Archives for Library News

Offline Tech Activities

Offline Tech Activities

Digital Media Specialist Austin Olney put together this list of fun and education offline tech activities. If you're looking to learn more online, check our virtual calendar for a schedule of tech programs that Austin will be leading throughout April. ANIMATION DESIGN How to Create a Phenakistoscope How to Make a High-Quality Flip Book AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) How to Make a Holographic Illusion Pyramid CODING Code a Lego Maze GAME DESIGN DIY Maze for Kids to Make How to Make a 3D Topographic Map GRAPHIC DESIGN How to Make Collage Art Using Magazine Clippings HACKING DIY Cipher Device LOGICAL THINKING
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April 2, 2020 2:49 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, Technology, and Teens.
Tags: covid-19 and offline tech.

Parenting in a Pandemic

Parenting in a Pandemic

Are you the parent of a child with special needs? Chances are you feel like you have been abandoned by everyone in this quarantine climate. Quite honestly, in some cases, that is true. Everyone, teachers, students, special education providers, work at home parents—we are all struggling to adjust. Children with special needs often have way more trouble adjusting and this is our struggle. We are going to see behaviors we thought our children had outgrown–they are going to be frustrated, we are going to be frustrated. There is some good news. If your child is under three, under the jurisdiction
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April 2, 2020 2:01 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: covid-19, parenting tips, and special needs parenting.

Stress, Anxiety, Your Child, and COVID-19

Stress, Anxiety, Your Child, and COVID-19

By Josh Carlson, Manager of Youth Services. Is it all getting to be a bit much? Trying to balance #WFH; home learning; shared space; concern about safety, health, wellbeing; social distancing – the list goes on. Do you feel like your children are driving you insane? If online memes and videos are anything to go by, families went crazy within one day of being at home together. Take a deep breath. This pandemic has impacted everyone’s lives immeasurably, but consider the disruption to your child’s life: routines, school, activities, friendships, and their mental and emotional health. Your child may not
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April 1, 2020 3:52 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: anxiety and covid-19.

April Wellness Programs

April Wellness Programs

Now more than ever, you may feel the need to center yourself and relieve stress. Join us for one or more of our virtual Wellness programs. Practitioners from a variety of backgrounds–Zen, Reiki, Alexander Technique, Yoga–will be leading Lunchtime Meditation programs on Wednesdays at Noon. Evening programs will cover Reiki, Mindfulness practice, and the Breath-Body-Mind Technique. To join, click on the Zoom link the day of the program. (You may wish to join a few minutes early to get the technology part sorted out.) Contact Christiane Deschamps with any questions. FOR ADULTS Lunchtime Meditation @ the Library Wednesdays 12:00-12:45 p.m.
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April 1, 2020 3:39 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Meditation, mindfulness, reiki, Wellness, and Wellness programs.

Kanopy Films: Comedies

Kanopy Films: Comedies

Kanopy is a video streaming service that you can access from home with your White Plains Public Library card. With Kanopy, you can choose from thousands of movies, documentaries, foreign films, and more. And starting this month, users can watch up to 20 films instead of the usual 10! In this blog post, we’re going to take a peek at some of the movies Kanopy offers, this time focusing on Comedy. Hunt For The Wilderpeople Runtime: 102 mins Year: 2016 Rated PG-13 Starring: Julian Dennison, Rachel House, Rhys Darby, Rima Te Wiata, Sam Neill Language: English Directed by acclaimed New
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April 1, 2020 2:24 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: comedies, film recommendations, and Kanopy.

Virtual Museum Visits

Virtual Museum Visits

While local museums may be closed (meaning our museum pass program is temporarily unavailable), many of them have virtual tours and other programs you can experience from the comfort of your own home. Take a virtual trip to one of our participating museums listed below: Boscobel House and Garden Highlights of the House, the Collection and the Gardens and Grounds. Children’s Museum of Manhattan Videos, sing-a-longs, games and so much more for you to do together with your family. Cooper Hewitt Museum View collection online. Videos on interviews with designers, public programs and stories from behind the scenes. Frick Collection
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April 1, 2020 12:00 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: museums.

