Archives for Library News

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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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library 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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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Women in STEM

All of the remaining programs are canceled this month. Take part in programs celebrating Women in STEM to celebrate Women's History Month throughout March. Women in STEM Film series: Thursday, March 5 at 6:00 p.m.: Gravity (PG-13, 91 mins.) Tuesday, March 10 at 6:00 p.m.: Hidden Figures (PG, 127 mins.) Thursday, March 12 at 6:00 p.m.: Contact (PG-13, 153 mins.) Tuesday, March 12 at 6:00 p.m.: Amelia (PG, 111 mins.) Tuesday, March 24 at 6:00 p.m.: Temple Grandin (PG, 110 mins.) Thursday, March 26 at 6:00 p.m.: Arrival (PG-13, 116 mins.) Tuesday, March 31 at 6:00 p.m.: Gorillas in the
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Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

New Book Group: Facts, Not Fiction

New to the Library is “Facts, Not Fiction,” a discussion series centered around three nonfiction books. White Plains resident Mark Tracten—the U.S. representative of Great Britain’s Crown House Publishing (which he formerly headed along with Brunner/Mazel Publishers)–will lead the discussion. Here is the schedule: ♦ March 12: The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown (Penguin Books, 2013). ♦ April 9: The Lost City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston (Grand Central Publishing, 2017). ♦ May 14: 1776, by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2005). The Thursday discussions will be in the Library’s first-floor Community Room at 6:00
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.

Life Hacks: Journaling

Erik‘s Life Hacks column gives teens advice on adulting. Journaling is a really great way to keep track of ideas, reminders, emotions, decisions, and goals. Keeping a journal will help you organize your life, relieve stress and remember important events. Here are some tips to get you started and things to write about: • Buy a cheap notebook, no need to make this an expense early on. • Keep it with you, or have it easily accessible. • Set time at the end of the day to write. It’s important to jot things down all throughout the day, but set
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Categories: Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

Dive Into Diversity: Black History for Teens

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. Kathlyn‘s portion is aimed at readers in grades 7-12. Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, edited by Ibi Zoboi Grades 9 and up “No collection could represent the entire spectrum of blackness, however, the presence of trans, Afro-Latinx, and physically disabled characters is missed: a clarion
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Categories: Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

Short Story Discussion Resumes March 12

After a winter break, White Plains librarian Barbara Wenglin resumes her short story discussion series on Thursday, March 12, at 2:00 p.m. in the Library’s Galaxy Hall (second floor). The first selection to be explored is Barbara Kingsolver’s “Islands on the Moon” from the series anthology, Stories of Motherhood, edited by Diana Secker Tesdell (Everyman’s Pocket Classics, 2012). The theme of this story is single motherhood and pregnancy, while other aspects of what moms face will be taken up in subsequent discussions by authors Elizabeth Bowen, Tillie Olsen, Anita Desai, Louise Erdrich, and Hortense Calisher. Renowned novelist Amy Tan wraps
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Categories: Authors & Books, Events, Evergreen, and Library News.

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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Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

POSTPONED: 25th Anniversary Gala with Erik Larson

March 14th Gala Postponed please click link for details: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/03/march-14th-gala-postponed/ The Gala is now sold out! Thank you to our donors, sponsors, and community partners. The White Plains Library Foundation's 25th Anniversary Gala is Saturday, March 14, 2020 from 7 – 10 p.m. at the Library. Don't miss the chance to hear special guest, Erik Larson, bestselling author of Dead Wake, In the Garden of Beasts, The Devil in the White City, and coming soon, The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz – book included with your ticket. In recognition of this
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Categories: Library News.

Planned Giving

The White Plains Library Foundation is dedicated to the long term success of the Library and that’s why we hope you’ll provide instructions in your will for a planned gift. Making plans for a future gift creates a legacy for generations to come and helps ensure the Library stays open, responsive and accessible to everyone. Around the country, libraries endure through planned gifts that help them adapt to changing community needs, technological innovations and uncertain economic cycles that can affect government funding. Bequests are the simplest and most common form of planned gift. Residuary bequests are popular because the amount
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Categories: Library News.

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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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Coping With Disinformation Workshop

This post has expired and the event has already taken place. Overwhelmed with information? Hard to tell what’s true or false? Concerned about how disinformation is affecting our democracy? The League of Women Voters of Westchester is kicking off a second year of workshops to help address these issues, providing practical advice and tools to confront disinformation in the news and to discern what is fact and fake. Led by international journalism and communications veteran Andy Katell of White Plains, the 90-minute non-partisan workshop was developed by the League and will be held at the Library on Thursday, February 6
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Categories: eNewsletter, Events, and Library News.

