Libraries

‘Books In Hand’ Initiative Aims To Bring Books to Students Across Westchester

May 13, 2020 by Lauren Rosh

The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (CCBF) is teaming up with Barnes & Noble, End Book Deserts and One Book Westchester to bring books to students in pockets of Westchester as part of a campaign called Books in Hand.

CCBF founder Dawn Greenberg said these three initiatives are using their platforms to raise money to create book packs for students.

“We know some kids have no books in their home and we will make sure the kids have books through the end of the school year and into the summer,” Greenberg said. “Normally they would go to the libraries after the school year but now it isn’t looking likely that they will be able to do that.”

The group will start by distributing books to Mount Vernon and White Plains. Books in Hand also hopes to expand their reach to Ossining, Yonkers and Mount Kisco public schools.

Literacy Initiative

CCFB is a volunteer group made up of members of the community that gives both families and kids the opportunity to meet authors and illustrators. On their website, the mission statement below their logo is “putting a book in the hands of every child.” CCFB and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services launched a literacy initiative in January called One Book Westchester. This group’s goal is to hold events around the county and form a county-wide book club.

Also passionate about providing books to students is educator Dr. Molly Ness. She founded “End Book Deserts”, a podcast about the importance of building book oases in high poverty communities. Her main goal is to advocate for the value of books in communities and raise awareness according to her website.

Greenberg said the groups are collaborating by working with teachers and literacy experts to put together a list of books and authors that will appeal to different grade levels. They are also working toward possibly getting Skype visits from authors to some of the kids. Barnes & Noble will then sort the books by grade, Books In Hand will distribute to the district and the district will distribute to the students.

Dr. Gayle White-Wallace is the Director of Pre-Kindergarten and Standards Administrator- ELA/Literacy, Reading and Social Studies at the Mount Vernon City School District. White-Wallace said that when the district receives the books, they will either send them to the student’s homes or offer them for pick up at some of the schools.

The students will then use the books for a number of different activities possibly including making a social media account for a character in a book and posting on their page as if they were the character tagging the school in the posts so administration and teachers can see the work students are doing.

These books will also be used for the Superintendent’s Reading Challenge, a Mount Vernon City School elementary reading initiative that encourages students to read throughout the year. The purpose of the challenge is to instill good reading habits in children and show students how enjoyable reading can be. According to New York State guidelines, students are mandated to read 25 books by the end of the academic year.

The superintendent’s challenge reading goals are as follows:

Prekindergarten: 15 books read with parent
Grades K-2: 40 sight word books and/or leveled readers
Grades 3-6: 30 chapter books

Students are encouraged by their teachers and administration to complete the challenge through the use of after-school book clubs, a book of the month and a bulletin board in class indicating the number of books each student has read.

Upon completing the challenge, students can receive a raffle ticket to win prizes at a celebration where everyone who met the goal can attend.

“The libraries are closed, so the kids are not able to go to the library and there are students who do not have access to technology,” White-Wallace said. “So we want to make sure we can get books in the hands of students that way they have material to read that will support their reading level and fluency.”

All funds raised by the Books in Hand initiative will go toward purchasing books for schools like the Mount Vernon City School District. The group hopes to distribute books to the districts by mid-May. If you have additional questions about the Books in Hand initiative, please write to: Chappbook@yahoo.com

If you would like to contribute to Books in Hand, the fundraiser link can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/books-in-hands-in-westchester-county

How Our Libraries Stack Up in Today’s Digital World

March 5, 2017 by Beth Besen

Periodicals inside the Chappaqua Library. Photo by Gary Sapolin

It’s been said that “a book is a present you open again and again.” If we can agree that this is in fact so, then may I suggest we further the idea and consider our public libraries as proverbial Santa sacks full of goodies galore!

Remember Melvil Dewey, of the eponymous Dewey Decimal system? Coining “the best reading for the largest number at the least cost” as his slogan, Dewey was elected president of the American Library Association in 1890. His vision/standardization process is largely responsible for the look and feel of today’s modern U.S. library.

And yet, while all libraries gift us with classic and new hardcover, trade and paperback books, today’s newspapers or the latest magazine, music, movies and more, each also offers unique and special programs. Indeed, a public library is a veritable treasure trove of events, classes, workshops and resources, tailored to the community it serves.

