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Our Annual Report

Our Annual Report

In the past year, the Library has grown in every way imaginable while we continue to support our Strategic Plan. Our strategic goals infuse everything we do: promote equity, diversity and inclusion; expand community engagement; renew our infrastructure; improve sustainability; and learn from our experiences with COVID. We have acquired more content than ever, although you may not notice as much of it is digital. We’re circulating a range of items, from hotspots and laptops to museum passes. But more significantly, we’ve expanded our programs, with White Plains residents coming together to learn English, become citizens, discuss books, experience 360-degree
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September 27, 2023 2:13 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: annual report and White Plains Public Library Annual Report.

Terry Kessler Schwarz: “Impressions” Exhibit

Terry Kessler Schwarz: “Impressions” Exhibit

Terry Kessler Schwarz Impressions Art Solo Exhibit On display in the Museum Gallery from September 22nd through December 12 In her upcoming drawing and painting exhibition Impressions, Terry Kessler Schwarz will be presenting drawings and paintings of nature focusing on land, sky, water and city life. TERRY KESSLER SCHWARZ is a painter, calligrapher, illustrator, photographer and teacher.  She received her BFA from Syracuse University and MFA in printmaking/painting from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts.  She has also trained at Tyler School of Art (Temple University) in Italy, Rochester Institute of Technology, Parsons School
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September 19, 2023 12:54 pm | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Gallery, and Homepage.
Tags: art, art and artists, art exhibit, gallery, and Terry Kessler Schwarz.

Iranian Women Speak

Iranian Women Speak

Caroline Reddy is a Children’s librarian at White Plains Public Library. Her work has appeared in Active Muse, Calliope, Clinch, CulturalDaily, Grey Sparrow, Starline, and Tupelo Quarterly Review among others.  In the fall of 2021, her poem “A Sacred Dance” was nominated for the Best of The Net prize by Active Muse. A native of Shiraz, Iran, Caroline’s work has also appeared in the anthology Iranian Women Speak (IHRAF)  to raise awareness for #ZanZendegiAzadi, #WomenLifeFreedom movement, in Iran. Her first manuscript Shake the Atmosphere to Reclaim an Empty Moment is forthcoming with Pierian Springs Press. For more information please click
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September 6, 2023 9:20 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Director's Corner, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: author interview, Caroline Reddy, Iran, Iranian Women Speak, and Meet the Staff.

Discover Aspen Discovery!

Discover Aspen Discovery!

We are pleased to inform you that our new all-inclusive catalog is now available. Previously, if you wished to search for titles in all formats (that is, books, ebooks, and movies), you would have had to conduct a search not only in our catalog, but also in Libby, hoopla, and others. Now with Aspen Discovery, one search is all it takes, and you'll see search results from all our content providers presented at once. In addition to “one stop shopping” when it comes to title searches, Aspen Discovery also provides enriched content. Overall, it was designed to provide a much
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June 1, 2023 10:00 am | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: Aspen Discovery, catalog, Library Catalog, and library resources.

Homework Help and Resume Assistance

Homework Help and Resume Assistance

Are you looking for a tutor for your child? Do you need help preparing for college entrance exams? Maybe you need assistance writing a resume or looking for a new job? With Tutor.com you can get expert assistance with all of the above and much more at no cost to you with your White Plains library card. Here are just a few of the resources available through Tutor.com: Connect with a live tutor on a variety of subjects from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Submit a paper for review – tutors will get back to you in 12 hours. Drop
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February 14, 2023 2:46 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: homework help, job search help, library resources, resume help, tutor.com, tutoring, and tutors.

Edward Steinberg Photo

Edward Steinberg Photo

Edward C. Steinberg (1942-2018) worked for White Plains from 1970 to the mid-1990s in the Urban Renewal Agency and later as Commissioner of Planning. He helped build the Galleria, the Transportation Center, the Public Safety Building, the Westchester Mall, and the Federal Courthouse. He was also a photographer, and recently his widow donated three of his photographs to our local history collection. One is of the Transportation Center, one shows workers pouring cement, and the other the demolition of a building.  Part of the pouring cement photo is shown below (it doesn’t say what building it was for, unfortunately). Feel
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January 24, 2023 10:59 am | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, and Local History.
Tags: local history and white plains collection.