Pointers 4 Parents

Lauren's “Pointers 4 Parents” column features tips, tricks, and resources for caregivers with a specific focus on children with special needs. As an introduction to this column, let’s start with some tips for reading to or with your child(ren). An Ohio State University study suggests that children who have five books a day read to them enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than children who aren't read to. Listen, I understand that life happens. There are days for every parent when there’s just no time for anything you want to do. Some days you may not get
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Kids, and Library News.

Doing Good in the Edge: Project Linus

Kathlyn's “Doing Good in the Edge” column highlights projects from the Do Gooders teen community service group agencies and organizations in the community Doing Good. The Allstate Foundation supports the Do Gooders in their work. Sewing handmade blankets for Project Linus has been one of the Edge’s longest-running service projects, even before the Do Gooders community service group formed. Project Linus is a nationwide, volunteer-led organization that collects handmade blankets and distributes them to children in hospitals and shelters. Adele Shapiro, Chapter Coordinator for Project Linus in Westchester, says the handmade blankets bring warmth, love, and security to children in
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Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Evergreen, Library News, and Teens.

Con Edison Maker Camp for Teens

Our first School Break Mini-Camp held at the end of December was a great success. Teens worked with Ashley Perez (engineering major at the University of Buffalo), and Louis Grassi (student at White Plains High School). They worked on a variety of projects showing different ways of creating energy, from bio-fuels to solar panels and wind turbines to perpetual motion. Our second School Vacation Maker Camp—held February 18-21—will focus on Robotics. Teens will participate in a variety of no tech to hi tech activities that will teach basic skills in Engineering, Coding, Design Thinking, and Computational Thinking. Some of the
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Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

Black History Month

Take part in programs celebrating Black History Month throughout February. Black History Month Film series: Feb. 2, 2:00pm: Remember the Titans (PG, 114min) Feb. 4, 6:30pm: To Kill a Mockingbird (NR, 129 min) Feb. 5, 6:30pm: Dreamgirls (PG13, 129min) Feb. 6, 6:30pm: 42 (PG13, 128min) Feb. 8, 2:30pm: Queen of Katwe (PG, 124min) Feb. 9, 2:00pm: The Wiz (G, 133 min) Feb. 11, 6:30pm: Hidden Figures (PG, 127min) Feb. 13, 6:30pm: Selma (PG13, 128min) Feb. 16, 2:00pm: Ruby Bridges (NR, 120min) Feb. 18, 6:30pm: Red Tails (PG13, 124min) Feb. 19, 6:30pm: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse (PG, 117min) Feb. 20, 2:00pm:
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Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

2020 American Library Association Youth Media Award Winners

Below find a selection of this year’s ALA Youth Media Award winners which represent the year’s best works for children and teens. The full list of this year’s winners, as well as video of the award ceremony, can be found here. John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature: New Kid written and illustrated by Jerry Craft. Newbery Honor Books: The Undefeated written by Kwame Alexander and, illustrated by Kadir Nelson Scary Stories for Young Foxes written by Christian McKay Heidicker and illustrated by Junyi Wu Other Words for Home written by Jasmine Warga Genesis Begins Again
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Categories: Authors & Books, Evergreen, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

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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Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Talkin’ Tech: Microchips Ahoy!

Let’s talk about technology. Since the invention of the wheel, tools have become more and more complex – and today it can be hard to keep up! In the “Talkin' Tech” column, we will discuss the ever-changing trends in the modern digital arena. From artificial intelligence to Zuckerberg, join Austin in examining all things tech from our vantage point in the 4th industrial revolution: the imagination age!     A computer can only understand two things: “on” and “off.” It’s called binary, and it is the basis for all things digital. As the Digital Media Specialist at the library, it
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Categories: Evergreen, Kids, and Library News.

Weekly Tech Topics

Keeping up with the rapid pace of modern technology is not easy. Luckily, starting Monday nights in January you'll have the chance to learn about the latest digital trends from our Digital Media Specialist, Austin Olney. In these one-hour, weekly sessions, a variety of topics relating to the so-called “Fourth Industrial Revolution” will be broken down. From self-driving cars to bitcoin, join in on learning something new! The January & February schedule of topics are listed below. Registration is recommended; click on the date(s) you wish to attend to register online, or call us at (914) 422-1480. Programs run from
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Categories: Classes, Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.