October 4th-10th is Fire Prevention Week!

October 5, 2015September 14, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire. This tragic 1871 event killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871. Despite the tragedy of that fire, it was not the biggest that year, or even that week. That sad distinction goes to the Peshtigo Fire, the most devastating forest fire in American history. This fire also started on October 8th, 1871, and roared through Northeast Wisconsin, burning down 16 towns, killing 1,152 people, and scorching 1.2 million acres before it ended. firesafety

Since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls. According to the National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center, Fire Prevention Week is the longest running public health and safety observance on record. The President of the United States has signed a proclamation proclaiming a national observance during that week every year since 1925. Each year has had a special fire safety theme, this years is; Hear The Beep Where You Sleep. Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm! For more information on the history of this week of awareness please visit the National Fire Prevention Association website. There is a great deal of helpful information and resources throughout the site, including printable activity sheets for children.

Fire safety is an important topic to share with children, often the younger the better, so they know how to react during a fire drill or an emergency. Here is a selection of books you might want to share with your children to educate and prepare them, while entertaining them.

A Kid’s Guide to Staying Safe Around Fire by Maribeth Boelts, Fireboy to the Rescue!: A Fire Safety Book by Edward Miler, Stop Drop and Roll by Margery Cuyler, Fire Safety by Lisa M. Herrington, No Dragons for Tea: Fire Safety for Kids (and Dragons) by Jean Pendziwol, Fire Safety by Dana Meachen Rau, Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill by Jamie Harper, Fire Safety in Action by Mari Schuh, Firefighters!: Speeding! Spraying! Saving! by Patricia Hubbell,If There is a Fire by Wil Mara, Staying Safe around Fire by Lucia Raatma,Fire Drill by Paul DuBois Jacobs and Jennifer Swender, andThe Firefighters by Sue Whiting.

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Celebrate the Freedom to Read with Challenged Children’s and Young Adult Titles

September 25, 2015September 15, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read anything and everything that catches our fancy. This usually happens during the last week of September, and this year it runs from September 27 through October 3 2015. For more information on banned books weeks and challenged books in general, you might want to check out the American Library Association’s dedicated pages on the subject here.

Banned Books Week brings together everyone who loves books, reading, and readers. This includes librarians, book sellers, teachers, and readers of all ages who support the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those that might be uncomfortable or unpopular. To celebrate banned books this year, I am going to read as many of the children’s and young adult books that have faced challenges that I can. This will mean rereading some of my favorites, and reading some books for the first time. I have noted after each book whether it is a young adult book (YA), children’s chapter or poetry book (CB), or picture book (PB). How many of these challenged books have you read and are you surprised by the number of books many consider classics or favorites are on the list?

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (YA)

The Witches by Roald Dahl (CB)

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (PB)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (YA)

Blubber by Judy Blume (CB)

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (PB)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (YA)

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (CB)

1984 by George Orwell (YA)

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (YA)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (and the rest of the series) by J.K. Rowling (CB)

For even more reading you might want to check out other challenged titles: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (YA), The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (CB), Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (YA), Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (CB), Deenie by Judy Blume (YA), Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (YA), James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (CB), Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (CB), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (CB), Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA), Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause (YA), Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher (YA), and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (YA). This is just the tip of the iceberg! For further lists of challenged books, and why they have been challenged visit the ALA’s page of Frequently Challenged Books.

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Behind the Scenes at CPL – Circulation

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015 / Louise / Leave a comment

In previous behind-the-scenes posts, we’ve talked about collection development (acquiring materials), and cataloging (preparing acquired materials for the shelf). You might think that the librarian’s job ends once an item is safely on the shelf. Nope, once we own an item, our next task is to get it into your hands! This is the main objective of the Circulation Department, but really everyone on staff, no matter what department, takes part in promoting and maintaining our collection. Let’s take a look at some of the ways we do this:

Shelving. Having a library full of great materials won’t do us any good if people can’t find them. To that end, shelving is critical. Getting items back to the shelf as quickly as possible after they are returned is the main job responsibility of our Pages. They know our shelves inside and out, and keep them in good order. When they are not shelving, you will often find them shelf-reading, going through the shelves to make sure that books are where they should be and in the proper order. With over 100,000 items in our collection, this is no small task!

