Archives for Library News

Talkin’ Tech: Microchips Ahoy!

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
Read More

January 27, 2020 12:24 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Evergreen, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: binary code, digital technology, STEAM, STEM, STEM learning, tech tuesdays, and technology.

Weekly Tech Topics

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
Read More

January 27, 2020 10:13 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Classes, Events, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: computers and technology.

Celebrate Chinese New Year

Celebrate Chinese New Year

This event has already taken place. To learn more about Chinese New Year, click here. Chinese mythology tells us the order of the animals on the Chinese Zodiac was decided according to the order of arrival on the Great Race, organized by the Jade Emperor a long time ago. The Rat won the race and earned first place on the zodiac. The Year of the Rat is then a year of beginnings and renewals. Join us as we welcome the Year of the Rat with a family storytime on Wednesday, January 29th at 7:00 p.m. For children 3+ and their
Read More

January 26, 2020 10:26 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Chinese New Year and storytime.

Peculiar Picks: Peter McCarty

Peculiar Picks: Peter McCarty

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. Jeremy Draws a Monster // The Monster Returns by Peter McCarty I’m starting off this series with “one” of my favorite books, the Jeremy and the Monster duology by Peter McCarty. McCarty is best known for Caldecott Honor Books, Hondo & Fabian, and New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year Henry in Love. But his Jeremy Draws a Monster
Read More

January 24, 2020 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations, children's books, Peculiar Picks, Peter McCarty, picture books, and staff picks.

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
Read More

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.

Reading Around the World: Chinese New Year

Reading Around the World: Chinese New Year

With Tata's “Reading Around the World” book picks, younger patrons and their families will enjoy reading about the different cultural celebrations around the world. Easy holiday Picture Books and easy Folklore stories will introduce young readers to the world outside the U.S. This month you can learn about Chinese New Year. Simply click on a title or cover to place it on hold. Chinese New Year is celebrated according to the Lunar Calendar and falls on Saturday, January 25 this year. This begins the Year of the Rat. The Rat is considered the first animal of the Chinese Zodiac. Therefore,
Read More

January 22, 2020 9:30 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Evergreen, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations, Chinese New Year, and Reading Around the World.

Book Reviews by Teens, for Teens

Book Reviews by Teens, for Teens

Below you'll find a book review of new or upcoming titles submitted by teens in the Edge. If you'd like to place a hold on the book being reviewed, click on the title or cover. Author: David Yoon Title: Frankly in Love Review: One of my favorite books of the year! It’s more than just a cute romance. It talks about race, a complicated family dynamic, academic standards and with humor as a plus. We get diverse characters throughout the book too! Everyone should read it! A 5 out of 5 star read. David Yoon has brilliant writing and I
Read More

January 22, 2020 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: book review, by teens for teens, David Yoon, and teen book review.

Barbara Wenglin’s Short Story Series

Barbara Wenglin’s Short Story Series

White Plains librarian Barbara Wenglin’s short story discussion series has been a popular fixture for years as the selections and their interpretations have produced a riveting give-and-take among the attendees. The spring series opens on Thursday, March 12th, at 2:00 p.m. with a discussion of “Islands on the Moon” by Barbara Kingsolver, taken from the anthology, Stories of Motherhood (Everyman’s Pocket Classics, 2012, edited by Diana Secker Tesdell). The flyer with dates and details is attached. The theme of mother-child relationships intersects with the screening and discussion (date TBA) of the Academy Award winning film, The Piano (Miramax, 1993) that
Read More

January 21, 2020 11:45 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Events, and Library News.
Tags: book club, book discussion, book groups, and short story discussion.

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,
Read More

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.

Film Screening: Mildred Pierce

Film Screening: Mildred Pierce

This post has expired. Visit our online calendar for current film screenings. “Film noir” was a 1940s-1950s Hollywood phenomenon that combined “Whodunit” mystery with intrigue and romance in a dark, black-and-white setting. Two fine examples of the genre were the Warner Bros. 1945 drama Mildred Pierce along with its star, Joan Crawford. Both will be featured with a screening on Thursday, January 16 at 2:00 p.m. in Galaxy Hall on the second floor of the Library. The film, which is open to all, concludes the Library’s Fall 2019 short story discussion series led by librarian Barbara Wenglin, which explored selections
Read More

January 16, 2020 11:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, and Library News.
Tags: film screening.

Holocaust Remembrance Day Author Visit

Holocaust Remembrance Day Author Visit

This event has passed. Please visit our children's calendar here for a current listing of events. Israeli-born Larchmont resident Amalia Hoffman is a renowned children’s book author and illustrator. She has appeared at the Library to talk about such books as All Colors, Astro Pea, Dreidel Day, and The Klezmer Bunch, and her honors include the PJ Library Author Incentive Award for Dreidel Day. On Monday, January 27, at 4:30 p.m. in the Library’s Galaxy Hall (second floor), Hoffman will make a return visit to discuss her newest book The Brave Cyclist: The True Story of a Holocaust Hero (Capstone
Read More

January 16, 2020 9:45 am | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Events, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Amalia Hoffman, author visit, Gino Bartali, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and The Brave Cyclist.