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide

Volunteers from AARP will prepare taxes free of charge on select dates beginning February 1st through April 17th. Appointments are required. Just one appointment is needed. To make an appointment, call 914-348-3467 or email 500177589@aarpfoundation.org (please note: if you call and leave a message, when the call is returned the number will not say AARP so please pay attention to the above number and answer the call). At your scheduled appointment time, please bring the following: 1. Copy of last year's federal and state tax return 2. W-2 forms showing income from your employer 3. 1099-R forms showing pension or
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January 24, 2023 10:25 am | by | 9 Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: AARP Foundation Tax Aide, AARP Tax Aide, tax help, tax prep, and tax preparation.

English Conversation Group

English Conversation Group

English Conversation Group Thursdays 2:00–3:00 p.m. Community Room Our English Conversation group returns in February. The Library is offering adults who speak English as a second language the chance to meet and converse in English. This program is free and open to learners age 18 and up who want to improve their English conversation skills. Attendees are welcome and encouraged to bring conversation topics. Refreshments will be provided. No registration required. For more information, contact Austin at 914-422-6922. Grupo de conversación en inglés Los jueves a la 2:00 p.m. La Biblioteca Pública de White Plains ofrece a los adultos que
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January 24, 2023 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Español, Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: english as a second language, English Conversation, english conversation group, and Grupo de conversación en inglés.

Lunchtime Meditation 2023

Lunchtime Meditation 2023

Our popular Lunchtime Meditation series returns to Zoom this January. This wellness program includes brief beginning instruction followed by meditation. No experience is needed. A variety of guest instructors will lead the program from 12:00–12:45 p.m. on the following Wednesdays: January 25: Sharon Lewis February 1: Seth Segall February 8: Daniel Lauter February 15: Sharon March 1: Seth March 8: Andrea Deierlein March 15: Russ Michel March 22: Sharon March 29: Dan Cayer April 12: Seth April 19: Andrea April 26: Sharon May 3: Andrea May 10: Seth May 17: Sharon May 24: Dan June 7: Seth June 14: Andrea
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January 18, 2023 9:36 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: lunchtime meditation, lunchtime meditation at the library, Meditation, meditation classes in White Plains, mindfulness, Wellness, wellness classes in white plains, Wellness programs, and Wellness Wednesdays.

Most Popular 2022 Checkouts

Most Popular 2022 Checkouts

Below is a list of the 2022 top five most popular fiction, nonfiction, films, children's books, and YA titles based on the number of times they've been checked out from our collection. We told you what our staff loved last year, well, here's what was most popular among your fellow Library patrons. I'm sure you'll notice a few trends – our patrons really love Colleen Hoover, memoirs, Dog Man, and Disney! Fiction The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (Library Collection / Libby) It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (Library Collection / Libby) Verity by Colleen Hoover (Library Collection / Libby)
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January 17, 2023 1:58 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations, books, end of year lists, film, patron favorites, top checkouts, and tv.

Booklist Reader

Booklist Reader

Need help deciding what to read next? Then pick up a free copy of Booklist Reader. The Reader includes new titles, available in print and audio, top graphic novels, books on a theme–like traveling on foot–plus books for teens and children, including picture books and biographies. Included in every issue are interviews and profiles of authors and illustrators. Copies of the Booklist Reader, a publication of the American Library Association, can be found in the Hub area on the first floor as well upstairs in the Trove. Many of the titles in the Reader are owned by the Library, but
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January 11, 2023 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations and Booklist reader.