Highlighting Materials. With so many items on our shelves, browsing through them can be a bit overwhelming! We often highlight smaller sections, whether it be small displays at the ends of the shelves, or larger separations by genre. For example, you probably know that we keep our newer materials separate from the rest of the collection, but did you also know that we separate Mystery and Science Fiction from the rest of Fiction? Or that Romance Paperbacks have their own section? Classics and Comedies are highlighted within the Feature Films DVD section. And don’t forget to check our Staff Picks section for book recommendations from our staff!

Holds and Reserves. Holds and reserves take up a lot of staff time. We get reports twice daily that list items that patrons request – and that list is long! Any requested item that is on the shelf must be searched for, pulled, and trapped for the patron who requested it. If the patron is from Cheshire Library, we then notify them and place their hold(s) on the Hold Shelf in our Lobby. After 5 days, if the item has not been picked up, it gets returned to the shelf, or passed on to the next person on the waiting list. (You might be shocked to know how many people never pick up their holds – we are!)

Holds for Cheshire patrons are only half the story, though. We also receive requests for inter-library loans from other libraries in our consortium. A lot of them! We get and receive dozens of inter-library loan items every day through the state library’s C-Car delivery system. We pull, wrap and pack boxes full of C-Car items every single day!

Mending. When an item gets checked out over and over again, it can get a little worn. Pages get torn or loose, discs get scratched, cases get broken. Whenever possible, we try to fix these problems and get the items back to the shelves. Several of our staff have received training on book mending, and our A/V catalogers use a disc repair machine for troublesome CDs and DVDs.

Weeding. Nothing lasts forever. To keep adding new materials to our shelves, we must remove other materials, called “weeding”. We begin by checking the condition of older items, if they are too worn or need more repair than is practical, we weed them out. If we have multiple copies of a former bestseller, we keep the one in the best condition and weed the rest out. We run circulation reports, telling us which items have not been checked out in a long period of time (years), and weed them out. We’d love to keep every book forever, but shelf space must determine the amount of items we can offer. Many weeded items get added to our semi-annual book sale to benefit the Friends of the Cheshire Public Library, and many items get donated to charity.

Of course, we’re also here to help you to search for items in our catalog, find out the next book in your favorite series, check items out and back in again, and much more. Circulation means keeping our items moving, and it’s part of everyone’s job at Cheshire Library!

(Animated gif images from gosetawatchman.tumblr.com and the University of Mary Washington Book Repair Dept.)

What’s Happening at Cheshire Library in September

September 2, 2015August 28, 2015 / cheshirelib / Leave a comment

Did you know that September is Library Card Sign-up Month? A time to remind parents and children that a library card is the most important school supply of all. While you don’t need a library card to participate in our great programs, there are a lot of great things your library card can do for you, so don’t miss out!

On our program roster this month:

Mindfulness Workshop for Kids

Thursdays, September 3, 10, 17, 24, October 1, 8, 15, 22 at 4:00 pm.

Children are leading an increasingly busy life with school, sports events, music lessons and more. So they also experience that rushed pace. Mindfulness techniques train you to pay attention to those things in the present moment in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner. This gives children the opportunity to stop and choose a response thoughtfully rather than reacting impulsively. Parents/caregivers will be participating in this 8-week program as well through mindfulness exercises with your child and through a book discussion. The book Mindful Parenting by Dr. Kristen Race will be used to discuss techniques for mindful parenting. Register on our website beginning August 15.

SAT Preparation Seminar

Tuesday Sep 8, 2015, 6:30 – 8:00 PM

Prominent language arts tutor, Ellis Ratner, will present this free SAT Preparation Seminar. This program will address all aspects of the Reading and Writing Sections, including sentence completion, reading comprehension, grammar and essay writing. Attendees will also receive, free of charge, an SAT Preparation Primer authored by Mr. Ratner. Please register on our website.

Bouncing Babies

Mondays at 10:00 AM

This new drop-in program is a special time to interact with stories, songs, rhymes, and lap bounces. This fun and interactive time features music, repetition, rhymes, puppets, instruments, and felt boards. A must-do for babies and toddlers! Ages birth to 2 years.Drop-in, no registration required.

