A Quick Recap
Back to school. Back to work. Back to a full calendar of activities here at the Library. Here’s a recap of what we have going on this fall.
Our book groups all reconvene over the next few weeks, offering something for nearly everyone: Slow Reading, an opportunity to read short fiction closely; Book ‘Em, a mystery book group; our Spanish book club; and Barbara Wenglin’s Short-Story Discussion Series. Visit our website for all the details.
Interested in sharing your thoughts about some of the toughest issues facing our country—as well as listening to the opinions of your neighbors and friends? Then join us for Common Ground, a series of community conversations hosted by the Library and the League of Women Voters of White Plains. The first conversation is September 20 and focuses on Immigration and American Identity. Find the full schedule here.
Maybe what you really need is a little de-stressing. If so, try our Wellness Wednesday series, with workshops on Reiki, Stress Management, Sound Meditation and Sound Healing. Here’s the full lineup.
 And that’s not all! Check out the Library’s website for more activities.
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Doing Good
The Edge staff is getting ready for the fall semester of the Do Gooders, a community service initiative where teens create handmade items to donate to social service organizations, plan and present children’s programming in the Library, and explore new options for helping others. Launched in 2017 through a grant to the White Plains Library Foundation from the Allstate Foundation, Do Gooders has evolved into one of our  most popular activities.The group met throughout this past school year and, based on enthusiasm from the teens, continued to meet over the summer.
Recently, the Do Gooders made birthday cards for Meals on Wheels, dog and cat toys for the SPCA, baby blankets for children in need (through Project Linus), and bracelets for Operation Gratitude (benefiting U.S. Military and First Responder communities). This fall, the Do Gooders will add a new project where teens introduce children to the library’s STEM technology, like Strawbees (engineering/building with straws) and Bloxels (a game-creating platform with colored blocks). If you’re in high school and interested in community service, please join us! The next Do Gooders meeting is Tuesday, September 18 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. in the Edge Media Lab.
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Anthony Bourdain Film Screening
 Did you know that forty percent of our food is wasted while one in five Westchester residents experiences food insecurity? At 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 8 in our auditorium, the League of Women Voters of Westchester will co-sponsor with the Larchmont/Mamaroneck League a forum that addresses ways to resolve the imbalance between food waste and food insecurity.
The program will begin with Anthony Bourdain’s acclaimed film WASTED! The Story of Food Waste followed by an interactive discussion with Feeding Westchester’s President & CEO Leslie Gordon and the NYS League’s Committee on Energy, Agriculture and the Environment Chair Beth Radow, who will discuss steps to feed more of Westchester’s food insecure residents and expand food-waste-recycling-to compost programs already underway. Proposed legislation addressing food optimization will be discussed.
The event is free and open to the public. A light breakfast will be served.
RSVP: leaguevote411@gmail.com
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Meditation & Reflection Room
 Beginning Monday, September 10, a meditation & reflection room will be available on Mondays from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at the Library for quiet, self-guided meditation and reflection.
Stop in for a few minutes or longer to re-group during your lunch hour.
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What White Plains is Reading
Curious to know what nonfiction titles–based on the number of reserves--are popular with our patrons? Each week the Library gets a report of titles that have a lot of reserves. This– and your requests at the Information Desk– let us know when we need to buy more copies of something!
Aside from the familiar best-sellers, here are a couple of titles popular among our patrons.
 The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande
"Grande, an award-winning novelist, has written a courageous memoir that chronicles her 'before and after' existence: her life in Mexico without her parents, and her life in the States as an undocumented immigrant with her alcoholic father and indifferent stepmother...Her compelling story, told in unvarnished, resonant prose, is an important piece of America’s immigrant history. " –BookPage Reviews
 Ninety-nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown
"... journalist Craig Brown offers an acerbic biography of the star-crossed princess, one that is hilarious and bittersweet in turns. The chief biographical events of Margaret’s life—her doomed affair with Townsend, her unhappy marriage to Tony Snowden, her taste for bohemia and louche ’70s vacations on the Caribbean island of Mustique—are told with a postmodern flair." –BookPage Reviews
 On the Other Side of Freedom by DeRay Mckesson
"In this thoughtful collection of essays, activist and podcaster Mckesson reflects on what he’s learned from protest, family upheaval, racial inequality, homophobia, community organizing, abuse, and love. The volume’s non-accusatory tone and focus on structure and culture make it a welcoming, accessible, and inspiring entrance point to social justice work." –Publishers Weekly
 The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath
by Leslie Jamison
"Jamison’s questing immersion in intoxication and sobriety is exceptional in its vivid, courageous, hypnotic telling; brilliant in its subtlety of perception, interpretation, and compassion; and capacious in its scholarship, scale, concern, and mission." –Booklist Reviews.
 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Harari
Following up his international best-seller Sapiens, "Harari (History/Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) proves that he has not lost his touch, casting a brilliantly insightful eye on today's myriad crises, from Trump to terrorism, Brexit to big data...in 21 painfully astute essays, he delivers his take on where our increasingly 'post-truth' world is headed." –Kirkus Reviews
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Photo of The Week
 Left: Goodbye Walmart. Photo by Lorella Brocklesby.
We want your photos! In each issue of This Week on Martine we will feature one patron submitted photo that was taken in White Plains. To submit your photography for a chance to be featured, visit our photo submission page, upload one of your photos and fill out our form with a short description of the photo and your name.
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