Archives for Library News

What Should We Read Next? Book Lover Event

What Should We Read Next? Book Lover Event

Sunday, November 8th 1:00–2:30 p.m. Get a heads-up on new books and refresh your reading list with books you might have missed with publishing insider Carol Fitzgerald. Back by popular demand, Carol will share news about the season’s buzzworthy titles and chat about what books groups have been doing since March when “the world went virtual.” Carol Fitzgerald is the President of The Book Report Network—a group of internet sites on books and authors that have become the gathering places for a large and devoted community of booklovers since 1996, and the host of the “Bookreporter Talks To” video/podcast series.
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October 23, 2020 11:38 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: book discussion, book group, book recommendations, carol fitzgerald, reading, and The Book Reporter.

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. ‘Tis the season for… spooky reads! Today’s books are not (necessarily) outright scary but provide some suspense-filled fun, and only one of them is specifically a Halloween title. I recommend breaking out your best creepy “horror movie” voice. Need some inspiration for your spooky reading voice? Vincent Price reads Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven Christopher Lee reads Poe’s Tales
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October 22, 2020 10:35 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: children's books, children's literature, halloween, Halloween Books, Observances and Celebrations, Peculiar Picks, picture books, spooky reads, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Book Groups for One Book, One White Plains

Book Groups for One Book, One White Plains

This October and November, the Library is facilitating conversations about Ibram X. Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist, which is quickly becoming an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step of contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society. As part of One Book, One White Plains, we would like to join your book group to help lead the discussion, or perhaps, you can pull together a group at your job or among your friends just to discuss How to Be an Antiracist. Best of all, Dr.
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October 22, 2020 10:00 am | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Library News.
Tags: Antiracism, book groups, How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi, Jason Reynolds, and One Book One White Plains.

Halloween at Home

Halloween at Home

There are a lot of decisions having to be made this year that are very personal decisions for a family. Having already made the big decision of full remote learning for our daughter this school year, it became an easier choice to make the smaller decision that neighborhood trick-or-treating is just not what we are doing this year. Instead, we're going to make a full day of at-home Halloween themed fun. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have a ghoulishly great day! If you do decide in favor of Halloween at Home, I hope the following ideas can
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October 21, 2020 2:16 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: activities, arts & crafts, at home learning, crafts at home, fun, halloween, Halloween Books, Observances and Celebrations, Observances and Holidays, and staff recommendations.

Creating or Updating a Will?

Creating or Updating a Will?

These are uncertain times and many of us are wondering if our affairs are in order and if our assets are protected should something happen to us. Please join us on Thursday, November 12 from 12:00–1:00 p.m. for Making a Will? Ten Things You Need to Know. You’ll hear from an expert who has been advising clients (of all income levels) about estate planning for more than 30 years. White Plains attorney Susan Edwards Colson will share the top ten questions she’s being asked about creating or updating a will in today’s world. Whether you’d like some basic suggestions or
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October 21, 2020 11:45 am | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: estate planning, law, lawyer, and will.

STEAM at Home: Exploring Leaves

STEAM at Home: Exploring Leaves

Fall foliage is breathtaking, and provides the perfect opportunity to learn about leaves. Leaves are especially interesting to observe in autumn. Ever wonder how liquids travel through leaves? To find the answer, I worked on an easy STEAM experiment that is perfect for all who love nature and learning about leaves. Materials: Leaves Scissors Clear cups or glasses Water Red food coloring Paper and pencil, or another way to record observations Magnifying glass (optional) First, you can make a K-W-L chart, a type of worksheet that helps your child identify what they already know, what they would like to know, and
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October 21, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: fall activities, STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEAM learning, and STEM.

Dive into Diversity: Graphic Novels

Dive into Diversity: Graphic Novels

Josh recommends some recent graphic novels featuring diverse characters and creators. Class Act by Jerry Craft OverDrive / Library Catalog This companion to Newbery Award winner New Kid finds Jordan’s friend Drew encountering discrimination and confronting privilege in his eighth grade year at the prestigious Riverdale Academy Day School. Funny, moving and thought-provoking all at the same time. Jerry Craft talks about his real-life experiences that shaped New Kid. Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz OverDrive / Library Catalog Jamila Waheed and Shirley Bones learn about friendship and the desire for everyone to be able to share
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October 20, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, graphic novels, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

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.

Storybook Dancing Fall Events

Storybook Dancing Fall Events

The Library is happy to (virtually) host the fantastic program, Storybook Dancing, presented by Steffi Nossen School of Dance throughout the Fall. A creative, movement-filled program for young ones to hear stories and then dance them to life! Thursdays, 10:00 a.m., September 10 and 24, October 8 and 22, November 5, and December 3. (link to calendar) Supported by the White Plains Library Foundation. NOTE: To increase security in youth-focused programs, we are now requiring attendees to have a Zoom account to login to the event. Creating an account is easy and free.
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October 17, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: events, Steffi Nossen, Storybook dancing, and trove events.

