What’s Happening at Cheshire Library in May

April 26, 2017April 12, 2017 / cheshirelib / Leave a comment

MAY we interest you in some programs this month? When you’re done groaning over that terrible pun, check out some of the highlights from May’s event calendar:

Friends of Cheshire Public Library Spring Book Sale

Thursday May 4, 2017, 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Friday May 5, 2017, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Saturday May 6, 2017, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Sunday May 7, 2017, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Bargains! More Bargains! And don’t forget Sunday is Bag of Books Day – fill up a bag of books for one low price (bags provided) – $10 for one bag, $15 for two!

Tuesday Movie Matinees

Tuesdays, May 9, 16, 23, 30 at 1:00 PM

A different movie each week! No registration required.

Mark Twain in Connecticut

Tuesday May 16, 2017, 6:30 PM

Dr. James Golden of the Mark Twain House and Museum explains the importance of Connecticut and Hartford to Twain’s life and work, including his famous neighbors, such as novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, travel writer and journalist Charles Dudley Warner, Civil War hero and senator Joseph Hawley, and female suffrage campaigner Isabella Beecher Hooker. Registration is required.

Writing Workshop: Story First (Plotting your novel)

Wednesday May 17, 2017, 6:00 PM

This workshop takes participants through the process of developing an idea into a workable premise that can generate a full story. From there writers will examine how to build a plot that will keep readers asking questions and turning pages until they reach a powerful and satisfying ending. Presented by author Steve Liskow. Registration required for this adult program.

Pet First Aid with VCA

Thursday May 18, 2017, 6:30 PM

Pet First Aid will teach participants emergency care procedures for your fur babies and provide tips for keeping your pet healthy too. Join us as Doctor Deborah Goul, Director of General Practice at VCA Cheshire Animal Hospital, and other VCA ER doctors, Please be so kind as to leave your fur family at home. Registration required.

Introduction to Microsoft Word

Wednesdays, May 24 & 31, 2017, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

This class will provide an introduction to Microsoft Word and is divided into two sessions.You will learn basic navigation skills to effectively use the Microsoft Word program:

Create a simple document.
Edit text and check spelling errors.
Format the document.
Insert a picture; change font formatting and much more.

Please register separately for May 24 and May 31 sessions.

STEM Coffee Hour: Virtual Reality

Thursday May 25, 2017, 7:00 – 8:00 PM

STEM Coffee Hours are designed for adults who are interested in learning more about a particular science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topic. The general format is an informative presentation followed by group discussion. Facilitator: Dr. Tracie Addy, Center for Teaching and Learning, STEM Educator, Yale University. Please be aware that Coffee Hours are first come, first served. Please arrive 10 minutes in advance. If for any reason you are unable to attend, please cancel your reservation to open your space. Register here (required).

Above and Beyond

Thursday May 25, 2017, 6:30 – 7:45 PM

Join us for the incredible documentary film of the escape from Nazi-occupied Europe by Jewish-American Pilot Bruce Sundlun and his subsequent return to support the French Resistance. Registration required.

Soccer Shots Mini Demo Class (ages 2-3)

Tuesday May 30, 2017 – Two sessions: 10:30 AM & 11:15 AM

Soccer Shots of Central CT will be hosting a demonstration class for kids ages 2-3 years old. Soccer Shots Mini is a high-energy program introducing young children to fundamental soccer principles, such as using your feet, dribbling and the basic rules of the game. Through fun games, songs and positive reinforcement, children will begin to experience the joy of playing soccer and being active. This program is presented by Soccer Shots of Central CT. For ages 2-3 years old with caregiver. Registration begins May 9.

Look It up on lynda.com

April 24, 2017March 28, 2017 / Mary / Leave a comment

If you don’t have time to take a full class or just need a quick answer, lynda.com can help. For those who have never used lynda.com, it is a site of over 3,000 online courses available on the cheshirelibrary.com/elearning page of our website for anyone who holds a current Cheshire Public Library Card.

I frequently use the lynda online classes as a place to find answers to software questions. Need to know how to display all worksheet formulas in Excel? lynda’s Excel 2016 Tips and Tricks course has the answer. Simply scan the table of contents on the left side of the page and click on Display all worksheet formulas instantly. Three minutes and thirty seconds later you will have the answer.

That’s one of the things that is so wonderful about lynda.com. All courses are divided into short videos that are easily searchable. Word 2016 got you down? lynda has a course titled Word 2016 Essential Training. From getting started to formatting text, to using style and themes and many more complicated endeavors, this course has the answers you’re looking for. The entire course is five hours and forty-one minutes, but the average video chapter is only two to three minutes. Videos like Adding pizzazz with special text effects, Illustrating with WordArt, and Getting documents ready for sharing, can save you loads of time.

The number of topics covered in the lynda.com courses is truly astonishing. Photography. Game Design. Microsoft Office. Music. Test Prep. Business Topics. Educator Tools. And on and on.

You can access lynda.com from our website at cheshirelibrary.com/elearning. You must have a Cheshire Library card to login. Once you do, all the answers you need are only a few minutes away.

Note: lynda.com charges libraries based on the population served by the library. So when a library subscribes, lynda.com restricts access to those who have cards from that library. If you are not a Cheshire resident, check with your hometown library. More and more libraries are offering lynda.com to their patrons. If you are a Cheshire resident and do not have a card, you can apply for a card online or in person at the library.

Teach Yourself Technology

March 27, 2017February 23, 2017 / emily100101 / Leave a comment

technology support help me please!

At Cheshire Public Library’s weekly Drop-In Tech Help, I am often told that people don’t know where to begin with learning technology. They ask me what special resource of knowledge I use and where I went to school and how long it took me to learn all of these tricks and devices. The answer is simple: There is no secret knowledge! I use books and the internet, and you can, too.

