caregivers with a specific focus on children with special needs. In light of all the terrible news that we see daily, be it on the news, social media, or in real life, here are some resources to help you talk to your children. Caroline Knorr of Common Sense Media suggests tips for talking to kids about violence, crime, and war at different ages. Common Sense Media is an amazing online resource for parents in general, not just for this topic. It gives parents information about nearly everything media related
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February 27, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations and pointers 4 parents.

Writing Tips for Young Writers: Writing Blocks

Writing Tips for Young Writers: Writing Blocks

Caroline's “Writing Tips for Young Writers” column will feature fun writing prompts/props to motivate students in grades 3-6 to pursue creative writing. This month's column is “Writing Blocks: Find a Writing Buddy!” Do you find yourself hitting a writing block—a feeling of not being able to write—even if you have to work on an assignment? Do you love to write for fun but feel as if you are climbing Mount Everest with each blank page? As someone who loves to read and has been published, I still feel intimidated by the blank pages that await me. However, I’ve learned that
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February 7, 2020 11:22 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: creative writing and writing tips.

Dive into Diversity: Celebrating Black History Month with Picture Books

Dive into Diversity: Celebrating Black History Month with Picture Books

White Plains is a wonderfully diverse community! Parents, children and teens have expressed an interest in titles that reflect the diversity in the community, and Ashley, Kathlyn, and Raquel's “Dive Into Diversity” column will spotlight noteworthy children's and teen titles that are inclusive, diverse and multicultural to fulfill that interest. Raquel's portion is aimed at readers up to Grade 3. A great resource for parents and educators looking for the newest, excellent titles for children by African-American writers and illustrators is The Brown Bookshelf’s 28 Days Later: A Black History Month Celebration of Children’s Literature at 28 Days Later. Highlighted
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February 1, 2020 10:37 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: black history month, children's books, Dive into Diversity, diverse reads, Observances and Celebrations, picture books, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

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.

Fantastic Nonfiction for Fourth to Sixth Graders

Fantastic Nonfiction for Fourth to Sixth Graders

There are so many amazing books published for fourth to sixth graders. Each month in Ashley's column “So You Want Your Fourth to Sixth Grader to Read Fantastic Books,” recommendations of great stories will be given to caregivers that will have their kids begging to visit the library to check out more awesome books! If you'd like to place this book on hold, simply click on the title or cover. Freaking Fantastic Nonfiction: Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of “The Children's Ship” by Deborah Heiligman I’m surprised I picked a nonfiction book to start off
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January 23, 2020 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: book review, Deborah Heiligman, SS City of Benares, and staff book review.

Groundhog Day Books for Younger Readers

Groundhog Day Books for Younger Readers

Groundhog Day is observed on February 2nd each year. This date marks the midpoint between the Winter Solstice in December and the Spring Equinox in March. According to the Farmers' Almanac, “If he [the Groundhog] sees his shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter; if he doesn't, it'll be six weeks till spring.” Below you'll find a variety of books for younger readers to help them understand the holiday and what groundhogs have to do with the changing of the seasons. Will Spring Be Early? Or Will Spring Be Late? by Crockett Johnson “Misled by an artificial flower,
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January 18, 2020 10:05 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: children's books, Groundhog Day, and young readers.

2019 Staff Picks

2019 Staff Picks

The White Plains Library Staff have assembled their picks for the year, featuring cookbooks, DVDs, music, audiobooks, and plenty of plain old books. 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 or resource where they're available (simply click on the title) as well as a blurb on why staff enjoyed it. Gluten-free Baking at Home by Jeffrey Larsen (Cookbook) “Why I liked it: Because of the mix of classic recipes like carrot cake and
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December 11, 2019 3:30 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: best books of 2019, book recommendations, books, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Macmillan, eBooks, and Access

Macmillan, eBooks, and Access

If you are looking for a new eBook published by Macmillan and can’t find it in our collection, it’s because the publisher, Macmillan, has taken the unprecedented act of limiting public library access to their eBooks. In response, the White Plains Public Library has decided to suspend the acquisition of all eBooks published by Macmillan. Macmillan, one of the country’s five largest publishers, includes such well-known brands as Farrar, Straus & Giroux, St. Martin’s Press, Picador, Tor, and more. This fall, Macmillan announced that it would make eBooks available to libraries under a new model: a library may purchase one
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November 20, 2019 2:54 pm | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: eBooks, Macmillan, and publishers.