SCORE at The Library

SCORE at The Library

We are pleased to announce that SCORE Westchester has moved its offices to the Library. Their new home is located on the mezzanine level (ask at the Welcome Desk for directions.) SCORE Westchester, the local chapter of a national, nonprofit, volunteer organization, is a natural fit with the Library, and dramatically expands what we can offer the business community. SCORE is focused on providing mentoring and workshops for the small business community. While the mentoring will be conducted at the Library, SCORE's robust programming schedule includes events at the Library as well as locations across the county. David Kellogg, Chairman
Read More

January 8, 2020 2:25 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, and Library News.
Tags: business mentoring and SCORE.

January Trove Movies

January Trove Movies

Movies continue in the Trove in January with a great selection of classic and new family friendly films! Here’s a quick look at the titles we’ll be showing in Galaxy Hall throughout the month of January. A Dog's Way Home (2019, PG, 137 mins.) Sunday, 1/5 at 2:00 p.m. A lost dog goes on an epic 400 mile journey to be reunited with her owner. Along the way she meets a host of new friends, both human and otherwise. Homeward Bound (1993, G, 85 mins.) Sunday, 1/12 at 2:00 p.m. Three pets escape from a California ranch and embark on
Read More

December 21, 2019 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: film screening and kids movies.

Día de Reyes / Three Kings Day

Día de Reyes / Three Kings Day

This post is now expired. For information on upcoming Trove programs, please visit our online calendar. Three Kings Day, or Día de Reyes is celebrated all over Latin America. Every country celebrates differently, but the basics of the holiday is this: Each January 5th, children prepare to receive the Three Kings and their camels by gathering food for the animals and writing letters. The letters can be mailed beforehand or written on the very night of the Kings' arrival. The food for the camels might be placed on a shoe box, in a basket, or even inside shoes underneath the
Read More

December 18, 2019 10:59 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: dia de reyes and three kings day.

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
Read More

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.

Tech Wednesday for Adults

Tech Wednesday for Adults

This post has expired. Look out for Austin Olney's new tech series, Weekly Tech Topics, coming in January 2020 on select Mondays at 6:00 p.m. Austin Olney leads Tech Wednesdays for Adults at 12:00 p.m. each Wednesday. Tech Wednesday is a weekly, hour-long meetup for adults who wish to learn about various digital technologies. Whether it is app design or Virtual Reality, beginners can explore a wealth of different topics relating to the modern digital revolution. Each week, a particular branch of computer technology is presented in the form of a quick workshop to give patrons knowledge about new technical
Read More

November 27, 2019 9:30 am | by | 1 Comment
Categories: eNewsletter, Events, and Library News.
Tags: digital technology and technology.

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
Read More

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.

Meet the Authors: Himmelfarb & Massena

Meet the Authors: Himmelfarb & Massena

This post has expired and the events have already occurred. Copies of the book that is mentioned can be purchased at the Everyday Healthy Cafe on the first floor of the Library. White Plains in the 20th Century (Arcadia Publishing) is a 130-page compendium of photographs of White Plains throughout the 1900s compiled by former White Plains librarian Ben Himmelfarb and current city archivist Elaine Massena. They gathered 200 photographs largely from the collections of artist/photographer John Rosch (1854-1949) and longtime White Plains city historian Renoda Brown Hoffman (1909-2005) to show how a village-turned-city (in 1916) evolved over 100 years.
Read More

November 12, 2019 9:52 am | by | 8 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Library News, and Local History.
Tags: adults, author event, Ben Himmelfarb, books, Elaine Massena, local history, white plains collection, and white plains history.

New Service: Acorn TV

New Service: Acorn TV

Just in time for the cold weather, we’re launching a new streaming service: Acorn TV. Acorn is best known for their TV and film offerings from the United Kingdom, but they also host content from Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Spain. You’ll find cozy mystery series like Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, the droll Doc Martin, the hard-boiled London Kills, the classic Vera, and the popular Midsomer Murders, among others. Twenty-five degrees and three inches of snow? No problem. Just provide a couch, a dog or cat (or both), a pot of tea, plenty of flannel, and binge to your
Read More

October 23, 2019 2:07 pm | by | 6 Comments
Categories: Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.
Tags: acorn tv, murder mysteries, tv, tv streaming, and video streaming.

September 2019 LibraryReads

September 2019 LibraryReads

Here are the top ten books published in September that librarians across the country love. Just click on a title or book cover to place it on hold. Red at the Bone: A Novel by Jacqueline Woodson Published: 9/17/2019 by Riverhead Books “A rich, multigenerational weaving of two families, starting at Melody’s coming-of-age party. She wears the dress her mother didn’t get to wear because she was pregnant with Melody at the time. Alternating narration moves forward and backward in time, reflecting on family, desire, identity, and parenthood. For fans of Jesmyn Ward and Brit Bennett.”—Julie Graham, Yakima Valley Libraries,
Read More

October 23, 2019 11:30 am | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations and Library Reads.