Rotary Club Events

Rotary Club Events

The Rotary Club of White Plains holds many of its programs at the Library, and everyone–Rotarians or not–are invited to attend. Follow the newsletter to keep up with presenters and dates. All programs take place in the Library's auditorium on the second floor, adjacent to the gallery. The speaker for January 17th is Robin Davies-Small, Executive Director of YesSheCan, Inc. Yes She Can Inc., a Westchester based non-profit founded in 2013, is dedicated to helping young women with autism and related disabilities develop transferable job skills and workplace social skills – through authentic work experience. We serve teen girls in
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January 4, 2023 9:59 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: Rotary Club, Rotary Club of White Plains, and YesSheCan Inc..

Banned Books Photobooth

Banned Books Photobooth

Get caught reading a Banned Book in the Library's Lobby! Take a “mugshot” holding your favorite banned or challenged book with our “crime” sign in front of our backdrop. Post your selfie to social media using the hashtag #WPFreedomtoRead OR upload your photos to our website here. We'll add your “mugshots” to this page and our gallery as they come in. We'll also have a pop-up photobooth at upcoming #WPFreedomtoRead events where staff can take your photo. “Mugshot” Gallery:
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December 31, 2022 11:26 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: #WPFreedomtoRead, banned books, Banned Books Photobooth, Banned Books Week, and library staff.

Meet Donna Gehlmann

Meet Donna Gehlmann

Please join me in welcoming our newest staff member, Youth Services Librarian Donna Gehlmann. What interested you in becoming a librarian? I have always loved books and reading. Going to our public library as a child with my mom and sister is a happy memory for me. I have volunteered at my son's school (in the libraries) and seeing the joy on all the children's faces when they come to the library has left an impression on me! Why did you decide you wanted to work with youth? I was a 2nd grade aide for three years and loved being
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December 20, 2022 3:52 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Donna Gehlmann, library staff, Meet the Staff, and staff interview.

2022 Staff Favorites

2022 Staff Favorites

The White Plains Library Staff have assembled their picks for the year, featuring mystery, audiobooks, fantasy, 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 or resource where they're available as well as a blurb on why staff enjoyed it. Fiction Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. Library Catalog This is the sixth novel in the Martin Beck series, Beck being the go-to detective in Sweden's National Homicide Squad
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December 14, 2022 10:00 am | by | 6 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Local History.
Tags: staff favorites, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Opening of Optimum Technology Room

Opening of Optimum Technology Room

This morning, the Library hosted a ribbon cutting for our new Optimum Technology Room, which uses Igloovision, software that provides an immersive experience. Imagine being in a room in which the walls serve as your computer display, effectively putting you inside a wrap-around 12k television. Or think of a room as a giant walk-in Virtual Reality (VR) headset, except one in which the immersive experience can be shared with one or more others. This is the concept behind the Igloo, an immersive workspace created by Igloovision. Any kind of digital content can be shown on the walls of an Igloo:
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November 16, 2022 11:08 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: Altice, Optimum Technology Room, press release, technology, and white plains library.

Daughters of America: Digest of the Day

Daughters of America: Digest of the Day

Recently a member of the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter viewed the Local History Room’s file on the DAR.  She noted that the last item in the file belonged to the Daughters of America, not the DAR, and was curious what that group was. The item in question is a 36-page booklet called Digest of the Day, published in 1930 by the Daughters of America’s Martha Washington Council No. 8 in White Plains. According to The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders, the Daughters of America was “a female auxiliary to the Junior Order of
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November 12, 2022 9:48 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, and Local History.
Tags: Daughters of America, local history, white plains collection, and white plains history.

#WPFreedomToRead Challenge

#WPFreedomToRead Challenge

“I'll be absolutely candid and honest, it's embarrassing that we are banning books in this country, in this culture, in this day and age.” – LeVar Burton As part of our year-long celebration of banned and challenged books, adults and teens are invited to join our #WPFreedomToRead Challenge. It's fun! It's easy! There are prizes! Yes, YOU could win a Kindle Paperwhite or other bookish prize! All you need to do is read banned or challenged books and log what you've read in READsquared. Each banned or challenged book you read and log earns you an entry in our prize
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November 11, 2022 1:51 pm | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: #WPFreedomtoRead, banned books, reading challenge, and ReadSquared.

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.