New Playaway Launchpads

New Playaway Launchpads

We just added over 30 new Playaway Launchpads to the Trove's collection. The new ones are in two types – video content (blue Launchpads) and apps (orange Launchpads) on various themes. We added several that are language-learning focused (ESL, learning Spanish, and learning Chinese), STEM concepts, and early literacy. Every Playaway Launchpad is pre-loaded with high-quality, ad-free learning apps and games, providing hours of interactive learning and play. Apps are grouped onto Launchpads by subject area, theme, grade level, and age. Featuring popular characters and brands, apps content spans subject areas from math and science to critical thinking and creativity,
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July 30, 2019 5:51 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: launchpads.

Donations for Children & Teen Events

Donations for Children & Teen Events

The Trove and Edge are asking for donations of items to be used in their upcoming programs. All items need to be in good condition. Donations can be brought to the Trove any time during our hours of operation. Items needed: Barbies, Kens, and similar sized dolls, as well as doll clothes that fit those dolls Matchbox or Hot Wheels type cars Action Figures – any kind Board Games and RPG manuals Construx, Mega Blox, KNEX, always accepting LEGOs
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July 15, 2019 4:32 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: donations.

Free Comic Book Day Photos

Free Comic Book Day Photos

On Saturday, May 4 the Library celebrated Free Comic Book Day, an annual event promoting reading through comic books. During the event, Library staff and volunteers distributed 256 free comics to kids and teens. As part of the event, the Library showed the Academy Award winning animated feature, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, which one attendee remarked, “was a great movie!” We also had a presentation about the life and career of Marvel Comics creator, Stan Lee. In addition, there were superhero mask crafts, fun comic book coloring, and a photo booth. Summing up the general feeling of the event, one
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May 9, 2019 4:31 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Free Comic Book Day.

Catalog Update: Tips

Catalog Update: Tips

The Westchester libraries have completed migrating to new software, but there are still plenty of kinks to work out. Here are two pieces of advice. One, don't get frustrated, call us (914-422-1480). If something isn't working, or you are unsure of how to do something, let us help you. And two, give it a little time; this migration involved millions of books, patrons, and data, and it will take a bit longer to sort out everything. If you are having difficulties getting your PIN to work, first trying using all capitals if it is an alphabetical PIN. That should work.
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March 20, 2019 3:00 pm | by | 12 Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: catalog.

A New Catalog

A New Catalog

In March, the public libraries in Westchester County will be moving to a new catalog system. For you, this means an improved interface with better—and easier—search capabilities, greater control over your notifications, and better access to what’s available through the library. Library staff members are getting an open source system, which means the libraries have more control over how the system works. Going forward, we’ll be able to customize the catalog for what works best for Westchester. But migrating to a new catalog won’t happen overnight. To facilitate the process, the catalog will be offline from March 11 to March
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February 27, 2019 3:00 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: catalog.

Museum Passes: Family Edition

Museum Passes: Family Edition

We’ve having a break in the weather, so why not head off to a museum? Highlighted here are some of the Library’s museum passes that families will enjoy. The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, located on West 83 Street, has way too much going on to describe here (Dynamic H2O; Art, Artists & You; Let’s Dance). Best of all, the museum provides plenty of opportunities for hands-on learning and activities. Visit their website for the full lineup. Trains, buses and ferries are universally fascinating, and the New York City Transit Museum has plenty on display. Check out the exhibit Ticket to
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February 13, 2019 3:00 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Children's Museum of Manhattan, museum passes, New York City Transit Museum, Stamford Museum & Nature Center, and Stepping Stones Museum for Children.