What’s Happening at Cheshire Library in February?

January 25, 2017January 12, 2017 / cheshirelib / Leave a comment

February is a short month, but there’s no shortage of great programs on our Event Calendar – here are just a few:

JobNow

Wednesday Feb 1, 2017, 2:00 – 3:00 PM

Do you need help with your job search, your resume, or interviewing techniques? JobNow, powered by Brainfuse, provides live interactive online help combined with online resources to guide you through the necessary tasks to get a job, and is available free to CPL cardholders. No registration required for this workshop.

Color Yourself Calm

Thurs, Feb 2, and Mon, Feb 20, 2017, 6:00 PM

De-stress your busy life with a relaxing night of coloring. We’ll provide coloring pages and supplies, but feel free to bring your own pages and art supplies!

Preschool Fair

Saturday Feb 4, 2017, 1:00 – 3:30 PM

The Cheshire Public Library would like to invite you to participate in our Preschool Fair on Saturday, February 4. In the event of bad weather, the snow date will be March 4th. This program will allow you to meet and ask questions with preschools in the Cheshire area. Our objective is to provide you support by offering a one-stop-shop to community preschools in order to navigate through endless information regarding school facilities, personnel, and educational philosophies. No registration required.

Chinese New Year with Acrobat Li Liu

Saturday Feb 11, 2017, 11:00 – 11:45 AM

Celebrate the end of Chinese New Year with acrobat Li Liu! For all ages, no registration required.

Folk Duo Andy and Judy Daigle

Sunday Feb 12, 2017, 2:00 PM

Talented folk duo Andy & Judy Daigle blend popular folk covers with their growing list of original songs. he New England natives have been singing together since 2009, first performing at open mic nights where they featured cover versions of songs written by favorites John Prine, Bob Dylan, Ian and Sylvia, and Peter, Paul & Mary. This concert is free and open to the public, no registration required.

Awesome Jr. : Edible Architecture

Tuesday Feb 14, 2017, 4:00 – 4:45 PM

School-age kids in grades K-2 are invited to Awesome Jr. for fun with science, technology, engineering, art, and math. We’ll read stories, conduct experiments, play with apps, and make works of art. Today we’re going to make edible architecture out of frosting, graham crackers, pretzels, and other yummy building materials. Registration is required.

Cheshire C.A.T.s

Thursday Feb 16, 2017, 3:00 – 4:30 PM

Are you looking to give back to your community? Fulfill a community service requirement? Have fun? Consider becoming a member of the Cheshire Council of Advisory Teens (Cheshire CATs). Just what IS Cheshire CATS you ask? It’s a group of dedicated teens who are interested in making a difference at the Cheshire Public Library. Members will play a critical role in developing the library’s young adult collection, young adult outreach, event planning and marketing, and making the library a friendlier place for young adults. Members will meet monthly, earn community service credit and will have a direct impact on teen life at the library. No registration required, join us!

Paint Night

Thursday Feb 16, 2017, 6:30 – 8:00 PM

Escape from the clutches of winter at our Tropical Paradise Paint Night…come dressed in your favorite summer outfit and be transported to a scene by the sea, where all of your thoughts drift into hues of summer. No experience necessary, only a desire for fun and relaxation. We will explore basic techniques to create your masterpiece. Registration required for this adult program.

Pete the Cat Party

Saturday Feb 18, 2017, 10:00 – 11:00 AM

Join us for the coolest storytime around! We’ll read some of our favorite Pete the Cat books, do lots of singing and dancing, and make our own musical instruments. Pete the Cat himself will be dropping by for hugs, high-fives, and photos. It’s all good! For children of all ages and their families. Registration is required.

Bird Feeders In Winter

Thursday Feb 23, 2017, 6:30 PM

Angela Dimmitt who will help us identify birds that you might typically see at your bird feeders and discuss which type of feeders and feed will attract particular birds. She is a member of Litchfield Hills Audubon Society, the Western Connecticut Bird Club and the Connecticut Ornithological Association. Registration is required.

Zumba

Saturday Feb 25, 2017, 2:00 – 3:00 PM

Have you been wondering what Zumba is and if it’s right for you? Zumba is a popular dance based fitness program inspired by Latin music and dance. It’s Different, it’s Fun, it’s Effective and it’s Easy to do! Come and experience Zumba!! This Zumba demonstration for adults presented by Donna Paventy-certified Zumba instructor from the Cheshire Community YMCA. Registration is required.

Introduction to Computers

Tuesday Feb 28, 2017, 2:00 PM

Join us to learn the basic computer skills including the different parts of a computer, how to use a mouse and keyboard, how to turn the computer on and off properly and how to navigate the desktop. This class is for individuals with little to no experience with computers. Registration is required.

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.