How Did I Get Here? Virtual Career Panels

How Did I Get Here? Virtual Career Panels

This October the Library will be hosting three career panels on Zoom. Our first panel on October 1st at 6:00 p.m., will feature New York State Assembly person David Buchwald. He will talk about his career in politics and public service. The next two panels on October 13th and 15th, at 4:00 p.m., will have employees from Verisk Financial, an analytics company in White Plains. Their careers deal with coding, product development, user interface design, and, well, analytics. Our fourth career panel on October 22nd, at 6:00 p.m., will feature Randy Altman, owner of Altman Rentals. His company rents production
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October 17, 2020 10:00 am | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: career panel, Career Panels, edge events, How Did I Get Here?, and teen events.

Stream Jester Jim’s Library Performance

Stream Jester Jim’s Library Performance

The talented and extremely funny Jester Jim performed live for the Library on Saturday, October 10, juggling knives!, fire!, toilet plungers?! while leaving attendees laughing and amazed. In order to extend the experience so that more White Plains community members could see the show, Jim graciously allowed us to share the recording of the show. Check it out right here, anytime you want! This program was supported by the White Plains Library Foundation.
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October 15, 2020 12:30 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Jester Jim, The Trove, trove events, and White Plains Library Foundation.

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. National Dictionary Day is celebrated on October 16. Today’s two Peculiar Picks celebrate words and vocabulary. I may have mentioned a couple times, here or there, that my daughter has an impressive vocabulary. It may seem like bragging (I’ll be honest, I like to brag about it. Just a little.), but I know exactly why her vocabulary is so
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October 15, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: children's books, children's literature, Peculiar Picks, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Virtual Youth Meet-Up

Virtual Youth Meet-Up

Would you like to connect with Library friends virtually? Using our Zoom and Roblox platforms, teens are able to participate in a variety of fun activities on Library-hosted servers. Many devices are able to interact simultaneously, from smartphones to laptop computers. There are many fun virtual worlds to have shared fun, such as “Epic Mini Games” and “Hide and Seek Extreme.” Please sign up here to join in on the fun: Thursday 10/15/2020 4:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Register Here Thursday 11/5/2020 5:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Register Here Thursday 11/19/2020 5:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Register Here Thursday 12/17/2020
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October 15, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: edge events, roblox, and virtual youth meetup.

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.

Fall Virtual Table Top Gaming Events

Fall Virtual Table Top Gaming Events

Need something awesome to do after school? Then join librarians Ashley and Erik from the Trove and the Edge to play fun virtual table top games! We use the platform boardgamearena.com to play the games while we have a conversation on Zoom. Kids and teens that haven’t attended the program before will need to create a free account on boardgamearena.com. Note: Boardgamearena.com does have a for-pay premium service. Please take care when creating your account to not incur any unwanted charges. To increase security in youth-focused programs, we are now requiring attendees to have a Zoom account to login to
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October 14, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: children's events, edge events, taple top games, teen events, trove events, and Virtual Table Top Gaming.

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.

Reads Revisited

Reads Revisited

When children or their caregivers come to the Library asking for recommendations, I often find myself suggesting some of my favorite books from when I was a kid. There’s something really comforting about rereading an old favorite! I came up with this idea for a blog post series so that our Trove and Edge librarians could recommend some of their favorite childhood stories. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed rereading! I was the kid that was always reading – in class (when I definitely shouldn’t have been!), in the lunchroom, and I even brought
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October 12, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Cornelia Funke, Reads Revisited, staff picks, staff recommendations, and The Thief Lord.

STEAM at Home: Flying Dragon

STEAM at Home: Flying Dragon

This week we are going to make a dragon fly and learn about how levers work. Materials: Toilet Paper Roll Construction Paper Marker Pencil Ruler Glue Tape Yarn Getting Started: We are going to start by making our dragon. Cut a piece of construction paper so that it covers your toilet paper roll. Use tape or glue to attach it. Next design the head, wings, and tail of your dragon. Cut them out and attach them using glue or tape. You can use a marker to decorate your dragon and draw eyes and a mouth on it. Prepare For Flight:
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October 12, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEAM learning, STEM, and videos.

Red Door Readers

Red Door Readers

In conjunction with Gilda’s Club Westchester, the Library will offer a book discussion group for cancer survivors, their families, and caretakers. The focus will be on literary fiction and all meetings will be held over Zoom. We meet the third Thursday of each month, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Registration is required and limited. Upcoming selections include: Thursday, November 19: How It All Began, by Penelope Lively. Click here to register. Physical Catalog: Book OverDrive and Libby: eBook Set in London, this novel examines the role of chance in people’s lives, exploring how our lives can be altered irrevocably by someone we
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October 10, 2020 2:35 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: book discussion, book group, event, Gilda's Club of Westchester, Red Door Readers, and virtual event.

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.