If you recently got a new device or you feel overwhelmed by your device’s capabilities, start with a book. The library has a variety of books on popular devices, and we can always get something for you if we fail to carry it. Books are great for starting out with a new computer, smart phone, or tablet. You can look up topics like Setting Up Your Email or page through the whole book at your own pace. Most technology books are visual, and you can go through step-by-step instructions with your device at your side.

If you prefer video instruction, you can try Lynda.com, which is now available for all Cheshire Public Library resident cardholders. Lynda.com is an online learning site that hosts a constantly growing library of over 3,000 courses.

What are you waiting for? Here’s a small sample of the books we have available:

iPhone: The Missing Manual by David Pogue

Covers all models with iOS 8.1 software, including iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

iPad for Seniors by Nancy Muir

Learn about all the incredible things your iPad can do with this friendly guide. Learn to make video calls, navigate with maps, find almost anything with Siri, and more!

Teach Yourself Visually: Android Phones and Tablets by Guy Hart-Davis

Includes customizing your phone or tablet, working with text and voice, making calls and instant messaging, enjoying social networking, working with apps, browsing the web and e-mailing, taking and using photos and videos, using maps, Google Earth, and clock, playing music and videos, troubleshooting your device.

Kindle Fire HDX for Dummies by Nancy Muir

Also covers the Kindle Fire HD!

My Windows 10 by Katherine Murray

An easy, full-color tutorial on the latest operating system from Microsoft.

Technology Help – Need device advice? Come to Drop-in Tech Help. No appointment necessary. We provide help with smartphones, laptops, tablets, ereaders, email, Facebook, social media, and more! Check out the calendar for our next session.

Collection Spotlight: Lit Kits

March 1, 2017February 7, 2017 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

When you were growing up was there a subject that you were obsessed with? Perhaps you are a parent or caregiver and a little one in your life has a similar obsession. Maybe you want to teach your little ones about your favorite subject, or you are a teacher and want to introduce a subject or idea. We have a simple answer for all of this, we call them Lit Kits.

A Lit Kit is a box that includes a DVD, CD, book of related activities, picture books, and board books on a given topic. The collection of materials circulate in a blue storage box for the standard 28 day period, the same check out time as out regular books, CD’s, and audiobooks. They are the perfect solution for entertaining and teaching our youngsters. We currently have 40 Lit Kits in our collection, with plans for adding more. You can place holds on the kits if the subject you are looking for is checked out. Our Lit Kits are located on the bottom shelf of the book case that houses our Parenting collection. Our Lit Kits include: Firefighters, Babies, Birds, Apples, Winter, Shoes, Spring, Food, Sleeping, Chickens,Fish, Fish #2, Transportation, Wheels, Rain, Friends, Monsters, Frogs, Summer, Colors, Dinosaurs, Animals, Families, Nursery Rhymes, Circus, Clothing, Pizza, Teeth, Shapes, Monkeys, Cats, Fall/Autumn, Bears, Dogs, Princesses, Bugs, Farms, Sports, Beach, and All About Me.

We are planning on building more kits, so if you have a suggestion for a subject please share it here.

Help for New Years Resolutions

January 2, 2017November 22, 2016 / Mary / Leave a comment

new-years-resolutions Everyone has good intentions at the start of a new year, and why not? A new year is a great time for a new beginning. If you need help with some of your New Year resolutions, it’s the perfect time to take a look at lynda.com.

lynda.com is an online learning site with over 3,000 courses that’s available to all Cheshire Library cardholders. Login from the library’s website!

Here are some suggested courses to get you started on your new year! To view the courses in-depth, grab your library card and head over to our eLearning page where you can login to lynda.com.

Happiness Tips: (Weekly Tips)
Get a new happiness tip every Monday to help you live a happier life. Learn practical, actionable techniques for finding more time for the things you love and maximizing your day-to-day happiness.

Personal Finance Tips: (Weekly Tips)
Each week, receive a new tip, designed to help you make smart decisions about your money.

5 Personal Finance Tips: 9 minutes, 18 seconds.
This short course provides time-tested tips on managing your spending, managing your fixed costs (regular monthly expenses), creating a budget, investing, and saving money.

Managing Stress: 21 minutes, 2 seconds.
With the right techniques, you can reduce the amount of stress in your life. In this short course, author and retired MBA professor Dr. Todd Dewett shares his tips for managing stress, including identifying your triggers, managing responses, and making positive personal choices.

Disrupting Yourself: 24 minutes, 28 seconds.
Disrupting yourself is the secret to breaking into a new field, never settling for less, and achieving more. In this course, author, Harvard Business Review blogger, and consultant Whitney Johnson walks you through her seven-step model to disrupt yourself and move to the next level in your career.

Powerless to Powerful: Taking Control: 60 minutes.
In this course, executive coach and LinkedIn’s head of organizational development Fred Kofman helps you make the choice to embrace life’s challenges, to go from victim to hero, and shows how to help others do the same through support and coaching.

Managing Your Time: 11 minutes, 11 seconds.
Learn four time-management tips that help everyone from busy executives to new employees get more out of their work day.

Time Management Tips: 43 minutes, 1 second.
Learn about everything from managing emails and calendars to setting priorities, reducing interruptions, crafting a “productivity mindset,” and creating a more comfortable and effective work environment.

Mindfulness: 1 hour, 16 minutes.
UCLA professor and executive coach John Ullmen, PhD, explains the fundamentals of mindfulness and provides step-by-step methods that anyone can use.

Improving Your Memory: 1 hour, 29 minutes.
This fascinating course explains how and when to employ tricks such as mnemonic devices, rhymes, stories, and alliteration. And it explains the best methods for different situations, like remembering names, important dates, passwords, to-do lists, quotes, and more.