PandemiComic

PandemiComic

Calling all writers and artists! White Plains Public Library is collecting comic strips that illustrate a day in the life of social distancing. We're accepting submissions from adults, kids, and teens. Check out the prompts below for your age group. KIDS/TEENS: Here are some things to think about… How are you learning from home? Is it interactive/fun? Have you picked up any new hobbies like cooking, reading, playing a new game? How are your caretakers/siblings/relatives dealing with the pandemic? What are some pros and cons of spending so much time with family? Aside from the big stuff, what unexpected changes
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April 1, 2020 10:00 am | by | 1 Comment
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: art, comic submissions, comics, kids, and teens.

3D Printers Donated to Hospital

3D Printers Donated to Hospital

Dr. Stephen Erosa from St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers reached out to Westchester libraries with a call to action. Dr. Erosa has started a 3D printer farm at the hospital and asked Westchester Libraries to contribute their machines. He will be printing out pieces for face guards for hospital staff and essential workers. The White Plains Public Library stepped up and donated its two 3D printers, the Ultimaker 2+ extended and the Flashforge Creator Pro, along with six rolls of filament to help out the cause. On Thursday, Librarian Erik Carlson picked up the equipment and met with Dr.
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March 31, 2020 4:07 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: 3D Printers, 3d printing, Con Edison, covid-19, Edge, and The Edge.

Stuck at Home: Staff Picks Part 2

Stuck at Home: Staff Picks Part 2

Stuck at home with kids and teens due to the virus? The White Plains Public Library has you covered with these suggestions from Josh Carlson, Manager of Youth Services. Some of the sites listed here may be offering some content free of charge or may be offering free access currently in response to the virus, but will move to a charge model again in the future. Please take care when using these sites to avoid unwanted charges. Great Ideas for Activities and Experiences Family Maker Camp – free projects and ideas Smithsonian’s Fun Stuff for Kids Cincinnati Zoo Home Safaris
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March 26, 2020 10:50 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Family CV, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: at home learning, safe at home, staff recommendations, and stuck at home.

Sch-EDGE-uled Videos

Sch-EDGE-uled Videos

Do you miss the Edge as much as we do? Librarian Erik Carlson has been bringing a bit of the Edge to Instagram and Facebook every day, giving you a daily dose of the Edge while at home. Follow @theedgewppl on Instagram where you’ll find a daily schedule posted each morning around 11:00 a.m. The sch-Edge-ule always has a joke of the day, riddle of the day, and afternoon read aloud. And there is more! Librarian Carlson posts a Which Craft? Wednesday program, he’s working on online Uno games, and is working with Austin Olney, aka Schmiegel, on putting together
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March 25, 2020 4:42 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Edge and videos.

RPGs at Home

RPGs at Home

By Joshua Carlson, Manager of Youth Services. Role Playing Games are a fantastic way to work on creative, shared storytelling. Allowing all players to build their characters, help to direct the story, and use their imaginations, RPGs are not only fun, but a wonderful way to engage each other while stuck at home. And, you don’t have to even be stuck at home together! Apps such as Discord provide an easy-to-use system with text and chat to allow the game to take place virtually, as if you players were in the room together. No dice? There are apps for that,
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March 25, 2020 2:38 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: RPGs and tabletop games.

Lynda.com Writing Resources

Lynda.com Writing Resources

By Kathlyn Carroll, Edge Librarian. Like many others suddenly working from home, I’ve been focusing on professional development opportunities that would otherwise go on the back burner. While browsing a Library database, Lynda.com, I came across a surprising variety of writing tutorial videos that would also help teen writers. Whether you’re struggling through ELA essays assigned virtually by your teachers, or using the extra time to tackle a personal creative writing project, one of these videos may guide you on your quest. Once you login at the link above, you can search for the learning paths and videos below. ELA
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March 25, 2020 2:26 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: creative writing, lynda.com, and writing tips.

April Funny Stories in TumbleBooks

April Funny Stories in TumbleBooks

By Tata Cañuelas, Trove Librarian. April brings us April’s Fool, meaning jokes and silliness for us all. Try these stories and a song in TumbleBooks and start laughing with us. Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance, by Keith Graves Frank the monster indulges his love of dancing by strutting his stuff on stage. That’s it, until his head unzips, his brains flop out and he continues to lose body parts on stage. Down by the Bay, Folk Song This traditional folk song gets the Tumblebooks treatment! Sing along and have some fun “Down by the Bay.” He Came
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March 24, 2020 11:24 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: TumbleBooks. April Fool's.