The Chappaqua Library anchors one end of the town. Conveniently adjacent to one of the middle schools, the library is very student-centric, welcoming all grades every day and with extended hours during midterms, finals and regents. As Library Director Pam Thornton points out, “a large percentage of students use the library after school, especially on Friday afternoon. They mainly come to use the computers and for afterschool programs and to hang out. We are chartered as a school district public library serving the Chappaqua Central School District community. Our community has a strong focus on education and advanced degrees.”

With its bright and welcoming children’s room and 16 pre-school story hours each week (including a monthly special-needs group), the Chappaqua Library helps grow an early love of books and reading. From there, it’s an easy move to either the dedicated teen area or main room where reading and learning continue to be of paramount importance to so many. In fact, Adult-Ed programs are another source of pride for the Chappaqua library. Residents enjoy film series, book discussion groups, author programs, writing workshops, even one-on-one computer lessons. Currently, a Foreign Policy Discussion group attracts close to 100 attendees every Monday morning. The CCSD recently passed a bond which included $1.7 million for a library renovation/expansion project. Thornton expects to see “a greater emphasis on the library as a community space and not just a resource for the printed word.”

Outside the North Castle Public Library. Photo by Gary Sapolin

Unlike Chappaqua, the North Castle Public Library is not a school district library, but a municipal library. Programming is funded by Friends of the North Castle Public Library, grants and public service providers. Therefore, as Director Edie Martimucci explains, her database need not replicate the schools’ libraries and she is able to focus entirely on community interest. In fact, her first programming question is a simple “what does the general public want?” Martimucci repeats that question in multiple venues, direct and indirect conversations. She listens closely, watches what works, counts numbers of attendees and then tailors her programming and acquisitions accordingly. Martimucci proudly shares that “our programming has skyrocketed this last year with 36,000 people attending youth and adult programming and our theatres’ productions. We shot up through the ranks of the Westchester Library system!”

Martimucci likes to tell people that North Castle is really a three-library system; Armonk, North White Plains and “our virtual branch.” ESL is a steady popular program in North White Plains while Friday Night Films pack the house in Armonk, and users like students and travelers are logging in at all hours to download information they need right then and there. “It’s an exciting time to be a librarian,” says Martimucci, “the days of the “ssshhing” librarian are over! In the digital age, libraries need to look at themselves as culture, information and recreation hubs. My goal is to make the North Castle Library the go-to place for our community.”

Homegrown and still living in Ossining, Programming and Events Coordinator James Trapasso is ideally situated to keep his finger on the pulse of his multi-cultural and economically diverse community. He notes that, with a large and ever-growing Hispanic population, the library has built up its multicultural collections while simultaneously offering assistance in many ways, including ESL and English conversation classes, a Spanish Film and many events celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Additionally, he points out, the Ossining Public Library is a proud partner with the Ossining School District and therefore partners with the schools on certain initiatives. “Right now, we conduct a Spanish class for teachers and other professionals in the school district to learn the language. The library sees many kids after school and also for our Math Tutoring program on Wednesday evenings. For the month of May, ever year, the library’s art gallery has hosted the School District Art Show for grades K-12. It is a show not to be missed.”

Trapasso explains that voters overwhelming approved a $15.8 million project to build the current library, which, having opened its doors in March 2007, will soon celebrate its tenth anniversary. Ossining has some pretty dramatic waterfront, and beautiful Hudson River views are as much a part of the library’s appeal as are the modern design, friendly staff and extensive collections. Trapasso notes that the library “has space for everyone. From our 200-seat theater to our café space and our meeting rooms; there’s even a reading room equipped with a double-sided fireplace–the perfect spot to read on those cold winter days.” The spectacular 44,000 square-foot “new” Ossining Public Library has won numerous awards and is LEED Certified from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Mount Kisco Public Library also serves a very diverse community. However, according to Library Director Kathryn Feeley, one interest/activity that spans the many backgrounds and connects across the ages of this heterogeneous population is crafting. As she explains, the act of crafting is creative and inclusive, encouraging people to engage with each other in real time and real life.

For example, during the December holiday season, the library partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to draw the community together during a crafting and tree-lighting event. Feeley remarks that children, teens, adults and seniors all attended and took part in activities targeted to their age and interest. The partnership and program were an overwhelming success.