Curious George Curiosity Day

Thursday Sep 17, 2015, 6:00 – 6:45 PM

Each year fun-filled, family-friendly “Curiosity Day” celebrations occur in cities around the country celebrating everyone’s favorite monkey, Curious George. Come join the Cheshire Public Library Curiosity Celebration full of stories and songs, and a snack even Curious George would love. This program is a family friendly program, best for kids ages 2 and up. (REGISTRATION?)

Fab Film Saturday: Disney’s Cinderella

Saturday Sep 19, 2015, 2:00 – 4:00 PM

Come enjoy some great box office kids’ movies with Fab Film Saturdays at Cheshire Public Library!

Disney’s CINDERELLA (2015). Celebrate Disney’s CINDERELLA, a modern classic that shines with beauty, imagination… and magic! Despite being bulled by her stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and stepsisters, a spirited Ella (Lily James) resolves to take charge of her fate. Add a royal ball, a Fairy Godmother (Helenal Bonham-Carter) and a glass slipper, and suddenly — magic becomes reality! Running Time 2 hours, 24 minutes. Rated PG. No registration required. Feel free to bring your own snacks!

Cigar Box Purse Craft Class

Thursday Sep 24, 2015, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Please join Vanessa Fasanella as she teaches how to make cigar box purse in this adult crafting class. Design purse and handles; transform a recycled cigar box into a usable purse. This adult only class is free and all materials will be provided. Registration required as space is limited so register early. Registration on our website.

Town-Wide Photo Scavenger Hunt

Saturday Sep 26, 2015, 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM

Grab your friends, family, and mobile device for a scavenger hunt that will take you all around Cheshire! To participate, form a team that will fit in one vehicle, pick up a list of clues from Cheshire Library on the morning of the hunt, and drive around town solving each clue. Post a photo of each clue to Instagram and use the tag #cheshirehunt2015, then return to the Library in the afternoon for refreshments and prizes. Prizes will be chosen across several categories, such as creativity and number of clues solved, and by random drawing.

Pre-registration of teams is required. One team and one Instagram account per vehicle.

9:30-11:00 am – Clue pick-up in Baldwin Room (Instagram help will be available)

10:00 am – Donuts with Grownups Storytime on the Third Floor

3:30 pm – Post-hunt party in Baldwin Room
Please register on our website.

Donuts with Grownups Storytime

Saturday Sep 26, 2015, 10:00 AM

Donuts with Grownups Storytime is designed especially for working families with children ages 3 and up who can’t make it to our regularly schedule storytimes during the week. Enjoy crafts, activities, music, stories and of course Donuts as a family! This program is designed as a family event to give bonding time. Each session will also have a literacy building station to help young ones start building necessary pre-literacy skills or enhance those skills for older children. Best suited for children age 3-8. No Registration Required. This program will meet on the Third Floor of the Library.

Help, I’m Addicted to Sugar! (and white flour)

Monday Sep 28, 2015, 6:30 – 8:00 PM

Are afternoon and evening munchies getting the better of you? Do chips, cookies and breads call your name – even though your good intentions and knowledge try to push them away? Getting over these uncontrollable eating urges can be a lot easier than you think, and it doesn’t even have much to do with willpower at all. This is a highly motivational presentation showing exactly why this “vicious cookie cycle” occurs – and most importantly, what to do about it. Seating for this event is limited. Please register online or call 203-272-2245, ext. 4.

‘Who Was’ Book Club: HELEN KELLER

Wednesday Sep 30, 2015, 4:00 – 5:00 PM

If you love reading books from the ‘Who Was’ series, than this is the book club for you! At the meeting, we’ll chat about what we discovered in the book and do one or more fun activities inspired by that persons life. No need to register – all fans of the series are welcome! Copies of Who Was Helen Keller? will be available to borrow from the Children’s Room.

Colonial Goodwife

Wednesday Sep 30, 2015, 6:30 – 8:00 PM

The “Not-So-Good Life of The Colonial Goodwife” not only makes audience members laugh and grimace, but it also honors our foremothers. It’s not about quilting bees and spinning wheels – it’s an interactive presentation about the little-known issues faced by New England’s colonial women.Enjoy a complimentary cup of organic herbal Women’s Tonic Tea as author Velya Jancz-Urban shares tidbits about issues faced by everyday 18th-century New England women. Seating for this event is limited. Please register online or call 203-272-2245, ext. 4.