Learn a New Skill with Lynda.com

Learn a New Skill with Lynda.com

By Kristen Thornton-De Stafeno, Marketing & Adult Services Librarian (kthornton@whiteplainslibrary.org) Want to become a photographer? Graphic Designer? Guitarist? Well, the possibilities are endless with Lynda.com. A White Plains library card is necessary to get started; login with your card number and pin in order to access the links below. Lynda.com is great for learning a new skillset, brushing up on the latest version of software you're already familiar with, or even taking steps to start a new career. Below I explore some of the different learning paths, stand alone tutorials, and tips to make the most of your free Lynda.com
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March 23, 2020 1:30 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: lynda.com, online learning, and tutorials.

Community Reads

Community Reads

What better time than now to share what you're reading? Everyone’s looking for book recommendations right now, and we have many to share in our newsletter, but we thought we could share as a community on social media. So snap a photo of what you’re reading, use the hashtag #WPPLreads and tag us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook and we'll share and discuss. Facebook: @WhitePlainsPublicLibrary or comment here. Instagram: @whiteplainslibrary Twitter: @whiteplainslib or reply to our thread here.
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March 23, 2020 10:07 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations, community reads, and social media.

Music-Themed Picture Book Read-Alouds on Libby

Music-Themed Picture Book Read-Alouds on Libby

Some of you may ask what is Libby? Libby is an easy-to-use app that allows you to borrow eBooks and digital audiobooks with your library card for free. Libby has thousands of Adult, Teen, and Children’s titles that you can borrow using your iPad, tablet, or phone by downloading the app from your app store. One of my favorite types of content available on Libby are the Read-Alouds that with their narration and word highlighting make them perfect to share with pre-readers and beginning readers. For fun, I have highlighted 3 of my favorite Read-Alouds that share the subject of
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March 19, 2020 2:52 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: libby, music, picture books, and read-alouds.

Nowruz: Persian New Year

Nowruz: Persian New Year

For many Iranian-Americans, Nowruz is a time of celebration, spring and fertility. It is also a time of letting go of any negativity, and starting fresh, with a sense of hope and new life. Nowruz also has some ancient folkloric rituals, including creating a Haftseen–which literally means the Seven S’s in Farsi. All of the items have symbolic representation for the coming year; for example, Sabzeh (wheat or lentil sprout growing in a dish) symbolizes rebirth. The rest of the items include Samanu (sweet pudding from wheat germ representing affluence), Senjeh (dried silverberry for love), Sir (garlic for medicine), Sib
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March 19, 2020 2:51 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Nowruz, Persian new year, and spring.

Battle of the Books Inspired Reading List

Battle of the Books Inspired Reading List

As part of the book selection committee for Westchester’s Battle of the Books trivia competition, I spent January and February reading and considering books for the 2020 reading list. Librarians across Westchester nominated titles for the teen division and I tried to read as many as possible. While this year’s reading list hasn’t yet been finalized, I had so much fun with the nominated titles that I wanted to share a few of my favorites. These are all available in eBook format through Westchester Library System. Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan Libby: eBook only A very light summer romance
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March 19, 2020 11:53 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: battle of the books, digital audiobooks, eBooks, hoopla, libby, and young adult fiction.

Dive Into Diversity: Girl Power for Grades 4-6

Dive Into Diversity: Girl Power for Grades 4-6

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. Ashley's portion is aimed at readers in grades 4-6. March is Women's History Month so I’ve put together a list of some books that feature diverse strong female characters that I’ve been wanting to read! Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee (Available in eBook format on Hoopla) For children in
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March 19, 2020 9:19 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: children's books, Dive into Diversity, juvenile fiction, Observances and Celebrations, staff picks, staff recommendations, Women's History, and womens history month.

Stuck at Home: Staff Picks

Stuck at Home: Staff Picks

Stuck at home with kids and teens due to the virus? The White Plains Public Library has you covered with these suggestions from Josh Carlson, Manager of Youth Services. Some of the sites listed here may be offering some content free of charge or may be offering free access currently in response to the virus, but will move to a charge model again in the future. Please take care when using these sites to avoid unwanted charges. Online Reading, Storytimes and Read Alouds from the Library These resources require a library card to access. Libby: Access an abundance of digital
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March 17, 2020 3:32 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Homepage, Homepage Family CV, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: online learning, online resources, safe at home, and staff recommendations.