The Holiday Downloadable Song

December 7, 2016October 25, 2016 / Mary / Leave a comment

colourful-gifts-clip-art

Busy, busy busy! It’s that time of year again. If you are hankering for some good Christmas stories and music but don’t feel you have any spare time, try the downloadable Christmas collection from hoopla. You can listen to music and stories in the car, in the kitchen–anywhere!

And there’s more than that! Feel free to sing along (to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer*)…

You’re dashing and prancing, eyes on your mission
You love tales of Christmas but have no time to listen,
But do you recall
A great source of stories for all…

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
is a downloadable audiobook
And if you never heard it
You might want to take a look (listen doesn’t rhyme!)
There are plenty of ebook stories
to brighten your holiday
Cheshire Library has you covered
Login, download, and play!

Time is racing toward Christmas Eve,
I can hear you say,
Holiday music makes your day bright,
or stream a Christmas movie tonight!

Try downloadables, you’ll love ‘em!
Automatic returns means no fees.
24/7 access
Don’t forget, it’s all for free!

girlwithheadphone3 Downloads are available to any Cheshire resident with a current library card. You can access all downloadable platforms from our website cheshirelibrary.org. Just click the bright green Download It! button on the homepage.

*“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a song written by Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward Company.

I’m in Love with lynda(.com)

September 14, 2016August 18, 2016 / Mary / Leave a comment

Yahoo! The Cheshire Library now has lynda.com.

lynda is an online learning site with over 3,000 courses covering a myriad of topics. Microsoft Office. Personal Finance. Web Design. Social Media. Photography. Happiness.

You can login to lynda.com from the library’s eLearning page on our website. All you need is a Cheshire Library card.

You can take a class on Computer Literacy for Windows 10. You can follow one of lynda’s specially curated Learning Paths and learn how to become a graphic designer, digital marketer, IT security specialist, and many other careers. You can take a ten minute class on Managing Your Time or an 8 hour course on Word Essential Training.

It’s not all about work and career, either! Focus on personal skills such as Balancing Work and Life, Managing Stress, or Overcoming Procrastination. There are classes on Mindfulness, Learning to Say No, Embracing Change, and Building Self-Confidence.

You can watch a video at midnight. At 2 in the afternoon. Or at 3 in the morning. lynda.com is available 24/7. And the classes are FREE if you have a Cheshire Library card.

Keep an eye on this blog. In the future, I will be highlighting groups of courses available from lynda ranging from business to technology to lifestyle. There’s something for everyone!

What’s All the Hoopla?

July 5, 2016August 9, 2024 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

What is Hoopla?

For those that have never explored our digital offerings, Hoopla is a free service that is available to Cheshire library card holders (just like Overdrive)! All you need to register is your library card number, and then you create your own user name and password, which you will use to sign in from your computer or mobile device. (If you are a cardholder from another library, you may have access to the service through your own library. If you are unsure check with your home library.)

Hoopla offers users digital access to videos (movies & TV), full music albums, audiobooks, e-books & comics and more twenty-four hours a day. While there is a limit to how many items you can borrow per month with this service (six per user per month) as long as you are not binge watching a television series, this should not cause much frustration. Many people use this service to watch movies without having to wait their turn on a holds list. I tend to use it to watch the harder to find titles like Anime or Foreign Films that are less likely to be found in our physical collection.

The varied genres and search categories Hoopla offers can make it easy to find the documentary that was recommended but you somehow never got to see, or that weird children’s movie that your kids keep asking for but your old VHS or DVD is no longer working. My husband, who is not a big reader, has caved to the influence of myself, a coworker, and some of his favorite shows, and started reading graphic novels. What we do not hand him, he reads via Hoopla. I have since used the service for the same thing.

Want to take a moment and browse the huge collections available via Hoopla? Well, no time like the present! Take a quick gander at all the Audiobooks, Movies, Music, Comics, Ebooks, and Television Shows at your fingertips!

Want to know some of the curious and simply interesting things I have found via Hoopla just to get you started? How about the non-fiction mythology guide Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes, or a book with instructions and patterns for Quick & Easy Crochet Cowls. Perhaps the very first episode of the original Lone Ranger television show or the Audiobook of The Scarlet Pimpernel is more your speed? Do you want to help you children learn french with the help of cartoon dinosaurs, or maybe try a new work out from Jillian Michaels? Personally, I am currently reading the first graphic novel of Lucifer, while my husband is pursuing a variety of titles after having finished up all the published volumes of The Walking Dead.

The variety is huge! Frankly, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the the choices and have to pace myself so that I do not hit my limit of materials before the end of any given month- simply because there are so many choices and I am too excited to read or watch something right now to hold back from clicking that borrow button.

Need some technical help with Hoopla or still have some questions? Please comment below and I will answer any questions I can, and if I do not know the answer I will get the information for you. If you do not want to wait for me to get back to a computer to answer, you can also try our information page, the official hoopla support page, or give us a call at 203-272-2245 and choose the reference desk option.