Another craft-focused activity is adult coloring. Adult coloring has recently garnered serious attention as a way to center one’s mind and emotions. Indeed, Feeley shares that the Mount Kisco Library needed to replace a regular mediation program for a few months and tried adult coloring as a stop-gap alternative. It has proven immensely popular, again drawing in various demographics including a large number of Latino seasonal workers whose employment options are more limited during the cold weather months.

Clearly, our community libraries are here to stay, and we must count ourselves quite lucky to have enthusiastic, engaged and dedicated professionals at the helms. Further, we should applaud ourselves and our neighbors for continuing to recognize the need for communal learning and information.

Please note that we’ve profiled but four of our area’s libraries, and highlight various programming at these along with an additional two in a related post. http://theinsidepress.com/highlights-from-area-library-programs/ As times and needs change, libraries, rather than becoming relics of the past, remain and grow as vital and vibrantly as ever. Do make sure you/your family have a library card and enjoy all that the Westchester Library System has to offer!

Beth Besen is a past editor and continuing contributor to the Inside Press. Although a Chappaqua resident for over 20 years, she has lived in many places, and always found the public library to be a true home away from home.

Chappaqua Library. Photo by Gary Sapolin

Learning at the Library

April 23, 2014 by The Inside Press

The stately North Castle Public Library on Whippoorwill Road East.

By Sarah Ellen Rindsberg

The bastion of knowledge, commonly referred to as the library, in the Town of North Castle, is a beacon to one and all. As literary tastes change and technology develops, the library is constantly evolving. When tots need entertaining, young adults clamor for dystopian fiction and adults yearn to master a computer program, their needs are met at the library. To provide exemplary service to all residents in the Town of North Castle, there are two physical locations: the main one in Armonk and the second in North White Plains.

When Director Scott Jarzombek was in library school, the internet was entrenched in everyone’s lives and the demise of the very institutions he aspired to lead was predicted far and wide. He took the contrarian viewpoint and persevered, undeterred. Today he sits at the helm of an engaging place of learning. “It [the internet] made libraries that weren’t being used into vibrant centers [of] technology and technological instruction,” he observes.

Jarzombek points to a feature which renders libraries unique and appealing to all: “We’re the one educational institution in the community that’s open to the public, for all ages.” The vast array of programs offered is a testament to this philosophy. The following is a sampling of the classes and activities on the calendar in April: appointments with a NY State of Health Navigator–designed to examine options and demystify the Affordable Health Care Act, Bridge and Italian lessons, Defensive Driving classes, chair and family yoga.

The Children’s calendar is busy, too, with interactive programs that entertain and teach. One novel program, Play and Learn, helps parents “figure out their kids’ learning styles” says Jarzombek. Another class, Bounce the Baby, engages little ones through use of song, movement and story. The Miller family recently enjoyed a three-generation outing to just such a class led by part-time Children’s Librarian, L.J. Cox. Said Armonk native and grandmother Sandy Miller, “We started coming in September and have come every week since; Sofie (two years old) talks about L.J. all the time!”

Patron Kenneth Dinkel is a huge proponent of the library. He is on site every day, accompanied on a regular basis by his two children and his wife. “What the library is to the Dinkels is a home away from home, an extension of our home,” he says. His kids come after school to do their homework and take advantage of tutoring offered by teens. On Saturday mornings, he and his wife attend Tai Chi. They also enjoy the art history classes offered in the evening by Valerie Franco.

And yes, supplying reading material remains a top priority for the library. For nonfiction, Jarzombek is adamant that everyone should read “Command and Control” by Eric Schlosser. This tome describes the country’s nuclear arsenal. “A pretty relevant topic,” Jarzombek adds. In fiction, “The Goldfinch,” by Donna Tartt, is in high demand. For young adults, Jarzombek recommends the “Divergent” series by Veronica Roth, and for the younger set, “‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ still rules.Although many titles are available as e-books, Jarzombek finds that “digitally literate people often prefer to read a regular book.”

The Friends of the Library are extremely active. They fund all of the programs and are the driving force behind the ever popular theatrical group, known as The Armonk Players.

The latest additions to the library are a self-checkout unit and a section for new material. A co-working space, equipped with technological devices, is being created for use by the public. Future plans include changes to the children’s room and teen services.

Bibliophile Sarah Ellen Rindsberg devoured a copy of Donna Tartt’s latest oeuvre from the library.