What’s Happening at Cheshire Library in August

August 3, 2015August 3, 2015 / cheshirelib / Leave a comment

The dog days of summer are upon us. Beat the heat and maybe even learn something new with our August lineup of programs!

Storytime at Cheshire Park

Wednesday Aug 5, 12, 19 2015, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Meet us at the Cheshire Park this summer for a special program in the park! Bring your lunch and we will read stories and have fun with our parachute. Look for our Cheshire Public Library banner. If it’s raining, we will see you on the next sunny Wednesday! All ages welcomed, but stories will be best for kids ages 3 and up. Drop-in, no registration required.

Builders Brigade

Wednesday Aug 12 and 26 2015, 4:00 PM

Kids have the opportunity to use their best creativity to design buildings, creatures, and more using LEGO and Mega Bloks. They can work alone, or in a team with peers. A different theme is picked for each session and kids can build on that theme or build a creation of their own. At the end of each session, we will put photos of all projects on display on our Builders Brigade Blog! Children ages 7 and under must be accompanied by an adult. No registration required.

S.T.E.A.M. Punks

Friday Aug 14, 2015, 3:00 – 4:30 PM

This program will feature a variety of STEAM activities (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Math): mainly robotics, circuits & simple electronics, food science, zendoodle, tool box jewelry… you name it- you’ll just have to show up to find out what we’ll be doing! For grades 6 through 12- no registration required. The more the merrier- bring your friends, learn some cool stuff, and have a ball at the library!

Music For Kids

Monday Aug 17, 2015, 4:00 PM

Join Buzz Gordo (aka Gary Mezzi) & Tom Smith at a music program just for for kids and their folks. Buzz strums guitar and ukulele, while Tom keeps a beat that makes it easy for kids to dance around.Throw in some storytelling (Buzz has been a children’s librarian for years) and lots of movement and participation, and kids from 3-10, and maybe even their older siblings, will have a rockin’ time. No registration required.

Summer Fab Films: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Wednesday Aug 19, 2015, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Come enjoy some great box office movies with Summer Fab Film evenings at Cheshire Public Library! This month we’re showing Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
Running Time 2 hours, 1 minute. Rated PG-13.
NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Feel free to bring your own snacks!

‘Who Was’ Book Club: STAN LEE

Thursday Aug 20, 2015, 4:00 – 5:00 PM

If you love reading books from the ‘Who Was’ series, than this is the book club for you! Our August book is Who Is Stan Lee? For all of those super hero fans out there, we’ll talk about the man who launched a comic book empire and have some “super” fun along the way. No registration required – all fans of the series are welcome!

Summer Reading Finale at ARTSPLACE

Monday Aug 24, 2015, 6:00 PM

Join us for our Summer Reading Finale hosted at Artsplace, 1220 Waterbury Road in Cheshire. Express your inner artist and learn new art techniques with Artsplace artists, play with art robots, and use our green screen to make funny pictures and videos. Light refreshments will be served during our Summer Reading Raffle. All Ages, no registration required.

PLEASE NOTE: this program is not at the library. It is located at Artsplace: 1220 Waterbury Road in Cheshire. CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS.

Apps in the Afternoon

Wednesday Aug 26, 2015, 2:00 – 3:00 PM

Beat the summer heat with an interactive hour of apps! Bring your smartphone or tablet, and share your favorite apps while discovering new fun and practical downloads. Please register on our website.

Tech Open House

Thursday Aug 27, 2015, 1:30 – 2:30 PM

Do you have questions about your computer, smartphone, or iPad? Do you need help navigating Facebook or downloading an ebook? Let our tech gurus help! Bring your technology-related questions and curiosities to Cheshire Public Library’s Tech Open House. Our knowledgeable staff will be available to answer your questions and solve your technology-related problems. No registration required.
NOTE: If you are coming for assistance with your own electronic device, please be sure it is fully charged beforehand. In the event your question or issue is more involved, we may ask you to schedule an appointment and come back for one-on-one help.

Leather Craft Class

Thursday Aug 27, 2015, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Please join Vanessa Fasanella as she teaches how to make a wallet or bracelet, or other project of your choice, out of high quality leather in this adult crafting class . This adult only class is free and all materials will be provided. Space is limited, so please register on our website or call 203-272-2245 ext. 4.